Disclaimer:
All official MegaMan characters are property of Capcom.–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
CHAPTER 53
Electric Onsen!
"Say that again?" asked Lan.
"I'm going to Yoka for the weekend and I thought you guys might be interested in coming along," said Tory. It was Thursday night and Tory had gathered everyone in his room to discuss his plan with them.
"You still have that hot spring club membership?" asked Lan.
"Lan, it's a life-time membership," said Tory, "So, is that a yes or a no?"
"Tory, consider yourself accompanied," said Lan.
"Great. We'll meet in the HUB lobby at six tomorrow afternoon," said Tory.
o o o
"A weekend at Yoka?" asked Yahoot.
"Yeah. My friends and I are going so I thought I'd ask for time off during the weekend," said Lan as he finished putting money in the register and then going to the stack of delivery orders.
"What a coincidence," said Yahoot, "We were just wondering who to send to get some supplies from the curry supply shop there. But since you're going, that means we'll only have to send one less person.
"What do you mean 'one less person'?" asked Lan.
"We need two people to go and collect supplies. We're just trying to decide who to send," said Yahoot.
"Seeing as you'll be going, I'll be staying," said Mr. Match, "We need at least one delivery person to stay."
"So it's either Madd or Count Zap," said Lan, "Where are they, anyway?"
"In the back deciding who'll go to Yoka," said Yahoot. Lan walked past the operator of MagicMan and into the back room, where he saw Count Zap and Madd having a NetBattle.
"Whoever loses this goes to Yoka!" said Count Zap.
"Eat ColorMan's Homing Ball!" said Madd.
"Homing Ball!" ColorMan jumped up and kicked his ball towards ElecMan, who leapt up and landed on top of the ball only to use it to propel himself even higher.
"Lightning Blast!" ElecMan gathered up electrical energy in his hands and launched it down at ColorMan.
"Homing Ball!" ColorMan fired again and the ball bounced off the floor and up towards ElecMan. Being in midair, he was unable to dodge it and took the full force of the Homing Ball's hit.
"ElecAura and ElecSword Battlechips in, download!" shouted Count Zap. ElecMan's hand morphed into a sparking blue blade and a yellow sparking glow covered his body as he descended upon ColorMan.
"Here's a shocker for you!" He twirled around and slashed as he landed, blasting ColorMan back while sparking from the electrical shock of his blade.
"I'll get you!" said ColorMan, "Double Tower!" He raised his arms and his two mini-clones dropped down in front of him.
"Aqua Tower!"
"Fire Tower!"
The two pillars of fire and water respectively shot forward and sped towards ElecMan, who stood ready for impact. However, instead of hitting him they just passed right by him.
"Huh?"
"Homing Ball!" ColorMan fired his ball again and hit ElecMan with full power, sending him flying back into the Fire and Aqua Towers.
ELECMAN LOGGING OUT
"Ha ha! Looks like you're going to Yoka!" said Madd to Count Zap, who was holding his hair in his hands.
"Oh my God!"
"Well, that answers my question," said Lan as he returned to the delivery orders.
o o o
On Friday afternoon, Lan, Maylu, Dex, Yai, Tory, and Sean all met up in the HUB lobby and headed out to the subway station. They rode it out to the end of the line and then switched trains to head to Yoka. Sean had brought along his video camera and two tapes: one for footage of the trip and the other for his video journal.
"You know, this is going to be my very first time at a hot spring resort," said Sean, "In some way, I'm kinda excited."
"Well, you WILL be sitting in an outdoor spring stark naked," said Tory, causing Sean to stiffen up.
"What's wrong with him?" asked Dex.
"Well, how can I put this?" said Lan as he searched for the right words, "He told me this once. It's because…uh…"
"It's because I'm underweight for my age," said Sean, irritated.
"Come on, let's check in," said Tory. The group headed to the Ura Inn and stepped up to the front desk.
"Froid. Party of six," Tory said to the receptionist.
"Sign here." The receptionist held out a book and Tory signed in and then everyone headed off to their room.
"All six of us will be sharing a room," Tory announced, "However, it's a large one separated into two smaller ones."
"Does anyone else get the feeling that we're on an elementary school field trip?" asked Lan. Everyone minus Tory raised their hands.
"I was sick that day," Tory said dejectedly.
As soon as everyone got to the room, they immediately dispersed to do their own individual thing until dinner time. Lan had gone off to the souvenir shop with Maylu in tow, Tory had gone to get their hotel robes, Dex went off to look for something to eat, Yai walked outside, and Sean was setting up his video camera for his first journal entry for the trip.
o o o
"Looks like Tamako still runs this shop," said Lan as he and Maylu entered the souvenir shop.
"Welcome!" Tamako greeted as they came in.
"Hey Tamako. Long time no see," said Lan.
"It's been years. You've grown a lot, Lan," said Tamako as she came out from behind the counter, "So, are you here to buy souvenirs? Because you know what you have to do. Jack in!! MetalMan, power up!"
"Obviously," said Lan, "Jack in!! MegaMan, power up!"
The two Navis streamed in and landed inside the system.
"Long time no see, MetalMan!" MegaMan greeted.
"Same to you, MegaMan!" said MetalMan, "Let's battle! Metal Missile!"
"Mega Buster!"
o o o
"I wonder what they've got to eat," said Dex as he walked around outside. He walked over to the area just outside the zoo and came across the corn-on-the-cob stand.
"Want a corn-on-the-cob?" the vendor asked.
"You bet!" said Dex.
o o o
Yai was out back looking at the newly planted flowers as she stood on a bridge overlooking a pond filled with koi in the middle of a beautiful garden. The garden had been planted recently to give off a more traditional Japanese feeling for the guests to enjoy. Sitting just outside the door leading into their room was Sean, who was holding the camera at himself while speaking to it.
"Not much else has happened here," he said, "We'll be eating dinner soon. After that, Tory says we're going to hang around before we actually go into the hot springs. I took a look at the springs earlier. I'm relieved that they're at least separate springs instead of mixed ones. Anyway, that concludes this entry." He reached up and pressed the record button, stopping the camera's recording function and switched it off just as Tory came in with the robes. The chestnut-haired teen was already wearing his and carrying the others' in his arms.
"Hey Sean, how do you whistle with your fingers?" asked Tory.
"You mean like this?" Sean placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled, which immediately caused Yai to turn in his direction.
"Yeah, like that."
At dinner, everyone sat around a large table clad only in their robes (minus Lan, who also wore his ever-present headband).
"The soup is great," Lan commented.
"So's the sushi," said Dex as he helped himself to another California roll.
"The tea's absolutely soothing," Sean said contently.
"No argument there," said Maylu.
"This tempura's the best," Yai chimed.
"Geez Tory, you're one lucky dude to get to eat this kind of food whenever you like!" said Lan. Tory just shrugged and resumed his dinner.
Unbeknownst to the group of friends, PirateMan was making his way into the Yoka Area hacking away at firewalls with his cutlass and blasting at any obstacles with his Splash Mines.
"Just a bit farther and I'll have reached me destination," he said to himself as several guardian programs threw themselves at him. Bringing up his sword, he spun around and slashed his opponents as he passed, erasing them all.
"I'm in!" He emerged from the CyberMetro and landed in the YokaSquare. He quickly took off and headed straight to Yoka Area 1, his target being the water heater.
o o o
"Time to hit the springs!" Lan shouted triumphantly. While Maylu and Yai went to the women's spring, he, Sean, Dex, and Tory went to the men's spring.
"So Sean, what do you think?" asked Lan as he and the others stepped outside to the spring in their towels.
"I keep having this weird feeling," said Sean.
"Is it the type of weird feeling you get when you're outdoors stark naked for the first time?" asked Tory.
"Exactly," Sean answered.
"I know that feeling," said Tory, "The excitement that you're doing something that you've always wanted to do but never got the chance to…"
"Actually, it feels more like a pit of anxiety is growing inside my stomach," said Sean.
"I think we can fix that," Dex said with a mischievous grin.
o o o
"This spring is so relaxing," said Maylu as she and Yai sat in the women's spring. The blonde nodded in agreement.
"I wonder how the boys are doing?" she asked. As if to answer her question, a scream coming from Sean sounded followed by a splash.
"Sounds like they're doing fine," said Maylu.
o o o
"That wasn't funny," said Sean as he glared up from the spring at Dex who was holding Sean's towel in his hand.
"C'mon, Sean. Lighten up a bit," said Lan. The others left their towels on the side and joined Sean in the steaming hot water. Dex rested his arms along the edges of the spring and leaned back. Sean slumped deeper until he was up to his neck in water before he gave off a sigh of content. Tory leaned his back against the carved stone wall and bent his head back and rested it on the ledge, allowing him to gaze up into the sky. Lan closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the rock nearest the lion head statue from which the water was pouring out of.
"Nothing beats a dip in a good ol' hot spring," said Lan.
"You said it!" said Dex.
"So how are you holding up, Sean?" Tory asked, "You doing okay?"
"Except for the way you shoved me into the spring, I'm actually enjoying this," the younger teen replied.
As the teens relaxed, their Navis sat in a newly-installed cyber spring, allowing them to enjoy the comfort that their operators were experiencing.
"This feels great!" said MegaMan as he and Roll cuddled next to each other in the warm water.
"GutsMan feel good," said GutsMan.
"Hey IceMan, why don't you come and join us?" Axl called.
"I think I'll just stay right here, thanks," said IceMan as he flopped onto his back.
"I guess heat's just not your thing," said Axl, sweatdropping. Just then, he saw something flash by out of the corner of his eye.
"What's wrong, Axl?" asked Glyde.
"I thought I saw something," said the redheaded Navi. He got out of the cyber spring and ran after the object.
"Should we follow him?" asked MegaMan.
"Yes," said GutsMan. The other Navis quickly got out (surprisingly, their bodysuits and armor still remained dry) and ran after Axl.
o o o
"Lan, we're currently on the trail of something. We may need Battlechips," MegaMan reported.
"Okay MegaMan, we'll be out shortly," said Lan. He walked over to the edged and grabbed his towel off the side before climbing out of the hot spring and wrapping it around his waist. A few minutes later, everyone was gathered in the Ura Inn lobby fully dressed in their street clothes with their PETs in hand.
"Whoever this guy is, he's fast," said MegaMan, "We need to catch up to him."
"No problem," said Lan, "I'm uploading you the Blue Bomber." Lan punched in the code and MegaMan's sleek blue motorbike appeared next to him.
"Hey Roll, want a ride?" the blue Navi offered as he got on. Roll complied by getting on behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist.
"Hey, what are we? Chopped liver?" asked Axl, "Sean."
"Already on it," said Sean. He input the code and Axl's Ride Buggy appeared. The redheaded Navi hopped in and sped after the Blue Bomber.
"I'm sending you the Glyder, Glyde," said Yai.
"Here comes the Gutsmobile," said Dex.
"I'm uploading the Snow Racer, IceMan," said Tory.
The respective vehicles appeared and the rest of the group got on them and took off.
o o o
"Here we be," said PirateMan as he arrived at his destination, 'the Yoka water heater. Thar have been many who have slain others to sabotage this bit of booty, but I shall be the first!"
"Not if we stop you!" PirateMan turned and saw MegaMan and co. speeding towards him on their Net Mobiles.
"Mega Buster!" MegaMan fired a plasma shot at PirateMan and knocked him away from the heater. The blue Navi brought his bike to a stop and he and Roll hopped off while the others pulled up from behind.
"Give it up, PirateMan! You're outnumbered!" said MegaMan as he held PirateMan at busterpoint.
"Ye be out of yer mind if ye thing ye can stop me!" said PirateMan, "Try me Splash Mines!" And with that, he launched several bombs towards the Navis.
"Look out! Heart Slash!" Roll blew a small kiss and unleashed a hailstorm of pink hearts at the mines, exploding them before they could do any harm.
"My turn!" said GutsMan, "Guts Hammer!" GutsMan brought his hands together and slammed them down onto the floor, sending a powerful shockwave towards PirateMan.
"Make that a triple attack!" said Axl, "Axl Gun!"
"Glyde Cannon!" Together with Axl, Glyde fired off his cannon at the same time the younger Navi fired his own weapon. The shots hit PirateMan in the shoulders and knocked him back in time for GutsMan's shockwave to hit him with full force.
"My turn!" said IceMan.
"Ice Slasher Battlechip in, download!" Tory inserted the chip and IceMan sent a powerful ice wave at PirateMan. The peg-legged Navi quickly ducked to the side and evaded the assault.
"It be my turn now!" he said as he drew out his cutlass and brought his arm back, "Tempest Blade!" He swung his sword and sent a powerful wave of wind at the Navis, blowing them away. He laughed evilly before proceeding towards the water heater.
"Gotta stop him!" said Axl.
"Way ahead of ya!" said Sean, "ElecSword Battlechip in, download!" Axl clenched his fist as it transformed into an ElecSword and he dashed over to PirateMan, who tried to block but found it difficult to do so seeing as he was right-handed and Axl was left-handed.
"Arr! A curse befall ye user of the left hand!" PirateMan cursed.
"Shut up, will ya?" Axl grabbed PirateMan's hat and kneed him in the stomach before morphing his ElecSword back into his Axl Gun and firing right into his opponent's face.
"Nice move, Axl!" cheered IceMan.
"Good show!" said Glyde.
"Aww, it was nothing," said Axl. Suddenly, PirateMan leapt up and brought his sword down on Axl, who quickly brought up his arms and caught the blade between his hands. The eye patch-wearing Navi sneered as he twisted himself around and kicked Axl in the chest, knocking him down.
"Roll Arrow Battlechip in, download!" Maylu slipped in the chip and Roll's hand morphed into a pink bow loaded with a pink heart-shaped arrow.
"Roll Arrow!" She took aim and fired the projectile at PirateMan, who sidestepped and evaded it.
"Bermuda Triangle!" He raised his sword over his head and carved a glowing triangle in the air. As soon as he finished, the triangle began to glow and fired a beam of energy straight towards the Navis, who just barely dodged. PirateMan unleashed his most devastating attack a second time and blasted everyone away except for MegaMan.
"This is for my friends!" said the blue Navi, "Mega Buster!" He fired a plasma shot at PirateMan, but the crafty sea Navi leaned far back and dodged the blast Matrix style.
"Splash Mines!" He threw out several more mines and they exploded around MegaMan. PirateMan cackled evilly as he walked over to the fallen Navi and planted his peg leg on his chest while pressing his cutlass against his throat.
"Prepare to be delete, ye scum!" he said.
"MegaMan, get out of there!" Lan called.
"It's no use, Lan! I'm trapped!"
"Say yer prayers, boy! Ye be sleepin' in Davy Jones' locker tonight!" PirateMan brought up his sword and MegaMan closed his eyes tight as he waited for the blow.
"Lightning Blast!" A powerful electrical shock suddenly struck PirateMan without warning and knocked him back. MegaMan quickly sat up and looked around. Standing not far away was ElecMan.
"ElecMan!"
o o o
"Count Zap!" Lan looked up and saw the light-up suit-wearing former World Three executive standing just over him.
"Surely you haven't forgotten the other reason you're here, Lan!" he said, "You're here to help me pick up supplies for the curry shop.
"We'll deal with that later," said Lan, "Right now, we've got a pirate to walk the plank."
o o o
"Thanks, ElecMan," said MegaMan as the electric Navi helped him up.
"No problem," said ElecMan.
"Accursed scallywag! Ye shall pay for this!" shouted PirateMan as he lunged at ElecMan.
"ElecBlade Battlechip in, download!" ElecMan clenched his fist as he morphed into a sparking steel blade.
"I don't think so!" He quickly dodged PirateMan's lunge and swung with his own sword. Several volts of electricity shot through PirateMan's body as he crashed to the floor after being countered by ElecMan.
"Electricity versus Aqua, no contest," said ElecMan.
"That's what you think!" said PirateMan, "Splash Mines!" ElecMan bent his knees and then jumped high up into the air and backflipped away from PirateMan's bomb, slicing apart any that got too close. As soon as he landed, his hand morphed back to normal and the electrodes on his back began to spark. He let out a yell as he unleashed several bolts of electricity on the Dark Nation Navi.
"That oughta do it," he said, "What the?!" His eyes went wide as he saw PirateMan step out of the smoke completely unscathed.
"So much for yer attack!" said PirateMan.
"MegaMan, it looks like we're going to need to use a different approach," said ElecMan as the blue Navi ran up to him.
"We'll battle side-by-side," said MegaMan as his icon started to glow blue.
"Our powers combined," said ElecMan as his icon glowed yellow.
"DIE!" PirateMan leapt at the two Navis, but a brilliant flash of light blasted him back, "What source of witchery be this?"
A beam of light shot out of ElecMan's icon and hit MegaMan's. A few seconds later, the grey Navi disappeared and MegaMan began to go through his transformation. ZapRings appeared over his arms and converged on them, transforming his gloves from blue to yellow with thin black stripes. More ZapRings appeared around his boots and did the same thing. His bodysuit changed from blue to grey as ElecMan's armor snapped on around his torso. His helmet changed to grey and his crests changed into ElecMan's, only curving outward in a concave fashion. Finally, his power pack disappeared and was replaced by four electrodes. He clenched his fists and crossed them over his chest as countless lightning bolts shot out from his back.
"What is this?!" shouted PirateMan.
"Soul Unison: Elec Soul!" Lan exclaimed.
"Shocking!" Sean punned only to get elbowed in the ribs by Yai.
MegaMan opened his eyes and walked towards PirateMan. He held his hands out before himself and started charging up electricity between his palms.
"Avast, ye scum! You still shan't take me!" said PirateMan, "Splash Mines!"
"ElecShock Battlechip in, download!" Lan inserted the chip and MegaMan shot out his arms and sent a blast of electricity straight at PirateMan, cracking several panels as it shot forward.
"Thunder3 Battlechip in, download!" MegaMan put his hands together and built up a ball of electricity between them.
"Thunder Ball!" He brought the sparking sphere over his head and threw it at PirateMan. The Dark Nation Navi quickly made a run for it, but the ball followed him until it hit, paralyzing him on the spot.
"Ready to finish this, MegaMan?" asked Lan.
"Oh yeah!" said MegaMan as he charged up. His electrodes sparked wildly as he built up energy.
"LIGHTNING BLAST!" All of a sudden, he let loose a powerful electrical blast that sent PirateMan screaming until he logged out.
PIRATEMAN LOGGING OUT
"Heh, we made sparks fly," said MegaMan, triumphantly.
o o o
"That was a great dip!" said Lan as he and the rest of the guys came out from the men's hot spring. After the battle, they had all decided to enjoy some more time in the springs. Count Zap had already left, leaving Lan some of the curry supplies in their room for him to take back upon his return to DenTech City.
"You said it!" said Dex.
"Hey guys!" The guys turned as Maylu and Yai came out wearing their robes, "Did you enjoy your spring?"
"Completely," said Lan. As they walked back to the room, a loose nail in the doorway caught hold of Lan's towel…
…and tore it right off.
There was a moment of silence before the girls yelped and Lan quickly tried to cover himself with his hands while his face turned bright red. The brown-haired NetBattler quickly backed into the room and dashed straight to the connected room with his bag held out in front of him, using his foot to close the door.
"Well, that's not going to leave a good impression," said Sean.
"Like that time Lan, Dex, and I had to wear those Aki-chan outfits on Jawaii," said Tory, shuddering.
o o o
"M-Master…C-C-Chaos.…" PirateMan limped his way into the Dark Nation headquarters using his sword as a cane. His entire body was de-rezzing as a result from MegaMan's electrical onslaught.
"He is busy at the moment." PirateMan looked up and saw Fortissimo, wrapped up in his cloak as always, emerge from the shadows.
"F-Fortissimo, please help," PirateMan gasped, "I be needing repairs."
"No repairs for you, PirateMan," Fortissimo whispered, "Your usefulness has ended." Using his right arm to toss back his cloak, he reached for the hilt of his Masamune and slowly pulled the deadly weapon from its scabbard. A bloodcurdling scream followed as he brought his mighty sword down. A thin red line appeared on PirateMan going straight down the center of his body. Fortissimo re-sheathed his weapon and allowed his cloak to drop back over his body. However, he stuck out his hand from underneath as PirateMan slowly disintegrated. The pirate Navi's body broke up into bits of data and they flew into Fortissimo's palm. In no time, all that remained of PirateMan was his cutlass as it clattered to the floor before being erased. Fortissimo nodded with satisfaction and closed his eyes as he pulled his hand back underneath his cloak.
"PirateMan deleted," he whispered as he disappeared back into the shadows.
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CHAPTER PREVIEW
Lan:
Eh? It's snowing!MegaMan:
That means it's time for the annual Polar Bear Dip.Lan:
There is no way I'm swimming outdoors in the freezing cold!MegaMan:
C'mon, you've always wanted to experience a good old college tradition.Lan & MegaMan:
Next time on Rockman.EXE: The College Years, "Traditions"!MegaMan:
Lan, there's another thing you should know about...Lan:
No way! You mean I gotta swim…