Mega Man Battle Network: ReInstalled

by HatOnFire

A retelling of Battle Network 1. Lan Hikari is a high school delinquent, but with a strong sense of justice. When a hacking group called World Three plans on destroying Net society, he takes them on with his Net Navi, MegaMan.EXE! However, they might be too much for them to handle alone, and he'll need more than Net Battling skills. Jack in! Mega Man, Execute!

5. Numbers, Numbers Everywhere

Chapter 5- Numbers, Numbers Everywhere

---

The following is a fan-made work of fiction. Certain original characters made by myself will be claimed under my ownership. However, I do not nor will I ever claim to own Mega Man Battle Network.

Mega Man Battle Network © Capcom

Reddington Bluemann © HatOnFire/Me

---

Nothing is as it appears to be. There are always questions to be asked, with answers waiting to be found. And as long as I've been here, the question I've always asked myself is why. Why am I here?

If I had a purpose, I wanted to find one. I felt myself in need of one. I just didn't want to be weak. Being in a state of helplessness, just standing by on the sidelines and watching something bad happen, that's weakness.

Lan changed after the funeral. We all did. But I was ignorant to how much. He came off as having a cold exterior, living in the moment and living free. Free, but reckless. Sure, he had that smile on his face, but it wasn't as bright as when we were kids. It was dim, forced.

When it came to catching criminals, he was good at it. He was a natural born Net Battler who took initiative, seeing the simple solutions to glaring problems. With Mega Man as his Navi, he could do anything. But over time, his darker side would show.

He became limited in what he could do, with the Officials cracking down on him over proper ethics and procedures, combined with his record as a juvenile. As much as I hate to admit it, Lan Hikari was a vigilante, and that behavior isn't tolerated in this city. His actions made him well known, for better and worse.

I wished I could have done something to help him. I wished that I could have gotten him to think clearly about what was important and move on from the past. But I failed. I failed by doing nothing. That was not going to be me. I will never again be on standby.

I had to change. Not just for myself, but for Lan, too. I searched for new skills to learn, taking a martial arts class and an archery class. I even dared to apply for a City Net Battler license. To my own surprise, I became good at it Net Battling, helping people, and solving small crimes. In a short while, my brains and skills got me an Official Net Battler license.

But I had to keep an eye out for trouble, too. Something was rising through the cracks in the surface, and the whole surface will be broken down by the forces lurking underneath. They will not get that chance.

I am an Official Net Battler, and my name is Mayl Sakurai. My adopted father, Reddington Bluemann, is a detective in the Net Police. Lately, I've been working with him to track a criminal group called the WWW. Only problem with finding them is that they can find you.

My Net Navi, Roll, gracefully levitated above the floor for a split second before touching it with her feet. She took in her surroundings, seeing the digital sky change red, blue, green, and yellow, just as numbers and letters disappear and reappear behind flowing grids.

"You know something, Mayl?" Roll spoke to me, attempting to ease the sudden tension. "I think the network's being hacked into."

"Thanks for your input," I rolled my eyes with a smirk, "Now shut down this program!"

"That could be difficult," A Normal Navi model stated, overhearing our conversation. "The program that's attempting to brainwash the humans is causing several breaks in the network. Time is something that you may not have, disregarding the sudden rise of viruses here."

"Brilliant," I murmured as Roll saw several Navis try to face the viruses, with mixed success and failure.

A virus breed known as Spooky, a skull-faced virus that had a red plus on its forehead, with a purple ghostlike body, appeared in front of a girl Navi in orange, swatting her with its long tongue. Don't ask me how digital ghosts can have tongues, let alone long ones.

"Ah!" She screamed as she fell to the cyber floor, failing to notice another virus placing a time bomb, counting down from three. The virus is a breed known as Handy, characterized by a light colored, four-fingered hand, looking like a gauntlet. Its palm is black, as are some of the detailed accents on the gauntlet's base, and the fingertips are yellow.

"Roll Arrow!" Roll's right forearm morphed into a pink longbow with a buster in the middle, slightly exposing a heart-shaped point. She fired, striking the bomb and destroying it.

"Move in!" I ordered, using my PET to transmit a Battle Chip to Roll. "High Cannon! Slot in!"

Roll's right arm became a blue cannon, and she shot it at the Handy virus, deleting it.

"Roll Flash!" She proceeded to levitate and float in front of the Spooky virus, stabbing it with her antennae. As the virus went down, she materialized a pink heart above her left hand, allowing it to flow to the ambushed Navi and heal her.

"Thank you, Roll!" The Navi got up, "There's so many viruses here!"

"It isn't safe here!" Roll told her, "Tell the other Navis to jack out!"

"But our operators!" She protested until Roll calmed her down.

"We'll get them out. You have to go now."

As the Navi jacked out, another one slammed his fists down, unleashing a massive shockwave that deleted two Swordys.

This Navi was larger than most Navis, having a red chest, black legs with vertical blue lines on his sides, and yellow boots that could be seen as metallic. His arms were long, allowing his large, yellow gauntlets with grey fingers to reach to the floor. On his back was some form of a backpack that looked more like a pair of batteries to me.

His eyes were green with the lower part of his face covered by a grey face guard. The upper part of his head looked similar to a helmet, but was square and flat, and there was a green gem decorated in the middle of his 'forehead.' His emblem, imprinted on the sides of his head as well as on the front of his chest, was a silver ring surrounding a green plus sign, which was a basic design on some construction helmets in my country.

That's Dex's Net Navi, Guts Man. He's strong, but too overconfident and a little bit dim. He reminds me of Lan, sometimes. Not sure if that's even a good thing.

"Guts guts!" Guts Man chanted, "Who's got the guts?!"

"Good work, Guts Man!" Dex cheered, "You got the guts!"

"It's hard to call it good work when so many Navis almost got deleted," I muttered, "And someone's going to a lot of trouble to make us WWW agents."

"I figured that out when the announcement played," Dex replied, "My head's feeling a little weird, though."

"Now then, my young agents!" The voice continued to ring, with a small and almost soothing hum echoing in the speaker. "Would some of you be so kind as to restrain any resisters of our might?"

"He's gotta be kidding!" Dex almost chortled, "This brainwashing thing ain't working!"

The electronic blackboard showed the 3D wireframe of the old man with a colorful, swirling background. Looking at it was nauseous as it was, so I closed my eyes and turned my head away. If I shot another glance at it, I was certain my mind would be lost to them.

"You're wrong," I told Dex, "It's working. Even if we get out of the room, we won't escape the sound. We need to get to the servers and shut them down. That should prevent the program behind the brainwashing from affecting anyone else."

"So, it's an inside job?"

"Very likely."

"R-Restrain them…" A student mumbled in a daze, clutching his head and sitting down in a chair. "No… I-I…"

"If you two are going to do something, be quick about it!" Another student exclaimed, tapping her finger on the desk. "I don't think we can hold out for long!"

"Roll, take Guts Man to the security lock program!" I commanded, "It's connected online, so it must be in your area!"

"On it!" Roll nodded, running along a path with Guts Man close behind her.

'Lan, I hope you can get here,' I thought with a twinge of worry, 'We'll need you.'

"Is that a car circling the building?!" A group of students were looking outside, catching some unusual sight. I was very unaware of Lan's own problems…

01101011001101010101110111000100100010011010110100101001

"Oh snap!" Lan's face was pressed against the car window as the car screeched with a hard turn. "Mega Man! Do something!"

"I'm trying!" Mega Man shouted, with the sound of his buster firing echoing in the PET speakers.

"We have to get outta here and stop him!" Lan muttered, the car suddenly jerking to the left, sending him to meet the car's backseat. "I should've been more careful!"

Right now, Lan is stuck in a car with viruses tampering with the self-driving A.I., standard issue for most cars today, putting him in a distressing state.

"This is why I hate self-driving-!" He couldn't finish his sentence, being sent headfirst to the car door by another dangerous turn. "GAH!"

"Lan!" Mega Man called, facing down Spikey viruses, a canine-like virus with the ability to spit out fire balls. These variations were known as Spikey 3, the strongest of its generic breed, having spikey, silver fur and small yellow stripes along their backs.

"I need something good!" He dodged the fire that came straight from the beasts' mouths.

"Wait a sec!" Lan saw a few Battle Chips on the car's floor, quickly reaching for one of them. "Here! Aqua Sword!"

"Perfect!" Mega Man's right arm turned into a slightly transparent blue blade, then swung at two of the viruses, instantly deleting them due to the natural order of elements. Fire's weak to Aqua, which is weak to Elec, which is weak to Wood, and the cycle repeats with Fire.

"Hurricane! Attack +10! Double Slot in!" Lan inserted a pair of chips in the PET, with Mega's arm morphing into a fan-like buster. He aimed at the Spikey 3 that slightly came close to closing in on him, with a tornado connecting and utterly decimating it.

GRAAHHH! The last Spikey 3 spat out a fire ball, one that could've incinerated the blue Navi, if not for a Rock Cube appearing in front of him. The blast engulfed the cube, even hitting the panels on the cube's side.

"Guts Punch!" Data was sent to Mega Man, giving him the strong fist he needed to punch the cube into the virus, deleting him.

"Here's the brake program!" Mega Man darted to the structure that looked similar to the car's driving mechanism, stepping on a pedal. In an instant, the car halted with an ear-piercing screech.

"HEY!" Lan dropped to the floor in the process, tasting the mat.

"Sorry, Lan!" Mega nervously chuckled with a little grin, "These brakes are really touchy, huh?"

"Just get me outta this car…" The juvenile boy grumbled, reaching for the handle of the door. "Stupid childproof locks…"

The car stopped running with a quick command, and the locks were released immediately after. Lan got out, making a mad dash to the front of the school.

"Jack in! Mega Man, Execute!" Lan sent his Navi in the school network, probably jumping with his PET in hand. I never understood the appeal trying to act cool like that, not when you could just raise the PET and still look cool.

"I'm in!" Mega took in his the sights, seeing the network suffer a few breaks. From passages dematerializing to the sky changing dark shades of colors. "Lan, whatever's going on online is seems to be affecting the building!"

"Just what is Higsby up to?!" Lan growled, remembering getting himself locked in a car. He recalled Higsby's mouth contorting into an ignorant smirk, seemingly feigning obliviousness as the car started and took Lan for a ride.

"I've got it!" Mega took a listen to the blaring sounds in the school, connecting them to the frequency he latched onto in the High School Computer. "There's a strange announcement blaring inside, which is caused by something in the network! It appears to be a type of brainwashing program that's been planted here!"

"Okay, so what?!" Lan answered with urgency.

"What if that affected Mr. Higsby, too?"

"Huh? You mean…?!"

Understanding well enough, Lan pounded his fist on the school's locked doors.

"Oh, I'm so stupid!" He belittled himself, "How could I think he'd do this of his own will?! Higsby's being forced to do this!"

"We have to save everyone!" Mega concluded, running through the Cyberworld of the school. Come whatever virus may, he wasn't going to let that happen.

"I saw him throw some chips in the car when he locked us in!" Lan noted, "He wanted us to get out!"

"It's another WWW scheme!"

"Open the doors, Higsby!" Lan yelled in his PET, believing the culprit to be listening on them. "Let us help you!"

"What could you possibly do for me, huh?" A garbled voice echoed in the area with a small screen come to life. The lighting was dim, yet Lan made the connection of the voice, even seeing the twinge of light in Higsby's glasses. "You have nothing to bargain with."

"You're being forced to do this, Higsby," Lan spoke to him as calmly as possible, "Whatever the WWW promised you, it's a lie. They'll turn on you after all is said and done."

"They would with their lesser men, I believe," Higsby placed his fingers closely together, almost considering Lan's words. "But for those truly devoted to the cause, I think there's a reward in it."

"And did they tell you that, or was it a hasty conclusion you made?"

"This isn't really personal, Lan. I'm just doing this to get enough Zenny to buy rare chips on the market."

"Do you hear yourself?! This is not what the Higsby I know does!"

"Don't talk like you know me, huh!" The brainwashed store owner shouted, slamming his hands on a table. "I'm a man of opportunity! When it knocks, I listen as clearly as I can!"

"You were ambushed by two guys looking to make a quick score," Lan shook his head, "But they were hired to brainwash you. You need to fight it!"

"But why would he do that?" A slightly shrill, computerized voice raised the question, "It's fun not having to think for yourself when someone else does it for you!"

"Number Man!" Mega Man recognized him right away, "Oh no, they got you too, didn't they?!"

"My mind has never been more clearer than it has been," Number Man replied, "The world is filled with disgusting humans, held down by their own flaws and motivated by a selfish desire to fill the void in their lives."

"What are you saying?" Lan questioned, "You've been brainwashed, too. Reprogramed to carry out their orders."

"Nonsense! We've wanted to do this since the beginning!"

"Enough chit-chat, Number Man!" Higsby cut his Navi off, "We need to keep the program running!"

"We'll get inside, Higsby," Lan declared, "And when we do, we'll find you and bring you back to reality."

"Not the reality I want to live in," Higsby's transmission shut off after speaking his peace.

"Forget about unlocking the doors, Mega Man," Lan ordered his Navi, "Taking out that program takes priority. It'll stop everything here."

"I guess we'll be fighting Number Man when I get to the server area…" Mega Man sighed, running down a slope towards a group of viruses.

"We'll manage," The juvenile student nodded, throwing his PET in the air. He untied the bandana on his arm, and quickly tied it on his head, covering up most of his spiky hair on top. Finishing up on that, he caught the PET on its descent, sliding out the keypad for battle.

'I hope nothing bad happened to Mayl or Dex,' He thought silently.

01101011001101010101110111000100100010011010110100101001

"Sonic Wave!" Roll took her pickaxe to the floor, sending out a quick shockwave, deleting a Handy and Mettaur 2.

"Shockwave!" Guts Man followed suit, making one with his fists, taking down a VolGear virus.

"I'll unlock the door, you cover me!" Roll ordered, running to a security door, comprised of horizontal, flickering blue lines. It was blocking access to another passage, which served as an electronic lock to the classroom door.

"Got it!" Guts Man nodded, launching a Rocket Guts Punch to delete a Canodumb virus.

"Emergency override," I calmly whispered, "Official authorization: Mayl Sakurai. Official # 321-2001. Net Navi: Roll. Designation: R-011."

"EMERGENCY OVERRIDE ACCEPTED," A computer's monotone voice was heard in my PET, "REROUTING LOCKDOWN ACCESS. AWAITING FURTHER COMMANDS."

"Unlock all locked doors in ACDC High School immediately," I smirked, feeling glad to be an Official. One of the perks of being one is that most computers are updated to give an Official or officer access in dire situations. Though I'll admit, people have been calling this extensive authority as a breach of human rights and privacy.

"ALL DOORS UNLOCKED," The computer did as I told it to, and I immediately opened the door.

"It's done!" I ran out the door, urging my other classmates to follow. "Come on!"

01101011001101010101110111000100100010011010110100101001

"Hey, the door's open!" Lan noticed, having rested his hand against the previously locked handle. "What did you do, Mega Man?!"

"Nothing!" Mega moved to the side, dispatching a Spooky virus with a Long Sword. "I've been fighting viruses left and right, remember?"

"Whatever happened, I can stop Higsby now!" Lan smirked as he got inside.

01101011001101010101110111000100100010011010110100101001

"Let's make this an official two player game, Number Man," Higsby murmured, typing swiftly on a computer keyboard.

"Yes, Mr. Higsby," Number Man agreed, fulfilling his command.

Number Man's appearance is a little strange, even by Navi standards. There's so much detail to him, so I'm hoping anyone who reads this can visualize him well.

He has an electronic brain of sorts placed in his transparent light bulb head. The Navi emblem is on the surface of that brain of his, oddly enough. He has glowing yellow eyes and a small square mouth that glows when he speaks. His neck is black and very thin, connecting to an orange circle above his shoulders.

His torso, like the lower part of his face, is lime green, having a rectangular space in his chest displaying three digit numbers, his hit points. His back is orange, just like that circle under his neck. Orange lines separates the green from the light tan color of part of his orb-shaped shoulders, down to a part of his forearms. His hands don't look like normal hands, looking more like arcade claw machines, only here, these white claws are far less sharp and more three dimensional.

Number Man's partially thin abdomen is black, separated by another orange line, leading to his light tan legs and lime green boots. The boots had a circle on top and a square above the soles, though his feet don't have the same shape as humans or regular Navis do. Think of his feet as having a shape similar to a tree stump, round all over with a flat surface at the bottom.

The electronic brain in Higsby's Navi flickered yellow several times, just as he stood next to a virtual rendition of row of computer servers.

"Now, Mr. Higsby," The WWW's leader called in his ear, "Would you be so kind as to have the resisters taken care of?"

"I'm already on it, my lord," Higsby nodded like the drone he had been reduced to, continuing to type.

01101011001101010101110111000100100010011010110100101001

"We don't have time!" I shouted as some of the students managed to get out. However, the door slid itself shut, locking the room up!

"Hey, it won't open!" Dex shouted, jiggling the handle before resorting to body slamming the door.

"It's not working!" One student cried, "We're still trapped!"

"Says you!" A female student next to me wasted no time in running out on us, "I'm getting out of here!"

"The doors here are built in with shock absorbers!" I told Dex, "You're wasting time!"

"INTRUDER DETECTED!" A computerized voice echoed throughout the school, indicating something bad was going to happen. "LOCKDOWN PROTOCOL ENGAGED!"

Metal shutters came down over each of the windows and doors on the building, with bright white emergency lights turning on instantly.

"We're trapped again!" The student that tried running yelled, "We can't run now!"

"There is no escape from the WWW," The P.A. continued spouting the WWW's propaganda, "You will all serve the WWW and its ultimate purpose, deleting our enemies! Would you be so kind as to join us for the revolution ahead, students?"

"P-Purpose…" The five students that got out of the classroom with me repeated, while the humming in the speakers got a little louder.

"The only way out now is to shut down the server from here," I looked to Roll in the School Computer from my PET screen, "We need a shortcut, Roll. I don't think any of us will last long."

"I've been trying, Mayl!" She responded, deleting a Mettaur with a Roll Arrow. "But with how many breaks in the network there are, combined with the distance…"

"If the network is modeled after the school in the real world," I thought, "Then the central point of the network must be below you! The server's in the first basement, right?"

"That's right!" Roll answered, "Which means the culprit is under us!"

"The Air Shoes and Float Shoes programs installed into you will help you get down quicker! Go now!"

"On it!" Roll leapt off the platform she was on, moving down several digital floors until levitating to the one she needed. She was aware that a group of Spooky viruses were waiting for her.

"Let's be patient," My pink Navi suggested, keeping her bow ready. "In a situation like this, Mega Man should be coming along."

"Dash Attack!" Not a moment too soon, Mega Man came down from the floor above us, with a Fishy virus taking the place of his right forearm. With great speed, three Spooky viruses got deleted in a row.

"Tri Spear! Double Slot in!" I passed chip data along to Roll, giving her a total of six spears to fire from her bow. She aimed and took out six of the ghostlike viruses.

The last Spooky moved left and right, hoping to avoid Roll's attempts to shoot it. As the virus was distracted, Mega Man used the Shock Wave chip, with the wave going in a straight line. It was child's play for Roll to trick it into moving in the wave's path, getting itself deleted.

"Nice of you to show up, Mega!" Roll chirped, flashing a thumbs up to him.

"You're pretty good, Roll!" Mega Man complimented, "I can't recall the last time I saw you take care of viruses like that."

"Hey, enough flirting down there!" Lan called as his face could be viewed for us to see, "We've gotta get rid of that brainwashing program!"

"Lan!" I felt relieved to know he was alright, "I'm glad you got here! Where's Higsby?"

"Mr. Higsby's behind all the school-related crimes!" He told us as Mega Man ran to a digital security door, "He locked me in his car and took me for a ride!"

"But Higsby would never do that!" I almost argued, having yet to realize everything here.

"That's what I'm trying to say!" Lan stated, "This brainwashing thing is affecting him, too! He's been pulled into a WWW crime!"

"Well, we've got to do something now!" Roll shouted, watching Mega attempt to decipher the door's code.

"DOOR WILL NOT OPEN WITHOUT PROPER PASSCODE," A digital voice spoke, showing a series of four digit numbers flicker in the School Computer.

"Mega Man, code breaker!" Lan commanded, typing something on his keypad.

"Roger!" Mega nodded, the yellow square on his helmet glowed brightly while small zeros and ones streamed in his green eyes.

"Code breaker?" I questioned with a sigh, "Lan, I thought you got rid of that feature in your PET."

"What're you gonna do?" Lan replied grinning, "Arrest me? Last I checked, you're not a cop."

"Just get us to Higsby's Navi," I chose to ignore that small piece of irony and let the matter slide. There wasn't any point in telling him he was wrong. It was helping us out, anyway.

"Done!" Mega Man unlocked the door, the combination of numbers floating above him dissipating. He and Roll ran through the passage in a hallway of virtual computer servers.

Suddenly, a block of dice half our size rolled up to us. The number on top of the die had four marks, indicating 4.

"Move!" Mega Man leaped out of the way as Roll levitated and twirled, teleporting back. The die flickered a bright light before exploding in the area.

"Are we having fun yet?!" Number Man exclaimed, standing on top of a Fishy 2 virus, which is a red-orange version of other Fishy viruses, but these are fire element. "I know I am!"

"Were those Spooky viruses supposed to be your last line of defense?" Roll pondered, "They weren't effective."

"No, no," Number Man shook his head and outreached his arms, "This is my last line of defense!"

Two Spikey 3 viruses appeared with two Swordy 3 viruses, which had turquoise colored armor with a purple spike on top and a blue sword of water. Two Canodumb 3 viruses, red versions of the first type, formed in the back, side by side with the Navi who summoned them.

"Number Man," Mega Man lifted his hands up to plead with him, "You and Higsby are under the WWW's influence."

"Don't let your Navi talk nonsense, Lan," Higsby's voice crackled in our screens, "Oh, Mayl is here as well, huh?"

"So, you're behind this," I shook my head with clear disapproval, "But not of your own will."

"Does it make a difference?" The glasses on Higsby's face briefly shined, "The heart wants what it wants. Sometimes, it wants to add more Battle Chips to the collection."

"Chips bought with the WWW's filthy money," Lan scoffed, "The real Higsby would wake up and see what he's doing is wrong."

"I am the real Higsby, you obnoxious brat!" The WWW's puppet bellowed, "Number Man, rid us both of these fools that dare to get in our way!"

"Certainly, Mr. Higsby," Number Man replied, his computerized brain flashing rapidly. "Viruses! Delete them!"

"Battle routine, set!" Lan and I readied ourselves in no time at all, with Mega Man and Roll taking their stances.

"Execute!"

The Canodumb viruses opened fire, already having their targets locked in. Mega and Roll leaped to the middle, where they couldn't get shot at.

The Navis drew their personal weapons, charging them up and returning fire. A combined Mega Buster and Roll Arrow made their marks on one of those cannons.

"I'll get the Spikey 3s!" Lan told me, "Take care of the Swordy 3s!"

"And how will you do that?" I questioned, seeing Mega Man go in.

"Bubble Spread! Attack +10!" Mega Man shot a bubble sphere out, engulfing most of the viruses in front of him, doing heavy damage to the Spikey 3s.

"Elec Sword!" I sent my Navi data for a blue sword that sparkled with electricity, letting her teleport to the Swordy 3s in a dance. They didn't have a chance to defend themselves.

"Mine 1!" Mega Man placed a hand on the ground, seemingly doing nothing. However, something did happen, as indicated by one Spikey 3 combusting after stepping on a panel.

"Spreader!" Mega then fired a spread shot at the other Spikey 3 before deleting it with a charged shot.

"Let me take care of one of these Canodumbs!" Roll insisted, twirling a few feet above the ground to teleport in front of a Canodumb 3.

"Roll Flash!" She jabbed her antennae into the virus that they already hit, deleting it.

"Nice work," Mega nodded with approval, ducking from a cannon shot. He fired several shots at the last Canodumb 3, taking down its hit points buy a good amount.

"Aqua Tower!" Roll got in front of the blue Navi, her arm temporarily looking like a ghostly version of a VolGear virus, sending out a flowing geyser that dispatched the virus easily.

"The game isn't over yet!" Number Man came down surfing on a Fishy 2, which left a trail of fire in its wake.

"Aqua Sword!" Lan gave Mega Man the sword that split the virus down the middle, succeeding in forcing the bulb-headed Navi to tumble on the ground.

"We're giving you and Number Man one more chance, Higsby," I was getting tired of fighting viruses today, "You can surrender, but after everything, it'll either be a hospital bed or a jail cell."

"Like Number Man said, huh," The chip collector hissed, transmitting a Battle Chip to his Navi. "The game isn't over yet!"

"Mega Man, take care of the Reeducation Program!" I told while Roll got into position, "We'll deal with this."

"Why are you barking orders?" Lan inquired, "Only I can tell Mega Man what to do!"

"Your Battle Chips are weak," I simply pointed out, "And you're closer to the bottom floor so you can try and snap Higsby out of his trance."

"She's right, Lan," Mega Man agreed, "A few good chips doesn't make up for a weak Folder."

"Okay, fine," Lan sighed, "Just be careful. Number Man may be weak, but he's got range."

"You had experience Net Battling him before, got it," I nodded, giving Roll the chips she needed, along with the go ahead to attack.

"Mega, the program!" Lan commanded, with his Navi running to a swirling W in a globe-like cage. He prepared to do everything he can to deal with it.

"Number Ball!" Number Man summoned three blue balls with small two digit numbers. They slowly went toward Roll, though she took care of them with a few Roll Arrows.

"Quake 2!" Roll threw a glowing ball that turned into a Flappy 2, a red variant of the Flappy virus. Like the kind of virus it is, it became heavy and dropped itself on Number Man.

"Fighter Sword!" I gave Roll an orange, long distance sword, which she swung and connected with her opponent, leaving a significant mark on his left arm.

"Enough!" He shrieked, holding that arm in pain. "Time Bomb!"

A bomb appeared in front of her, counting down from three to zero. She let it, dancing to avoid the explosion at the last second.

"Dice Bomb!" A block of die came from the light green Navi's claw-like hand, rolling a three and exploding. However, it clearly missed the intended target by a mile.

"Wave! Slot in!" Number Man's operator gave him a chip, which he was happy to use. He threw out a wave of water and sent it Roll's way.

"Barrier!" Knowing Higsby would try something like this, I gave Roll a protective barrier that blocked the water from damaging her. Along with…

"Dyna Wave!" Another pickaxe for Roll to use, but much faster and more powerful. It could've shredded through Number Man if he were more damaged.

"AIEEEEE!" Number Man fell to the ground, rolling in pain.

"Alright, how about Muramasa?!" Higsby yelled, holding the rare and highly powerful Battle Chip in his fingertips.

"M-Mr. Higsby…" Number Man stammered, making the effort to stand up. "Y-You can't use that chip…! I-It's too priceless to use…!"

"O-Oh, right," Higsby cooled down, nervously chuckling to himself.

"Is that the Muramasa Blade chip in your pocket?" I questioned, slightly curious. "The one I helped you get in the Undernet two years ago?"

"H-Huh?" From his screen, I could see a glimpse of the man he once was. "Yeah, it is. Now that I think about it, you turned down the 50,000 Zenny reward I offered you!"

"I didn't need it," I shrugged, leaning against the shutters in the hallway I was in. "You had an honest business to run."

"I-It wasn't any big deal. I just wanted to add it to my personal Chip Library. You know, you helped me back there."

"And you helped plenty of customers get the chips they needed. You poured your heart into your shop, almost like how Ms. Mari did for teaching."

"I never thought of it like that," He looked back to the past, thinking of the past. "Ms. Mari was actually nice, huh? Hey, did something happen?"

"Yeah," I sighed with some regret, "You know about the student crimes that have happened as of late, right?"

"W-Wait, a-are you saying that she was in the crossfire?" Higsby questioned with shock before a loud sound made him cringe and plug his ears.

"Higsby, what happened?!" I saw what happened from the screen, unable to do something about it.

Just then, the noise from the Reeducation Program in the P.A. system got louder in the hallway, forcing me to close my ears with the other students.

"You will do as I command, my new WWW agents!" The voice roared, "You risk destruction upon yourselves if you disobey me now!"

"Higsby, stop this!" I shouted through my PET, seeing the network fluctuate.

"I-I serve the WWW!" His voice cried out, "B-But Ms. Mari! This wasn't supposed to happen! What have I done?!"

"Lan, Mega Man!" I called, "The noise is getting louder in the halls! The program might be getting to us! Do something!"

"I-I'm trying!" Lan yelled, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth. "But the noise down here…! I-It's getting in my head! M-My brain could explode! Mega!"

"I-It's no good!" Mega Man tried covering the ear sections on his helmet, "I-I can't stop it!"

"Mega!" Roll cried, running to his side. "Number Man, help us!"

"B-But my allegiance is with the WWW!" He argued as his brain flickered several times, "I have to serve them! They're my masters!"

"You and Higsby are your own masters!" Lan's voice got through the network, "They're making everyone suffer! They hurt Ms. Mari, and several other students and adults! Do you want them to get away with this?!"

"N-No…!" Higsby growled, even when the noise in the basement got louder. "I-I'm shutting this down! Number Man, Muramasa!"

"Yamitaro, are you sure?!" Number Man questioned, the WWW's hold on him outweighed by his own desire.

"Yes, now go!" His operator inserted the chip into his PET, just as Number Man stood in front of the Reeducation Program.

"Muramasa Blade!" Number Man's right arm turned into a silver katana glowing with violet red energy. With no hesitation, he swung it at the program, cleaving it in two, deleting it and restoring the network.

The School Computer's security measures kicked in, forcing Navis to automatically log out. With that done, protocols kicked in, with viruses getting deleted with little warning.

The voice and noises over the P.A. system ceased, along with the virtual illusions on each of the classrooms blackboards. The WWW was no longer in charge of the school.

"T-They did it," I sighed in relief, looking to the PET.

"Mayl, are you alright?" Lan asked.

"I'm fine," I told him, "That was a close one."

"Mr. Higsby?" Lan called, not getting a response. "Higsby?"

"Something's wrong…" I had no idea how right I was.

01101011001101010101110111000100100010011010110100101001

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Higsby screamed, covering his ears as the noise emanated from his own PET. "MAKE IT STOP, PLEASE!"

"I'm sorry, Yamitaro…" Number Man spoke in a monotone voice, "But the master programmed me to do this…"

"The phrase I used to control you as a sleeper was 'Would you be so kind,'" The WWW's leader softly spoke, "Powerful enough words to force you and others to do my bidding. But in your case, another trigger word was needed, in the event you got wise to my suggestions, and because you are unique."

"P-Please s-stop this…!" Higsby laid on the ground, begging to the leader with tears in his eyes. "I-I can't take this...!"

"I'm sure you can handle Cross Fusion," The old man chuckled, "You merely need your mind to be in sync with your Navi. Stand up now, Yamitaro."

Higsby went silent, lifting himself off the ground and picking up his PET.

"Your new target is no longer the ACDC High School. But Lan Hikari. Would you get changed and meet him, Yamitaro?"

"Y-Yes…" Higsby stammered, "A-As you wish, L-Lord Wily."

CHAPTER 5 END