New Megaman Battle Network

A complete reimagining of the universe and stories of Megaman Battle Network.

Story 1: New Origins

Chapter 1: First Impressions

The sound of school bells could be heard all throughout the metropolis of Den City, capital of the nation of Electopia. The ringing was quickly followed by the sounds of children, cheering and yelling and laughing as they busted through the front doors of their respective schools. The crowds quickly dispersed, streaming in various directions, walking toward their homes or to whatever form of public transit they preferred.

Outside of one school, P.S. 118, an eleven-year-old boy with spiky brown hair was running down the sidewalk, turning his head to look back at one of his friends. "Race you to the cable car, Dex!"

"Hah! You're on, Lan!" A tall, stout, darker-skinned boy behind him started picking up the pace, chasing after him. "I'll beat you even with your head start!"

The two boys sprinted as quickly as they could, toward the red cable car that sat parked roughly fifty yards away. As the two of them closed in on the finish line, they turned their heads to see a redheaded girl of the same age dash past them with ease, beating them both to the cable car without breaking a sweat.

"Looks like I win!" she declared, turning around as she climbed on, not winded at all.

"Oh, come on, Mayl!" Lan exclaimed. "That's not fair! You run track and we don't!" Mayl stuck out her tongue at the two of them as Lan, then Dex, reached the door. All three of them stepped inside to claim seats, as other children began to crowd the cable car.

Once the vehicle was full, it came to life and pulled forward, drawing up to an Internet-controlled traffic light, and a laser-like barrier that guarded the crosswalk. Nearly every element of this city, like most cities in the world, was connected to its computerized counterpart, Den Net City. In the year of 2084, most of the world was controlled by computers, and almost every computerized device was linked together by the massive Net. Governments controlled it, scientists developed it, businesses depended on it, and children were taught how to use it in schools. As the light turned green, the wall in front of the cable car vanished, and the vehicle continued on toward the suburb of ACDC, as Lan filled his friends in on the exciting news he had received earlier that day.

"Really? Your own custom Navi?" Mayl asked.

Lan nodded, restless in his seat and eager to get home. "Yep! Dad's making it for me and everything! It'll be the best ever!" She grinned and listened as her longtime child friend talked excitedly about his new Net Navigator program, a virtual avatar with which he could surf the Net and engage in virtual battles with other Navis, among other things.

"...and on top of that, I asked Dad if he would be really strong, and he said I wouldn't even have to worry about battles anymore!" Lan finished.

"Ha!" Dex laughed from the seat in front of them, his body turned around to face them both, his arms resting on the back of the seat. "You'll have reason to worry if you try to put any Navi up against my Gutsman! He's not been beaten yet, y'know!"

"We'll see who's laughing after tomorrow, pal! Which of us is the better operator?" Mayl giggled as the two engaged in a boasting match, and the conversation continued all the way to Lan and Mayl's stop in ACDC Town. Mayl stood up and walked to the front of the car, and Lan began to follow suit, before Dex's hushed voice stopped him.

"Psst! Lan!" he whispered. "Are we still on for tonight?"

Lan nodded, responding in a similarly quiet voice. "You bet! I'll be bringing my new Navi with me!" Dex grinned and gave Lan a covert thumbs-up, sitting back in his seat as Lan and Mayl stepped off the cable car, parting ways and heading to their individual houses.

"Hey, Mom! Is Dad home yet?" Lan called out as he opened his front door and stepped into his home, tossing his backpack to the side. He looked around to find his mother, Haruka, standing in the kitchen, her short brown hair moving about a bit as she moved about.

"You know he's not, dear. He always works later on weekdays," she replied as she fussed about the stove, where she was working on Lan's favorite dish, curry rice. "You'll probably have your new present in a few hours. Just be patient."

Lan sighed and nodded, heading into the family room to watch TV and wait agitatedly.

Four hours later, Lan was full of curry rice and sitting upside-down on the couch, watching a superhero cartoon on the television and kicking his feet impatiently. His mother was sitting at the dining room table, rewriting an essay for the second time; after several years of being a stay-at-home mother, Haruka had chosen to return to school and pursue a teaching degree.

The instant he heard the rattling of a doorknob, Lan was immediately off the couch and racing toward the front door. He slid up to it just as it opened, watching as a thirty-something, brown-haired man with glasses stepped through the door. Lan's father, Yuichiro Hikari, was a renowned scientist and the head of Net research at the National Science Laboratories, which the citizens of Den City frequently referred to as "SciLab".

"You're home!" Lan exclaimed excitedly. "Is it here? Is it ready?"

His father chuckled at the boy's eagerness, shutting the door. "My day was just fine, thanks for asking." He slid his jacket off, hanging it up as Haruka also stood up, walking over. "Yes, your Navi is ready. Go get your PET and bring it here."

Lan took off like a rocket, racing upstairs toward his room to get his Personal Terminal, or PET, out of its charger next to his computer. This was an electronic device owned by almost all children and most adults; it allowed access to email, the Net and more, and was also the device that housed a person's Navi. He quickly grabbed it and removed it from the charger, turning back around and sprinting to the kitchen table, where his father had set up a laptop computer.

"Here!" Lan held out his PET in front of his father's face; Yuichiro took it gently as he sat down at the table, connecting it to a cable that was attached to the computer. He started typing away, executing a variety of commands, until the PET beeped and started displaying a loading bar.

"Alright, installation is underway," he spoke, sitting back. "Your PET is going to need a full reconfiguration to support the Navi, and that will take a couple of hours. But we should be able to see him in your PET in just a couple of minutes."

"That's awesome!" Lan leaned over the table, looking into the screen of his PET. "What is he going to look like? Is he going to be bigger than Dex's Navi?"

"Well, I don't know how big that is." His father stretched out his arms. "You'll see soon enough." Lan nodded, picking up his PET and watching the progress bar slowly fill up, each minute feeling like an eternity. Three eternities later, the device made another affirmative beep, and the progress bar disappeared, with a humanoid figure starting to form in its place.

"It's him!" he exclaimed excitedly, eyes glued to the screen, as his parents both got up and stood behind him, wanting to see this moment for themselves. The three of them watched as the Navi took form, and before too long, they were all looking down at a blue-armored Navi of average height, with a face that looked pretty similar to Lan's. He looked back at the three of them, a little surprised, but pleasantly so.

"Wow, I guess the whole family's here, huh?" He glanced over the smiling faces of Lan's parents, before settling back on the young boy. "You're Lan, right?"

Lan's eyebrows raised. "You know my name?"

"Sure I do. Your dad's told me plenty about you." He smiled eagerly. "I'm Megaman! Nice to meet you!"

"Megaman, huh?" Lan ran his eyes over the Navi's frame, trying to take some measure of his strength. "Doesn't look real Mega to me…"

Megaman's smile started to fade from his face a bit, not having expected such a muted reaction from his operator. "Ah… so you're worried about that… well, trust me, I'm a lot stronger than I look." He flexed one of his biceps, trying to win Lan's approval.

"He sure is," Lan's father chimed in from behind. "I know how much you enjoy Netbattling, Lan. Do you really think I'd create a Navi from scratch for you and not have him be strong?" Lan frowned, his father's words not reassuring him much. He had wanted a Navi with an immediate visual impact, one that would intimidate all of his classmates; they probably weren't going to be too impressed by a Navi that was effectively him in a blue bodysuit, he thought to himself.

"Oh, this is so exciting! It's like having a new member of the family," Haruka exclaimed, leaning in closer. "Lan, sweetie, give him a tour of the house, would you?"

"What?" Lan turned his head, giving his mother a puzzled look. "Why would I do that? It's a Navi, not a houseguest."

"You want to be a good host, of course!" She reached forward, snatching the PET out of Lan's hands and standing up. "Never mind, I'll do it myself." Lan turned and watched as his mother started showing the entryway and kitchen to the Navi, the PET screen facing outward.

"Mom, are you serious?" he asked incredulously. "He's a computer program! He's not even going to be in the house!" He sighed, as he felt his father clap a hand onto his shoulder.

"Oh, let your mother have her fun for a few moments." Yuichiro and Lan watched together as Haruka showed off the house. "It is pretty exciting, after all, like she said."

"Yeah, I guess so…" Lan grumbled.

"Appearances aren't everything, you know, Lan," his father responded, looking down at him. "This Navi isn't just a present I made in my spare time. Megaman's a highly advanced Navi, probably the most complex one I've ever made." He rubbed his son's shoulder reassuringly. "Just give him a chance. I'm sure he's going to blow you away with what he can do."

Lan nodded, eyes following his PET, hoping that his father was right about that.

Later that night, Lan had bid his parents goodnight and retired to his room, as his PET sat in its charger with its new occupant. Megaman was looking around the bedroom curiously, wanting to take in as many details as he could, as Lan sat on his bed.

"So I suppose this is our room now," the Navi remarked, eyeing the soccer net in the corner. "Well… my room is this PET, I guess, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah…" Lan nodded, barely listening, and rapidly changed the subject. "So, Megaman… is the whole PET reconfiguring thing done? When is that?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, it is." Megaman nodded. "It finished about twenty minutes ago."

"Perfect." Lan grinned and hopped off of the bed, reaching out and taking the PET out of its dock. "What do you say to going on a little adventure?"

His Navi blinked in surprise. "Adventure? I thought you were going to bed. Do you want to browse the Net or something?"

"Nope." Lan placed the PET into a holster on his hip, before stepping over to his bedroom window and slowly sliding it open, trying not to make too much noise. "We're going to be doing something way more interesting." He reached down to the floor and grabbed a pair of skate wheels, designed to attach to his shoes, then climbed up onto the windowsill, perching on it like a gargoyle. He waited for a cautious moment before taking a large, gaping step over to a tree in the backyard, stepping onto one of the larger and sturdier branches.

"You're sneaking out?!" Despite his shock and concern, Megaman kept his voice hushed. "This is the first thing I'm going to be doing with my operator?"

"You're not going to tell Mom and Dad, are you?" The boy glanced down at his hip as he carefully walked over to the trunk, wrapping his arms around it and slowly sliding down.

"I definitely should," his Navi began. "But… I guess someone should keep you out of trouble, whatever it is you're doing. Please just don't go and do anything stupid." His better judgment was telling him to put a stop to this somehow, but it was beaten out by his desire to win his operator's approval one way or another.

Lan grinned triumphantly as he quietly tiptoed through the backyard to the front of the house, stepping onto the sidewalk. Once he had walked a good distance away, he attached his skates to his shoes and started zooming toward downtown.

Fifteen minutes later, the boy and his Navi were approaching an old three-story building on the outskirts of downtown Den City. Lan looked up into the windows, seeing several lights flashing in irregular patterns.

"Here we are," he spoke aloud so his Navi could hear. "There is where we're meeting Dex."

"We're meeting him at an abandoned power plant?" Megaman clarified, picking up on the location by scanning the local Net. "I already don't like this. What are you two doing here?"

"It's nothing bad!" Lan insisted. "We're just going to take a look through the power plant network."

"And why are you doing that?"

The boy reached down and removed the PET from its holster, aiming the screen at the building so the Navi within could take a look. "See how the lights are flashing in a weird way?"

There was a brief pause as Megaman studied the building. "Yeah… and?"

"Well, sometimes at night, people have said they can hear machinery starting up in there, even though nobody should be working there anymore," Lan continued. "This all started a few days ago. Some people are saying the building is haunted."

"Haunted?" The agitation was clear in Megaman's voice. "And let me guess, you and Dex are going to investigate it?"

"We're just going to look around the plant's network and see what we can find," Lan replied, as if this was a reasonable thing to do. "We're not going to look for trouble or anything."

"Lan, do you remember when I asked you not to do anything stupid?" Megaman responded, already sounding defeated.

"You're worrying too much. Nothing bad is going to happen." Lan stopped himself as he saw Dex waiting on a nearby corner, and the two waved to each other as Lan approached.

"Took you long enough!" Dex complained, even though Lan was right on time. "So, do you have your new Navi? Let's see it!"

"Yeah, I do…" Lan answered, suddenly a bit apprehensive at the idea of showing Megaman off, with his unimpressive appearance. "But let's go find the jack-in point first."

Dex nodded in agreement, and the two boys began walking down the sidewalk, stopping at a streetlight close to the front door of the power plant. Each of them reached down to their PETs and grabbed a long cable built into each device, pulling them out and connecting them to appropriately-shaped plugs on the pole of the streetlight. With their PETs jacked in, the Navis inside were transferred through the connector on the streetlight into the downtown Den Net City network.

Dex's Navi appeared first inside the network, a large, yellow-and-red Navi with an oversized top half and enormous fists, looking not unlike a hulking gorilla. Megaman appeared next to him a moment later, looking rather shrimpy by comparison.

"So, you're the new Navi, huh?" the larger Navi asked, sizing up his companion, as Megaman turned to face him. "Name's Gutsman. Nice to meetcha!" He extended one of his gigantic hands, which looked like it could crush Megaman in its grip with no trouble.

"Same to you!" Lan's Navi extended his arm as well, and the two shook hands awkwardly, with Gutsman's hand practically swallowing the other. "I'm Megaman."

"So that's him?" Dex leaned over and glanced at the screen of Lan's PET. "Doesn't look like much, huh?"

Lan bristled at this comment, even though he had been in full agreement hours ago. "He may be smaller than Gutsman, but he's way stronger, trust me!" he bluffed, having no faith in Megaman's strength, but needing to put on a confident face in front of Dex.

Dex's eyebrows raised in disbelief. "Way stronger, huh? Sure, whatever you say, Lan."

"You'll see!" Lan insisted, hoping against hope that his bluff would never be called. Fortunately for him, Dex brushed the comment off and turned back to his PET, and the two Navis made their way into the power plant network, easily bypassing the lackluster and neglected security system.

Once inside, Megaman took a careful look around, seeing various systems and devices in disrepair, not having been tended to for who knows how long. "Are we sure things aren't just malfunctioning? This network has definitely seen better days," he suggested, wanting to get his operator away from here and back home as soon as possible.

"Maybe, but that's boring," Lan answered. "We at least need to look and try to find something else." His Navi sighed and continued to slowly explore the neglected network, accompanied by Gutsman. It wasn't long before the two of them stumbled upon a group of three small, ankle-high creatures wearing hard hats and wielding pickaxes; they jammed the tools randomly into the floor of the network, mindlessly causing destruction.

"Looks like some Mettool viruses." Gutsman stepped forward and cracked his knuckles. "We know what to do about those, right, Dex?"

"You bet we do!" Dex started rapidly pressing buttons on his PET, and his Navi took a battle stance, rearing his fist back. As he thrust his arm forward, his fist detached and flew toward one of the Mettools at a high speed, smashing into the viruses's helmet. The hard hat cracked and shattered, and the virus emitted a small squeal as its body dissolved into tiny particles and blew away like dust in the wind.

"Boom! Deleted in one shot!" Gutsman boasted, proud of himself. He reattached his fist as it flew back toward him, cocking it like a shotgun as he turned toward the other two viruses. Before he could attack again, a small blast of energy flew into one of the Mettools and exploded, deleting it instantly; another blast quickly dispatched the second one. Gutsman whirled around to look at Megaman, whose arm was outstretched and aimed at the former viruses. His hand had been converted into a small energy cannon, which was now smoking from the barrel.

"Yeah, they don't really put up much of a fight, do they?" he commented, looking back toward his companion. Gutsman was staring at him in disbelief, but quickly shook himself out of it.

"Er… yeah. Nothing much to worry about," Gutsman answered, trying his best to play it cool. Outside of the Cyberworld, both Lan and Dex were staring, stunned, at Megaman's display of power; Lan's Navi was the only one who appeared to be unaware of his own strength.

Lan managed to tear himself away from his PET screen, smirking at Dex, suddenly filled with much more confidence than before. "See? I told you he was stronger than he looked!"

Dex grumbled, not meeting Lan's gaze. "Yeah, yeah… a virus is one thing, but a Navi battle's another. We'll see how strong he is when we have our Netbattle tomorrow." Lan nodded in agreement, breathing more easily as he looked back at his own PET screen, and the two Navis continued to explore the network and destroy viruses.

Thirty minutes later, everyone involved had begun to lose their patience. Megaman and Gutsman had wandered through most of the areas in the local network, giving none of them a very thorough look due to the combined impatience of their operators. They had busted plenty of viruses, but other than that they had not found anything out of the ordinary.

"I think this is a bust, Dex," Lan conceded. "There's nothing but viruses here. For all we know, they're what's causing all the weird stuff to happen."

"Yeah, I guess." Dex sighed, disappointed, before he looked back at his companion with a gleam in his eye. "Well, since we didn't find anything, how about we try out your new Navi with a Netbattle?" Lan hesitated to answer, still not entirely sure about how a battle between their Navis might work out.

"Lan, hold on!" The hushed voice of his Navi drew his attention back to his PET. "There's someone here!"

Both boys brought their PET screens up close to their eyes, trying to see what Megaman was seeing. Looking closely, they observed a black-and-yellow Navi with four Tesla coils extending from its back in an X shape. It was on one knee, rifling through some machinery, apparently searching for something.

"Who's that?" Lan wondered aloud, as the Navi pulled out a glowing, yellow piece of data. "What's he doing?"

"I'm not sure…" Megaman watched as the strange Navi clasped the file in his hand, sending it to some remote location, and stood up. "Maybe we should watch and-"

"Hey, you!" Gutsman stepped out into the open, pointing at the other intruder with an overlarge finger. "What do you think you're doing here?" Megaman cursed internally before stepping up behind his less-than-stealthy companion.

The other Navi quickly spun about to face them, surprised. His eyes narrowed. "How long have you two been here?"

"Long enough!" Gutsman continued, ramming his fist into his open palm. "Whatever you're doing here, it's over!" Megaman kept quiet, keeping his eyes on the yellow-and-black Navi, praying that Gutsman would shut up before he got them in over their heads.

The opposing Navi flexed his fingers. "Is that so… in that case…" A glowing ball of electricity quickly formed in his right hand. "This will teach your operators to trifle with World Three!" He flung the ball toward the other two Navis, who leaped in opposite directions to dodge.

"World Three?!" Gutsman exclaimed, immediately recognizing the name. "You're with those Net mafia goons?!"

"You just had to say something, didn't you?!" Megaman snapped at him, incredulous that the first few hours with his operator had taken a turn in this direction. "You couldn't just sit still and hide?!"

Dex's Navi tried to answer, but he was forced to jump away in order to dodge another projectile. Regaining his balance, he raised his overlarge fists above his head and slammed them into the ground, shaking the Cyberworld around them; the World Three Navi had to fight to stay upright, before a blast from a Cannon Battlechip, courtesy of Megaman, knocked him to the ground.

"Nice shot!" Gutsman called out. "Time to deliver the hurt!" He ran toward the enemy Navi and leaped into the air, ready to pound him into paste. His foe recovered quickly, summoning a long blade crackling with electricity to replace his hand, and Gutsman had to twist awkwardly to avoid the attack in midair. The sword still delivered a long and shallow wound to his stomach, and Gutsman collapsed to the ground, holding the injury and grunting in pain.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" The criminal Navi turned to see Megaman firing the Mega Buster cannon on his arm, shooting light projectiles toward him. The enemy dodged carefully before dashing forward, swiping at Lan's Navi with his crackling sword.

Megaman quickly dodged and flipped away, smirking. "You can do a bit better than that, I hope!"

Growing irritated, the enemy Navi swiped again and again at his foe, who dodged each blow with quick movements and mild taunts. After a minute of this, he was panting heavily, somewhat drained, while Megaman stood completely fresh in front of him. The Navi charged up another electricity attack, but it was interrupted as a flying fist crashed into him, knocking him away. Megaman turned to see Gutsman on his feet again, clearly in pain but still ready for a fight.

"Wow… if we keep this up, we might actually win!" Lan grinned as he sent a series of Minibombs for his Navi to use. Dex nodded in agreement, feeling energized and excited.

"You little brats…" The World Three Navi got out, catching his breath as he returned to a standing position. He watched his two opponents approach him, weapons drawn, before raising his hand and snapping his fingers. At that instant, the four tesla coils on his back all shot out electricity at an unprepared Megaman and Gutsman, who took it at full force, crying out as the energy coursed painfully through their frames.

"Megaman!" Lan gasped as the criminal Navi grabbed his foe by the leg, grinning evilly.

"Rule #5 of World Three... always have an ace up your sleeve!" he exclaimed, as he spun Megaman around and threw him into a large power converter. He fired a Heavy Cannon blast after him, and his enemy and the explosion both hit the power converter at the same time. When the smoke cleared, the converter was a pile of rubble, and Megaman was nowhere to be found.

CONNECTION LOST, read Lan's PET. He slammed his fist into the lamppost.

"Damn it!" he yelled out. "Megaman... I barely had you for 12 hours..." He rested his head against the lamppost, devastated, before turning his attention back to Gutsman and the battle. Dex's Navi was standing unsteadily, still recovering from the electric shock that had sapped his energy.

The World Three Navi smirked at the smoldering rubble, both bolstered and relieved by his victory, before turning his head toward his remaining opponent. "You really thought you could defeat me, didn't you?" He began to slowly march forward, his sword at his side. "Now you're going to see what happens when you tangle with Elecman… the last lesson you'll ever learn."

Gutsman tried to attack again, rearing his arm back to fire off another fist projectile, but another finger snap and another bolt of electricity brought a fresh round of searing pain, and he sank to his knees. He glanced up to see Elecman pointing his blade at his face, clearly relishing the moment. "So long, you hulking brute." He raised the sword above his head, preparing to strike.

A large explosion from behind them made both Navis jump, and they turned around toward the source of the sound. The pile of rubble had exploded violently, sending pieces of the former power converter scattering about, and small fires were burning here and there around the ruined machine. Elecman watched with horror as Megaman emerged and stood up, virtually unscathed, wearing a confident grin as he saw the expression on his opponent's face.

CONNECTION REESTABLISHED, flashed Lan's PET before returning to a view of his Navi, causing his face to light up. "You're okay!"

Megaman grinned. "Thanks for those Minibombs, Lan." He turned his head slightly to face Elecman, and Lan saw a strong confidence and excitement in his eyes that wasn't there a minute ago.

"That's the best you've got, huh?" He stood up fully, eyes focused on his shocked opponent, ready to battle once again. "Well, I guess it's my turn."

With speed greater than Elecman's, Megaman dashed forward and punched his enemy square in the jaw, and immediately after delivered a kick to the abdomen that sent him flying. He quickly took out his Buster and shot at Elecman all during his flight, before he crashed into the ground.

"Lan! I need a sword!" Megaman called out, ignoring the stunned stare from Gutsman.

"Got it!" Lan inserted a Sword Battlechip into his PET immediately, and Megaman's right arm glowed white and transformed into a blade. He grinned again and dashed at the World Three Navi, eager to put a quick end to this.

Still roughed up, Elecman slowly stood up and turned toward Megaman, to find he was a mere few feet away. He only had time to widen his eyes in shock before the blue Navi let loose with his sword, swiping away rapidly. A quarter of a second later, Megaman was behind Elecman, who stood for a second before feeling his tesla coils, along with one arm, drop off and fall to the ground.

"Gah!" He fell to one knee and grabbed the crackling, electrified stump that was once his arm, before turning his head toward Megaman, his teeth gritted in rage.

"You bastard... this isn't over between us! I'll get my revenge for this humiliation!" he snarled, before turning into a beam of light and disappearing upward, having been jacked out by his operator. Megaman smirked and put his sword away, satisfied.

"Holy crap, Megaman!" Lan was goggling at his Navi, looking for any signs of injury and seeing none. "You just beat a World Three Navi! You made him look like nothing!"

"I told you I was strong, didn't I? Your dad knew what he was doing when he made me." He turned and jogged over to Gutsman, extending his hand to help the Navi up. "Are you alright? You're not hurt too badly, are you?"

"I'm fine," Gutsman insisted, ignoring Megaman's helping hand and getting to his feet by himself, with great difficulty. "S'just a scratch." His ego was smarting a lot more than his torso, after watching Lan's Navi easily dispatch their foe. Seconds later, he turned into a yellow beam of light and flew upward into the sky, as Dex jacked him out and returned him to his PET.

Lan was grinning as he jacked Megaman out as well. "I sure didn't expect that… we thought we would find ghosts, and we found a criminal instead. And we stopped him! A couple of kids took down a World Three Navi!"

"Yeah, we did!" Dex chimed in, happy to claim some share of the credit. "We're like a couple of heroes! Nobody's going to mess with Gutsman now!" His chest swelled with pride, as the danger of the situation faded away, replaced with excitement.

"Man, I can't wait for our Netbattle now!" Lan looked back at his friend. "We're still on, right? Tomorrow after school?"

"Uh…" Dex froze, suddenly remembering that he had to battle the Navi that had just thrown Elecman around like a rag doll, all the wind vanishing from his sails. "Yeah, uh… maybe we should do that some other time. I need to make sure Gutsman hasn't been hurt too badly."

"Right, sure." Lan did his best to hide a smirk. "I'm ready whenever you're ready."

The two boys said their goodbyes and quickly parted, heading back to their respective homes, one of them riding high and the other one feeling somewhat emasculated.

Twenty minutes later, Lan was carefully entering his backyard, looking up at the tree that he needed to climb to return to his room. He leaped up and wrapped his arms and legs around the trunk, starting to shimmy upward.

"You know what time it is, don't you?" Megaman whispered.

"Oh, who cares?" Lan shot back. "We had an adventure that we're going to remember for the rest of our lives. That's worth losing a bit of sleep."

"I think 'adventure' might be overdoing it…"

Lan grabbed onto the branch outside his window and pulled himself onto it. "Just relax. Everything's fine." He glanced down at his PET with a wide smile. "You were really amazing out there. You're the best Navi I've ever seen!"

"Well…" Megaman couldn't help but smile, glad to finally be receiving the praise and respect of his operator. "I guess I have to be, if I'm going to keep you out of trouble."

"You really do worry too much." Lan carefully slid over to his window, leaning over as far as he could and grabbing onto the sill. "Nobody got hurt, and I didn't even get in trouble." He half-jumped over to the sill, sliding into his room through the still-open window.

As he turned and quietly closed the window, he jumped as the ceiling light in his room suddenly flicked on. Turning toward the light switch, he froze as he saw his parents standing by the door, arms folded, dressed in their sleep clothes. He felt his blood go cold as he took in the furious expressions on their faces.

"Hey, Mom… hey, Dad…" he uttered nervously.