This is my second fanfic, and first real story. It's based on MMBN (Mega Man Battle Network.) and in order to understand this story, you would have to have beaten the game. If you haven't gotten as far as Dentown, or had never played it, I suggest you read no further. For those who have, you must understand that the 'LifeVirus' is Dr. Wily's ultimate weapon. If you just don't give a @#$% about my warnings, you can go ahead and read it… but you probably won't understand it must also understand… no, I'm not spoiling any of the story line. You.
A source that will remain anonymous told me that my disclaims were rather rude. That will change and will never happen again… maybe.
(The following characters are my property: Calculus, Dana, and 'that person in the overcoat'. So, Capcom, please don't sue me for making 'em do what I want 'em to do.)
Chapter Prologue:
"You're going to have to tell them sooner or later"
"I know…"
"You can't keep putting this off, otherwise they'll find out on their own. Do you want me to…"
"No! No… I'll do it…"
"I know this is hard for you. Don't worry. I'll fix this. One way or the other."
"Thank… you."
Chapter #3: DataStrands"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! GUTSMAN! Aww, I wanted to win." Dex complained. He had just lost to Lan in a NetBattle. (Well, go figure!)
"Well Dex, we agreed on how much before the fight? 1000 zenny?"
"Yeah, yeah." Dex grumbled as he began downloading the money to Lan's PET. "By the way Lan, I can't believe you remembered to fight me after school. I figured because of all that stuff that happened at school today, that you'd forget."
"Dana… reminded me. She said that you told her to remind me."
"What? Her? After today I decided to never talk to her again. I didn't tell her anything."
"Then how did she…"
"Maybe she picked up on your gesture today in class. She does sit at the back of the room." Mega Man suggested
"Yeah," agreed Dex "That's probably it."
"Well, I'd better be going home. I've got surfing and shopping to do at home. I'm going to get some new Battle Chips."
"I swear, Lan" Dex laughed, "You're just getting those chips to beat me faster, aren't you?"
"Well, how'd you ever guess?" Lan said sarcastically. "See you, Dex"
"Yeah. See you, Lan."
-*~*~*-
Chaud flipped through the pages of a PET magazine in downtown Dentown. (So, the WWW is back in business, eh?) Chaud thought. He grinned slightly. If the WWW was back in business, then he was back in action. His minor grin instantly turned to a frown. If the WWW was back in business, and he was back in action, then that meant that kid, Lan, would be back. (He made me look bad enough, those five months ago. I won't let him…huh?) A rather tall person brushed passed Chaud. Turning to look, Chaud noted that the person was wearing a brown overcoat. His or her white hair draped down to his/her lower back.
"White hair…" he mumbled to himself thoughtfully. The WWW leader had white hair; of course the leader's hair was much shorter. The leader was also shorter then this person. But plenty of things could be done to cover that up, and a lot of things can happen in five months…
-*~*~*-
"MOM! I'M HOME EARLY! THE SCHOOLS COMPUTERS ARE BUSTED! DO WE HAVE ANYTHING GOOD TO EAT?"
"At a time like this, all you can think of is food?"
"Come on Mega Man, I'm only human."
"Oh, thanks for bringing that up."
"What?"
Mrs Hikari was out in the backyard, planting flowers, when she heard her son's voice. She came into the kitchen to find her son sitting on the couch, watching TV.
"I'm sorry, Lan. I haven't gone shopping for groceries, so we don't have anything for lunch. The Metroline's open, so why don't you head down to Dentown and pick some things up, or you can go to the Government Complex and buy some lunches there."
"I might as well go to Dentown. Then I can get some stuff so you don't have to mom." Lan knew that he was going to get sidetracked sometime today. And he could always go to Higsby's shop on the way there or back, so it really didn't matter to him.
"Alright. Here's 2500 zenny for the groceries. You can keep 500, but I want whatever you have left back, ok?"
"Sure, mom!" Lan said. He got the money from his mom and ran out the door thinking (I might as well go to Higsby's first.)
-*~*~*-
Chaud was following the person. He pretended to look and be interested in the magazines and newspapers on a nearby stand. Chaud had figured out that this person was a male, and that he was wearing sunglasses, but that really wasn't enough to accuse him of anything. Since it was a guy, Chaud had decided there was only one thing to do: follow, corner, and question him upon him doing something suspicious. The only problem was that this guy hadn't done anything suspicious except wearing that overcoat on a day like this. (Soon… you will make a mistake, and then I will have you… soon).
-*~*~*-
"Hey Higs!" Lan said casually as he walked up to the counter. "Got anything good today?"
The former WWW employee thought a moment. "Huh, I got some rare stuff in today, Lan. Wanna take a look?"
"Why not. What is it?"
"That's just the thing, huh. I haven't a clue. I found it on the net this morning, thought that it could be useful, downloaded it to a blank Battle Chip, and here it is." He said, showing the blank, black, Battle Chip. "I'll leave you to guess what exactly it is, m'kay?" Higsby said, and then walked to another part of the counter, where a customer was waiting.
"You think it could be a DataStrand?" Mega Man wondered "Dana said that you could find 'em on the net."
"Yeah, but she also said that there were only 20 of 'em. Apparently, they don't grow on trees."
"Well, then. Were just going to have to ask Higs where on the net he found it."
"Hey, Higs!" Lan said, getting the shopkeeper's attention.
"Haven't figured it out yet, huh?" Higsby asked, after he finished with the customer.
"We need to know where on the net you found this, Higs." Mega Man said flatly.
"That, huh? Around the place where the WWW server once was. Does that help you any?"
"Yeah, plenty." Lan said "Well, if you found it there, there we're just going to have to assume that it's a DataStrand."
"Huh? A what?"
"I'll tell you later, Higs. How much?"
"You need it, huh? Well, because it's you, Lan, I'll just give it to ya. But next time, you're going to have to pay full price like everyone else, m'kay?"
"Thanks a lot, Higs. See ya later!" Lan said, stuffing the blank Battle Chip into his sack, then darted out the door and headed for the Metroline.
-*~*~*-
Lan boarded the train heading for Dentown.
"So, we got a DataStrand Mega Man." Suddenly, Lan's phone rang.
"Hello? This is Lan…"
"Hey, Lan. It's Dana. Sounds like you're in the Metroline station."
"Actually, I'm on a train headed for Dentown."
"Great! Listen, can you do something for me?"
Lan laughed. "It hasn't even been two hours yet, and already you start bossing me around"
"No one said that you had to help me."
"Aw, who cares? What do you want done?"
"Well, I have a… close friend…named Tyro… who's in Dentown right now. He e-mailed me earlier, saying that he has something for my PET. I'm kinda busy right now, and your already heading there, so can you pick it up for me?"
"A DataStrand?"
"I'm not sure… he didn't specify."
"… fine. Ill do it."
"Great!" Dana filled Lan in on how he looked like, and what block of Dentown he was probably in. "Thanks again, Lan. You're a lifesaver" she said and hung up.
"Man, she's straight to the point. I didn't even get to ask her how she knew that Dex 'n me were supposed to NetBattle today or how she got my phone number." Lan complained.
"She's just… a mystery…" sang Mega Man.
"Shut up"
-*~*~*-
(We have arrived at our destination. All passengers please exit the train. Thank you for using DenCity Metroline, and have a nice day!)
Lan left the Metroline station and emerged into the bustling city of Dentown. He looked over at the stoplights, and remembered what a mess Color Man had made of them those 5 months ago. All the crashes, crashes, and more crashes of the cars. The lights were working fine now, just the way he had left them. He strapped on his trusty roller blades, and darted towards downtown Dentown.
-*~*~*-
Lan rushed past stands and shops in downtown Dentown. He wondered how well Ms. Yuri was doing, she always seemed so happy. Lan screeched to a stop at the lights; that when he heard it. A noise… a voice…
"Chaud?" Lan wondered. He slowly went backwards, until he saw Chaud in an alleyway. He had cornered a man in a brown overcoat, and was shooting questions at him like wildfire.
"How long has the WWW been back? Where is the new WWW base location? How could the WWW leader still be alive? Are YOU the WWW leader?"
"Listen, kid. I don't know WHAT you're talking about. I don't even know what a WWW is!"
"THAT'S WHAT THEY ALL SAY!"
"Hey, Lan…" Mega Man piped up "That guy…doesn't he match the description that Dana gave us?"
"Yeah… you're right!"
"Then lets intrude in on Chaud's rampage, roger?"
"Roger that, Mega Man!"
-*~*~*-
"Chaud!" Lan yelled as he darted into the alleyway.
"Oh it's you, Lan." Chaud grinned, "Look, I bagged the WWW leader. And you didn't. Boo Hoo."
"WHAT?!?!?!"
"The only thing you found, Chaud, is the person I was looking for. He is not the WWW leader!"
"How do you know, Lan?" growled Chaud. Lan ignored him for the moment. He turned to the guy in the overcoat.
"You… are you Tyro?" Lan asked. The man looked up into the sky, as if in deep thought. His red tinted sunglasses gleamed in the sunlight. Finally, he looked back at Lan.
"Yeah. That's me. May I ask how you know me?"
"Your friend, Dana, asked me to come and get something for her Navi from you."
"Dana…" Tyro said, looking back into the sky. He crossed his arms then looked back at Lan yet again. "Oh, her. Yeah, I've got that. Give me a minute." He began to search his overcoat's pockets, and didn't even think of opening his overcoat. "Ah. Here it is." Out of a hidden pocket he pulled out a small, green, computer chip, and gave it to Lan. "That's it. Now whatever you do, DON'T lose it!"
"Right." Lan said simply.
"Send Dana my regards. Goodbye." He walked straight past Chaud and Lan, and back into the streets of Dentown.
"And that…" Lan told Chaud, "Is how I know that he isn't the WWW leader."
"You'd better stay out of my way this time, Lan. This is a job for us NetBattlers, not citizens."
"Chaud! You're saying that you'd treat me differently if I were an Official NetBattler?"
"No."
"Listen, Chaud. We should be on the same side, not rivals. And face it. Proto Man is no match for the WWW alone. You can't stop me from trying to save DenCity, like you. We can do this together or separately. Your choice."
"My choice? Let me think. Hmm. ALONE!" Chaud walked out of the alleyway, leaving Lan to himself.
"That Chaud…" Lan fumed.
"Lan, aren't you hungry?" Mega Man reminded him.
"I almost forgot! Lunch!" Lan exclaimed. He dashed out of the alleyway, in peruse of the Food shop.
END OF CHAPTER #3!
Yet another chapter done. I'll get working on Chap. #4 as soon as I finish watching "What's The Worst That Could Happen?" I still need ideas for my upcoming Monty Python project I've currently titled 'Mega Man and the Holy Buster Gun'. I'm going to use the same basic story line, but I need to assign MM characters to positions. I know I'm going to have Data the monkey as Patsy (the guy that walks around Arthur banging the coconuts together to make the sound of a horse galloping.) I have 4 MM's to choose from for Arthur's position: The original, MMX, MMV/MMT, and MM from MMBN. E-mail the ideas to me @ Shadow_Dragon64@hotmail.com or submit the ideas in a review to this story.