Chapter two: Flaming Frenzy
Lan stared at the e-mail, a horrified look on his face. Megaman looked at him with concern.
"T-This can't be happening..." Lan whispered, too petrified to talk any louder.
"What do we do?" Megaman asked. "Wily threatened that if we tried to stop him, he'd kill them."
"But that lunatic could be torturing them!" Lan suddenly exclaimed. "Or starving them! I can't just stand around while that's happening! I HAVE to stop Wily!"
"I see your point." Megaman said. "Okay. We'll go after Wily. But I have this feeling that it's not going to be as easy as last time."
"I don't care! Mom and dad are in danger!" Lan replied. "What are we going to do?!"
"First things first, Lan." Megaman stated. "We have to find out where Wily's hiding out. We should stop by the Government Complex and see if your dad dropped any clues."
"Okay." Lan replied. "Let's get over to the subway."
Lan bolted from the house and rushed towards the subway, almost crashing into Dex on the way. Lan rushed into the subway that was heading towards the complex and was on his way.
Soon, Lan arrived at the complex. Lan left the subway and ran into the main yard of the giant building. Outside, the many people who worked at the complex, including Sal and Masa, were gathered around the building, all of them looking like they were frenzied. The only one absent was Dr. Froid. Lan rushed over to a group of people. One of the people was Sal. Lan's green-haired female friend saw him coming.
"Lan! Oh, I'm so sorry that this happened!" Sal exclaimed. "Your father's been abducted!"
"I know." Lan replied. "I got a threatening note from Dr. Wily. But why is everyone out here?"
"Because there's something wrong with the main computer!" A scientist replied. "The main network's burst into flames! If the fire gets any worse, the computer will be destroyed!"
"Wait a minute..." Lan said, looking around. "Where's Dr. Froid?!"
"He stayed inside the complex!" The scientist replied. "He and Iceman are going to try to put out the fire!"
"What?!" Lan cried. "I've gotta go help him!"
Without giving anyone else any time to object, Lan rushed towards the complex, plowed his way through the many people in his way and rushed into the building.
Lan remembered where the main computer was, so he rushed over to the elevator and took a trip down to the lower floor. Once the doors opened, Lan rushed out of the elevator and ran towards the main generator room.
Lan burst through the door to the generator room and found Dr. Froid trying to put out a fire which was slowly spreading with a fire extinguisher. Lan grabbed a second one and ran to assist the scientist.
"Lan! What're you doing here?!" Dr. Froid asked. "Get out of here while you still can!"
"No way, Dr. Froid!" Lan replied. "I'll help you put out these flames while I jack Megaman into the computer and have him put out the internal flames!"
"I've already sent Iceman into the network, but he might need help!" Dr. Froid stated.
"That settles it!" Lan replied as he rushed over to the nearest jack-in port. "Megaman! Let's get these flames under control!"
"You got it!" Megaman replied before jacking in.
In the network, Megaman materialized, immediately being greeted by several flames. Megaman found a break in the flames and rushed through.
"Iceman!" Megaman called out. "Iceman! You here?"
Megaman rushed through the computers network, having to fight off a few Metools in the process.
"Megaman!" Lan's voice cried. "Hurry up! I don't know how long Dr. Froid and I can hold off these flames!"
"I'm hurrying! I'm hurrying!" Megaman replied as he continued through the network.
Soon, Megaman came across one huge flame that was blocking the whole path. Suddenly, Megaman noticed the small navi that was lying on the ground.
"Iceman!" Megaman cried as he rushed over to his small friends side and helped him up. "What happened?"
"Megaman?" Iceman said. "What're you doing here?"
"Don't worry about that now. What happened?" Megaman repeated.
"Well, I was attempting to take down this huge flame, as it seemed like I was going to find what I was looking for behind it." Iceman explained. "Suddenly, I was attacked by Metools and Firetowers and Cannons. I couldn't take on all of them at once, and they defeated me."
"I'll help. You work on taking down that flame. I'll take on any viruses that try to stop you." Megaman said.
"Okay. Sounds like a plan." Iceman replied as he turned to the giant flame and started exhaling.
As Iceman got to work on the flame with his ice breath, Megaman kept a keen eye open for any approaching viruses.
Megaman was quickly swarmed with a group of four Metools. They didn't put up much of a fight, and Megaman pulled out of the battle without a scratch. He turned to his small friend.
"How's it coming, Iceman?" Megaman asked.
"I'm getting there." Iceman replied. "Just give me a few more minutes."
The next viruses Megaman fought was three Cannons. They were each on a different row of squares. Megaman realized that this wouldn't be so easy. If all three cannons fired at once, he wouldn't be able to avoid the shots. Megaman was hit a few times, but he still managed to wipe out all the Cannons. He turned back to Iceman.
"You get through the flame yet, Iceman?" Megaman asked.
"I'm almost through." Iceman explained. "One more wave of viruses and I should have this beat."
Megaman looked ahead. It would be easier said than done to get through this wave, as three Firetowers were floating towards him.
Megaman charged up his buster as one of the Firetowers sent out a stream of fire at him. Megaman quickly dodged the attack and fired a fully-charged buster, which nailed one of the Firetowers, wiping out most of its health. A few normal buster shots and the Firetower was deleted.
As Megaman charged up his buster again, he used a SonicWave chip and used it on one of the remaining viruses. The SonicWave was enough to take out another Firetower completely, and just as Megaman finished charging his buster.
"Two down, one to go." Megaman said to himself
Megaman fired his buster, which nailed the remaining Firetower, draining most of its energy.
"I'm through!" Iceman exclaimed.
Megaman smiled as he fired his buster rapidly. A few quick shots and the last virus was destroyed. Megaman looked over at Iceman.
"Come on! Let's go!" Iceman said.
The duo of navis rushed through the now-open pathway, and came to a large, square area. At the edge of the square was some kind of network terminal.
"There's the main computer!" Iceman stated. "If we reprogram that, we should be able to get this fire under control!"
"Not if I can help it!" A male voice shouted. Megaman looked at a small screen on his arm and found himself staring into the face of a young man with messed up, black hair.
"Hey!" Iceman exclaimed as he looked at Megaman's screen. "That's Dr. Grimsby!"
"Who?" Megaman asked.
"A scientist here." Iceman replied. "I KNEW that there was a WWW operator working in the complex, but I NEVER expected it to be Grimsby." He then looked at the sneering face of the crooked scientist. "You may have fooled everyone in the complex, but Dr. Froid KNEW there was a WWW lackey in the building!"
"Well, I have to admit. He's a smart guy." Grimsby replied. "Pity that he's going to die in all these flames."
"What about Lan's parents?" Megaman asked. "I demand to know what you've done with them."
"Ah, so you DIDN'T listen to Dr. Wily's warning." Grimsby laughed. "I might've expected that. Well, now that the WWW knows that you're trying to stop us, both his parents are going to get it!"
Meanwhile, Lan and Dr. Froid almost had the fire under control, and had heard everything.
"Oh, no!" Lan exclaimed. "They're going to kill my parents!" He then spoke to his navi. "Megaman! That guys probably got a navi! Show him what you're made of!"
"That won't be so easy, my friend." Grimsby replied. "Flame Man! Torch'em!"
Back inside the computer, Megaman and Iceman watched as a navi materialized in front of them. He was shorter than Megaman, but taller than Iceman. His orange and red armour seemed to ignite with all the fire. His symbol was that of Fireman, a navi Lan and Megaman had wiped out a while ago. Two flames spun in circles above his head. Megaman raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"Heh. A cute version of Fireman." Megaman chuckled. "This shouldn't be so hard." He looked at he small companion. "I'll take him out. You focus on putting out any fires."
"Got it." Iceman replied.
Megaman returned his glare to Flame Man.
"I'm gonna take you out SO bad!" Flame Man said in a slightly childish voice. "Let's fight!"
"Whenever you're ready, little brother of Fireman." Megaman chuckled as he and Flame Man vanished.
Megaman materialized on the usual battlefield, with Flame Man on the other side. The battle had begun.
Megaman started unloading his unlimited supply of buster shots into Flame Man's stomach as the WWW navi started hopping around his section of the battlefield.
Flame Man approached the edge of his side of the battlefield and started charging up his flame-thrower. Suddenly, Flame Man sent out a beam of fire at Megaman.
"Hmm..." Megaman thought to himself as he easily avoided the fire beam and continued pelting Flame Man with buster shots. "So far, this guy seems similar to Fireman. I wonder why he's different?"
After taking a few more hits, Flame Man stepped into the middle of his side of the battlefield and was suddenly engulfed in flames. Flame Man quickly fired one beam of fire across the top of the battlefield, one through the middle row and one across the bottom. Luckily, the first fire beam disappeared before Flame Man fired the second beam, so Megaman managed to get into the top row before the middle row was covered in flames.
"Now I can see the difference." Megaman thought as he continued firing his buster. Soon, Flame Man's HP was down to a measly 50.
"Crud!" Flame Man growled. "It looks like I'm going to have to use my third move."
Flame Man placed his hands against the floor and sent out a burst of flaming energy into the floor.
Megaman suddenly started to feel his feet getting warmer. He looked down and saw the panel he was standing on and several other panels on his side of the battlefield starting to flash.
"Oh, crud." Megaman said as he quickly stepped onto on of the few panels that wasn't flashing. Sure enough, pillars of fire erupted from all the panels that were flashing.
Megaman didn't have time to rest though, as several different panels, including the one he was now standing on, were now flashing. Megaman quickly got a feeling of déjà vu as he quickly got onto a non-flashing panel. This was just like fighting Woodman.
Megaman managed to get a few buster shots in before the panels started flashing for the third time. Megaman moved quickly as the fire pillars appeared.
The blue navi took this opportunity to charge up his buster. By the time the third and final pillar wave was finished, Megaman had charged up his buster completely.
As soon as the pillars stopped, Megaman lined himself up with Flame Man and grinned slyly.
"Here's one for the road!" Megaman shouted as he fired his fully-charged buster at Flame Man, defeating him. Megaman warped out of the battlefield.
When Megaman materialized, he found himself staring at a defeated Flame Man, who was trying to catch his breath.
"Man! You're good!" Grimsby complimented. "But I shall have the last laugh!"
"How so?" Lan asked, folding his arms. "Your navi's been defeated."
"You see, I've sent a message to Dr. Wily, who is making residence at the location of the old WWW hideout." Grimsby explained. "Now that he knows that you're trying to stop us, your parents probably won't live to see the light of another day!"
"Do you realize that you've just given away my parents' location?" Lan asked.
"Of course! But you won't be going anywhere NEAR the base for awhile. One of the WWW lackeys that ransacked your house took the WWW Pass that you seemed to acquire." He then called down to his navi. "Flame Man! Dispose of that blue navi!"
Inside the computer, Flame Man had heard his operators order. Flame Man suddenly shot forward and stuck his flame-thrower up to Megaman's neck. Flame Man stared at Megaman, an evil glare in his eyes.
"Let's see if you can stop THIS." Flame Man taunted.
"Hey, Bahamut!" A high-pitched voice called out.
Flame Man turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw Iceman throwing a snowball at him. Flame Man didn't have time to react, for as soon as the snowball hit the ground by his feet, an icicle shot from the ground and pierced the WWW navi, deleting him instantly. Megaman looked at his small companion and gave him a thumbs up.
"Thanks, buddy." Megaman said. "I owe you."
"BIG time, Megaman." Iceman replied.
The two navis walked towards the main computer and Iceman placed his gloved hands at the controls.
"I'm reprogramming the computer." Iceman explained. "This SHOULD get these internal flames under control, and prevent the outside flames from spreading."
Within minutes, Iceman had reprogrammed the computer, and all the internal flames died down instantly. Both navis signaled their operators to jack them out.
After jacking their PETS out of the computer, Lan and Dr. Froid looked at each other.
"Hey, thanks for coming." Dr. Froid said. "I don't think Iceman would've got the computer reprogrammed if you hadn't shown up."
"No need for thanks, Dr. Froid." Lan assured. "But I think we should look for this 'Grimsby' fellow."
"You're right! Let's go!" Dr. Froid replied.
Lan and Dr. Froid searched around the complex for about three minutes until they found Grimsby trying to hide. For the first time, Lan saw what Grimsby looked like in person. He was shorter and Dr. Froid, and even thinner. Dr. Froid picked up the crooked scientist by the coat he was wearing and lifted him off his feet. Dr. Froid looked down at Lan.
"Okay. Let's get out of here and turn this guy in." Dr. Froid said. Lan nodded as they continued walking out of the complex with Dr. Froid still holding Grimsby off the ground.
The duo soon got to the front doors of the complex and pushed them open, walking out into the crowd. By now, the police had arrived.
"Look! There they are!" Someone shouted. Lan could tell from the voice that it was Sal.
The police rushed over to the duo as Dr. Froid tossed Grimsby to the ground.
"We got the fire under control." Dr. Froid said as he looked down at Grimsby. "And we found the man responsible." He looked at the police. "Officers, take him away!"
As the police were taking Grimsby away, the lackey spun around and stared at Lan.
"You may have stopped me, but your parents are in for it now!" Grimsby stated as the officers continued dragging the WWW lackey away.
Meanwhile...
Dr. Hikari slowly rocked his head back and forth as he regained consciousness. When he was fully awake, he looked around. He was in a small, enclosed, gray room with a door at one wall. Dr. Hikari would bet money that it was locked from the other side. Leaning against the opposite wall of the door, sitting on the floor and curled up in a ball, was his wife. She was sobbing heavily. Dr. Hikari quickly made his way over to his wife and sat down beside her.
"Honey? Honey, are you alright?" Dr. Hikari asked. His wife stopped crying for a second and looked at him. Suddenly she threw her arms around him and continued crying.
"Oh, darling! You were unconscious for so long!" Mrs. Hikari explained. "I was worried sick!"
"It's alright, dear." Dr. Hikari assured as he ran his fingers through her dark hair. "I'm fine."
Suddenly, Dr. Hikari heard some people talking outside of the door. Dr. Hikari stopped the embrace with his wife and slowly worked his way to the door. He placed an ear to the door and listened to the conversation.
"I don't BELIEVE that idiot Grimsby!" An older voice shouted. Dr. Hikari recognized the voice as Dr. Wily. "He lost to that Hikari kid and is now arrested!"
Dr. Hikari suddenly felt a sensation of joy. Lan was coming to rescue them.
"Now that we know that the kid's trying to stop us, should we kill the parents?" A second voice asked.
Wily was silent for a moment then finally spoke up. "How long until that machine is finished?" He asked, seemingly changing the subject.
"It's finished. All we need is the three Chaos Drives to power it up." The henchman replied.
"Splendid! We'll spare the parents until we get all three Chaos Drives. That's when we'll take action!" Wily replied.
Dr. Hikari didn't know what Wily meant by that, but it didn't sound good. Not wanting to get his wife worried, Dr. Hikari decided not to tell her about what Wily was planning. Dr. Hikari went back over to his wife and sat down again.
"What is it, dear?" Mrs. Hikari asked.
"I overheard a conversation. Lan's coming to save us and he's already put one of the WWW lackeys behind bars." Dr. Hikari explained.
"Dear! That's wonderful news!" Mrs. Hikari exclaimed as she threw her arms around her husband. Dr. Hikari returned the embrace as he whispered three small words.
"Please hurry, Lan."
To be continued...
Lan stared at the e-mail, a horrified look on his face. Megaman looked at him with concern.
"T-This can't be happening..." Lan whispered, too petrified to talk any louder.
"What do we do?" Megaman asked. "Wily threatened that if we tried to stop him, he'd kill them."
"But that lunatic could be torturing them!" Lan suddenly exclaimed. "Or starving them! I can't just stand around while that's happening! I HAVE to stop Wily!"
"I see your point." Megaman said. "Okay. We'll go after Wily. But I have this feeling that it's not going to be as easy as last time."
"I don't care! Mom and dad are in danger!" Lan replied. "What are we going to do?!"
"First things first, Lan." Megaman stated. "We have to find out where Wily's hiding out. We should stop by the Government Complex and see if your dad dropped any clues."
"Okay." Lan replied. "Let's get over to the subway."
Lan bolted from the house and rushed towards the subway, almost crashing into Dex on the way. Lan rushed into the subway that was heading towards the complex and was on his way.
Soon, Lan arrived at the complex. Lan left the subway and ran into the main yard of the giant building. Outside, the many people who worked at the complex, including Sal and Masa, were gathered around the building, all of them looking like they were frenzied. The only one absent was Dr. Froid. Lan rushed over to a group of people. One of the people was Sal. Lan's green-haired female friend saw him coming.
"Lan! Oh, I'm so sorry that this happened!" Sal exclaimed. "Your father's been abducted!"
"I know." Lan replied. "I got a threatening note from Dr. Wily. But why is everyone out here?"
"Because there's something wrong with the main computer!" A scientist replied. "The main network's burst into flames! If the fire gets any worse, the computer will be destroyed!"
"Wait a minute..." Lan said, looking around. "Where's Dr. Froid?!"
"He stayed inside the complex!" The scientist replied. "He and Iceman are going to try to put out the fire!"
"What?!" Lan cried. "I've gotta go help him!"
Without giving anyone else any time to object, Lan rushed towards the complex, plowed his way through the many people in his way and rushed into the building.
Lan remembered where the main computer was, so he rushed over to the elevator and took a trip down to the lower floor. Once the doors opened, Lan rushed out of the elevator and ran towards the main generator room.
Lan burst through the door to the generator room and found Dr. Froid trying to put out a fire which was slowly spreading with a fire extinguisher. Lan grabbed a second one and ran to assist the scientist.
"Lan! What're you doing here?!" Dr. Froid asked. "Get out of here while you still can!"
"No way, Dr. Froid!" Lan replied. "I'll help you put out these flames while I jack Megaman into the computer and have him put out the internal flames!"
"I've already sent Iceman into the network, but he might need help!" Dr. Froid stated.
"That settles it!" Lan replied as he rushed over to the nearest jack-in port. "Megaman! Let's get these flames under control!"
"You got it!" Megaman replied before jacking in.
In the network, Megaman materialized, immediately being greeted by several flames. Megaman found a break in the flames and rushed through.
"Iceman!" Megaman called out. "Iceman! You here?"
Megaman rushed through the computers network, having to fight off a few Metools in the process.
"Megaman!" Lan's voice cried. "Hurry up! I don't know how long Dr. Froid and I can hold off these flames!"
"I'm hurrying! I'm hurrying!" Megaman replied as he continued through the network.
Soon, Megaman came across one huge flame that was blocking the whole path. Suddenly, Megaman noticed the small navi that was lying on the ground.
"Iceman!" Megaman cried as he rushed over to his small friends side and helped him up. "What happened?"
"Megaman?" Iceman said. "What're you doing here?"
"Don't worry about that now. What happened?" Megaman repeated.
"Well, I was attempting to take down this huge flame, as it seemed like I was going to find what I was looking for behind it." Iceman explained. "Suddenly, I was attacked by Metools and Firetowers and Cannons. I couldn't take on all of them at once, and they defeated me."
"I'll help. You work on taking down that flame. I'll take on any viruses that try to stop you." Megaman said.
"Okay. Sounds like a plan." Iceman replied as he turned to the giant flame and started exhaling.
As Iceman got to work on the flame with his ice breath, Megaman kept a keen eye open for any approaching viruses.
Megaman was quickly swarmed with a group of four Metools. They didn't put up much of a fight, and Megaman pulled out of the battle without a scratch. He turned to his small friend.
"How's it coming, Iceman?" Megaman asked.
"I'm getting there." Iceman replied. "Just give me a few more minutes."
The next viruses Megaman fought was three Cannons. They were each on a different row of squares. Megaman realized that this wouldn't be so easy. If all three cannons fired at once, he wouldn't be able to avoid the shots. Megaman was hit a few times, but he still managed to wipe out all the Cannons. He turned back to Iceman.
"You get through the flame yet, Iceman?" Megaman asked.
"I'm almost through." Iceman explained. "One more wave of viruses and I should have this beat."
Megaman looked ahead. It would be easier said than done to get through this wave, as three Firetowers were floating towards him.
Megaman charged up his buster as one of the Firetowers sent out a stream of fire at him. Megaman quickly dodged the attack and fired a fully-charged buster, which nailed one of the Firetowers, wiping out most of its health. A few normal buster shots and the Firetower was deleted.
As Megaman charged up his buster again, he used a SonicWave chip and used it on one of the remaining viruses. The SonicWave was enough to take out another Firetower completely, and just as Megaman finished charging his buster.
"Two down, one to go." Megaman said to himself
Megaman fired his buster, which nailed the remaining Firetower, draining most of its energy.
"I'm through!" Iceman exclaimed.
Megaman smiled as he fired his buster rapidly. A few quick shots and the last virus was destroyed. Megaman looked over at Iceman.
"Come on! Let's go!" Iceman said.
The duo of navis rushed through the now-open pathway, and came to a large, square area. At the edge of the square was some kind of network terminal.
"There's the main computer!" Iceman stated. "If we reprogram that, we should be able to get this fire under control!"
"Not if I can help it!" A male voice shouted. Megaman looked at a small screen on his arm and found himself staring into the face of a young man with messed up, black hair.
"Hey!" Iceman exclaimed as he looked at Megaman's screen. "That's Dr. Grimsby!"
"Who?" Megaman asked.
"A scientist here." Iceman replied. "I KNEW that there was a WWW operator working in the complex, but I NEVER expected it to be Grimsby." He then looked at the sneering face of the crooked scientist. "You may have fooled everyone in the complex, but Dr. Froid KNEW there was a WWW lackey in the building!"
"Well, I have to admit. He's a smart guy." Grimsby replied. "Pity that he's going to die in all these flames."
"What about Lan's parents?" Megaman asked. "I demand to know what you've done with them."
"Ah, so you DIDN'T listen to Dr. Wily's warning." Grimsby laughed. "I might've expected that. Well, now that the WWW knows that you're trying to stop us, both his parents are going to get it!"
Meanwhile, Lan and Dr. Froid almost had the fire under control, and had heard everything.
"Oh, no!" Lan exclaimed. "They're going to kill my parents!" He then spoke to his navi. "Megaman! That guys probably got a navi! Show him what you're made of!"
"That won't be so easy, my friend." Grimsby replied. "Flame Man! Torch'em!"
Back inside the computer, Megaman and Iceman watched as a navi materialized in front of them. He was shorter than Megaman, but taller than Iceman. His orange and red armour seemed to ignite with all the fire. His symbol was that of Fireman, a navi Lan and Megaman had wiped out a while ago. Two flames spun in circles above his head. Megaman raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"Heh. A cute version of Fireman." Megaman chuckled. "This shouldn't be so hard." He looked at he small companion. "I'll take him out. You focus on putting out any fires."
"Got it." Iceman replied.
Megaman returned his glare to Flame Man.
"I'm gonna take you out SO bad!" Flame Man said in a slightly childish voice. "Let's fight!"
"Whenever you're ready, little brother of Fireman." Megaman chuckled as he and Flame Man vanished.
Megaman materialized on the usual battlefield, with Flame Man on the other side. The battle had begun.
Megaman started unloading his unlimited supply of buster shots into Flame Man's stomach as the WWW navi started hopping around his section of the battlefield.
Flame Man approached the edge of his side of the battlefield and started charging up his flame-thrower. Suddenly, Flame Man sent out a beam of fire at Megaman.
"Hmm..." Megaman thought to himself as he easily avoided the fire beam and continued pelting Flame Man with buster shots. "So far, this guy seems similar to Fireman. I wonder why he's different?"
After taking a few more hits, Flame Man stepped into the middle of his side of the battlefield and was suddenly engulfed in flames. Flame Man quickly fired one beam of fire across the top of the battlefield, one through the middle row and one across the bottom. Luckily, the first fire beam disappeared before Flame Man fired the second beam, so Megaman managed to get into the top row before the middle row was covered in flames.
"Now I can see the difference." Megaman thought as he continued firing his buster. Soon, Flame Man's HP was down to a measly 50.
"Crud!" Flame Man growled. "It looks like I'm going to have to use my third move."
Flame Man placed his hands against the floor and sent out a burst of flaming energy into the floor.
Megaman suddenly started to feel his feet getting warmer. He looked down and saw the panel he was standing on and several other panels on his side of the battlefield starting to flash.
"Oh, crud." Megaman said as he quickly stepped onto on of the few panels that wasn't flashing. Sure enough, pillars of fire erupted from all the panels that were flashing.
Megaman didn't have time to rest though, as several different panels, including the one he was now standing on, were now flashing. Megaman quickly got a feeling of déjà vu as he quickly got onto a non-flashing panel. This was just like fighting Woodman.
Megaman managed to get a few buster shots in before the panels started flashing for the third time. Megaman moved quickly as the fire pillars appeared.
The blue navi took this opportunity to charge up his buster. By the time the third and final pillar wave was finished, Megaman had charged up his buster completely.
As soon as the pillars stopped, Megaman lined himself up with Flame Man and grinned slyly.
"Here's one for the road!" Megaman shouted as he fired his fully-charged buster at Flame Man, defeating him. Megaman warped out of the battlefield.
When Megaman materialized, he found himself staring at a defeated Flame Man, who was trying to catch his breath.
"Man! You're good!" Grimsby complimented. "But I shall have the last laugh!"
"How so?" Lan asked, folding his arms. "Your navi's been defeated."
"You see, I've sent a message to Dr. Wily, who is making residence at the location of the old WWW hideout." Grimsby explained. "Now that he knows that you're trying to stop us, your parents probably won't live to see the light of another day!"
"Do you realize that you've just given away my parents' location?" Lan asked.
"Of course! But you won't be going anywhere NEAR the base for awhile. One of the WWW lackeys that ransacked your house took the WWW Pass that you seemed to acquire." He then called down to his navi. "Flame Man! Dispose of that blue navi!"
Inside the computer, Flame Man had heard his operators order. Flame Man suddenly shot forward and stuck his flame-thrower up to Megaman's neck. Flame Man stared at Megaman, an evil glare in his eyes.
"Let's see if you can stop THIS." Flame Man taunted.
"Hey, Bahamut!" A high-pitched voice called out.
Flame Man turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw Iceman throwing a snowball at him. Flame Man didn't have time to react, for as soon as the snowball hit the ground by his feet, an icicle shot from the ground and pierced the WWW navi, deleting him instantly. Megaman looked at his small companion and gave him a thumbs up.
"Thanks, buddy." Megaman said. "I owe you."
"BIG time, Megaman." Iceman replied.
The two navis walked towards the main computer and Iceman placed his gloved hands at the controls.
"I'm reprogramming the computer." Iceman explained. "This SHOULD get these internal flames under control, and prevent the outside flames from spreading."
Within minutes, Iceman had reprogrammed the computer, and all the internal flames died down instantly. Both navis signaled their operators to jack them out.
After jacking their PETS out of the computer, Lan and Dr. Froid looked at each other.
"Hey, thanks for coming." Dr. Froid said. "I don't think Iceman would've got the computer reprogrammed if you hadn't shown up."
"No need for thanks, Dr. Froid." Lan assured. "But I think we should look for this 'Grimsby' fellow."
"You're right! Let's go!" Dr. Froid replied.
Lan and Dr. Froid searched around the complex for about three minutes until they found Grimsby trying to hide. For the first time, Lan saw what Grimsby looked like in person. He was shorter and Dr. Froid, and even thinner. Dr. Froid picked up the crooked scientist by the coat he was wearing and lifted him off his feet. Dr. Froid looked down at Lan.
"Okay. Let's get out of here and turn this guy in." Dr. Froid said. Lan nodded as they continued walking out of the complex with Dr. Froid still holding Grimsby off the ground.
The duo soon got to the front doors of the complex and pushed them open, walking out into the crowd. By now, the police had arrived.
"Look! There they are!" Someone shouted. Lan could tell from the voice that it was Sal.
The police rushed over to the duo as Dr. Froid tossed Grimsby to the ground.
"We got the fire under control." Dr. Froid said as he looked down at Grimsby. "And we found the man responsible." He looked at the police. "Officers, take him away!"
As the police were taking Grimsby away, the lackey spun around and stared at Lan.
"You may have stopped me, but your parents are in for it now!" Grimsby stated as the officers continued dragging the WWW lackey away.
Meanwhile...
Dr. Hikari slowly rocked his head back and forth as he regained consciousness. When he was fully awake, he looked around. He was in a small, enclosed, gray room with a door at one wall. Dr. Hikari would bet money that it was locked from the other side. Leaning against the opposite wall of the door, sitting on the floor and curled up in a ball, was his wife. She was sobbing heavily. Dr. Hikari quickly made his way over to his wife and sat down beside her.
"Honey? Honey, are you alright?" Dr. Hikari asked. His wife stopped crying for a second and looked at him. Suddenly she threw her arms around him and continued crying.
"Oh, darling! You were unconscious for so long!" Mrs. Hikari explained. "I was worried sick!"
"It's alright, dear." Dr. Hikari assured as he ran his fingers through her dark hair. "I'm fine."
Suddenly, Dr. Hikari heard some people talking outside of the door. Dr. Hikari stopped the embrace with his wife and slowly worked his way to the door. He placed an ear to the door and listened to the conversation.
"I don't BELIEVE that idiot Grimsby!" An older voice shouted. Dr. Hikari recognized the voice as Dr. Wily. "He lost to that Hikari kid and is now arrested!"
Dr. Hikari suddenly felt a sensation of joy. Lan was coming to rescue them.
"Now that we know that the kid's trying to stop us, should we kill the parents?" A second voice asked.
Wily was silent for a moment then finally spoke up. "How long until that machine is finished?" He asked, seemingly changing the subject.
"It's finished. All we need is the three Chaos Drives to power it up." The henchman replied.
"Splendid! We'll spare the parents until we get all three Chaos Drives. That's when we'll take action!" Wily replied.
Dr. Hikari didn't know what Wily meant by that, but it didn't sound good. Not wanting to get his wife worried, Dr. Hikari decided not to tell her about what Wily was planning. Dr. Hikari went back over to his wife and sat down again.
"What is it, dear?" Mrs. Hikari asked.
"I overheard a conversation. Lan's coming to save us and he's already put one of the WWW lackeys behind bars." Dr. Hikari explained.
"Dear! That's wonderful news!" Mrs. Hikari exclaimed as she threw her arms around her husband. Dr. Hikari returned the embrace as he whispered three small words.
"Please hurry, Lan."
To be continued...