War of the Heart

Part 3: Great googley-moogley, indeed…

The kidnapping had been a complete success. With Mayl in their possession and her Navi out of commission, the three WWW members had returned to their hideout, the ruins of the old fort to figure out what do to next.

"Fine, so we have the kid," said Count Zap. "What do we do now?"

"She's our bargaining chip," explained Yahoot. "As long as we have her, we can convince that Lan kid to do whatever we want."

"Yeah, yeah. But, shouldn't we be doing something else here? That kid deserves to be crushed for what he did to us!" exclaimed Ms. Madd.

"Maybe so," considered Yahoot. "What exactly is it that you are proposing, Madd? That we kill them both?"

"Something like that." answered Ms. Madd. "What I'm thinking of is that we find a way to ruin this Lan kid's spirit. Make him wish he'd never crossed our path. You see what I mean?"

"Yes, but the question still remains: how do we do that?" asked Count Zap.

"Hang on, I believe that I may have an answer to that," interrupted Yahoot. "There were some projects we were working on back before the destruction of the base. They were very experimental, but there should be one down there that could still be useful, if it's still working."

"Really?" said Ms. Madd. "What kind of experiments?"

"I don't remember what specifically, but if it's still there…" said Yahoot. "Come, get the kid and let's get to the emergency cellar where we kept it!"

"Sounds like a plan!" agreed Count Zap, who went off to get Mayl.

"You've got my interest," said Ms. Madd. "Let's go see what this mystery project is!"

 "All right," said Lan, reviewing his remaining assignments, "that just leaves math."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Since Lan's mom wasn't home at the moment, Lan got up and saw who it was. It was Chaud, and he was holding flowers and candy.

"Well, well," said Lan, smirking. "For me? People will talk."

"Good grief," Protoman mumbled.

"They're not for you, jerk," grumbled Chaud. "They're for Mayl."

"I see, but that doesn't explain why you're here," replied Lan.

"That's because when I went to give these to her, I found this," explained Chaud, holding out a note.

"Let me see that," said Lan, taking the note. "Hmm…"

Lan,

We have your girlfriend, so if you want her back, come to the ruins of the old WWW fort to get her back. We'll be waiting for you.

-The WWW.

"Great googley-moogley! They have Mayl?" exclaimed Lan.

"Great googley-moogley?" asked Chaud, looking very confused.

"Er…well…my parents found out how much foul language I used during my last little adventure and threatened to clean out my mouth with soap unless I swore less," explained Lan, turning red.

"Lan would rather sacrifice his language than his taste buds," explained Megaman.

"Your taste in language aside, this letter was obviously intended for you. What I want to know is: what are you going to do now?" asked Chaud.

"Isn't it obvious? I've got to go there and get her back!" exclaimed Lan.

"By yourself?" asked Chaud. "You can't do that. Mayl would never forgive me if I let you get killed in a blaze of glory. Admit it: you'll need my help."

"It wouldn't hurt, Lan," said Megaman.

"Oh...well, it would be easier with some help," admitted Lan. "Besides, maybe we could go see who the better Netbattler is after all."

"All right then," agreed Chaud. "Let's go!"