War of the Heart

Part Seven: Final Battle

Roll wasted no time in launching an attack, using the ring over her head as a weapon and lashing at Protoman. Protoman pulled out his shield and was able to block the attack. However, he was at a difficult position, knowing he couldn't hurt Roll since she was reprogrammed and not under her own control.

Megaman had turned his attention to the Navis of the WWW. Colorman went first, using his minions to attack with fire and water. Megaman's extra strength from the AquaGuts style allowed him to easily take the blows and fire back with Bubble Shots.

Elecman, however, was quick to take advantage of the situation and launched an electrical attack at Megaman, striking him with a lightning bolt. Since Megaman was aqua, he suffered major damage from the attack and reeled in pain. He pulled himself together and fired with the Dynawave, striking Elecman.

Magicman, in contrast, preferred to keep himself out of the fun, instead launching magic fire attacks from a distance. Since he was immobile, Protoman took the opportunity to slip away from Roll and slice up Magicman a fair bit with his trusty sword. Magicman took a blow or two, but quickly teleported to the other arena end to escape.

Roll turned her attention to Megaman, who was throwing some Quake chips of various strengths at Clownman. She snuck behind him, then smacked him on the back of the neck with her ring. Megaman collapsed in pain, but managed to roll away when Clownman launched another attack using a water column.

Elecman tried to attack again with his electric attacks on Megaman, but Protoman managed to catch him off guard with a sword swipe. Elecman then turned his attention to Protoman, firing several blast of electricity at him. Protoman was able to block one with his shield, but was struck by the other one.

As Megaman tried to dodge Roll's attack, he fired an M-Cannon at Clownman, who was struck by it, but managed to launch his bubble midsection. Roll saw and knocked it right at Megaman, who took it in the chest and was knocked over to Magicman. Magicman then fired one of his magic attacks, but Megaman was able to duck under it and fire a Bubble Shot right at him.

Magicman then summoned a Swordy 3 virus and an orange Canndumb virus, both of which began to attack. The Swordy began slicing at Megaman, who was struck by a few blows. The Canndumb shot Cannonballs all across the arena, striking the ground mostly, but one managed to smack Protoman.

Megaman quickly used a Recover150 chip, but Roll went after him in a moment, striking at him again. Megaman was knocked back and landed near Clownman, who he struck with a GoldFist. Clownman pushed Megaman back, right into Elecman, who struck him with another electric attack.

Protoman, meanwhile, was having difficulties with Magicman, who was using his summoned minions as a shield while he fired his magic shots. Protoman managed to block a few, but took heavy damage.

"Lan," called Megaman. "It's too much. I don't think we can make it!"

"Right, but what can we do?" asked Lan.

"Lord Chaud, we must retreat!" called Protoman.

"It's no use!" responded Ms. Madd. "We told you that you can't get out unless you defeat us!"

"Megaman, I don't think we have a choice. I know you're in bad shape, but we can still win if we activate the program!" called Lan, sending more Recovery chips.

"You really think so?" asked Megaman, dodging and using the chips.

"It's our best shot," said Lan.

"All right…" admitted Megaman, seeing the Navis close in, "I'll use it."

"Activating Hubstyle!"

Megaman stood still for a moment, then his body began to transform. A blinding light filled the area. Once it had died down, Megaman had changed.

His body shone with a bright blue light. He looked like he did in NormalStyle, but he was obviously far more powerful and confident. He stood with a cunning smile on his face.

"What…what kind of power is that?" asked Count Zap. "It's incredible!"

How could…how could he have that much power? thought Chaud.

"Wanna play again?" Megman asked, charging his Buster Gun.

Once his gun reached full power, he lifted it and fired at Magicman. The blow struck home and Magicman was sent flying to the other end of the arena. The other Navis, especially Protoman, were stunned senseless by the attack.

"We…we can't l-l-let that stop us!" said Elecman, trying to be brave. "Let's g-g-g-get him!" He and Clownman began charging an attack.

"Come on, now!" dared Megaman, receiving some more Battle Chips.

He pulled the Firesword, Aquasword and Elecsword together and formed the Lifesword 2. Dashing at Clownman and Elecman, he swung with all his strength and sliced them both. Clowman and Elecman crashed over in a heap.

Roll was determined not to be left out of the action and charged at Megaman. She tried using her ring to attack, but Megaman merely activated a shield and blocked the attack. He also leaped out of the way of another of her attacks and dashed over to Protoman.

"Hey, Protoman, what do you say we team up and beat these guys for good?" offered Megaman.
"I'm with ya!" agreed Protoman.

Both of them began to charge up their weapons. The enemy Navis had begun to recover from the attacks that had just been dealt. As they did, both Megaman and Protoman had fully charged their attacks.

"Ready…" started Megaman.

"Aim…" continued Protoman.

"FIRE!" they shouted simultaneously.

Megaman and Protoman attacked together, using the Double Hero attack on all three enemy Navis. The three of them were caught up in a flurry of Buster shots and energy swipes! The damage was unbearable, and at the end of the attack, all three collapsed in pain.

"No…sorry, masters…" they said.

With that, all three collapsed on the ground. They faded away, their programs having been deleted. They were gone for good.

"No WAY!" exclaimed Yahoot. "This can't be! Retreat!"

Before anyone could react, the WWW cronies had already made their way out the door.

"Yes, we did it!" exclaimed Lan. "We did it, guys! We'll never see those three again!"

"Um, guys?" interrupted Protoman, pointing to Roll.

"Oh-no!" exclaimed Megaman. "We forgot to do something about Roll!"

"We'll just have to reprogram her! Jack out for now!" commanded Chaud.

Both of them jacked out of the server.

"All right, but this still leaves the question of what to do with Mayl," observed Lan. "She's still under the control of the WWW."

"No, she's not. Look!" exclaimed Chaud.

For some reason, Mayl had collapsed on the floor. Both Lan and Chaud rushed over to her. Lan picked her up while Chaud examined the machine.

"What do you suppose happened to her?" asked Lan.

"There seems to be a control panel here," observed Chaud. "According to these settings, I'm guessing that the effects of the mind control were only meant to be temporary. It must've been set to wear off after the fight."

"Hang on, she's waking up," said Lan.

Mayl moaned softly, then opened her eyes. The first thing she was Lan looking at her. She smiled.

"Lan…" she said.

"Mayl! You're alright!" exclaimed Lan. "That's great!"

"C'mon, let's get out of here," said Chaud.

In a few moments, all three of them were outside. Mayl had been weakened by the mind control, so Lan had carried her outside. Chaud had remembered to jack Roll out of the computer before they left.

"You gonna be okay?" asked Lan.

"Yeah, I should be fine," replied Mayl. "I think I can walk now."

Lan set her down. Mayl stood up, but wobbled a bit and flopped right into Lan. He gently pushed her off and she managed to stay upright.

"Yeah, there we go," said Chaud.

"Listen, I want to thank you both for your help," said Mayl.

"It was nothing, really," started Chaud. "You don't have to-…"

His statement was cut short by Mayl giving him a kiss on the check. Chaud turned a bright red instantly.

Mayl then turned to Lan. She smiled big and then gave him a kiss right on the lips. Lan turned a even deeper shade of red than Chaud. Mayl giggled a little while Chaud looked somewhat upset.

"Shall we go?" asked Mayl. She headed for the subway.

"I swear, I will get you next time," threatened Chaud, who wasn't happy about Lan getting a better kiss.

"At least I'll go smiling!" retorted Lan, who had a big, goofy grin on his face.

The three of them had returned to ACDC Town to recover. They all met at Lan's house to relax and recap the little fiasco they were in. Mayl listened with a lot of intent as they told their story.

"You guys did all that for me?" she asked. "I'm touched."

"It wasn't as bad as it sounds," said Lan.

At that moment, Lan's dad walked in the door.

"Hi, guys," he said. "How's it going?"

"Could be better," answered Chaud.

"We were just talking about something," said Lan. He turned back to Mayl. "Yeah, you would believe what they used as passwords. One combination was 1-2-3-4-5, even."

"Really?" asked Lan's dad. "Amazing. That's the same combination on my luggage! I think I'll go change it."

Lan's dad left for his bedroom.

"Didn't you say that was the combination an idiot puts on his luggage?" asked Lan.

"How was I supposed to know it was also your dad's luggage code?" responded Chaud.

Mayl just laughed.