ROCKMAN vs. MEGAMAN

"So Megaman did all of that damage to you?" Roll asked. Forte merely nodded. "Wow, so he must be powerful, huh?" Another nod from the cloaked Navi. "So where is he?"

Forte shook his head. "I don't know. I know where he MIGHT be, since his goal is to obtain a lot of power, but he has either been there already or doesn't know about its existence."

"Where?" Roll asked.

Forte took a conspiratorial look around. "I think he might have gone after Serenade."

"Serenade? I thought she was a myth?" Roll said, puzzled.

"HE. Not a she. HE. Definitely a he. Not a She." Forte said, speaking like he would to a patient at a mental institute. "The rumors about Serenade are mostly false, but here in the Undernet, the know about Serenade because they watched him-"

"Her."

"HIM fight me."

Roll looked at Forte. "Did you win?"

"No. I was able to figure out most of his patterns, but I never seemed to be able to actually hit him-"

"Her."

"HIM! Jeeze, what do they tell you people out there? Serenade is very obviously a guy!"

"With a name like Serenade?" Roll asked.

"Granted, that, plus the Barbie attack, are a few strikes against him, but there is one very obvious test."

"Like what?"

"Take a look at your chest," Forte said.

Roll did so. "So?"

"Serenade does not have those." Forte said, turning slightly red.

"So? Maybe she's just flat. Does it matter?"

Forte hung his head. "No, not really."

Roll looked at him. She smiled, cat-like. "Were you blushing?"

Forte looked at her. "What? No!"

"You were! Forte-chan's blushing!"

This of course made Forte's face go beet red. "I AM NOT!"

"Are to!" Roll yelled, prancing around.

"AM NOT!"

"Then why are you so mad? Do you LOVE Serenade?"

"NO!"

"Denial is the first stage!" Roll laughed.

"ENOUGH!" Forte roared. The entire Undernet shook. Roll stopped prancing around like a four year old and looked a Forte with a new horror. He took a few breaths. "If you hadn't healed me, I would have killed you a long time ago, but as it stands, you are, for the moment, in my good graces. DON'T blow it."

Roll nodded obediently.

"And never, EVER even SIGGEST that I might possibly, in any way, shape or form, suggest that I even hold Serenade with anything resembling anything but disgust and contempt." Forte growled.

Roll nodded again.

"Clear?" Forte barked.

"Yessirsorrysirshuttingupnow." Roll said quickly.

"Good."

Wily sat back in his chair. "Something," he said aloud to the empty room, "keeps nagging at me to say 'Curse that blue dweeb! He's ruining my plans again!' but I have no idea why."

In the World 3 servers, Megaman was happily destroying Wily's copied Navi data. He'd blazed right through the copies of Gutsman, Cutman, Elecman, Iceman, Fireman and Bombman, and was currently fighting Heatman. The servers here were so protected that even the system's monitor, Wily himself, couldn't tell Megaman was deleting the copied Navis. It was very good training, and with each Navi defeated, Megaman grew stronger with his enemies' weapons.

He grinned and cracked his knuckles as Heatman fell over, a burnt out husk, and Quickman materialized before him . . .