Author's Note: Pop quiz! Who owns MegaMan Battle Network? A) Capcom B) Capcom C)Capcom

If you said Capcom congratulations, if you said anything else...

Jill, I didn't put a crack there because I'm saving my ammunition for a huge joke in a later chapter.

For those of you who don't know what we are talking about, in each story I've authored there's always a couple of jokes or puns about Chaud and Proto-Man's hair. And I haven't done that here (yet).

C. S. Omega, I get the feeling that you want me to use Dark Chips in this fic. Am I right?

Friday 10:34 AM: Tournament Battle Arena

"There are only two rounds left in the Tag Team Tournament!" Ribbita's voice echoed through the building, "The winners of these two battles will take the championship!"

I ran my hand over the chips I had won, of course I'd given away some of my chips. But the bulk of the 'deck' had remained unchanged.

"Amazingly," Ribbita continued, "Maylu and Lan have held their own in this competition, with a 5 win-0 loss record! But their challengers, Maddy and Match, are determined to change things around, so get ready Battlers, and Jack in now!"

I listened to Lan connect his P-E-T to the Battle Arena, his style as clear as ever. Once he finished, I connected my terminal as well.

"I'm in!" Roll informed me as she landed in the Network.

"Now this is one rematch I'll win." Maddy shouted at me. "You can't even see the screen, what makes you think you can beat me?"

"Because I've got something you don't!" I hollered back, "a brain!"

"Battle start!"

"Let's make an explosive entrance!" I heard Lan shout, "Mini-Boomers! Battle chip in! Download! Mini-Boomers, Battle chip in, Download! Download! Download!"

"Cyclone, Battle Chip in! Download!" I found the chip and inserted it into my P-E-T.

I knew what would happen, Roll would form the cyclone and keep it in place, while Mega-Man would toss all of his Boomers into the tornado. After he was done, Roll would send the explosive whirlwind racing toward Torch-Man and Wacko-Man.

"It's working!" Roll called to me.

I grinned, after spinning around in the cyclone for a few moments; the centrifugal force would become great enough to hurl the Boomers out of the tornado in all directions at an extremely high speed. The resulting explosions and cries of Maddy and Match told me that our plan had worked.

"We're smoking them!" I listened to Mega-Man quip.

"Spreader! Battle Chip in! Download!" Lan instructed.

"Not so fast!" I heard Mr. Match shout at us, "Body-Burn! Battle Chip in, Download!"

"I love my bouncy Ball!" I heard Wacko-Man cry out, his statement told me that he was about to send his indestructible ball rocketing at Roll.

"Let's give Lan a hand!" I told my Navi, "Area-Steal! Battle Chip in, Download! Cloudy, Battle Chip in! Download!"

I heard the Area-Steal take effect, and Roll warped out of harm's way. If she understood my meaning, she would appear behind Torch-Man. "Hey, Torchie" I heard her shout, "I'm here to rain on your parade!"

"AAAAHHHHH!!!!" Heat-Man bellowed.

I smiled, the Cloudy Virus's rain would dissolve the fire Navi's flame shield easily, and a second explosion told me that Mega-Man was firing away with his Spreader-Cannon, and giving 'Torchie' some serious damage.

"Aqua-Tower! Battle Chip in, Download!" A heard Maddy shout.

"Roll! Watch your back!" I cried, "Leaf-Shield, Battle Chip in! Download!"

"Thanks, Maylu!" My friend called to me; "I didn't feel a thing."

"All right, Heater! Battle Chip in, Download!" I put the chip into its slot.

"Hi-ya!" Roll shouted, a second later, I heard her connect with Wacko-Man.

"We're set, Maylu, Barrier!" Lan shouted from his position beside me, "Download!"

I picked up the Piranha Virus chip, and jammed it into the P-E-T, "Roll! Attack Mega-Man!"

"O.K.!" She shouted back.

"What's she doing?" I overheard Maddy ask Match.

"Maybe she's burned out." The Scot replied.

I listened as Roll fired the Virus's Triton Spears at Mega-Man, and I heard them hit the barrier, if Lan had judged it right, then they should bounce off and head right for Wacko-Man.

"Jack out!" Maddy shrieked. Yep, I was right.

Wacko-Man logging out.

"Now, let's roast this boiler!" My teammate joked, "Wide-Sword! Battle Chip in, Download!"

Torch-Man logging out.

"Unbelievable!" Ribbita's voice greeted my ears; "Maylu and Lan haven't lost a round of this competition! So it's down to the final round, Chaud Blaze and Proto-Man, along with Roy Modem and Turbine, against Maylu Sakurai and Roll, and their teammates, Lan Hikari and Mega-Man! Join us tomorrow for the championship round, this match is not to be missed!"

I turned my attention back to Maddy and Match.

"How could ya lose!" Match wasn't very happy, "The brat couldn't even see!"

"You lost to the blue boy!" Maddy retorted, "After all that bragging about your new upgrades."

"I almost hate to interrupt them," I told Lan, "But we do have to exchange a pair of chips."

"I know," Lan's voice was filled with amusement as I took his hand, "They're really putting on a good show. But all good things must come to an end."

Together we strolled over to the 'couple' and waited for them to grow exhausted trying to outwit each other, not that they had a lot of wit to outwit.

Finally the two yelled 'FINE!' and vowed never to speak to each other again.

"We need to exchange some chips." I spoke up, "So who wants to give up what?"

"Alright," Maddy's voice was as defiant as ever. "I'll take a Fire-Tower chip. What do you want?"

I considered my options; Maddy and I had squared off more than once, so I had a pretty good idea of what was in her deck. "Body-Double."

"Fine," Maddy snapped. "Take the dumb chip."

I traded chips with her, and I heard Lan exchange a Fire-Sword for a Body-Burn.

"Not bad laddy," Match admitted, "You're still as brazen as ever, and the lassy ain't that bad either."

"WHAT?!" Maddy burst out, "You think that this brat's better than me?"

"Look who won, ya lost, ya nutcase."

"That's not fair!" Wacko-Man screamed, "I'M the nutcase!"

"Knock it off!" Torch-Man rumbled.

"Uh, Lan, let's leave." I listened to the two resume arguing.

"Fine with me." Lan's voice was filled with amusement.

After I made certain that Maddy's former chip wasn't 'twisted', we went to meet everyone in the Cafeteria.

"Lan," I interrupted the silence, "There's something I have to tell you."

"What?" His voice drifted over to me.

"You see-" I broke off as the sound of clapping greeted my ears. "Who's there?"

"Just me," a voice came out of my dark world.

"Chaud?" I asked.

"Oh, that's right," The other Op continued, "You're blind aren't you?"

"Knock it off!" I heard Lan shout.

"It's just the truth, everyone's letting her win because she can't see. You're way out of your league." Chaud continued, "So if you want to spare yourself the embarrassment of a defeat, you may as well drop out now."

I could sense that Lan was about to lose his self-control, and although Chaud's words stung me, I had to keep Lan from loosing it. The problem was, I couldn't figure out what to say.

"You take that back!" Lan's voice was filled with anger, then suddenly his voice dropped, "Let's go." He started leading me away.

"This isn't finished," Chaud's voice called after us as we walked away, "I'm looking forward to creaming you in the arena."

"You want banana or whipped?" Lan retorted, "Because either one'll look good on you!"

"I think that was your worst comeback ever." I gave him a wry smile, "Banana cream? You're slipping, Lan."

"Nobody's perfect." My friend chuckled, "We'll just have to show him what we can do!"

TBC on Friday.