Lord Cynic: "Yay! Reviews!..." (clears his throat) "My gratitude to the people who've read and reviewed. You've made my day, truly. I feel pumped! Oh, and before I begin I'd better reply to the reviews."
dreamz-of-hope:Yay, my first review! Thanks for the compliments. Who's this... oh, Hope, that's right. Eheh... yeah, I read your profile. I'm a fan of Cardcaptors (cough) so I'm eager to read your work. Sorry if the chapter seemed a little long to you. If memory serves me correctly my Golden Sun chapters are only 2000-2500 words on average, and this was 500-1000 words well over the average. I'll try to shorten the chapter, but if I'm to complete this as the two-shot it's intended to be I can't make any promises.
Michael Bulaich: Heh, you got that right. As far as Megaman couples goes, Lan/Maylu and Megaman/Roll own all.
Esty-chan:Hey, thanks. No worries, I hope this does it for you.
Seeiko:Eh... I hate FFnet sometimes. It took the slash from Lan/Maylu (no doubt it's probably done it again now). What's that got to do with anything? Well, the X you use gives me a good enough substitute for it... eh. Anyways... pants in France... it's like flossin' in Boston, curlin' in Berlin, and there's no place finer than China. If that makes sense. Heh, some sympathy needed for Megaman in terms of how he lost, methinks. No one would've expected that, not even me. Who writes these? Er... look, it's Batman! (Runs)
Macross-Green:Yes, well, I've played Battle Network once or twice myself. I'm just used to writing on the anime rather than the game if I can. If Golden Sun was an anime I'd be writing on the anime basis then. To be honest, I played BN before I watched NT, and when I heard Mayl's name being pronounced Maylu I did get a little confused. Neh... I have no doubt Gutsman got trounced by Yai's rare chips though - he always does. Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep myself aware of your presence as I type the rest of this story (being a two-shot like I said). Actually... I'm getting a feeling this'll be a tri-shot instead. We'll see what happens.
Mage of Water: Naw, you're not pathetic. You just know great stories when you see them. Okay, getting ahead of myself there. "Hey, wait up!" Shush! Anyway, thanks for the thumbs up, I appreciate it.
Lord Cynic: "I don't own Megaman NT Warriors, or Megaman for that matter. If not, well you could guess that Chaud wouldn't be as self-assured as he is. He'd probably be more so." (sweatdrops)
Chapter 2: Megaman and Roll - Makeshift Matchmakers
The kids stared at the battle screen in front of them. Roll was scratching her head embarrassedly and standing to the side of Megaman, who was lying on the floor with a frozen expression of his face. His mouth was gaping open slightly in disbelief of what just happened, as were everyone else's. In fact, only Dex was moving - he was doing a triumphant dance at his latest victory. Out of the quartet of kids, only he didn't realise that 500 zennys were a speck in Yai's purse, so in respect it was a hollow victory.
Eventually, Dex ceased his dopey dancing and became the first one to speak for two minutes.
"So," he began snidely, "how'd Megaman get defeated?"
"Erm..." Lan and Maylu weren't sure how to answer this without causing some sort of undesired reaction. When they did, they spoke simultaneously (without knowing it).
"Roll kissed Megaman, causing him to freeze up."
Another awkward silence followed this announcement, until Dex yelped in pain.
"Oww! My PET's burning up!"
Lan, Maylu and Yai stared at him, then noticed that his PET was flaming red - literally. They watched him drop his PET in pain and sweatdropped, knowing why it was heating up.
"Gutsman heard what we said," Lan said, noticing the obvious. "I guess he's jealous of Megaman." He scratched his head. "When Megaman wakes up, I'd hate to be him."
Dex was blowing his hands back to normal when he realised what Lan and Maylu had said. He suddenly imitated his PET by flaring up, and Lan stepped back many paces when the Maylu-infatuated boy stomped towards him, eyebrows narrowing.
"What do you mean, Roll kissed Megaman?" he demanded. When he received no answer his eyes narrowed even further. "If that means what I think it does, what does that mean between you and Maylu, hmm?"
"He's smarter than I gave him credit for," Yai muttered sarcastically, her eyes turning into slits. "I wonder if he knows what two plus two is?"
This unsettled the tension, and everyone fell down in stupidity.
"This is not funny!" Dex yelled. "I do so know what two plus two is!" He held out his hand and began counting off his fingers, causing everyone to sweatdrop exasperatedly. "Let's see, one plus one is two... plus another one is three... then plus one is..." He paused, stumbling on the most obvious step of adding two to two. "Er... seven?"
He sweatdropped when everyone fell down in stupidity again.
"I take that back," Yai sighed, holding her hands in the air and shaking her head. "There isn't a day that he ceases to amaze me with his stupidity..."
Roll wasn't paying attention to the kids' antics, as she was kneeling over Megaman trying to wake him from his frozen state.
"Megaman? Are you there? Speak to me!" she became worried and fretted over the blue navi. "Come on, snap out of it! Please!"
To her relief Megaman started to stir, but what he was muttering caused her to blush embarrassedly.
"The scent of an angel doth washeth over me... who doth bless me with thy presence?"
Slowly, Megaman's eyes opened and the first thing he saw was Roll standing to one side of him, her face blushing madly. The realisation of what he said gradually dawned on him until he too was beet red and flustered. He sat up hastily and excused himself over and over.
Roll simply shook her head and smiled. Megaman took this as an acceptance of his apology and smiled tiredly. He stood up and offered his hand to Roll, who accepted it and let him assist her in standing up.
"So, when do we get started?" Megaman asked, watching the screen out of the corner of his eye in case the kids were paying attention to them. Luckily, the others were preoccupied still, so the navis were in no danger of being overheard.
"How about tonight?" Roll proposed, the mischievous glint returning to her eye. "I've got everything worked out perfectly."
"Er, okay," Megaman said hesitantly, fearing the worst situation from this. "You'll send me an email with the instructions?"
"Yep," Roll replied brightly. "Just follow what I say and before you know it our NetOps will be head over heels in love with each other... well, more so."
"I guess you're right," Megaman said pensively, but before he could contemplate the scheme he was caught in another hug.
"I knew you'd see it my way!" Roll said enthusiastically. Megaman was just able to glimpse an evil spark in the pink navi's eyes before she stunned him stupid with another light kiss on the cheek. She giggled when he became rigid again and fell to the floor, then thought to herself, 'This is becoming fun.'
Little did the navis know they weren't alone. Glide had crept silently into the computer and was watching them from a distance. He smiled knowingly at the events taking place, but wasn't sure whether Megaman and Roll could complete their mission as matchmakers. Nonetheless, he knew it was better left to Lan and Maylu's navis to join the two childhood friends together so he didn't worry too much.
There was a cry of pain from Dex, which indicated that Gutsman was fuming again, and Glide logged out of the screen. Roll heard it too, but she had other things to worry about... like trying to concoct a plan to join Lan and Maylu together. Well, that and how to reawaken Megaman again...
"Oww! Oooh! Ahh!" Dex danced on the spot while trying to nurse his burnt hands. "Gutsman, knock it off!"
"Guts... me no like what going on between Roll and the runt," Gutsman huffed. He complied to his navi however and reset the PET to its original temperature.
"Gutsman sure has a temper," Lan whispered to Maylu, who nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, but I guess we shouldn't be surprised," she replied reasonably. "Those two are like peas in a pod."
"What was that?" Dex growled, rounding on the whisperers. "Got something to say against me and Gutsman?"
"N-No," Lan and Maylu replied nervously.
"We were just saying how you and Gutsman... er..." Lan racked his head for ideas, and thankfully he found one. "How you two are the powerhouses of our gang."
"Oh, really?" Dex was taken aback, and he lowered his fist to the relief of Lan and Maylu. "Well, if you put it that way." He walked back to his PET, and Lan and Maylu breathed a sigh of relief. They caught each other's eye and grinned sheepishly, which was noted by Yai, who was watching them since Roll's action had stunned the Ops as well as Megaman.
They were just about to relax when Dex cried out in triumph.
"Aha! So that's it!"
Lan and Maylu shrank in fear, thinking that Dex had caught them staring at each other, but Dex simply raised his hand into the air, showing four fingers.
"Two plus two is four!"
For the third time in 15 minutes, everyone fell down in stupidity.
The next day was a school day, and for the third day that week (it was Wednesday) Lan was late to class. Ms. Mari was not impressed.
"What did I tell you when you were late on Monday, Lan?" she asked the boy.
"Not to be late again," Lan mumbled timidly, prodding his pointer fingers against each other.
"Yet you were also late the next day," Ms. Mari said, crossing her arms. "Remember what I said would happen if you were to be late three days in a row?"
"Um..." Lan took his time to remember Ms. Mari's warning from Tuesday. Eventually his memory served his purpose - but when it registered everyone saw his face drain almost completely of colour. "N-No, y-you can't be serious! I thought it was just an... an empty threat..."
Ms. Mari's eyebrows narrowed dangerously and Lan shrank in his seat in fear. Students around him sneered, and it was obvious that they knew what Lan and Ms. Mari were speaking about. However, one death glare from Maylu erased the sneers from everyone's faces. Lan on the other hand felt as big as a battlechip as Ms. Mari approached his desk, her eyes still narrowed in a lethal stare.
"Let me teach you a vital piece of advice, not as a teacher of this class, but as a teacher of life in general," she said slowly, lowering herself so she could stare straight at Lan. "Never, I repeat, never assume any threat is an empty threat." She stood up again and pointed to a closet at the back of the room. "You know what happens if you don't take warnings seriously. I expect you to be back in five minutes, no more, no less. And no, you may not take your PET with you."
Lan glanced desperately at Maylu for support, but she simply gave him a sympathetic smile and didn't say a word. He eventually became resigned to his fate and trudged from his seat to the back of the room. He cast one last fleeting look at the smug faces of everyone in the class before opening the closet door and disappearing inside it.
The final click of the door indicated to the teacher that she could finally begin the class, and she stood up. Everyone sweatdropped when she gave a giant smile to her students. However, they'd not say anything, especially when they heard an anguished cry from Lan in the closet. Ms. Mari suddenly grew an even wider smile than before, and everyone cowered slightly in their seats.
"Well," she said, clapping her hands together, "I did say he had five minutes before he had to return. Let's spend those minutes quietly talking among ourselves, shall we?"
The class nodded dumbly, then huddled together so they could whisper to each other. Only Maylu didn't join in the spare time - she was busy scribbling on a piece of paper from her desk, leaving her and Lan's navis with the perfect opportunity to discuss the details of their matchmaking. Still, to be safe they lowered their voices to avoid anyone eavesdropping on them.
"This will be easier than sending emails," Roll said, immediately taking charge of the conversation. "I must remember to get Maylu to thank Ms. Mari for this later."
"If that's the case, then you'd better tell her to thank Ms. Mari when Lan's not around," Megaman said, cringing at the thought of Lan's punishment. "I daresay he wouldn't be appreciative of Maylu thanking Ms. Mari for... whatever's happened to him."
"You don't know what she told him yesterday?" Roll asked, slightly curious.
"No idea," Megaman said, shrugging. "I was on the Net when she told him whatever she did."
"What were you doing there?" Roll interrogated, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Reading some chat boards," Megaman answered, waving his hand dismissively. "Anyway, what did you have in mind for tonight?"
"Oh, that's right," Roll said, remembering her plan for later in the day. "You see, we'll -"
She was interrupted when the closet door opened from the back of the room. Every head turned to stare at the end result of Lan's punishment, and almost everyone had to clasp their hands to their mouths to keep from bursting out laughing. Lan immediately disappeared back inside the closet, but a stern command from Ms. Mari drew him out to his expectant audience. His face was burning red with humiliation, but that was nothing compared to what he was wearing: dark red leotards, complete with a gold tiara and pink shoes.
Lan's head was bent down to avoid the eyes of everyone in the room, but they weren't looking at him anyway. They couldn't for the life of them anyway, because everyone (including Ms. Mari) was rolling on the floor with uncontrollable laughter. Maylu was the solitary sympathiser of the room, as she was facing the front of the room, still scribbling away. She didn't even hear everyone's laughter, which indicated that she was deeply immersed with whatever she was doodling.
On the other hand, Roll realised this was the perfect chance to lay out the details of her plan to Megaman. She ushered him into her PET and whispered speedily to him while everyone was distracted. Megaman's face went through many transformations: wonder, suspicion, doubt, horror, fear, amusement, then relaxation. When Roll was finished, Megaman was staring at her with great incredulous, but she simply smiled and reassured him that the idea would work. With great reluctance he believed her and returned to his PET as everyone calmed down enough to speak properly.
"Okay, okay," Ms. Mari gasped, catching her breath as she clambered to her desk. "Thank you Lan, your punishment has been served. You may go back in and change."
Mumbling to himself, Lan disappeared back into the closet, to the great disappointment of those who still needed the laugh. It took 10 minutes longer for Lan to emerge in his normal clothes, but as he returned to his seat there was still the less-than-subtle snort of laughter from students as he passed their desks. Ironically though, he was saved any further humiliation by the same person who delivered the embarrassment by directing the class's attention to the beginning of the lesson.
Lan was preparing himself for a 'well-deserved' rest when he noticed Maylu scribbling on her piece of paper. However, he didn't want punishment from another female so he let her be and slept. Strangely it was a deep sleep, filled with images of someone he couldn't recognise, yet felt soothingly familiar about. A peculiar circular symbol was on the person's hair, but that was all he could envision of the person. Unfortunately for him, no matter how much he tried he couldn't perceive who the person was.
The bell rang for recess, and Lan awoke with a start. He tilted his head to his right to find Maylu gently tapping him on the shoulder.
"Come on, Lan, school's over," she said. She smiled when he yawned and sat up in his seat. "Let's go."
Lan nodded, still immersed in the odd dream he just had, and followed his childhood friend numbly out of the school. Yet, he couldn't wash the images from his head, nor decipher their meaning.
Lord Cynic: "I thought about completing the story in one long chapter, but remembering the request from my first Megaman story reviewer I decided to cut this shorter and leave the conclusion for the final chapter. If you're wondering about the dream, don't worry I have that covered for the next chapter.
Until next time, Lord Cynic signing off. Logout!"