Author's Notes.

Jill, two reasons. 1) I never was that great at getting inside of her head. 2) In order to pull this fic off, I needed to be able to move between viewpoints. You'll see what I mean in a moment. Hee hee hee.

S. H. Fire, there was a bond between Maylu and Janet, but I don't think there was one between Roll and Bloom. Besides, I don't like to do Soul Unisons with fan characters.

No, RockMan is not MegaMan.

Begin Chapter!

A shadowy figure crept around in the darkened interior; overhead, the sounds of a Netbattle were in full swing.

"I've got you now!" A voice shouted, "Rock Cube!"

"Oh?" Another voice replied, "I think not."

"That's it," The figure muttered as it made its way through the battle arena's basement, as soon as it had finished it's job, the person would be gone. "Battle all you want, and our plan will succeed."

The dark form of a person sidled up to the massive bank of computer machinery and hard drives set in the center of the basement.

"Now, let's see what's in my hat this time!" HatMan's voice came through the air, "Unlucky for you! It's a couple of swords!"

"Ow! That smarts!" RockMan snapped.

"Pathetic," The figure shook its head as it opened up a hard drive and began feeling its way around the interior. Not that she cared about the match; she was more concerned with the black box that was hidden in the computer systems of the coliseum. "Now where'd they put the thing?"

The person fiddled around with the computer for several more seconds, before pulling out a long rectangular device connected to the motherboard. The person unclipped the box and reassembled the hard drive.

"I've had enough!" RockMan shouted from overhead, "Rock Cube Chaos!"

"NO!"

HatMan Logging Out.

"And with that final blow, RockMan was won this match!" The announcer screamed into her microphone.

"That's just fine with me," The figure stood up, pocketed the device, and raised her P.E.T., "I've successfully retrieved the box."

"Acknowledged," a deep voice replied, "It is time to proceed to step two, I want you to take Blaze out of the picture."

"Consider it done."

"Thank you for your fine work, and know that Nebula will be sure to remember you in the days ahead."

"You'd better." The figure put her terminal away and headed for the stairs. "Or else…"

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"Now that's surprising," Lan glanced over the display board as they prepared to leave.

"What? That HatMan lost?" Maylu hazarded a guess at the Op's vague statement.

"Yeah, I thought that he'd have made it to the finals…" The brunette trailed off as he and Chaud helped escort Maylu through the thickening crowd. "I never thought that RockMan of all Navi would beat him."

"It could have been worse." MegaMan shrugged from his terminal. "He could have lost to the Sledgehammer Brothers."

"Point taken." Roll agreed from her own terminal.

"Still, I'd like to know just why Famous had us join the World Tour," The redhead changed the subject, "I don't like working like this, not knowing what we're up against."

"I don't know why, but knowing Famous, he probably has his reasons," Lan commented as they broke out of the coliseum and back into the outside world. "However secretive they may be."

"Actually, I know why." Chaud spoke up for the first time since the entire conversation had started.

"You do?" Maylu inquired.

"Well, I wish you'd explain it to the rest of us." Lan muttered as he opened up the car door.

"Actually, all I have at this point is a theory." The Official waited for the other two to enter before he himself got in, "I think that Famous has us on this World Tour because there has been an increase in Netcrime across the world recently. I think he's gone to all of the trouble of creating the World Tour so that he can move us to 'hotspots' and lend a hand without arising suspicion."

"That would explain why he called us out to help Laika." The redhead turned that thought over in her mind, "But I don't know, I feel like there's something else going on that we don't know about."

"Well, I think we'll just have to wait and see what happens." Lan glanced out of his window; "Maybe we'll find some answers in Netopia."

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Somewhere over the Ocean, Blaze Jet. 1:00 A.M.

Chaud lay in his cot, tossing and turning more than he was getting some much-needed rest. Just because he wasn't competing in the World Tour, didn't mean that he wasn't involved, the sheer amount of paperwork required for an event like this was enough to drive a person insane.

Finally, he gave up, if he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, he might as well make it productive.

"Chaud?" As usual, ProtoMan snapped out of recharge when the Op started stirring.

"I'm fine," The Op emerged from his bathroom, fully dressed.

"Another rough night?" The Raider inquired, although he knew what the answer would be. It was getting close to that time of year again…

"Just the usual, I'm going to go do some work in the study." Chaud began to push his door open.

"Chaud, I'm always here for you."

The double-haired kid stopped, and then glanced back at his Navi.

"ProtoMan, thank you, that means a lot to me."

"It's the truth." The red Navi nodded as his operator left the room.

Chaud turned down the corridors and headed for the 'study' of the aircraft. Since he spent so much of his time on this plane, Blaze Quest had outfitted it with several areas that looked out of place in an airplane, such as the kitchen, study, and library.

As the Op walked along, he couldn't help but think back to that day… the day his life had changed forever…

Before he could become completely engrossed in his reverie, a slight sound caught his attention. The official slid to a silent stop, his senses on high alert.

Clank.

There it was again, someone was making noise, and it was coming from the kitchen area. At first, Chaud was content to dismiss the issue as Lan making another mid-night raid on the refrigerator, but that's when he noticed something odd.

There wasn't a single light on in the galley.

The Official went into action, as he headed over to investigate the noises. As quietly as possible, he slipped over to the doorway, opened it a crack, and peered into the kitchen, in the dim light from the corridor he could just make out the shadowy form of a person sneaking through the room.

"Looks like we've got a stowaway." The double-haired kid muttered, someone was in there, and didn't want to give themselves away by turning on the lights… And there was no telling who it was, a thief, stowaway or, even worse, a Nebula agent… "There's only one way to find out what he's up to…"

Chaud kept watch and waited until the person had his back to the door… and then he made his move. The Official bolted forward, burst through the door, and rushed at the trespasser.

"Wha-!" The person's cry was cut off as Chaud crashed into her, and sent them both tumbling to the floor. Without giving the trespasser an instant to recover from the shock, the Official dove onto his prey and pinned her to the ground.

"Now, talk and talk fast, what are you doing here?" The Op demanded as he struggled to get a look at his captive in the dim light.

"Will you get off!?"

Chaud's eyes widened in surprise, right before a hand slapped him across the face and knocked him off of his captive. A split second later he was reeling again as a foot connected with him.

"Just- just a moment." The Official stumbled over to the door, and clumsily hit the light switch, bathing the room in artificial light.

"MAYLU?"

"Chaud?" Maylu shook her head as she tried to get to her feet, tying to sort out what had happened. "What was that about?"

"I- well- you-" For once in his life, Chaud was completely speechless. Not to mention visibly embarrassed … "I heard someone moving around down here, and when I came to check it out the lights weren't on, so I assumed that-… I overreacted."

"I suppose so." The redhead finished standing up, and then quickly moved over to the stove and shut a burner off, causing the flame to die out underneath a large pot that was sitting on the range.

"One thing," Chaud was still trying to overcome his shock, "Why in the world didn't you turn the light on?"

Maylu stopped feeling through a nearby cabinet, to turn and 'look' in the bewildered Op's direction.

"Why should I?"

That's when Chaud felt like kicking himself, of course Maylu wouldn't bother to turn on the lights, since she was blind it wouldn't make any difference if the lights were on or off.

The redhead found what she was looking for, and produced two cups from the said cabinet. Then, she moved back over to the stove, and dipped each glass into the pot, filling each one with a light brown liquid.

"Sorry, I can't really pour like everyone else can." Maylu explained her actions as she felt out a nearby rag and wiped of the outside edge of each mug. "Hot chocolate?"

"Uh, no. I'd better be-" The Official cut himself off as the redhead shook her head at him.

"Loosen up, Chaud." The girl held out one of the glasses.

Chaud remained mute but took the offered drink.

"I couldn't sleep," Maylu explained before taking a sip of her beverage. "So I came down here to make this. It always helps. What about you?"

"What about me?" Chaud hesitantly took a drink, and received a pleasant surprise; it really wasn't all that bad…

"Why are you down here chasing imaginary burglars?"

"I came down to get some work done." The Op avoided the issue.

"Oh."

There were several moments of silence as they finished off the hot chocolate.

"Listen… I'm sorry… about jumping you like that." The Official began after a few moments.

"Don't be, I can understand why you leapt to that conclusion." The redhead replied, "I'll leave the light on for you next time."

Chaud stared off into space for a few seconds; a crazy idea was beginning to emerge in his mind… But that was impossible wasn't it? There was no way that Maylu would…

A slight thud yanked the Op out of his thoughts, and he turned to see Maylu setting the last of the dishes in the dishwasher. The very idea that she could function so well in spite of her handicap, well, Chaud couldn't explain it, but something about it appealed to him.

"I… Maylu, I…" Chaud couldn't understand why he felt so hesitant about what he was about to say, "I realize that this is going to sound personal but-"

"Hey, how come nobody told me about the party?"

"Lan?" Maylu called out as she slid the dishwasher door shut.

"It is." Chaud sighed silently to himself; his question would just have to wait.

End Chapter.

Next: Arrival in Netopia.