No new reviewers... sigh... if I don't receive any by the next chapter I might need to self-propel myself forward... ah well...

Chapter 4: (Former) World Three Comes To Town!

Disclaimer: Capcom owns MegaMan et. al. I only own this story and the characters in it.

MegaMan and co., led by a speeding TurboMan, raced through the UnderNet, obviously itching to get somewhere. That somewhere in question was UnderSquare, usually inhabited by criminals and other lowlifes. This was the case in the past.

These days, however, there were more lively Navis, some even from the outer world. Those were greeted more positively than in the past, however, this was hardly the case when referring to a recent happening. Not long ago, the UnderSquare was ravaged by a group of rogue Navis, and even broke through to Secret Area 2 before JapanMan was able to help DarkMan keep them at bay.

"That incident... does this have anything to do with it?" said Maylu.

"No idea. I really hope it doesn't." replied Dex.

"Lan. I forgot to tell you something – the World Three knows about the NetSavior's identity as well." said Dr. Hikari, who had passed by.

"Yes. Anddddd...?"

"I've received mail from Mamoru. He's been saying that Bass may be planning a very strong attack. There haven't been any other details."

"Sure."

Led by QuickMan and TurboMan, the gang sped through the UnderNet, towards UnderNet 1... 2... 1... 3...

"Go on through-"

"And here's the UnderSquare! Zero and Ciel told us to meet here." said MegaMan.

"Welcome. MegaMan and ProtoMan." said Zero.

"Hi Roll!" said Ciel.

"You ready for a long-winded explanation?"

"Get on with it." barked a particularly harsh voice in the shadows.

A while later

"Basically, in a nutshell, there's been some rumours of mysterious Navis around here, including what appears to be a much stronger Bass, and you'd better be on your guard." said the reploid swordsman after the meeting.

"TurboMan will look for anything! Vroom!"

"I assume everyone knows what he/she is doing?" asked ProtoMan. Everyone nodded.

"Then off we go."

However, TurboMan had barely set a wheel outside UnderNet 4 when the UnderSquare trembled incredibly, like a strong earthquake in the real world. The Operators felt the impact through their PETs.

"What's happening?" shouted GutsMan.

"Bass..." said a distant sentry's voice outside UnderNet 5.

"Oh come on... surely it can't be that ba... ohhh... crap." said Dex.

Hmmm... No1 Curry... Guess I'll see the rest of the curry gang...

It was a few streets opposite the mall... yeah... shit... there's a truckload of people outside... I wonder if anyone I know is there...

Shit. Half an hour more. Façade told me so.

"Hey! James!"

Shit. Ah well.

"Sarah – how's it going?" Ignore the sniggers of the rest of 'em, I said to myself.

"I'm fine. And you?"

"Been better, been worse." Without waiting for a reply I said: "Sooo... you guys are waiting for it to open?"

"Yeh." said Vijay. Hmm. I almost forgot about him.

"From the looks of it, I bet that this place isn't going to open in around half on hour. At least."

"Yeah, probably. Hey, have you heard about the rumours of a 'final stronger' NetSavior? I heard about this on the DenTech City boards."

"Really? I never knew about that!" Damn. I will be killing myself laughing after a while.

40 minutes later

Finally! The restaurant's opened.

"Welcome. Just call me Yahoot for now. I'm terribly sorry for the delay; however, we are now ready."

"Who the hell is he? Some yoga master or something?"

"Actually, he is. I read about it on the Netbattler's Forum the other day."

"Really? Cool. Hey, James, you want to come eat with us?"

"Sure. Hang on though. I've got to get to the toilet."

Hope they don't become suspicious if I leave for too long. Nobody cares about me anyway, so they probably won't notice. What was that thought? Wait, scratch that.

So here's the staff entrance... Yeah, and...

"Hi! You must be James Lee, yes:

"Its Li, whoever you are."

"The name's Madoi, heeheehee." What the hell? Is she a fucking slut? Or...

"Don't worry about her. She's a damned playboy." said this weird-looking blondie with screwed-up hair.

"Woah, your accents are pretty damn good. Even though they're a bit American."

"Hey, we've been there for quite awhile. We've set up successful businesses in Electopia, Jawaii and in America." said that Yahoot type who was there earlier.

"Sooo... I may need a few introductions here...?"

"Ah sorry, laddie! Mah name is Misterr Match." said that red-looking old guy. "This is Madoi, Jack Zap-"

"-but just call me Count Zap for now."

"...and Yahoot."

"You care to meet our Navis?"

"Em, sure." I took out my P.E.T.

"Jack in, Façade!"

Façade made it into the system, to be greeted by some weird-looking Navis.

"I'm FireMan. This is ColorMan – he gestured to this god-awful clown-like Navi – ElecMan – some weird electric bee – and this is MagicMan – some sort of, er, magician."

"Now, I'm assuming you have your friends to go back to, right?"

"Yep."

"Come back after your meal's over. Ok?"

"Sure."

FAÇADE LOGGING OUT

1 hour later

"Damn! That was good!"

"Yeah, you bet. Whadaya think, James?"

"Em, yeah. Listen, I gotta go now. I'll pay my share of the fee. Ok?"

"Sure."

I handed out a crumpled $20 note before rushing outside and through the back gate.

Actually, it WAS pretty good. But why did they have to be SO GODDAMN EXPENSIVE?

Well, here's the meeting place. Now where...

"Boo!"

ARRGGHH! Don't sneak up on me behind that!

"Heehee. Now, would you like to come in?"

"Um, yeah, sure."

Damn this place is messy.

"No, no dear, this way."

Hmmm. This is more like it.

"Here. Before we forget – he took out quite a thick volume – take this."

Hmmm. What is this? 'The Ultimate Guide to InterNet NaviGating.', by Yuuichiro Hikari. This definitely could prove useful.

"So. You ready to receive some details, me lad?"

Yeah, why not.

"Firstly, some unconfirmed details on your customized NetNavi..."

1½ hours later

"Well, that was quite a meeting, I must say!"

Yeah. Damn all that info!

"Chips?"

Check.

"Navi Customizer?"

This thing here? Check.

"Documents?"

Check.

"What are you going to do next?"

Get some licenses.

"Well, that's all the time we got." said Count Zap. "See you!"

I quietly stole out of the restaurant, which was still receiving a whole lot of customers, andcaught the next bus back home, taking care not to even show any of the documents.

"So, let's go to the Government Complex around here. Remember where it is?"

"Yep."

"Jack in!"

It didn't take Façade long to get to the Government Server. Neither did it take him long to register for the licenses.

"Ready to take the A license?"

Okay, sure.

"To pass the first test, you must delete 5 sets of viruses in a row. I will replenish your HP before and after the problem. Ready?"

Let's go! Okay, what are these? Just Mettaurs.

"Spreader, double download!"

There they go.

Hmm. Spikeys, Flameys, Volgears...

"DublCrak, download! Geyser, download!"

There they go. More... and more... and more. Okay, that's it. What next?

"I have some info that 'A bad Navi is at the NSW/Victoria cyberborder.' You need repeating?"

Nah. That's fine. Okay. NSW Area... Let's get to the border... Ah! There he is!

"You think you can beat me? Go, viruses, attack!"

Well, just another bunch of viruses. That wasn't too hard. Where did he go? Ah, some random data.

"Congratulations! To pass the third test, you must delete 5 sets of viruses in a row. I will replenish your HP before and after the problem. Ready?"

Great. Another batch. Undoubtedly this will be much more difficult. Okay... let's go.

Uh-oh. Mettaur2s. And a Beetank2.

"StepCros, download!"

TRIPLE DELETE! Yea- Damn.

"BoyBom2, download!"

Ah crap. He's taken quite a bit of a beating. I can't seem to break up these Dominerds and Hardheads and Gaias... I'M NOT DOING ANY DAMAGE TO THEM! SHIT!

"Rockcube, quadruple download! Timebom1, download!"

This isn't going to do anything.

"Lightning1, download!"

That worked against MeteorMan... but nothing happened! Meanwhile, Façade can't move! Crap! This is really bad... I'm nearly out of chips... Ah! That's it! That'll really help!

"JunkMan, download!"

Instantly JunkMan appeared and sent all the objects flying against the viruses, which disintegrated immediately. Façade finished the rest that weren't deleted yet manually.

"Congratulations! And here's your A license!"

Hmmm. Davy was right after all. That chip DID come in useful.

"I'm requesting a test for an S license."

"I'm sorry, but all license tests are currently unavailable at the present."

"Why can't I get the S license right now?"

"The Officials have been telling everyone to jack out. I don't know why myself."

"Okay. Let's go."

FAÇADE LOGGING OUT

"Famous!"

"Yes?"

"Outbreaks of viruses have been occurring around the world. Laika is currently trying to get to the heart of the issue right now."

"I already know. Lan and the others might have discovered the cause for this."

"What is it?"

NotJim: Is anyone else alive out there?

(unknown): No.

NotJim: Who the hell are you?

(unknown): The mysterious guy who will appear later in this crappy fic.

NotJim: I resent that! It's not that bad.

(unknown): Anyway, what was I going to say... please review, readers. Help this poor, troubled, disturbed soul.

NotJim: I – AM – NOT!

(unknown): Yes, you are.