Disclaimer: I do not own the Ranma1/2 series or the Megaman: Battle Network series.

"Dialogue"

((Thoughts))


Nerima, Tendo dojo...

Ranma looked at the thing before him and it looked right back, its eyes promising pain if he even dared to touch it. He never knew the meaning of being frightened but now as he saw this... monstrosity, this abomination to nature itself standing in front of him, he finally understood and it wasn't very pleasant.

"Ranma, aren't you going to eat what I made for you?" asked Akane sweetly

"What exactly... did you cook?" replied Ranma sweating buckets as he tried to poke it with his chopsticks but a tentacle of the monster swiped them away before he could even get near, ((Oh god... It's alive! And damn fast!))

"It's a French recipe I found in a book in the attic, I think it turned out very well."

Behind Akane stood Nabiki, who was frantically waving said book above her head pointing at the last page where a big, fat, red warning stood, 'ONLY AN IDIOT WOULD COOK SOMETHING OUT OF THIS BOOK!! IF ONLY ONE INGREDIENT IS ADDED WRONG OR IN THE WRONG QUANTITY THE FOOD IS GOING TO BE LETHAL!! DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT, USE A RECIPE FROM THIS BOOK, EVEN MASTER COOKS FAILED AND DIED AS THEY ATE THEIR OWN CREATIONS! –Publisher of the Neko-ken manual'

"Akane... I'm not really hungry... I bet Oyagi would like to have an extra dish."

"Ranma!!" growled Akane, "I spent over two hours to cook this for you! You are going to at least taste it!"

"As I said, I'm not hun..."

Ranma didn't count with his father though, "Ranma, you are going to eat what your fiancée cooked for you!"

Before the young martial artist knew what happened, Genma shoved the plate with the evil monster into Ranma's face. Some of it entered his mouth too and he swallowed it out of reflex. That was when something unthinkable happened, as the wicked demon Akane created came in contact with the acid in Ranma's stomach, a kind of self preserve system was activated and the alien being in Ranma's body released an enzyme that dissolved living material in seconds.

The Tendos and Genma watched horrified as blood started to pour out of Ranma's mouth, nose, eyes and ears. Quickly the body started to get thinner and thinner as Ranma was eaten from the inside out. Not even a minute later a skeleton dressed in Chinese clothing fell to the ground.

That was when he woke up, "YARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

He breathed heavily as he remembered every detail of the dream, even the pain. After a few moments the shock subsided and he noticed for the first time his surroundings. He was sitting on a pretty small field that consisted of several rows of golden and silver panels. The 'sky' was orange and some weird circle-like symbols were part of it too. On the other side of the field he saw the weirdest thing though, two floating green-colored robo-rabbits that seemed to talk to each other.

"Did you sleep well?" asked a voice suddenly, it seemed to come from everywhere

The year 200X, SciLab...

Dr. Hikari, the best scientist of the world when in came to the Net, was working on a new Navi for his son. Some months ago during the fight against WWW and the primal version of the Internet Alpha, the old Navi and at the same time brother of Lan Hikari was deleted. There was no backup data to restore him though, Megaman was a unique being and so a new Navi had to be created, since his son would need one when school started again and he got into the sixth grade.

The father of Lan had luck though; a few months ago SciLab got a hand on a DNA sample of some aged bones that were found in the abandoned ruins of an old town. The sample was digitalized for further study and it seemed to be a wonder of nature that such a thing existed. It seemed to be almost perfect, without any trace of genetic mutations.

Now he used this data to create the new Navi for his son but it didn't work quite as well as he planned. The data couldn't be rewritten so that it would fit a Navi program, so he decided to take a new course. Instead of rewriting what was already there, he tried to add something and it worked. Hikari used data remains of an incident that happened only a short while after the WWW was defeated the first time. These fragments were part of a powerful Navi that was destroyed by Megaman; the name of it was Zero.

As Dr. Hikari brought the two files together, they seemed to latch onto each other. The two were trying to rebuild what they once were which resulted in a rather neat looking fusion of both. There on the 'ground' of his computer lay the new being. It was tall (for a program), had a black, skintight bodysuit with red armor covering his chest, forearms and the legs from the knees downward, additionally there was a holster with something inside of it attached to his left thigh and the fingers of his hand were white instead of black.

On his head was black helmet with red fins that started at the covered forehead and extended in a V-shape to the back of his head, there was also a blue triangular crystal inserted in the space above were the two fins met. The man could also see a long black pigtail that seemed to reach to the NetNavi's hips coming out from the back of the helmet.(1)

As he finished his examination of the new being, Lan's father noticed that the Navi was beginning to wake up. He was shocked though, when he heard the first sound leaving its lips,

"YARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Dr. Hikari never heard a Navi scream like that, but he put it aside for the moment. He had to made sure that his new creation was all right and not malfunctioning,

"Did you sleep well?" asked the scientist

Back to Ranma...

"Who are you?" asked the Navi as he got to his feet and noticed for the first time his clothes, "And more importantly where are you and why am I wearing these strange things?"

"Oh... Sorry." Ranma then heard a beeping sound and suddenly a screen appeared some meters before him, showing a brown-haired man who was in his thirties, "I'm Dr. Yuuichirou Hikari and you are inside of a computer."

"I'm in a what?!" yelled Ranma shocked, taking in his surroundings again, ((That could explain the robo-rabbits though... What am I thinking?!))

"You are inside the network of a computer, my computer to be more exactly." replied Yuuichirou

"And would you care to explain me how I came into this thing?" asked Ranma angrily

"Well, it is like this..." the man continued with a lengthy description of how Ranma came into the network, why he was created and that he was no longer human. All this compressed in a friendly, fatherly speech of which Ranma understood only the half.

"...and then you woke up screaming." finished Dr. Hikari, quite pleased with his explanation

Ranma blinked a few times, digesting what he had been told, "So you want to tell me I died sometime in the past, then you found my bones and took a sample of my... DNA? Then you made me what I am now so that your son can have a partner again, since his old one died protecting him?"

"Yes, that's right." answered the scientist

"Great... I knew that tomboy would someday be my death..." muttered Ranma

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"That uncute tomboy of a fiancée killed me..." said Ranma

"Your own fiancée killed you?!" asked the man shocked

"Well, actually my father shoved that poisonous crap down my throat." replied the angry NetNavi, "Baka Panda..."

"Your father?!"

Ranma looked at the man confused and then realized that Dr. Hikari had no idea what a life he had, "No, no... They didn't kill me intentionally. Let me tell you some things about my life back then..."

And so it was Ranma's turn to tell a story and Yuuichirou was fascinated from the tale. As a small boy he always dreamed of magic and adventures. After almost half an hour Ranma finished and looked back at the scientist on the screen, "So that was my life in a nutshell."

"Fascinating... very fascinating... you said something about a curse, didn't you?"

"Yes, I turned into a girl when I was splashed with cold water. Do you think it's still active? I have enough problems now as it is, I don't need to change genders randomly too."

"Hmmm... I don't think so." responded Lan's father

"Why is that?" asked Ranma with hope filling his eyes, ((Never gonna be a girl again, never gonna be a girl again...etc.))

"Well, you were dead for several decades, when I was young I heard that magic only lasted till ones death." said Yuuichirou, "Then there is the fact that you are actually a computer program now and not human anymore and let's not forget that there is no real water in the net. You are also partially another person, since Zero.exe fusioned with your DNA."

"That's a relief, Dr. Hikari."

"Call me Yuuichirou."

"Okay." said Ranma, "So... now tell me more about your son... He is going to be my operator from now on."

Dr. Hikari smiled proudly as he told Ranma about Lan and Megaman, and how they defeated crime organizations such as WWW (two times in fact) and Gospel. He also told Ranma about the N1 Grand Prix and how Lan almost became champion but it turned out that the whole tournament was a ploy of the NetMafia Gospel.

"Wow... that sounds incredible!" was Ranma's reaction

"It is, isn't it?" replied Yuuichirou

"So... What exactly is my job as a NetNavi?" asked Ranma

"Well... You have to help my son in school, virus busting and other errands that can only be carried out over the net."

"For example?"

"Mostly some of the jobs on the request board here in SciLab."

"Okay. How does someone fight a virus?"

"You can either use your main weapon or the effects of battle chips your operator gives you."

"Main weapon? What should that be?"

"Look into the holster on your left thigh, there seems to be something in it." replied Dr. Hikari

Ranma looked at it and he noticed a metallic shaft inside the holster. He took hold of it with his right hand and pulled it out; as he brought the cylinder up he was surprised when suddenly a green light shot out of one end of it, forming a sharp looking saber. He made a few test swings with it and looked the sword over, and then he turned his eyes back to the scientist,

"Nice, but how do I turn it off?"

"Are there any buttons on the hilt?"

"I don't see any...you any other ideas?"

"Hmmmm... Try to will it away."

"Huh?" asked Ranma intelligently

"It is a part of you, since it is your main weapon. It's part of your program."

"Oh... okay, let me try."

Ranma concentrated on the weapon and it faded out of existence, reappearing in the holster not active anymore.

"Okay... I didn't expect this to happen, but it's still cool." stated Ranma, blinking at his empty hand

"See... It looks like a very effective weapon."

"It does seem so... it's still a little weird, back then in Nerima I would have outright refused to use a weapon..."

"That could be the part in you that has once been Zero. From what I heard of my son, Zero used a sword as his main weapon."

"That could explain it..." replied Ranma, "Now tell me about these battle chip thingies."

"It's like this..." the man searched in the right pocket of his jacket and pulled out two blue-grey computer chips with different images on top of them, "... the battle chips are transferred to you by using a Personal Terminal, short PET. Once transferred the chips give you certain special abilities that you can use once. What I mean is that every chip can be used only once per battle. This one for example is called Aura and it erects a protective shield around you that can't be broken unless very powerful attacks are used, there are also stronger versions of it called LifeAura and the strongest one known, the DarkAura chip. The other chip I hold is called M-Cannon and it turns into a cannon on your arm which you can fire at will."

"That sounds great! Say, when can I meat your son?" asked Ranma eagerly, ((This is a whole new way to fight! I can't wait to find out what I'm able to do...))

"Next morning most probably. He will be asleep by the time I arrive." answered Yuuichirou, "But I'll bring you home tonight already. I want to surprise my son with you when he wakes up."

"That's fine with me, but how do I get out of here?"

"That's easy. Wait a few moments, I have to get something." the man stood up and walked out of Ranma's line of view. Some minutes later the scientist came back, holding a small blue thing Ranma didn't recognize.

"What is that?" asked the Navi curiously

"This is what I mentioned before, a PET. I plug it in now; just move onto that red circle over there. You should be automatically transported to it."

Ranma did as he was told and a flash of light later he found himself standing in a place similar than before, only with a massive color change. All the floor panels were dark blue and the 'sky' was dull green. In other words, it looked boring and depressing.

"Wow... this is so... 'Shi Shi Hokodan'..." stated Ranma as he looked at the new area

"Shi Shi Hokodan?"

"Another expression for unbelievably depressive." replied the NetNavi

"Oh... well, it's not like that can't be changed. The PET has to be customized first."

"That's okay, doc. When are you going home?"

"In an hour most probably, why do you ask?"

"I wanted to get some training with the sword in before we leave, that's why I asked. I want to talk to you during the drive home so I can't train then."

"Okay, I'll be going now. One of my colleagues needs my help. While I'm gone you can also try to get to know the PET, you can influence several of its functions... the colors too."

The man placed the Personal Terminal onto a metal table and turned to leave, Ranma stopped him though with a question,

"What should I call myself?"

"Huh?"

"From what you told me most of the Navis have weird names like Gutsman or Megaman. So I thought I might get one too. I'm not really Ranma Saotome anymore, nor am I this Zero or whatever his name was. I need something new."

"I try to think of something, that's okay?"

"Yes, we can talk later about it."

Later...

"So... How are you?" asked Dr. Hikari as he looked at the screen of the PET.

"I'm fine, I finally figured out how to change my surroundings. How do you like it?" said Ranma

"Hmmm... nice design, black and red panels and a sky-blue wallpaper." stated Yuuichirou, "How long did it take for you to figure it out?

"About ten or fifteen minutes, now I also know how to start the alarm and how to turn up the volume of this thing." replied Ranma, "But I still don't know where the clock is..."

"You will eventually master all those things. My son Hub had problems with it too at first."

"You mean Megaman?"

"Yes, but privately I always called him Hub." said the scientist with sadness showing in his eyes and voice

"Oh... Sorry if I brought up bad memories." said Ranma apologetically

"You didn't... It's just that my wife and I lost Hub now completely. Even after he died as a human, he still lived on as Megaman but now..."

"You should go home now; I'm tired of watching this ceiling all the time. Seriously, you could have placed this thing somewhere where I could at least look at the room..." spoke Ranma, trying to change the topic

"Of course." this said, the man picked up the PET and left his private lab. After a rather boring ride in the elevator Dr. Hikari walked to the Metroline and bought a ticket for ACDC Town, after a few minutes of waiting the last train for the day arrived and Yuuichirou entered it.

He took a seat near the entrance and pulled the PET out of his jacket. As he looked at the monitor he saw Ranma staring at him with an angry glare,

"Don't do that ever again!"

"What do you mean?" asked Lan's father confused

"Don't stuff me in your pocket ever again, that's what I mean!"

"Huh? Why?"

"Baka! Do you know just how mind numbing it is to just stare at a black screen! I couldn't even notice what was happening outside with the exception of some sounds!"

"Well, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because something else in your jacket was pressing against the mute button of the PET!!"

"Sorry... If you want I can attach a string to the PET so that it can be hung around ones neck."

"Yes, do that." said Ranma and then tried to look where exactly he was, "Where are we anyway?"

"On the train to ACDC Town, we should reach the station soon."

"Train? Why not use a car?"

"Well, it's faster using the train and... I have no car."

"Okay..." said Ranma and then after a small pause he continued, "Did you come up with a name for me yet? I couldn't think of one."

"Actually yes, I did."

"Really? What is it?" asked Ranma curiously

"How about Requiem?" replied Dr. Hikari

"Requiem? Hmm... It does have a nice ring to it." stated Ranma, ((Requiem... 'Hey, I'm Requiem'... 'Hi, my name is Requiem'... It is a little bit weird, but it sounds cool too... Whatever...))

"Hey doc!" exclaimed Ranma

"Yes?"

"I'm Requiem.exe, at your service!"

"So you like the new name?"

"Yeah, it will take some time getting used to it but Requiem sure sounds stylish."

"I'm glad you like it."

Bing Bong "Last station, ACDC Town. Please leave nothing behind."

"Let's go now." said Dr. Hikari and stood up, almost putting the PET back into his jacket but he stopped as he remembered what Ran... Requiem said.

The scientist and some other passengers left the Metroline and Yuuichirou walked to the direction of his home. After a minute he reached it and looked the house over,

"This is where you will be living from now on." said the man

"That's nice and all but if you want to show me something you should hold the PET into that direction." mumbled Requiem

"Heh heh...sorry. Here, look." Lan's father did as Navi told him and held the Mini-Terminal so that Requiem could see the house

"Hey, nice house you have there!"

"Thanks, it cost a fortune."

"I think you should go in now."

"You're right." He walked to the door and opened it

((The door is not locked?)) thought Requiem confused

"Haruka, I'm home!"

He walked into the living room and saw his wife sitting there, watching TV. She turned to look at her husband and smiled brightly,

"Hello dear, how was work?" asked the woman, turning the TV off

"Great, I finally finished my project."

"Lan's new Navi?"

"Yes, here he is." said Yuuichirou as he handed her the PET

Haruka looked at the screen and looked the new Navi over, "Hello."

"Hi, Mrs. Hikari!" greeted the program, "I'm Requiem."

"Requiem? What a nice name."

"Your husband gave it to me."

"Did he tell you about Lan?" asked the woman

"Yes, everything." replied the NetNavi, "I hope your son and I can become friends."

"I hope that too... he has been so depressed lately." said Lan's mother with a concerned voice

"I bring Requiem now to Lan's room." said Dr. Hikari to his wife

"He's already asleep." responded Haruka

"I have no intentions of waking him up, dear." said the man, "It's just a surprise for tomorrow."

"Okay, darling. Good night, Requiem." said Mrs. Hikari

"Good night to you too." replied Ranma, "I'll see you next morning!"

Dr. Hikari took the PET back into his hand and left, going upstairs. Once he reached his son's room, he entered it and silently walked over to the PC standing on a desk on the other side of the room. He placed the Personal Terminal next to it and turned to leave but Requiem stopped him,

"Hey, place me upright. I don't want to stare at the ceiling the whole night!"

Yuuichirou shrugged and did it, he leaned the PET on the monitor of the computer.

"Do you have a good view?"

"Yes, thanks."

"Good night, Ranma." said the professor and walked to the entrance

"It's Requiem now...but anyway, good night!"

The scientist left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving his son and the Navi alone. After a few minutes of silence Requiem spoke again,

"Well... now what? I don't feel tired at all, I don't even know if can sleep." muttered Ranma to himself, "Maybe I can try to figure out more of this things functions."

He concentrated shortly and next to screen to the real world appeared a blue one, showing several sub-menus and other information. The first menu was called 'Chipfolder', which he found out earlier showed the chips he possessed... he had not even one. The next one was called 'Subchip' but it was also empty, then came the 'Library' which showed closer information on chips, the only entries were the Aura and M-Cannon chips. After that a very interesting menu came up, his own 'Status menu'. It showed Ranma his level in different departments like speed, power and various other things, along came something called Navi Customizer but for some reason he couldn't access it. Next was the E-Mail Folder which was empty at the moment.

"But still no clock... where is the damn thing... I can look up how much money here is, some weird thing called Bug Fragments and what seems to be my own life points... but nothing to show what time it is..." grumbled Requiem, "Modern technology my ass..."

Ranma shut the menu off and looked at the real world, the room was dark and only the street lanterns brought a little bit light into the room as the shone through the windows.

"So that's going to be my operator..." said Ranma, looking at the sleeping figure, "He sure is young."

The next morning...

Lan slowly opened his eyes, today school would start again and he promised Megaman not to be late to school ever again. He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, letting a yawn of at the same time.

"Finally you're awake."

"Huh?" questioned the boy as he looked around his room, searching for the source of the voice

"Look at your monitor." said the male voice

Lan did just that and to his surprise a PET he never saw before was leaning against the screen of his computer. Dr. Hikari's son quickly stood up and walked towards the small machine. He picked it up and looked at the Navi.

"Who are you?" asked Lan curiously

"I'm your new Navi. Your father brought me here from...I think it's called SciLab last night."

"New Navi?.....Yes...I need one for school."

"Hey! I can hear you, you know?"

"Sorry... it's just that..."

"You don't need to tell me, your father already did that."

"Oh......" replied Lan intelligently, ((I really have to get out of this depressive mood, Megaman wouldn't want me to live like this and its also unfair towards... towards...))

"Errr... what is your name anyway?" asked Lan

"Call me Requiem, your father gave me this name." answered Ranma cheerfully

"Requiem... sounds cool."

"It does, doesn't it?" responded Ranma but then remembered something, "Hmm... Shouldn't you get ready for school?"

"Wha...? Oh my God, you're right! I have to hurry!!" Lan promptly placed the PET back on the desk and got a change of cloths out of his wardrobe, he quickly hurried to the bathroom then, leaving Ranma alone.

"Wow...for someone his age he really is fast."

Twenty-five minutes later...

Lan Hikari entered the living room completely dressed. He was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt along with an orange vest. He also had black shorts on and on his head was a blue headband. The PET was hanging around his neck and his school bag was on his back. He was surprised when he saw his father sitting at the dinner table, sipping on a cup full of coffee, and his mother was sitting next to him.

"Dad, what are you doing home at this time? Normally you're already on your way to work by now."

"Good morning to you too." greeted Yuuichirou

"Heh heh heh...sorry, good morning mom and dad!"

Lan swept a toast from the table and started eating, he didn't have any time to waste for a real breakfast.

"So... are you two getting along?" asked the man as he looked at the PET that was attached to a thin rope and hung around his son's neck

"So far yes, but he complained about being stuck into a pocket so I had to search for this string here... that cost time."

"You're right, it's almost time for you two to go." said Lan's mother

"You're right, mom. Good bye, you two!"

Lan walked to the front door but stopped when he heard his father shout from the living room,

"Before I forget it, did you register yourself on the new PET?!"

Lan yelled back, "No! I'll do it on my way to school!"

The boy left the building and turned left on the sidewalk. It was a sunny day without a cloud in the sky, people were going into the direction of the Metroline, most probably to go to work, and other kids like him rushed to school, not wanting to be late. The streets were almost empty since cars aren't used all that often anymore. Lan walked past the Chip Shop that was just opened by Mr. Higsby, who waved to the boy.

"Nice town." stated Ranma from his position

"Yeah, it's really peaceful here."

"Didn't your father say something about registering?"

"Oh yes! I almost forgot about that!" exclaimed Lan and took the PET in his left hand, "Thanks for reminding me."

"No problem!" replied Requiem

Lan started to type into the foldout keyboard of the PET and opened the menu up. From the inside Ranma could see how the blue screen from before appeared again but what Lan did exactly he couldn't figure out, he had no idea how most of the things here work anyway. After a few moments the boy was finished and the Navi noticed how the number for money and these BugFrags increased, the cash stopping at 30.000 Zenny and the Bug thingies stopped at 265 pieces.

As this happened Lan walked through the school gates and into the building. A week ago he got an e-mail from the principal telling him in which class he had to go, every student got one. It prevented the usual chaos that was on the first school day.

As Lan made his to the third floor of the school, Requiem decided to talk a little,

"Hey Lan, could you teach me how to NetBattle?"

"Huh? Why?" asked the boy

"Your father explained me the basics and sounds like its fun!"

"You want to NetBattle because you think it would be fun?"

"Yes! I love to fight!" replied Ranma

Lan shook his head at his new Navi's antics, ((Maybe this isn't going to be as bad as thought it would be.))

"So...are you?"

"Okay...but after school."

"That's fine with me." answered Requiem, while shrugging

"Look, we reached the classroom already."

"So...what's stopping you? Go in!"

"Okay, okay...don't be so pushy."

Lan opened the door and as he entered the room he was happy that his friends were still in same class as him. They even sat in the same pattern as last year. He closed the door behind him and walked to the desk in the front next to the windows. As every other normal student knew, first claim a desk then talk to your friends, since they would be there even after you choose a seat but it might not work the other way around.

"Hi Lan!" said a small blonde-haired girl with a large forehead, she was wearing a red dress. She is called Yai.

"Hey Lan!" exclaimed a large boy dressed in a green shirt and blue shorts, he had a really weird hairstyle which consisted of a small Mohawk. He was named Dex.

"Hello Lan!" greeted a cute red-haired girl; she was wearing a white long sleeved shirt with a blue vest over it, along with a pink mini-skirt. Her name is Mayl.

"Morning, everyone!" greeted Lan back

"Hi!"

"Who said that?" asked the three teens

"I did." said the voice

"Sorry guys...I forgot. This is my new NetNavi Requiem." introduced Lan while pointing at the PET

Mayl leaned forward to examine Ranma and was impressed, his armor simple but cool and he himself was unbelievably handsome. If she hadn't set her eyes on another male and Requiem had been human, she would have been completely in love by now.

"Nice to meet you Requiem, I'm Mayl."

Lan's other two friends looked Requiem over too and came to different conclusions. Yai thought that the guy looked somehow familiar but she couldn't place it. Dex on the other hand had his usual mindset,

"Do you want to NetBattle?" asked Dex

Lan blinked and then smiled at his friends statement, he should have figured that out before that Dex would ask him this, "I don't think it is a good idea, Dex. Requiem hasn't even been in a battle with a virus yet. I don't think Gutsman would be the right oppo..."

Ranma disrupted him though, "Of course we accept the challenge! When and where do we fight?"

All four teenagers were surprised by the statement and looked at each other, then right back to Requiem, who decided that he didn't like to be stared at like this.

"What? Do I have something on my face, or why are you staring at me like this?"

Lan decided to answer, "It's nothing...but don't you want to practice before we fight another Navi?"

"Why? You don't become stronger if you beat someone weaker than you. There is the saying that there is always someone who is stronger than you and well..."

"Well?" asked the four students as one

"I live for the challenge! If there is someone who is stronger than me then I strive to beat this person! Even if I loose I will train and challenge the one who beat me again and again and again until I finally win."

"Wow...you've got a really determined Navi there." said Mayl

"I like his attitude. We fight right after school in the classroom!"

((Now where have I seen him before...?)) thought Yai

At that moment the teacher, Ms. Mari came through the door, "Students, please go to your seats."

After school, classroom of the 6-A...

It was a rather boring day since there wasn't much the pupils had to do. They got their schedules, books and data disks they needed for the year and the rest of the day was spent with stories about the holidays and introductions of new students.

But now it was time for the first NetBattle of the school year, Gutsman vs. Requiem.

"Are you ready, Lan?" asked Dex, expecting an easy victory against the new Navi

"Of course I am." replied the other boy and looked at his PET, "Are you, Requiem?"

"I'm always ready to fight." answered Ranma

"Oh well...let's get started."

Both teens linked their PETs to each other, thanks to the included cable and started the fighting program,

"Battle Routine set, Gutsman!"

"Execute!" said the huge Navi from within his terminal

"Battle Routine set, Requiem!"

"Execute." said Ranma, only mimicking the other Navigator since he had no idea what was meant

Both fighters vanished in a flash of light and reappeared in a NetBattle arena that consisted of a field of several dozen rows of grey panels. It looked like it has been brutally ripped out of a larger body of land, the edges broken of uncleanly.

"This is where we fight?" asked Ranma the other Navi

"Yes."

"Okay...now Lan can I start?"

"Be careful Requiem, Gutsman is strong." said Lan from the real world

"Of course I'll be careful."

Ranma got into a defensive stance and waited for the bulking program some meters in front of him to attack. He was shocked when the giant moved at an extreme speed and delivered a straight punch with his right hand. Requiem ducked under strike only barely, his helmet being nicked by it. Using his crouching position Ranma gave a devastating uppercut to the other Navi's chin. To his dismay though, Gutsman's head was only snapped upwards and nothing more.

"How?" asked Ranma disbelievingly, ((Damn, even Ryoga would have been knocked out by this!))

Requiem tried to get some space between him and his opponent, but before he could even move a meter away Gutsman attacked again. This time the titan's punch landed square across Ranma's chest, sending him flying a couple of feet.

Ranma stood back up shakily all the while holding his chest, gasping for air even though he was only a program.

((Some more of these and I'm finished... maybe I should...)) thought Ranma and eyed the holster at his side

Seeing that his opponent was distracted, Gutsman smashed both his fists against the ground. The impact let the whole arena tremble, with cracks appearing everywhere. Ranma was literary shaken out of his thoughts as a fissure made of energy came towards him, he could dodge it but was roughly surprised as the attack reached the point where he stood and exploded, catching him off guard.

The shockwave sent him through the air, this time he could twist himself so slightly that he landed on his feet.

"Requiem, are you okay?" asked Lan worried

"Yes, I'm only slightly charred." answered Ranma, this time pulling the hilt out of the holster without hesitation

"What now? You want to beat Gutsman with a stick?" said the other Navi

"No, something better." stated Ranma with a smirk on his face

With a thought the green energy blade was activated and Requiem rushed forward slicing at Gutsman, who brought one of his arms up to block the strike. To everyone's shock the saber wasn't stopped by the arm and cut directly through it. The Navi of Dex tried to attack with its remaining arm but the fist was cut in half as Ranma held the sword in the way of the attack.

Gutsman looked at his damaged extremities and then back to Ranma, who now pointed with sword directly between the Navi's eyes.

"Give up."

"You win, Lan." could Ranma hear Dex say from the real world

Both Navis disappeared again from the Battlefield and were teleported back to their own PETs.

"Wow." said Mayl as she saw the result of the fight on Lan's terminal.

"That will take a while to repair..." muttered Dex as he looked at Gutsman

"Are you alright, Requiem?"

"That's the second time you ask me that...but oh well...I'm fine, Lan." replied Ranma, his blade in its holster again

"Well, sorry that I'm worried about you."

Ranma noticed the sadness that entered Lan's eyes and quickly responded, "Lan, I really appreciate that you are worried about my wellbeing but as you might have noticed, Gutsman went out of this fight in a much worse condition. That you worry is nice and all but you should reserve that for times when I really am in a bad shape."

Lan smiled at what his Navi said, ((He's right...I shouldn't get so overprotective. When he used that sword he beat Gutsman easily.))

"Requiem is right, you know?" said Mayl, getting a small 'thanks' from the Navi

"Yeah...I know."

A dark area of the Net, even beyond the Undernet...

"Soon it will begin...start our operation my servants."

"As you wish, Lord Sigma!" was chorused by eight warriors

An unknown Square on the Internet...

"Lord Harpuia..."

"I know, soon it's going to start...summon the rest of the three Guardians."

"As you wish."


Author's Note: Hope you liked this. And yes, this is a crossover with the Battle Network games, not the crappy anime.

1. Just think of Ranma in the outfit of Zero from the GBA game Megaman Zero.