Author's Notes: I believe that the '-hakase' on the end of Wily means 'Professor' or 'Doctor'. Just to clear that up, since I use it in this chapter.
Also, I'm changing Netto's name to just Netto, instead of Lan and making it a confusing mess.

Chapter 18; The Metal Beads

[back where we left off...]

Netto ran forward, following the rapidly disappearing form of his NetNavi. The security bots were closing in on them fast, and some had leapt right on top of Megaman. But none of them seemed to want to attack Netto, as if by some internal command that they were not to hurt the boy or approach him. Megaman swung around, flinging the bots off of him until they had let go, then readied his buster, a purple aura surrounding the gun. He let loose a spray of shots as if it were a barrage of bullets, stunning the bots. There was no time to destroy all of them now.

In front of the giant door leading to the entrance of the WWW base, Megaman pushed against it, throwing his whole weight against the heavy metal door. The door creaked open a crack with his effort, Netto still was running to keep up to his speed. He was about a mile behind, and needed to stop to catch his breath soon. Megaman was a very fast runner, and he'd proved it, too. Walking into the base, there were long stone corridors, high-tech equipment sticking out of the walls. They looked like projectors or cannons, but they weren't operating at all now.

Netto stuck his head in after stopping outside the base, leaning his body against the wall as he slumped there, breathing heavily. He had to keep going, and make sure that he was with Megaman to see what happened, also, to decide what he could do to help. What if Mega needed assistance in defeating the WWW? But... he would have asked for help if he hadn't been sure he could do it on his own...

Netto's eyes widened. Of course! Megaman had come here alone... without telling him... because he thought he wasn't going to come back alive. Mega was ready to give his life as a sacrifice to make sure he knew the answers he needed, and to make sure WWW was put out of action. This was a kamikaze mission!

"He's always sacrificing himself for me..." Netto mused to himself as he dashed inside, but he didn't see where Megaman had gone. There was only a straight long corridor though, and there was no other way he could have went, so he followed in that direction. He could hear and see strange things that looked a lot like Metaurs and Spikeys running down the corridor with him, running in the same direction Megaman had gone. But that was impossible... right? He wasn't in the Net where programs and viruses existed. Just to make sure he wasn't daydreaming, he kicked one of the Metaurs running next to him. It sailed into the air, crashing smack into the wall, then getting up angry it looked about but couldn't seem to find its attacker.

Netto kept running with a new realization. The viruses couldn't see him, but he could see them, and from this example could fight them, too. He'd thought they were just projections from the cyber world, but in this case it was Netto that was the projection that could take physical form. He bet that the World Three had planned all this, but he couldn't be sure. Maybe they'd done this so that he would see his NetNavi be deleted before his very eyes or something.

He could see a room with bright lights just ahead of him. Somehow the viruses disappeared in fragments the moment they touched the lights... perhaps, it was a barrier that was keeping them out of that room. Who knew? All Netto knew in that moment was that something was going on... A gunshot rang out, echoing off the walls, silencing everything. Netto stood still at the doorway to the room, Megaman standing in front of a very large green virus that looked like a huge cricket. He could practically feel Megaman's anger all the way from where he was standing, perhaps a half a mile away from the NetNavi and virus. It was a good thing he was so distanced then... a showdown was taking place.

He glanced around the rest of the room, seeing pure white walls and floors, and ceiling... okay, so there was a lot of white. There appeared to be no window for a control room, so there wasn't anyone who was making the virus attack them or anything from there. Looking around more, Netto caught a glint of metal on the floor by Megaman's feet. It was the two rings and broken beads from the necklace he'd given him for Christmas...

Megaman's POV

He'd come here as fast as he could. Coming to a halt in the middle of the huge room that acted as a battlefield (a war room), a monster-sized virus appeared about three feet away from him. Megaman could feel already that this virus was the one the World Three was throwing out to crush him with. It was a power that could crush the opponent facing it into the ground, it was so heavilly pressured. It had the kind of power that said, 'we're not fooling around with this one'. So all Megaman had to do was overpower this virus. The blue and yellow Navi kept in mind that the World Three was always expected to have a backup plan.

He charged towards the virus (the Life Virus, incidentally), his arm buster fully charged on his hand glowing an eerie purple-reddish color. The Life Virus released a pinpoint shot from the center of its red core, aiming for the NetNavi's head in a fatal headshot. Megaman threw himself a little bit sideways, avoiding the shot... which hit his most prized possession instead.

With a sound much like the jangle of bells upon a floor, the necklace fell, beads of metal and rings of silver falling everywhere, scattering, from where it had once been hanging from Megaman's neck. The room was enveloped with a deadly silence as an oddly calm Megaman stooped down to pick up the broken piece of jewelry, clutching it in his hand. Pressing it against his heart, dark shadows over his eyes had formed.

"Netto-kun...!" Megaman let out a silent scream of anguish, glaring up at the Life Virus, slowly, who was oblivious to the Navi's deathwish. as it began to fire random barrages of fire and plasma.

The green virus barely had time to realize that its opponent had practically drilled a hole through it.

Megaman stood behind the Life Virus, which had been ten times his size, a gaping and smoking hole made right through it. The enraged Navi turned around, and pounced on the virus's head, brutally pounding his fists into its body, until it disappeared in fragments, roaring in pain.

"Netto-kun! Netto-kun!!" the name kept being shouted within the corridors of the now berserk Navi's mind, repeating, repeating. The loss of the necklace made him go overboard...

Megaman landed on the ground, menacingly growling, and began tearing down the walls, revealing a hidden room behind the war room. From there, Netto could see the Navi's eyes were stained crimson red. Like the demon that had possessed him before.

"Give me what is rightfully mine" the demon's voice sounded... demanding something that no one but Megaman himself could guess.

"Get out of my mind!!" Megaman shouted back in protest, pushing against the demon's influence. The demon's force behind its demands was hurting him badly.

"MEGAMAN!!!"

Netto had screamed, running across the room to reach his NetNavi, the banging upon the wall becoming a deafening noise to the ears. Upon laying a hand on his shoulder, Netto was picked up in the air by his shirt collar, dangling in front of Megaman's glaring eyes. The demon had control now... he could see Mega fighting with it behind the glaze over his eyes. An extreme fear passed over Netto as he felt Megaman was losing the battle, but found himself being lowered down from the air, being put down on the floor again. The Navi's eyes were now their original green again, as he felt himself being hugged like he was a lifeline. Megaman's hands were gripping his arms, sometimes lightly gripping him and sometimes rather tightly, enough to be a little uncomfortable. Netto shrugged the fear off, making it disappear, as they pulled away, their eyes meeting one another's. Megaman's mouth opened, as he spoke:

"Netto-kun, what are you doing here?!"

Netto couldn't keep himself from sweatdropping. "That's it? I thought you were going to flip out at me since I'd followed you here!"

Megaman blinked, then smiled playfully. "It didn't cross my mind until now, actually. Thanks for bringing that up!" He pounced on Netto, surprising him, and began tickling his sides until the both of them ended up on the floor, trying to catch their breath after a tickle-war, joking around as if what had just happened between the demon and him had never occurred. Their eyes met, and they knew that their little reuniting moment was over. They still had to find out who was behind all this World Three business.

The two looked through the bent-in metal of the wall, which had peeled away under the pressure of Megaman's punches. Operator and NetNavi saw a dark room packed with computers and hardware holding all the controls to the World Three base. Muffled cries could be heard, but nothing could be seen where they were standing outside, where they had to squint to see inside. Megaman was the first to shove Netto inside the room through the hole about half their size, then he came in second, after him. The two looked around, back-to-back, seeing mostly computers and hard drives the size of a small apartment each. Most of them were in ruins piled in a corner, and the ones in use looked to be in excellent condition.

"Mmmff! Mmmmmfffff!!"

Netto bent his head towards the direction of that muffled voice, a person probably gagged or something and held hostage. Actually, there were several muffled voices. Megaman swiped a flashlight from a nearby desk littered with an impossible amount of papers, and turned it on, only to realize it was a very dim light. It was able to shed a little bit of light in that direction, but it was enough for Megaman to see that it was all three of Netto's 'friends'. Meiru, Yai, and Dex were tied up in plant vines in the center of the room, black bandanas tied around their faces, preventing them from screaming their lungs out for someone to come help them. Netto had a frown on his face as he looked at them. The mastermind must have seen him with them, and thought that they were friends of his, then made them hostages so that they could be used against him.

"Wily-hakase."

Megaman was looking straight ahead into the darkness, past his Operator's squirming 'friends'. Netto was trying to free them, although he didn't think of them as his friends.

"I see you've found me!"

The voice of an old man met all their ears. A quick clanging of metal upon the floor sounded, and within an instant, the entire room was lit up by light. Netto quickly covered his eyes, letting out a small gasping sound as he looked up, gradually readjusting from darkness to the light. The computers in operation around them came to life, giving of a soft hum to add to the background.

At the end of the room towards the wall, there was a chair that was designed like a throne. An aging old man with a long, bushy moustache and liver spots on his head sat, his hand clutching a metal cane that was touching the floor. A skull was placed atop the cane fancily.

"Either you let me go, or all your little friends will die!"

He pointed his cane shakily at Mayl, Dex, and Yai. Megaman looked at Wily- hakase with disgust.

"Neither me or my Operator care about them." "...No, Mega... though I can't forgive them, it wouldn't be right."

Netto had protested that, much to the Navi's surprise. The confused Megaman glanced at Netto, then turned fully around to face him.

"I thought you would hate them more for what they've done to you."

Netto shook his head. He would have said more, had it not been for the realization that was suddenly dawning on him. If they let Wily-hakase go, then Megaman wouldn't be able to find out the truth about himself... but at the very least, he could maybe clear up who had created him before the old professor escaped. Netto walked forward, to stand just behind his serious NetNavi. Mayl looked out at them with wide and confused eyes. She thought: 'They're going to let the mastermind behind the World Three escape?! They've caused us so much damage though!'

"Fine. I'll let you go..." the Navi paused, "if you tell me who created me."

The old professor had a cruel and sly look in his eyes as he faced the NetNavi with his little Operator behind him, ready to support him at all times. NetNavis were supposed to be ruled over to control the world, he believed. The Navi he'd trained to be a mass murderer had turned soft in his escape, it seemed.

"That seems fair." the old professor sneered. Suddenly, the whole room seemed to rumble, as the floor under Professor Wily was lifted upwards. A giant jet was being set into place over him. "I could give two hoots of who created you, but I can tell you this! I certainly didn't!"

"Hey! Come back here!" Megaman brought out his buster and aimed, ready to blast the crazy old lunatic out of the sky, but he was out of range. Netto watched him escape from where he stood, but saw a glint of something falling from the sky at his angle. It was a bomb!

"NO!!!" He dove for the others, shielding Mayl's body with his own for protection from the bomb that was headed swiftly to the ground. Megaman had seen the bomb that Wily-hakase had dropped on them, and breathed a curse as he took out a battlechip he'd taken from Netto's pack, in order to protect his Operator. "Barrier chip, slot in!!"

The next thing anyone knew, the whole place was engulfed in a wide explosion, detonating all the computers and information systems that held all of the World Three's plans and future missions. All the other equipment, including the chair, was burnt to a crisp in an instant. It was obvious that Wily-hakase used such measures to accomplish these things, to 'cover his tracks'.

When the smoke from the explosion cleared, there were crackling flames everywhere. Megaman was standing protectively in front of Netto and his friends, where he had activated the Barrier chip just in time so that none of them were harmed. He lowered his arms where he'd been holding up the protective aura, letting the shield drop, the danger over. He'd wanted to protect just Netto on purpose, since he hated the three, but the Barrier chip had covered them all.

Netto looked up at his Navi appreciatively before turning back to Mayl. Reaching over, he took off her bandana and the vines binding her. The moment he did, she shot up angrily, nearly knocking him over in the process, the others also standing up with her.

"Netto you idiot!! Why'd you let the mastermind of the World Three, of all people, escape?!"

Netto covered his ears at her screaming. He couldn't stand someone yelling at such a high volume right in front of him, almost screaming into his ear. But he met her angry and furious eyes anyway.

"You should be more appreciative than that." Netto said unexpectedly.

All three of them gaped at him with wide eyes. Mayl opened and shut her mouth a few times, saying the first letters that would form a sentence, but never quite made it. Dex shuffled his feet a little, looking shocked, and Yai had almost figured it out. Since Yai was the one who knew all the gossip, she also knew about Netto and Mayl's relationship, and what had happened between them when they broke up. Still, Netto wasn't the type of person to hold any kind of grudge, and he was the nicest kid in their class.

Megaman watched all of Netto's friends apologize to and thank his Operator after they got over their shock, then they left, following one another out of the ruins of the base. At least they admitted that they did owe him something for saving their butts, and at least they started to figure out that maybe they'd hurt Netto too much. But anyway, finally, Netto was getting the appreciation he deserved.

'I guess...' Megaman thought, as he saw Netto try his best at a glare, making tons of silly faces behind Mayl's back, 'this means that he's done with Mayl... even after what he'd gone through because of her... it took him this long to get over her...'

Netto moved forward towards Megaman, the others having disappeared and leaving the two with some time to themselves. Netto's face, set in a frown, became a look of sadness and sorrow.

"I'm sorry, Mega. I shouldn't have come here. I just got in the way of you, and now since the mastermind is gone you can't find out who your creator is..."

Megaman sighed, uncrossing his arms where they'd been across his chest. He shook his head, and Netto peered up at him.

"It's okay, I guess. I am upset, but it's not your fault. I just can't seem to keep you away from me." Megaman joked. "But I did learn something, I know that Wily-hakase didn't create me. I now know that I have to search someplace else."

"Are you sure...?" Netto asked him. "Yeah," Megaman said, reassuring his Operator that he'd forgiven him. The two of them started walking towards the exit, "so let's go home... I bet the Official Netbattlers will come any second from now, and see what they can dig up in this mess to find out what happened."

As soon as Megaman had said that, they heard helicopters and police sirens coming in from the distance, most definitely the Official Netbattlers like he'd said, and maybe a little of the Press for some exclusive news coverage. If mom saw Netto at the World Three base, he'd be in major trouble! The two of them broke out into a run when they realized that they were closing in on them fast, not exactly wanting to be seen on the news all over the world and questioned heavily by the Officials.

...

Later on, back home, Megaman and Netto were sitting on the swingsets in ACDC park, simply enjoying the peace and time they had with each other, while taking sips of their pink lemonades that mom had made for them. Netto smiled at his Navi, who smiled back. All kinds of thoughts were running through Megaman's head.

'...he doesn't know that I... but how can I possibly tell him...?' the blue and yellow NetNavi argued with himself.

...in Mayl's house...

Mayl simply looked at her PET briefly, sitting on the edge of her bed. Roll was still there, of course. But the two of them had grown apart, after Mayl had lied to Netto about going out with another guy and not liking him anymore. Apparently, Roll was very protective about feelings, and she'd known that Mayl actually loved Netto a lot more than she thought she did. So, the two of them had exploded at each other, of course.

Mayl regretted that a lot. She missed having Roll as her best friend, and she knew that she had a lot of apologizing to do. That was the first time that Netto had ever said something like that to her before. "You should be a little more appreciative than that." It was just like what she'd done to him earlier. All of that could have been avoided. Now she'd lost her childhood friend whom she'd known for years, and her NetNavi, too.

...back at the swingset...

Netto glanced at Megaman, who looked to be in really deep thought. He looked troubled over something, and he'd only smiled when he'd they'd exchanged smiles. They should be happy now that their problems were over. The World Three's base was annihilated, after all.

"Mega, what's bugging you?" he asked. The serious NetNavi looked like he was struggling over something serious in his mind, trying to find a solution to a major problem.

"...Your bandana. The Officials might find out who had been there at their base."

Netto blinked. "What are you talking about? No one saw us leave there."

Megaman shook his head. "You left your bandana behind there."

"No, I didn't." Netto said, "it's right here-" He stopped short as he ran a hand through his hair. There wasn't the familiar feeling of cloth, and nothing was holding back the wild strands from his face. "Uh-oh..." his eyes widened. This was serious now.

"But how could the Official Netbattlers figure out anything from my bandana? Unless they do DNA testing and search it for loose strands of hair. It'd be impossible any other way." Netto said, as if to reassure himself that no one would be getting in trouble.

"They can match the symbol to the identity symbols of NetNavis in their database, and find the Operator, who would be you, as well."

Netto paled at what Megaman had informed him. Certainly lots of Navis had seen Megaman while he'd been on the net, and he then would have been listed in the database, either by the SciLab Hospital he'd admitted him into when they'd first met, or by any information gatherer.

"Did you notice when it fell off?"

Netto pressed his NetNavi for an answer from his memory. Megaman put a finger to his chin, recalling exactly what he remembered.

"Right when you leaped in front of Mayl to save her."

Netto visibly relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief.

"It probably burned up in the explosion then." he said.

Megaman thought about it, then nodded, putting a bright smile on his face. He believed that his Operator was right after all, and the Officials wouldn't be able to come up with any clues.

"There's nothing to worry about, Mega. Really. So... are you up for a party? Let's celebrate!" Netto said, putting a wide smile on his face. They ought to celebrate their victory. "As long as there's pizza!" Megaman said, putting on a wide smile on his face as well. His Operator really did know how to make him feel better. But... the bandana thing wasn't what had been on his mind...

...

Meanwhile, at the ruins of the World Three's base, the Official Netbattlers were busy examining and excavating whatever they could find in the rubble of the criminal organization. An Official scurried up a heap of rubble where the current top elite with them was watching over them.

"Sir! What do you think we should do with this?"

The Official handed the elite Netbattler what he'd managed to find. The elite, who was clothed in a black and red vest and camouflage cargo pants, turned the singed blue bandana with a NetNavi's symbol over in his hand. He then nodded, having briefly examined it.

"I'll take care of this." he said, sending the Official back off to work with the others.

Now that he was left alone from the others, a voice spoke from the red PET at his waist. "Enzan-sama, what will we do with the evidence?" The elite Official Netbattler, Enzan Ijuiin, looked into his PET at his shaded NetNavi. "We'll use it to find what we need, Blues."

Then, Enzan resumed monitoring the work being done. A soft breeze blew across the devastated piece of land, sending his short black and white hair in a flurry of strands.

"Hai, Enzan-sama."

to be continued...