Activation!
By StarWulf.EXE
Chapter 4: Battle Plan
"Lan, wake up!"
"You too, Chris!"
Lan and Chris both stirred in their beds. Both their PET alarm clocks where ringing. Slowly, they got dressed, grabbed their PETs, and went downstairs.
"Morning boys," Haruka called out from the kitchen, "breakfast will be ready in a second."
Chris and Lan grabbed some chairs and sat down at the table.
"So, Lan, what do you two plan to do today?" asked Haruka, setting down plates holding various foods.
"Well, I wanted to take Chris to Higsby's to get some new BattleChips. Then, we where going to go to the arcade to have a Net Battle." replied Lan, grabbing some toast.
"Sounds like a plan!" Chris said, reaching for the bacon.
- - -
The boys quickly finished up breakfast and headed outside. Lan snapped on his rollerblades and Chris hopped on his collapsible bike. They started off down the street leading into downtown Dentech.
A girl with reddish-brown hair on a scooter caught up to them.
"Hey Lan, where are you going?" she asked.
"Hi Maylu. Me and my cuz where heading for Higsby's." answered Lan.
Maylu looked at Chris and smiled.
"Hi, my name is Maylu. Nice to meet you."
Chris smiled back.
"Hi, I'm Chris."
Maylu looked back at Lan.
"Mind if I come with you? I was going to pick up a chip for Roll."
"Sure!" Lan said
- - -
Five minutes later, the group reached Higsby's Chip Shop. Chris parked his bike outside next to Maylu's scooter while Lan took of his rollerblades and tossed them in his backpack.
Mr. Higsby greeted them at the door.
"Lan and Maylu, glad you stop by! I got a new shipment of Curse Shield 3 E chips." he said, rushing to the displace case to unlock it.
"No thanks Higsby," said Maylu, "we're just browsing for now."
"If you want, I can put you on the waiting list for the new LG Prime chip. The company that made it is going to be showing a demo of it at next year's Net Expo." Higsby said, locking the display case back up.
"You mean this one?" asked Chris, pulling out a BattleChip from his PET holder. He dropped it in the chip fanatic's hand.
"Where…But…Where did you get this?" he demanded.
"My dad works at S. Corp. testing BattleChips. I get new chips from him every once in a while." Chris said, shrugging.
"I'll pay you 500,000,000 Zenny for it." said Higsby.
"Deal." Chris said, jacking Wulf into Higsby's cash register to get his payment.
- - -
Lan, Maylu, and Chris soon left the store after making some purchases.
Halfway to the arcade, Lan stopped skating.
"What's wrong?" asked Maylu.
"Chris, why'd you let him buy the BattleChip? We could have used it in our battle."
Chris just smirked. "You mean that LG Prime chip? It's just a Recover 10 with a better name."
They all got a good laugh and continued to the arcade.
- - -
In the arcade, Lan and Chris stood in front of the Net Battle Arena. A small crowed had gathered around the two operators, wanting to see the number one Navi and NetOp in action. No doubt that most of them where cheering for Lan and MegaMan.
"Ready?" asked Chris, aiming his PET at the infrared sensor.
"As always." Lan replied, doing the same.
"How 'bout you, Wulf?"
"Awaiting battle!" shouted the grey Navi.
"Good luck to both of you!" Maylu yelled from the crowd.
The battle arena had started a countdown. Its artificial voice echoed over the swarm of people.
"3…2…1…Log in!"
"Jack in, Wulf! Power up!"
"Jack in, MegaMan! Power up!"
In the arena, two beams of light stuck the ground. They dropped off the two Navis before fading into cyberspace.
"Battle start!" said the arena scorekeeping system.
"Bamboo Lance BattleChip, in! Download!" Chris shouted, inserting a BattleChip in his PET.
"Bamboo lance!" yelled Wulf, smashing his hand to the ground.
The area around MegaMan become dense as bamboo shot out of the ground.
"Too slow!" taunted MegaMan, jumping out of the bamboo's way.
Lan grabbed a chip from his case.
"Yo-Yo 2 BattleChip, in! Download!"
"Yo-yo, launch!" MegaMan yelled.
MegaMan's hand morphed into a yo-yo that rocketed from his arm towards Wulf.
"Dash Condor BattleChip, in! Download! Air Shoes BattleChip, in! Download!"
A Condor virus appeared under Wulf and took flight, disappearing just in time for MegaMan's yo-yo chip data to wear off. The wolfish Navi hung in the air for a moment then came rushing down at MegaMan.
"Triple Bomb BattleChip, in! Download!"
Three grenade-sized bombs appeared in MegaMan's hand. He took aim and chucked them at the incoming Navi.
"Air Chute 1 BattleChip, in! Download!"
Wulf's hand reformed into a blue cannon-like fan.
"Air shot!"
A burst of air blasted out from the fan and knocked the bombs off their path as well as pushing Wulf away from MegaMan. He landed on the ground and deactivated his Air Shoes.
"Cybersword BattleChip, in! Double download!" shouted Lan as he put two BattleChips into his blue PET.
Both of MegaMan's hands where replaced by glowing swords.
"Area Steal BattleChip, in! Download!"
The area under Wulf quickly flashed before MegaMan bolted forward with incredible speed.
"Long Sword BattleChip, in! Download!"
Wulf's fan disappeared and was replaced by a long blue sword.
The two Navi's swords locked together, each one trying to strike a blow on one another.
"You're good." Wulf said, grunting.
"You aren't so bad yourself." replied MegaMan, hinting a grin.
"Guts Impact BattleChip, in! Download!"
MegaMan's right hand returned and grew to enormous proportion, turning yellow in the process.
"Impact!" yelled MegaMan, striking Wulf hard in the chest with his fist.
Wulf's sword vanished as he flew backwards. He hit the ground and returned to his PET.
Wulf, logging out
Lan jacked MegaMan out of the arena and walked over to Chris and smiled.
"MegaMan and I haven't had a battle like that in a long time. You and Wulf make a great team."
Chris smiled back. "Thanks. I can see why you two are Dentech's number one battlers."
Lan put his arm around Chris's neck. "C'mon. I know a great place where we can get some curry."
Lan's PET suddenly started beeping.
"Lan, you got a call. It's from you-know-who." said MegaMan, looking at Chris.
Lan immediately looked at the call address and shut his PET.
"Sorry Chris. I gotta go." Lan said, snapping on his skates. "See you back home!"
Before Chris could even answer, Lan had already left.
"So, what now?" asked Wulf.
"We're going to find out where Lan went." said Chris, running outside and grabbing his bike.