Chapter 2: To Find a Dark Loid

'Megaman has the impression that Lan has a crush on Maylu, but Lan thinks otherwise. Is Megaman right?'

The dark region of the Cyber World

In the dark regions of the cyber world, in the dark cyber lair, sits Shademan. Shademan is sitting on his dark throne with his face resting in his right hand as he releases a heavy sigh.

"Another plan has fallen through to be rid of that annoying net savior Lan Hikari and his navi, Megaman yet again thanks to Bubbleman's failure." Shademan begins mumbling as he sighs once more. "I should have known better then to send him to do the job of a real dark loid. I don't even know why he exists as a dark loid. He's useless and gives the dark loids a bad name."

Releasing another sigh, Shademan, then, lifts his head from his hand.

"Give me another chance, I'll succeed this time I promise, he says." Shademan says, as he mocks Bubbleman's words. "I shouldn't have listened to him or given him another chance. Now I'll never hear the end of this from the Mysterious Man."

Continuing to curse Bubbleman's uselessness, Shademan's thought is suddenly interrupted for when the cyber floor in front of his throne becomes transparent, with the shadowy image of the Mysterious Man appearing in the transparent area.

"Shademan!" The mysterious man shouts. "You have disappointed me once again! You do know how I hate to be disappointed and the consequences that follow when I am!"

"Yes I understand that sir, but---Shademan begins stammering, but is cut off by the mysterious man's current argument.

"You pick the weakest dark loids to carry out a simple mission and as usual, they always fail!" The mysterious man yells once more. "This upsets me greatly!"

"I was sure that Bubbleman would carry out the mission and succeed this time." Shademan speaks up. "But it appeared that the net savior and his navi were too much for him."

"As usual, you always rely on a useless dark loid to carry out a simple mission." The mysterious man replies in a calm tone. "But luckily for you, I am willing to overlook this mishap and give you another chance to get rid of Lan and Megaman, this time for good."

"Thank you sir." Shademan says with grace in his voice. "So what plan do you have in mind?"

"I'm glad you asked." The Mysterious Man begins explaining. "By doing a little research just recently, I discovered there will be a music festival that will be held at the local middle school the net savior happens to attend, this upcoming Friday."

"And that has what to do with the plan you have in mind?" Shademan inquires in confusion.

"Well, what that has to do with my current plan is it appears the net savior, along with his navi, seem to have a tight association with a female companion and her navi who will be participating in the upcoming event." The Mysterious Man continues explaining as he hits a button on his throne that turns blue, as a picture of Maylu with her PET pops up.

"I still don't see a connection as to what this has to do with your current plan." Shademan replies.

"Well, If you would do me the honors of keeping quiet until I finish my current thought, then you will see the connection I am trying to make here." The Mysterious Man says in a fierce tone.

Shademan quickly drops his questions and becomes quiet.

"As I was saying." The Mysterious Man continues, now calming his nerves. "With both the net savior and his navi having such a tight connection with these female companions of theirs, it would hurt them a great deal if anything were to happen to their friends."

Now putting the scenarios of the plan together, Shademan gains an evil grin.

"Now I understand the plan." Shademan suddenly speaks up. "By using their companions as bait, you tend to lure both Lan and Megaman in, giving them no other choice but to surrender and co-operate, that is, if they don't want anything to happen to their friends if they don't."

"You catch on very quickly." The Mysterious Man replies with an evil grin forming. "I am handing this mission over to you and I do expect you to succeed this time, with a more useful dark loid."

Hitting another button on his throne that turns red, makes the picture of Maylu with her PET disappear which in turns, uploads a dark chip.

"You will be needing this for the mission." The Mysterious Man says as he hits the same button that uploaded the dark chip, now making it appear in front of Shademan.

"You won't be disappointed." Shademan replies, with an evil grin.

"See that I'm not." The Mysterious Man speaks. "And if you fail to get rid of that net savior and his navi this time, I will personally see to it that you are deleted myself!"

"Yes sir." Shademan replies as the cyber floor in front of his throne, goes back to normal. Now snatching the dark chip that is hovering in front of him, Shademan rolls his eyes and sighs.

"He does nothing, but nag me a good percent of the time with nothing good to say." Shademan says in an annoyed voice. "But none the less, I will make sure that this plan will be completed without failure."

Bringing the dark chip into view, Shademan begins pondering as to whom he should summon for this mission.

"Which dark loid should I use for this mission?" Shademan inquires to himself as he continues looking the dark chip over. "Bubbleman definitely isn't a candidate and desert man has been deleted."

Sighing, Shademan closes his hand around the dark chip. Continuing to ponder, a certain dark loid suddenly pops into his mind. Shademan gains a grin.

"I have the perfect dark loid in mind to do the job." Shademan says to himself with a grin. "Flashman!"

Data teleports in front of Shademan's throne as Flashman appears from the data.

"You summoned me, master Shademan?" Flashman inquires.

"Yes I did." Shademan replies, as he opens his hand that holds the dark chip. "I have a mission for you."

"I am awaiting your orders sir." Flashman speaks as he gets on one knee.

"Perfect." Shademan begins. "I am sending you on a mission to destroy Lan Hikari and Megaman, but first lure them in by using their close companions as bait to get them co-operate. Make sure the companions are unharmed, but the net savior and his navi are at your mercy."

Flashman continues listening, as he stands on both feet now facing Shademan.

"Your location of destruction is at the Dentech Middle school where an upcoming music festival will be held there this coming Friday." Shademan continues explaining. "That is where the net savior and his companion will be and that will be your cue to strike."

Flashman nods.

"You will be needing this." Shademan says, as he throws the dark chip in Flashman's direction. Flashman catches it.

"Yes sir, master Shademan." Flashman says now grasping the dark chip. "I will see this mission through to the end and will not let you down."

"I like your determination." Shademan replies with his grin forming into an evil smile. "Now go and see that I am not disappointed."

Flashman bows and then teleports out.

"Excellent." Shademan smiles, as he brings his hands together and begins snickering. "With the net savior out of the way, nothing will get in my way of taking over the world, not even the mysterious man."

Shademan's snickering quickly turns to evil laughter, which is now filling the room.

Hikari Residence

Now having walked 4 blocks from the school, Lan finally arrives home and is now walking up to his front door. Upon reaching the front door, Lan grabs the knob and turns it, now opening the door.

"I'm home Mom." Lan announces as he closes the door behind himself and kicks his shoes off at the door. Not hearing a response to his announcement, Lan now walks from the front door and is begins heading for the living room to see if his mom is near by. Now entering the living room, Lan spots his dad sitting on the couch reading the newspaper.

"Dad?" Lan says in surprise, now catching his father's attention as he looks up from the paper.

"Oh hi Lan." Dr. Hikari greets with a smile. "How was school?"

"It was fine." Lan replies as he walks over to the couch and stops in front of his dad. "You aren't at the lab today. Why? You didn't get fired did you?"

"Oh no, not at all." Dr. Hikari replies, with slight laughter in his voice as he closes the newspaper. "My boss decided that it was about time that I had a vacation since I have been working non-stop at the lab. I'll be home for one month, which will give me enough time to spend more time with you and your mother."

"That's great news dad." Lan replies with a slight smile, as he now takes a seat on the couch next to his father.

"And I will also see to it that you do and complete your homework for Ms. Mari." Dr. Hikari speaks as he turns to Lan. "From what your mother tells me, Ms. Mari isn't exactly pleased with your current performance in her class."

"That's Ms. Mari for you." Lan replies. "Hey dad, sorry to change the subject, but can I ask you something?"

"Sure Lan." Dr. Hikari answers. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, this question may sound weird, but how do you know if you have a crush on a girl?" Lan inquires as he turns to his dad. "Even though she's your friend?"

"I knew this day would come, when we would have this talk." Dr. Hikari says with a smile. "Well Lan, what's this girl's name and how long have you been friends with her?"

"I can't really remember her name right now." Lan answers with a nervous smile. "But we have been friends for a long time."

"Well son, if you begin feeling differently and having thoughts about this friend that you have never had before throughout your years of friendship, then that's a sure sign that you may indeed have a crush on this friend." Dr. Hikari begins. "There will be also changes in your emotions when you are around this friend. Do you experience any?"

"Well, every time I am around her, I can feel my heart beat starting to race a bit and when she hugs me or smiles, I can feel my whole face get hot and my body stiffen up." Lan continues begins explaining.

"I see." Dr. Hikari speaks. "Is there anything else about this friend that appeals to you, that adds to how you feel about her?"

"Yeah, there is." Lan answers. "She's very smart in every subject and has a special talent that makes my hobbies look like child's play."

"Alright, I understand now." Dr. Hikari speaks. "Yep, it sounds to me like you have a crush on this friend and outside of how you feel towards her already, her qualities is what's helping you see her in a whole different light."

"Yeah I guess you can say that, but there's only one problem." Lan replies, as he turns his attention away from his dad and towards the ground.

"And what's that?" Dr. Hikari inquires.

"I'm not as smart as she is and I don't have a special talent like she does." Lan replies in a depressed tone. "I'm only good at one thing and that's net battling. I mean we have that in common, but that's it."

"Lan, you don't have to have a special talent or have a lot of smarts just so you can have something in common with this girl." Dr. Hikari says to Lan. "All you need is to be yourself."

"But I feel that's the only way she will even take a second look at me, outside of seeing me as a friend." Lan replies as he turns back to his father.

"Well son, there is only one thing I can suggest for you at this point." Dr. Hikari speaks.

"What's that dad?" Lan inquires.

"If you really feel this strongly about girl, then you have to tell her how you feel." Dr. Hikari suggests. "Make sure you know what you are going to say before confronting her and no matter what, always be yourself."

Lan's brown eyes suddenly get wide.

"No way!" Lan protests. "I am no good at expressing my feelings, even if it is towards a friend."

"Well Lan, If you really like this friend, then that's all you can do." Dr. Hikari says with a smile. "Sometimes it's worth the risk just to get what's on your mind, off. And besides, if you two have been friends for a long time and know everything about each other in detail, then I don't see you going wrong with expressing yourself and her accepting you, especially if you are being yourself when doing it."

"You think so?" Lan questions.

"I know so." Dr. Hikari assures him with a smile. "When I met your mother in high school, we became friends very quickly and we did everything together from going to the movies, to just plain hanging out. But over the span of time of being friends with her, I started feeling differently and started seeing her in a whole new light. Sure when I started feeling that way about her, I was afraid to tell her how I was really feeling, but when I did, it felt better to say it then to hold it in and let it nag at me."

"What happened after you told her?" Lan inquires curiously.

"Well, it turned out she felt the exact same way I did so we started dating from that point on." Dr. Hikari replies.

"Ok, I see what you're saying." Lan speaks, with a slight smile. "Now from that story of when you and mom met, you won't tell the story of how I got here again, are you?"

"No, Lan." Dr. Hikari says, slightly laughing. "I'll spare you that story, but the most important thing is to always be yourself."

"Ok, thanks for the advice dad." Lan says with a smile as he stands and stretches. "Well, I have to get upstairs and wait for Maylu. She's coming over soon to help me with my math homework."

"No problem son, anytime." Dr. Hikari smiles as Lan begins heading towards the stairs. "Oh, by the way, that whole chat that we had, it wouldn't happen to have anything to do with about how you may feel about Maylu would it?"

Stopping dead in his tracks with a moderate shade of crimson appearing on his cheeks, Lan turns around and faces his father with a nervous smile.

"No dad, not at all." Lan replies, nervously laughing.

"Well alright." Dr. Hikari speaks. "But when the time comes, just remember everything I told you."

"I will dad." Lan replies as he makes his way to the stairs and soon up them.

"Some days, it's hard to figure him out." Dr. Hikari says to himself, as he picks the paper back up and goes back to reading where he left off.

Sakurai Residence

The musical styling of the piano can be heard throughout the house just as the last verse of the current song is now being played. Roll, whom is keeping track of each song note Maylu is playing, is watching them one on the PET. The last verse of the song Maylu is playing, now comes to an end along with the piano lesson.

"You did a wonderful job Maylu." Roll compliments to her net op with a smile. "You got every note just right and you'll be more then ready for the music festival on Friday."

"Thanks Roll." Maylu thanks her Navi. "I have the perfect song in mind that I want to play at the festival, but I will have to practice very hard to perfect every note."

"What's the name of the song?" Roll Inquires.

"It's Beethoven's Moonlight Sinata." Maylu replies to Roll. "I love that song and how every note is played perfectly. I'm going to work hard at perfecting every note so I can, hopefully, play it at the festival." (Did I spell that wrong? Sorry if I did)

"Well, how about I go look that song up on the net for you?" Roll suggests. "So that way you can begin as soon as possible and save you time to from looking."

"Thanks Roll, I would appreciate that very much." Maylu replies with a smile as she stands from the piano bench. "I'll start practicing as soon as I get home. I am going to go see Lan now so we can work on our math homework together."

"Alright then, I'll have that song and the notes for you when you return." Roll says with a smile.

"Ok, see you when I return." Maylu replies as she grabs her PET from next to the stand the sheet music is resting on and walks over to the computer. Pointing the PET towards the Infer red slot on her computer monitor, the infer red beam shoots from the PET and into the Infer red slot, now logging Roll into the Internet.

Now that Roll is logged into the net, Maylu places the PET on the desk and walks over to her bed. Grabbing her backpack off the bed, Maylu now heads for the exit of her room and soon exits. Going down the steps, Maylu, then, exit's the house. Locking the door behind herself, Maylu begins heading for Lan's house. Walking right next door, Maylu approaches the front door and rings the doorbell. After a minute of waiting, the door opens, revealing Dr. Hikari.

"Hi Mr. Hikari." Maylu greets with a smile. "Is Lan home?"

"Hey Maylu." Dr. Hikari greets back. "Yes he is. Please, come in."

Maylu walks in, as Dr. Hikari closes the door behind her.

"He's upstairs in his room." Dr. Hikari speaks. "You can go right on up."

"Ok, thank you." Maylu thanks him as she begins heading up the stairs. Continuing up the stairs, Maylu finally reaches the top and heads for Lan's room. Now reaching his room, Maylu knocks on the door.

"Who is it?" Lan's voice calls from the other side of the door.

"It's me Lan." Maylu answers Lan.

Shortly after Maylu answers, a few bumps can be heard from behind the door, just as the door opens revealing Lan.

"Hi Maylu." Lan greets. "So glad you could make it."

"Hi Lan." Maylu greets back. "Here I am, so let's get start on our math homework."

Just as Maylu finishes talking, Lan begins staring at her, completely zoning out the rest of the world around him. His heartbeat begins racing a bit.

"Lan?" Maylu questions in confusion, wondering why Lan isn't responding, but is staring at her in a daze. "Lan, hey are you ok?"

Lan continues staring at Maylu as his heart beat continues racing.

"Lan, hello, are you going to let me in or let me stand out here?" Maylu inquires once more as she waves her hand in front of his face. "Our homework won't get done from out here you know."

Lan suddenly snaps out of his zone and comes back to reality.

"Oh, sorry about that Maylu." Lan replies with a nervous expression. "I thought I saw something behind you. Yeah come on in."

Maylu walks in as Lan releases a heavy sigh.

Now following Maylu into the room and closing the door behind himself, Lan goes over to the desk and picks up his PET.

"I'll catch up with you later Megaman." Lan speaks to his navi. "Maylu's here."

"Sure thing Lan, see ya later." Megaman replies as Lan points his PET towards the Infer red slot on his computer monitor. The infer red beam shoots from the PET and into the infer red slot, which logs Megaman onto the Internet.

"Ready to get started?" Maylu inquires to Lan as she sits on the edge of his bed.

"Sure, let's get started." Lan replies as he puts his PET down and grabs his notebook from the desk, now joining Maylu on the edge of the bed.

Dentech Middle School

Mr. Edogawa has just finished typing up the festival's program listing of students who will be attending and is now packing to leave for the day.

"Time to call it a day." Mr. Edogawa says to himself as he grabs his briefcase, jacket, and PET. "I am exhausted."

"You are working yourself too hard with arranging this music festival." Mr. Edogawa's Net navi, MusicMan, speaks from the PET. "You need a day off to relax."

Now turning to his PET, Mr. Edogawa smiles to his navi.

"I know." Mr. Edogawa replies to his navi. "But until the festival is over, I can't take a day off or relax."

"Well, is there anything is I can do to lighten your work load?" MusicMan inquires.

"Yes there is." Mr. Edogawa answers. "I want you to go online and find some sheet music for my piano students. Please have those for me as soon as you can. "

"Right away sir." MusicMan says as Mr. Edogawa points his PET towards the computer. The infer red light shoots from the PET and into the computer's infer red slot, now jacking MusicMan into the internet. Now having his navi jacked into the net, Mr. Edogawa heads for the exit of the music room, and soon exit's the class.

On the Internet

(Music Man Logging In)

Now that MusicMan has been logged into the net, he begins heading for the cyber world's music shop to request the music Mr. Edogawa asked for. Flashman, who is wandering the net, now spots Music Man heading for the music shop.

"Interesting." Flashman says to himself. "Shademan gave me orders me to crash a music festival, but he said nothing about enlisting another navi who will be able to help speed things along. Well, looks like I have a partnership to form."

Flashman begins heading for the music shop, to have a chat with MusicMan.

A/N: Ok end of chapter 2. I apologize if this chapter is long and boring. I wasn't aiming for that. I am working up to the suspense later on in the story. I apologize if anything is confusing, and if it is, please let me know so I can change it for you. No flames please as I said, this is my first attempt at an axess fic. I am trying. Oh and thanks to Bannie Bunny for the idea of MusicMan. Thanks buddy. Well if nothing else, please review.

Review Please!