Chapter 7: Well Planned Strategy

'Lan now knows that Flashman's warning is about Maylu so he and Tori are going to work out a strategy to intercept him, while Flashman and MusicMan move to phase two of their plan. The race is on.'

Dentech Middle School has just let out and the trio have left the school yard as they are now on their way home.

"I'm really looking forward to the music festival on Friday." Maylu begins speaking. "And Mr. Edogawa has approved of me playing my selection Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata."

"Oh, I meant to ask you guys about that." Lan speaks up as the three turn the corner of the avenue they are on, now heading towards the residential area. "How are things going with that?"

"Oh, everything is going great." Maylu answers Lan with excitement. "I'm a little nervous about performing in front that huge crowd of people, but I can't wait to play my song."

"You'll do great Maylu." Lan speaks to Maylu with a smile.

"I know I can't wait to play my song at the festival." Tori speaks up. "With the song I picked to play, I'm going to leave those other guitar students in my dust."

"You're that good with the guitar huh?" Lan inquires to Tori.

"You bet, but the crowd will really be impressed with the song Maylu is going to play." Tori answers as the trio now enters the residential area. "The song she played in class today was outstanding and she should be first on the list to perform at the festival. I mean, why not start the crowd off with hearing something classy and elegant before hearing the other performers."

"Thanks Tori." Maylu thanks him. "The song you picked was great too. You should be number two to perform."

"So, you're saying that the other piano students aren't that good?" Lan inquires to Tori.

"I will put it like this." Tori begins. "None of them can't even begin to compare their skills to Maylu's."

"They aren't that bad Tori." Maylu says as she begins giggling.

"That maybe true, but none of them are as great as you are." Tori compliments Maylu as the three now reach and enter Lan and Maylu's block.

"Well it did take me years of practice and patience to get where I am now." Maylu replies to Tori as the three now arrive in front of Maylu's house. Now turning to her left, Maylu notices that they are standing in front of her house.

"Well, this is my stop." Maylu speaks as she turns to Tori and Lan. "So I'll see you guys later and Lan, give me a call a little later."

"Will do." Lan replies with a smile. "See you later."

"See you tomorrow Maylu." Tori says to Maylu.

Maylu smiles to them both as she now turns and begins heading for her house. Now reaching the walk way leading to the porch, Maylu continues to her house. Now reaching her house, Maylu arrives at the door and rests her right hand on the knob as she turns back to Tori and Lan. Waving to them, the boys return the wave as Maylu now enters the house.

"I can't wait until Friday so Maylu can find out how I really feel about her." Lan speaks up as he releases a sigh. "I like her so much and she is all I ever dream about at night."

"I know Lan, now let's…" Tori begins, but is immediately cut off by Lan.

"In the future, I'm going to marry her." Lan continues as he now begins zoning out. "I'll get a job working with my dad at Sci-Lab and Maylu will be a successful music teacher, so we'll always have money."

"Lan, that's really nice to know, but we…" Tori begins speaking again, but is immediately cut off by Lan once more.

"We'll live in a big house with maids and Maylu will never have to lift a finger." Lan continues as he now develops a mental picture of his described future. "She'll be the perfect wife, I'll be the perfect husband, and we'll be happy together."

"Thanks for giving me a picture of your future, but we have…..Tori tries speaking again, but is cut off by Lan's continuing thought.

"And when we start our family, our son will be named after me." Lan continues speaking in his dream state. "Little Lan Jr."

"Hey Romeo, slow down and get a grip!" Tori practically yells as he snaps his fingers in front of Lan's face, now knocking him out of his zone.

"You say something Tori?" Lan inquires dumbfounded as he now turns to Tori.

"I was trying to, but as usual, you had your head in the clouds." Tori answers Lan with slight frustration. "It's good that you're thinking about your future with Maylu, but before you start making out your wedding plans, I suggest that you think about the current situation at hand right now or did you forget about that already?"

"Sorry, I got kind of carried away." Lan apologizes.

"So I noticed." Tori agrees. "Now in order for your dream to become a reality, first we have to remove your future bride-to-be from danger and after that's taken care of, then you can start planning out your wedding and hey, I'll even give you a hand."

"Sure thing." Lan agrees with Tori.

"So, are you ready to go work on that strategy?" Tori inquires to Lan with a smile.

"You bet I am." Lan replies, returning the smile. "And let's make it a good one."

Tori nods as the two boys now begin heading for Lan's house. Now reaching the walk way, the boys continue to the house until they now reach the door. Upon arriving at the door, Lan opens it as both boys now enter.

"I'm home." Lan announces as he and Tori remove their shoes at the door. Dr. Hikari comes out of the kitchen as he now greets the boys at the door wearing his Sci-Lab lab jacket.

"Hey Lan, Tori." Dr. Hikari greets with a smile. "How was school today?"

"You know, the usual." Lan answers his dad. "Boring, nothing that I care to think or talk about."

"So you always say Lan." Dr. Hikari speaks with slight laughter as he now turns to Tori. "It's nice to see you again Tori."

"You too sir." Tori replies.

"I'll be ordering dinner tonight Lan." Dr. Hikari informs his son. "What do you feel like? Curry, Pizza or Chinese?"

"Curry sounds good." Lan answers.

"Ok, curry it is then." Dr. Hikari replies as he now turns to Tori. "Would you like to join us for dinner, Tori?"

"I'll have to get back to you on that, Mr. Hikari." Tori answers him with a smile.

"Alright then." Dr. Hikari speaks. "I'll order dinner around 6."

"Alright dad." Lan says. "Me and Tori will be in my room."

Dr. Hikari nods as the boys now begin heading upstairs. Continuing up the stairs, the boys now reach the top and heads straight for Lan's room. Now reaching the room, the boys enter as Lan closes the door behind them. Placing his back pack against the wall, Lan now removes his PET from the carry case as he heads to his desk. Reaching his desk, Lan places the PET in the charger next to the computer tower.

"Hey Lan, where are your battle chips?" Tori inquires to Lan.

Looking on the computer shelf above the monitor, Lan spots his battle chip case and grabs it. Turning to Tori, Lan now hands him the case. Taking a seat on Lan's bed, Tori unzips the case and opens it, now seeing a full set of battle chips neatly organized in the first clear display page. Turning the first page over, Tori spots another set of battle chips neatly organized in their slots on the back.

"Man, you have a lot of battle chips." Tori comments in amazement as he continues going through the pages. "You must have at least 100 battle chips in here."

"450." Lan replies as he takes a seat at his desk, sitting across from Tori. "It's a collection built up over time."

"Ok, I found the first battle chip that will go with the first part of our strategy." Tori speaks up as he removes the Area Steal battle chip from the first slot at the top of the third page.

"Ok, let's hear what you have in mind." Lan replies as he leans forward towards Tori.

"Ok, the first thing that we are going to do is this." Tori begins explaining.

Cyber World

In the Cyber World, Flashman and MusicMan are continuing their discussion about phase two of their plan as they now enter the computer channel section of the Internet.

"Now, there are various channels that are connected to the school that we can upload ourselves to when the time for invasion comes." MusicMan continues explaining. "There is the Principal's office, the Science class and lab, the Counselor's office, the Dean's office, the Computer Lab channels A&B, and my personal favorite, the Music Room."

"Do any of these channels have passwords?" Flashman inquires to MusicMan as they now stop in front of the Dentech Middle School Computer Channel sector.

"All of the channels have passwords, except for the principal's office and the Music Room." MusicMan answers Flashman. "But the passwords to the other channels are very easy to get around. Now, since the Festival takes place after the normal school hours, then the password protection will be down. So in event that we do use the password protected channels, then we won't have a problem getting onto those channels."

"What are the normal school hours?" Flashman inquires once more.

"From 8am to 4pm." MusicMan answers him. "But the password protection is shut down at 3:30."

Looking ahead at the analog clock on the Cyber World tower across from where he and MusicMan are standing, Flashman notices the time reads 4:36.

Deciding to test a channel, Flashman begins to slowly make his way towards Dentech's channels just as MusicMan turns his attention away from the channels and to the front of him. Now reaching the channels, Flashman steps in front of the Principal's Office channel.

"Now, this is how we are going to spring our attack." MusicMan begins explaining, not noticing that Flashman has just uploaded himself to the Principal's Office computer channel. "You are going to enter through the Computer Lab channel A and create a diversion, while I enter through the Music Room's computer channel. Got that?"

Now having given his instructions, MusicMan awaits an answer from Flashman, but doesn't hear one. Turning to the right of him, MusicMan now notices that Flashman isn't standing next to him.

"Flashman?" MusicMan calls as he begins looking around the area for Flashman. "Where did he go? He was just standing here a minute ago."

Continuing to scan the area, MusicMan now turns his attention towards the computer channels, noticing that Flashman has just download himself back onto the Internet from the principal's office channel.

"That was fun. Now I can't wait to invade on those humans." Flashman speaks as he turns to MusicMan, whom releases a sigh. "Inside that one channel, there was a number of humans listed under this thing called detention. What is that?"

MusicMan doesn't reply to Flashman's comment, but instead, stares at him with a frustrated look on his face.

"Sorry." Flashman speaks, noticing the unsatisfied look on MusicMan's face.

"That wasn't a very smart move!" MusicMan speaks, raising his voice a bit. "You could have been discovered!"

"Don't worry, the system was shut down." Flashman speaks.

"That's not the point!" MusicMan speaks with frustration. "By doing that, you could have been seen and all of this time that we are spending putting this plan together, would have been all for nothing!"

"Hey, even if I would have been, I'm a Dark Loid and in the human world, we are feared." Flashman speaks with confidence in his voice. "I'm sure it wouldn't have been anything I couldn't handle."

"Never mind and forget it." MusicMan speaks he begins calming his nerves. "Anyway, while you were off having your 'fun', I came up with the second part of our plan."

"What is it?" Flashman inquires.

"I really hate repeating myself so pay attention because I'm only going to say this one time and one time only!" MusicMan speaks with slight frustration. "You are going to enter through the Computer Lab Channel A and create a diversion, while I enter through the Music Room computer channel. Did you get that?"

"Got it." Flashman answers him with a slight nod.

"Good." MusicMan speaks with satisfaction. "Any questions?"

Flashman nods no.

"Ok then, time to move to phase 3 of the plan." MusicMan speaks, cracking a sly, but evil smile. "The attacks that will aid us in this mission. I'm going to enjoy this planning this out."

MusicMan begins walking away from Dentech's computer channels with Flashman following him at a slightly slow pace.

:Forming an alliance with MusicMan probably wasn't such a good idea after all.: Flashman mentally says to himself as MusicMan begins speaking on the attacks that are to be used. :Since he became a Dark Loid, he's gotten a little ahead of himself, but I'll keep watching and see how far this goes.:

Sakurai Residence

Maylu has begun playing the piano and is currently playing a selection from the sheet music sitting on the piano in front of her as Roll keeps track of her progress on the computer. Continuing to play, the confession Lan made to Tori earlier that day, begins playing in her mind.

:I've been waiting a long time for a chance to tell Maylu how I really feel about her and I'm not going to let him or any dark loid ruin this for me because I may not get another chance.: Lan's words echo's through Maylu's mind.

Continuing to think about what Lan said, Maylu's pace begins slowing down as she starts to loose her concentration on her song. Now loosing all of her concentration, Maylu brings the song to a complete stop. Roll, whom have been keeping track of Maylu's progress, notices a blue line run across the music monitor window next to her. Now becoming concerned about her Net Op, Roll closes the window and turns to Maylu.

"Maylu, you stopped right in the middle of the song." Roll speaks up with concern. "What's wrong?"

Turning away from the piano and to the computer screen, Maylu now faces Roll.

"I'm fine." Maylu replies in a low tone. "I just have something on my mind that's all."

"What's on your mind?" Roll inquires.

"Lan." Maylu answers her navi. "It was something I heard him say to Tori today in the computer lab."

"What did he say?" Roll inquires once more.

"Lan told Tori that he has been waiting a long time to tell me how he really feels about me." Maylu begins explaining. "Out of all of our years of being friends, I had no idea that Lan saw me in a different light."

"Well, you and Lan are pretty close so it was bound to happen one day." Roll adds in.

"You and Megaman are close just like me and Lan are." Maylu speaks up. "Has he dropped any hints to you that he likes you?"

"Well, here and there, but he always finds a way to cover them up so I won't notice that he is." Roll answers. "Mega is really horrible about that, but I know he does. I'm just waiting for him to come around."

"He will." Maylu speaks with a small smile.

"So what are you going to do about Lan?" Roll inquires to Maylu.

"I don't know. I've always had this feeling that Lan did like me, but I never paid it any attention." Maylu answers as she now looks at her floor. "Now that I know my feeling was right, I can't believe I let that get by me. But to be honest, I have always liked Lan because he always knows what to say when I am upset, always finds a way to make me laugh and when I had the flu earlier this year, he spent numerous nights here just to watch over me until I was better. He's more then a great friend, he's wonderful."

"Are your feelings for Lan strong?" Roll Inquires.

"Very strong." Maylu replies.

"Then you have to go tell him how you feel." Roll speaks with excitement. "Make the first move since he is stalling."

"I will." Maylu speaks as she now turns to Roll with a smile. "But I will tell him after the festival. That will be the perfect time because it will be just me and him alone."

"Oh, the perfect romantic scene." Roll squeals in excitement. "I have the perfect idea as to how you can make that moment unforgettable."

"How?" Maylu inquires in excitement.

"Well, to make sure it's just you and him, this is what you have to do." Roll begins explaining.

Dentech Middle School

In the Music Room, Mr. Edogawa has just finished working on the Piano students music programs as the last one is now printing. Now having the last one printed, Mr. Edogawa grabs it from the printer tray and places the program with the others.

"The piano students are finally finished." Mr. Edogawa speaks with satisfaction as he proceeds to save the piano students music program file to his jump drive. "All I have to do now is the Trumpet and the Oboe students music programs and that will be that until the festival."

The piano students music programs are now finished saving to the jump drive. Mr. Edogawa now removes the jump drive from it's slot and places it's top on.

"This Music Festival is my best idea yet and I can't wait to see how it turns out." Mr. Edogawa speaks in excitement as he now places his jump drive and the music programs into his briefcase.

Now closing his briefcase, Mr. Edagowa, then, shuts the computer down. After having done that, he rises from the computer and grabs his things. Now having everything he needs, Mr. Edogawa shuts the lights off and proceeds to the exit of the class. Now having reached the exit, Mr. Edogawa leaves the class and locks the door as he is now on his way home.

Hikari Residence

Lan and Tori are continuing to work on their strategy.

"Ok, the battle chips we have so far are the Long sword, Wide Sword, and Electro Sword, Area steal, and Volcano." Tori speaks as he goes over the list of chips. "Ok, what about Program Advances? We are dealing with a Dark Loid and that may come in handy."

"I don't think a Program Advance will be such a good idea." Lan speaks up. "I'll be in cross-fusion and by using the Program Advance while in cross-fusion, I may blow a hole in the school after blowing a hole in Flashman."

"Ok then, let's forget about the Program Advance for now." Tori speaks as he continues looking through the pages of Battle chips. Now laying eyes on the Salamander battle chip, Tori removes the chip from the sleeve.

"Ok, what about Salamander?" Tori inquires as he hands Lan the battle chip.

"I don't know about this one either." Lan replies as he hands Tori the chip back. "By using this battle chip, I may burn the school to the ground. Salamander is hotter then Lava and fire put together."

"Ok, I'll place Salamander in the maybe pile." Tori speaks as he takes the chip and places it in the pile of advanced battle chips to be considered. Continuing to look through the pages of battle chips, Tori's eyes fall now on the rapid fire battle chip.

"Rapid Fire." Tori speaks as he takes the battle chip out of the sleeve. "We could use this one in our strategy."

"Hey, that's a great idea." Lan replies. "That will work great for knocking Flashman back to the cyber world after I defeat him."

"Ok, we have all the battle chips we need so far." Tori says as he closes the battle chip case. "Now, to place the chips in their places. The Volcano battle chip will be used for blocking Flashman's neon lights attack and if he corners you, the Area Steal chip will be used to get out of that pinch. The sword chips will be used for counter attacking and I have a feeling that you will either be needing the program advance or the Salamander battle chip."

"Ok, add the Program Advance." Lan permits Tori. "But how will it be used in the plan?"

"I'm going to fit it in some how, but most definitely you will be needing it." Tori answers.

Turning to the clock next to him on the desk, Lan notices that the time reads 6:17pm.

"Let's work some more on this plan after dinner." Lan speaks up. "My dad said he would be ordering dinner around 6 and I know where he is calling to get the carry out Curry, so it never takes long to get here. Are you staying for dinner?"

"Yeah, I'll stay." Tori replies to Lan. "We have a strategy to finish planning and I hate leaving things undone."

"Alright then." Lan says as he stands from sitting at the desk. "I hope he ordered my favorite, Curry with Meatballs."

"I still say your taste in food is weird." Tori speaks with slight laughter as he rises from the bed.

Both boys proceed to and now exits the room as they are now heading downstairs for dinner with the picked battle chips laying on Lan's bed.

A/N: Ok Chapter 7 done and I hope you all like it. I do apologize that it is late coming out. I have been really busy with school, while working on this at the same time, but the wait is over and I hope you all like it. I apologize, also, if it is boring in any way, shape, or form. No flames please and chapter 8 will be out when I get a moment. If anything is confusing, please let me know and I'll modify it for you. If nothing else, I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and please review.

Review Please!