If you haven't read An ACDC Christmas (the Christmas fic) and Where It All Starts (the Halloween fic), then we suggest you read those, for this will seem sort of random. They are the prequels to this one, and the OCs that appear in there reappear in here again. So read those before you read this, please!
Summary: It's Valentine's Day, the day of true love and whatnot, and our heroes Lan and Chaud are still together, two months after they got together. However, when someone shuts off the power to all of Dentech city, a trip to the Power Plant is in order to fix things. And what's with Count Zap's navi being lost to a girl? Find out! LanChaud pairing.
We own nothing! Happy Valentine's Day! Love to everyone!
o-o-o-o-o
The long beep announced both that an urgent message had arrived. Opening the email a figure of a man appeared seeming to be in his late thirties, his hair was ruffled in a messy state and his eyes showed that he had spent the last few hours without sleep. He face was rubbed red on both sides under his eyes and his voice was somewhat rusty and distraught.
"Lan... I know you and I have our differences. And I know that you probably hate my guts, but can you help me.. I-I lost Elecman.. No actually.. he ran away... We had a fight, and-and I said that he was dispensable and ...well, worthless.. He-He left my PET probably soon after, because he's been missing for 5 hours so far.. I-Lan.. I can't really live without him. Please Lan! Can you get him back for me?"
As the message ended, the boy in mention studied the screen in thought. Why would one of his worst enemies ask him for help? Maybe it was because he knew he would get the job done. Ha. After all the times he had been defeated by the Hero duo, that should be logged in his memory.
Groaning because he knew he'd never be able to get back to sleep, Lan Hikari slowly slid out of the bed he had been sharing with one Chaud Blaze. After he retrieved his pants from across the floor and slipped them on, he went to his window and glanced out of it into his back yard. He could see Maylu's yard from there, and Maylu's yard had a new pool. Soft piano music drifted into his room when he opened the window. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
"Mmm... Laaan..." Chaud moaned from the bed. Lan shook his head in dismay as the one moan effectively woke up both Net Navis who were sleeping peacefully in their respective PETs. Megaman gave a long yawn and stretched.
"Mornin' Lan. Did you get the..." Megaman trailed off, seeing that Lan Hikari was awake before him. "What are you doing up, Lan?" Lan gave a shrug.
"Don't know, really. I got an email this morning from Count Zap." Chaud's trusty fighter spoke up then.
"Was it a threat?" Lan shook his head, kneeling by the window and resting his arms and head on it.
"No," he replied. "It was actually a plea for help..." Both navis stole concerned glances at each other.
"What did he want?" Chaud spoke sleepily from the bed. Lan turned towards him and saw that his lover was sitting up in the bed, blankets pooling deliciously around his hips, displaying his bare chest to the world. Lan gave a small smile, and then turned serious again.
"Well, he emailed me saying the he and Elecman had a fight. He told his navi that he was dispensable and worthless, and then Elecman ran away. Count Zap wanted me to find him..." Everyone was silent for a moment before Chaud and Protoman spoke at the same time.
"I think it's a trap." they said. Lan sweatdropped.
"It could be, but I don't think so. He sounded so... sincere..."
"They act, you know," Megaman pointed out. "We got fooled by them before..." Lan turned to his PET and sighed.
"But what if this time it isn't a trap? What if Elecman really did run away? What if he's being tortured by some other person? Elecman really isn't all bad, remember how he helped us fight Magnetman?" he said, then looking at Chaud in what he would always call his 'Get what I want' look. Chaud frowned in thought and was about to reply when Mrs. Hikari opened the door with a smile.
"Boys, it's time for breakfast! I'm sure you don't want it to get cold!" Lan grinned at his mom as she looked around, then blinked. "Oh, am I interrupting something?"
At the mention of 'interrupting' Protoman choked and fell over in his PET while Megaman just laughed. Chaud slowly wormed his way back under the covers, absolutely sure that Mrs. Hikari was not ignorant as to what had gone on the night before. Lan giggled nervously.
"No, mom. We'll be right down."
o-o-o-o-o
After the healthy breakfast that Mrs. Hikari cooked for the two boys, Chaud and Lan got dressed properly and grabbed their school bags. Lan strapped on his roller blades and held out his hand to Chaud.
"What?" Chaud asked.
"Help me up! My bag is too heavy for me to get up alone!" Lan said. Chaud rolled his eyes and helped Lan up. They both said goodbye to Mrs. Hikari and started on the way to Dentech High. They were both in the same class, even though Chaud was a year older than him. They were in all their classes together, ironically, except for English (Chaud was, of course, in the enriched program). Everything else, they were together.
"What are we going to do about Elecman?" Lan asked. Chaud shrugged.
"I really don't know. You do make a good point when you say that Elecman isn't the bad guy, but what if Count Zap set this all up?" Lan also shrugged.
"Well, can we just try and help? If it's a trap, then we'll just kick their butts like we usually do!" Chaud chuckled. "What?"
"Lan, you're 14 and yet, you still say 'butt'. You're such a child!" Lan gave a cheeky grin and kissed Chaud lightly.
"Yes, but I'm a child with talents!"
"You're absolutely right about that. Now let's get moving before we're late. Again." Lan rolled his eyes and sped up, leaving Chaud behind slightly.
o-o-o-o-o
Dentech City was a beautiful place, really. Unlike a lot of other cities she'd been to, this one actually had trees in them. And she liked trees.
Without any actual effort, she climbed up a tree, not even cursing when her jeans got slightly more ripped than they already were. She rested her head against the tree trunk and sighed as she peered out through the leaves. She was slightly tired, having been up all night doing research online for her friends in the group, being the most computer literate of the four of them. Why couldn't they just do it themselves... What did they need Myst.data anyway? Whyyyyyy?
"Well, can we just try and help?" came the all too familiar voice of Lan Hikari. Her interest sparked and she rolled over to lie face down in the tree, hand dangling down, but still in the safety of the branches. If the conversation was about whom she thought it was about, it could definitely play into their plans... "If it's a trap, we'll just kick their butts like we usually do!" There was a pause, then, "What?
"Lan, you're 14 and yet, you still say 'butt'. You're such a child!" She had to smirk at that.
"Yes, but I'm a child with talents!"
"You're absolutely right about that. Now let's get moving before we're late. Again."
As she watched Lan Hikari and Chaud Blaze rush off for DenTech High, she grinned.
Oh yes, it played perfectly into her plans.
o-o-o-o-o
"...and elasticky. Remember that, it'll be on the test!"
Poke. Poke.
"Laan. Wake up!" Lan groaned and blinked his opened. He had fallen asleep in his Biology class again. Every three days he managed to fall asleep in the class and Chaud poked him awake. But this time he had a perfectly valid reason. The Elecman mystery thing was weighing heavily on his mind and he did his best decision making Net Battling or sleeping. Since he couldn't exactly have a net battle in the middle of his Biology class, he opted for the other option! It was pure logic!
"Lan, get up, the bell rang two minutes ago..." Lan looked up. Had two minutes really passed between the pokes and the 'Laan. Wake up!'?
"Eh?" he asked. Chaud rolled his eyes and whacked him over the head.
"Get up, baka. We're going home." Lan held his head in pain and picked up his bag.
"Why'd you slap me?" he whined.
"Because, if we hurry, we can go home and try and figure out what happened to Elecman!" Lan was about to say he could think of better things to do, but when he caught Chaud's gaze, he nodded his head vigorously. Elecman could wait. They had other things to do.
o-o-o-o-o
She sighed as she looked out her window, into the window of Lan Hikari's room. She had waited for them to get home so she could figure out what was happening with them. They'd been home for an hour and they hadn't done anything yet. Sighing again, this time impatiently, she held her PET to eye level.
"Go ahead with operation number Three-Four-Seven-Eight. Now." Her Navi nodded.
"Right away, mistress." As her navi blinked away, the door opened. She turned to look at her friend, who had just entered. She brushed a strand of blue hair out of her eyes, not bothering to wonder how it got there. She was in a pissy mood.
"Did you do it?" her friend asked. She nodded, turning back to her computer. She typed in a few things and watched in complete and total satisfaction as a map of DenTech city appeared, each house, building, park and structure displayed in a not so complicated pattern.
"Just now, yeah. Which area first?"
"Area 12. It's farthest from us." She nodded her consent and typed away. A few seconds later, the yellow lights representing the houses and buildings across town dimmed. She smirked.
"Right, every five minutes, a sector will lose power. You turn on the emergency power so we wont lose anything. Then, make your way to the power plant. I'll meet you there after all the power goes out. I'm installing a firewall around the plant's controls so no one will be able to get to them and ruin everything. Consequentially, the power there won't go out so I'll have to be quick about it. You go contact Uzu and Dai as soon as you can. They'll have to be there too, since Starman was only able to collect so much data. It's been two months, they've probably gotten stronger..." The other girl smirked.
"Yeah, but so have we. Good work, S."
"Thanks. It's kinda hard doing everything all by my lonesome, but now that I have my own Navi, it's gotten easier. Now go!" The other girl rolled her green eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Make sure to keep the metro online for them." She nodded, keeping her eyes glued to the screen, hands typing away at the firewall, making it near indestructible. Since her targets were only trying to get to her, she'd only have to worry about the navi named Zero tearing it down.
And Zero was gone somehow.
She sighed and looked back out the window. She hoped they'd notice something was wrong soon.
o-o-o-o-o
Hours later, when Lan and Chaud were cuddled on the couch, watching TV, with them just flipping channels randomly, Chaud paused on the news. Lan started complaining loudly, saying he didn't want to be part of the 'real world' yet, but Chaud shushed him with a look.
"This is Ribbita reporting live from DenTech City! Mysteriously, the power plant has shut down! We have attempted to enter the building, but the plant seems to be locked! Our best teams of Net Navis have tried hacking away at the obvious Firewall preventing us from getting inside to the controls, but nothing seems to be happening! Could this be the work of World Three, the well-known troublemakers from the very first N1 Grand Prix? Or from the mysterious group named Grave that caused trouble all those years ago? We shall update you on our progress in-"
Chaud cursed as the TV screen went black and the power went out. Screaming from Maylu's house, and all the way from Dex's house got them jumping up and running to the door. Lan got there first and tugged the door open.
"Mom, we're going to the power plant to fix things! Don't wait up for us!" Mrs. Hikari came from inside the kitchen, looking glum.
"Please hurry, boys. My poor dinner stopped cooking..." Lan seemed even more determined than before to save the day, and dragged Chaud out of the house, and down the road to the station.
"Lan, the power's out, how is the train going to work?" Chaud asked, clearly thinking the mention of dinner had severed all common sense factors in his brain.
"I have a feeling that they're waiting for us, so they'll open up the metro line, won't they?" Lan pointed out, just as the lights turned on in the abandoned metro. They hurriedly got on one of the trains and the doors slammed shut. A female voice they recognized from Christmas spoke over the intercom.
"Welcome, passengers. This is a one way path to the power plant, you can't switch cars, you can't stop the train, you can't even jack in, so just sit tight, enjoy the ride, and prepare yourselves for the shock of your lives!" Female laughter rang out in the cart and Lan stood, directing his voice to the ceiling.
"Where are you! Show yourself!" A new voice rang out this time, one that they hadn't heard before.
"Just listen to what your dear, dear pilot for the minute said. If you piss her off, you might find yourselves in a bit of an... accident... MWAHAHAHAHAAAA!" Growling, Lan sat down again.
"They don't even sound like they're bluffing, do they?" he asked Chaud, who shook his head.
"Face it; we've walked into a trap. They could easily stop this ride and we may never see daylight again if it suits them..."
Both boys and their Navis sat in a worrisome silence for a good 5 minutes before the door slid open again. They hurried off and they made it into the darkness just as the train doors closed and the train sped off into the distance. They both turned on their PET lights and followed the path they could see all the way to the surface. They had to shield their eyes from the light that was coming from the Power Plant. The culprits were obviously inside...
"Are you guys ready?" Lan asked. He received an affirmative nod from Megaman.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Protoman mumbled, voicing what everyone thought. "Either WWW has recruited more people, or we're dealing with people we've never even heard of before..." Chaud sighed.
"Yeah, you're right. Let's just get this over with so we can go home..."
They had expected to encounter trouble in opening the doors to the plant, but surprisingly, they encountered absolutely nothing. The doors just slid open calmly and let them in. The room they stepped into was very, very large with a projector in the middle of it so they could see the net battle. It reminded them both of the N1 Grand Prix. They stepped forwards, only to encounter a girl with dark blue hair and white bangs. She had on a pair of light blue jeans that were frayed at the bottom and a black t-shirt. Lan noticed that the shirt was filled with pick up lines in white lettering.
The girl's skin was dark chocolate brown and she seemed to be a little over 18. Lan would have to guess about 19. Hanging on her belt was a little black bag and a PET holder. The PET in it as dark purple with light blue lightning bolts on the handle and on its back. Chaud frowned.
"Who the hell are you? What have you done with the power!" he demanded. The girl gave a smile that looked oddly out of place on the face of a villain.
"My name isn't important, Chaud Blaze," she said with a shrug. She pushed her glasses up and grinned, eyes still closed.
"I bet you're the one who stole Elecman!" Lan exclaimed. "How on earth did you do that! He belongs to Count Zap!" The girl giggled oddly.
"Well, dear old Jack Zap decided to lose his navi and Elecman came to me!"
"But that's stealing!" Lan retorted.
"No, it isn't," Chaud admitted sourly. "It was Elecman's choice to join with her." Lan looked over at him, surprised.
"But... Count Zap really misses him. We can't just give up now..." A male laugh sounded from the PET.
"Yeah, well, I don't miss him," the purple-ish gray electric navi said. "He said he didn't need me, so I left. And I'm much happier here with my new Net Op." The girl opened her eyes (they were purple) and smirked at them.
"Well, since you came all the way here from ACDC town, I guess that we could make a deal..." Chaud frowned.
"What is it...?" The girl walked over to the display thing and pulled out her PET.
"We shall have a Net Battle. If you lose, I keep Elecman." Lan frowned also.
"And if we win?" he asked.
"Then I'll turn the power back on."
"Hey!" Lan exclaimed. "That's not fair! We want to get Elecman back to Count Zap!" The girl just gave a laugh.
"Whoever said that life was fair, kid? Get used to things like this."
Growling, Lan pulled out his own Jack in cord. He and Chaud both knew that they probably wouldn't leave the Power Plant without a battle, so it was best to just go along with whatever the girl wanted.
"Jack in, Protoman! Power up!"
"Jack in, Megaman! Power up!"
"Jack in, Elecman! Power up!"
As they all jacked in their navis, the power in the plant was reduced to just working the Hologram Display. Lan and Chaud looked around in surprise as the girl they were facing started laughing evilly.
"You idiots! You just followed me right into my trap!"
"What!" Chaud exclaimed.
"You see, you two have something we want. And now, thanks to your own 'bravery' and 'good tendencies', we're going to get it! And it's impossible for us to lose!" Another laugh followed, making Lan and Chaud shiver. She was on a power trip, apparently. "Elecman!"
As electricity crackled in the hologram, Chaud grabbed a chip from his pocket. He quickly downloaded it.
"BamSword battle chip in! Download!" Leafs swirled around Protoman's new sword as the navi attacked. Surprisingly, Elecman just stood in the one spot, laughing. The laughing continued even as the sword cut through him, taking a small amount of data streams with it.
"What!" Protoman exclaimed in surprise. "He's not weakened!"
"What!" Lan asked. "That was supposed to do double damage! He's weak against grass chips!" The girl snorted.
"I think that you're forgetting that you're not fighting Count Zap. I don't battle like him, at all. I actually think before attacking. Elecman, now!"
Megaman and Protoman both stood, shocked, as Elecman gave a maniacal laugh and directed an electricity beam at them. The beam cut through the data tiles as it sped towards it's targets, wide enough to have been mistaken for a program advance. Both navis jumped out of the way before it could hit them. Landing Protoman sneered at the gray navi.
"If that's all you have to show, then you're pretty washed up."
But Elecman just stood there. Grinning like a maniac. It was only when Megaman decided to check behind him, that it was all too late. The massive energy wave blast through them, even bigger than its previous form since it had been reflected off of the wall. Lan gasped as he saw his navi's data part. Immediately he pull out his jack in cord. But even so it was useless.
The wave had struck too fast. The computerized voice resounded in the room.
"Net Navis deleted."
"NO!" gasped Chaud. No, not his navi! "PROTOMAN COME BACK!"
"Too late. Oh well. Maybe next time." The girl said with fake concern laced through her voice, which then turned into a full hyper laugh. Yes, definitely power hungry.
o-o-o-o-o
She watched, completely satisfied as Lan Hikari fainted into his lover's arms. She had expected something pathetic like that, but the battle was over and she was the victor. Unfortunately, her mission wasn't over. She pressed a button that was cleverly concealed on the Hologram machine and a small CD popped out. She tossed it over to Chaud, who caught it limply.
"There," she said. "You can get your navi's information back with this. I knew something like that would happen, so I did a system save before the battle." She winked at him. "Just make sure you get past the Fire Wall on it safely or you lose everything. Ciao!"
She turned and walked away, PET safely back in its case. She ascended a staircase in the dark, having tripped on them earlier. She wasn't about to redo the same mistake twice.
But she had more important things to worry about. Dr. Hikari would get passed her security on the disk easily; she was sure that SciLab had a generator somewhere in the building. If he did his work as fast as he could, the two would be back as early as Valentine's Day, two days away. She had to work exceptionally hard at decoding her own work and getting information on that battle.
"Wow, that was a fast battle, Shade! I would have never thought of saving a copy of the battle!" her purple haired companion said excitedly, bouncing out from somewhere in the building, maybe an upper level. Shade had learned to never ask where her friend bounced from.
"Pft! Battle?" a certain sparkly navi from her friend's PET said. "He didn't even move!" Shade grinned.
"And this coming from a navi who got his ass handed to him. Right." Shade could have sworn that Starman rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. Uzu, which direction is the Computer Room? Dai and Niri should have been keeping watch over the city from there." Uzu rolled her eyes at her friend.
"Take 50 steps to your right, then walk straight. You should walk into a room with light." Shade giggled.
"Yeah, right, thanks. Don't bother me until I seek you guys out. I've got to decode my own firewall to get to the info."
"Decode?" Uzu echoed. "Why would you have to decode it? You made it..."
"I have to destroy it in a specific order and I forgot what it looked like, so it might take me some time, okay?" Uzu nodded in half understanding.
"Sure, whatever. I'll take Dai and Niri swimming or something. I'm sure we could use some distraction from our mission." Shade sighed.
"And yet, you guys have done nothing but sit and watch a computer screen today. I feel so loved..." Uzu laughed.
"Okay, bye!"
"Syonara..."
o-o-o-o-o
"Oh my gosh, what happened to you guys!"
Chaud stayed quiet as he dragged himself and Lan into Lan's bedroom. He laid a still unconscious Lan onto the bed an kneeled down beside it, not paying any attention to the other occupants of the room. He dropped his head onto the soft surface, tears leaking from his eyes. He didn't even notice the CD and his PET slip out of his hand. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head to look into the concerned eyes of Maylu.
"What happened Chaud?" she asked gently.
"Protoman and Megaman... got deleted," Chaud whispered. "They're so much stronger now than they were before..." Four gasps sounded, alerting Chaud to the presence of Yai, Dex and Tory.
"They were deleted? By Bass?" Tory asked. Chaud shook his head.
"Elecman..." he mumbled, just as horror settled in the pit of his stomach. If Elecman was strong enough to delete their navis with just one attack, that meant that Bass, being the strongest Navi they had encountered, would be able to delete them just as easily... Oh crap.
With newfound determination, Chaud picked up the CD and his PET, managing to avoid the 'Deleted' message on the screen. He also took Lan's PET and set them on the desk.
"Nobody touches those," he said, though his voice cracked. "If you touch the CD, we may never be able to get them back. So... just go to sleep, okay?" he said, pulling off his shirt and his pants. Maylu blushed as he did so. "What?"
"I... I... You're not embarrassed?" Chaud rolled his eyes and carefully undressed Lan, making the others turn around.
"No. Sleep. Now. We're taking a trip to SciLab tomorrow." He climbed into the bed with Lan held tightly to him. Tomorrow, or the day after at the latest, that girl would get what was coming to her...
o-o-o-o-o
The next morning, Chaud awoke to Lan's sniffling. He kissed Lan softly and grinned sadly.
"Hey," he said. "We'll go see your dad today and ask him for help. That girl gave us a CD with their data on it. We just have to get past a Firewall to get to them." Lan buried his head in Chaud's shoulder and sobbed. Chaud sighed sadly, wishing that Protoman were there to help him.
"I hope that dad will be able to help us..." Chaud sat up slowly, feeling a pair of eyes on him. He turned around and he glared at Yai, who was the only one awake. She blushed and turned away.
"Come on, let's get dressed and let's go."
"If you want," Yai offered, "we can use my limo to get you there!" Lan smiled at her.
"Thanks."
2 hours later everyone was up, dressed and falling back asleep in the back of Yai's limo. Chaud held the CD the girl gave him in his had loosely, head lolling to the side. Lan was asleep against his shoulder, Maylu was speaking quietly to Yai and Dex was leaning heavily on Tory, asleep.
"Miss Yai, we've arrived at SciLab," the person on the intercom said. Lan jerked awake and blinked up at the large building. He looked to Chaud, who nodded to the driver in thanks.
"Let's hope this gets done as fast as possible," Tory mumbled, irritated. "That Elecman will pay for deleting our friends!" Lan shook his head as he got out of the limo.
"No. This is our fight. That girl won't be able to get us twice with the same trick!" Determination sparking in his eyes, Lan dragged Chaud into the only building that was lit on the whole block. Some of the workers greeted them happily while others didn't even acknowledge their presence. As they were about to enter the room that held Dr. Hikari, a guard stopped them.
"I'm sorry, but you're not allowed in there at this time," the guard said. "Dr. Hikari is very busy trying to get the power back to the city, so you'll have to-"
"Listen," Chaud said, interrupting the man. "This is his son, and we have an emergency. We can get back the power to you, but we have a problem we need to discuss. So just let us in, okay?" The guard shook his head.
"I'm sorry. Dr. Hikari specifically told me not to let anyone inside the building..." Lan ducked under the man's outstretched arms preventing them from going any farther and knocked on the door loudly.
"Dad! Dad, open up! We have trouble!"
"H-hey! Don't you bother-"
As Lan ducked away from the guard again, the door slid open with a pleasant whirring sound. Dr. Hikari frowned as he looked around at the sad group.
"Lan? Chaud? What's going on?"
"We know how to get the power back!" Maylu exclaimed before the guard could speak up. Dr. Hikari looked shocked.
"You do? That's great! Come in, we'll talk about it. I'll call the others and-"
"No!" Lan exclaimed. "We need to talk to you first. In private." Dr. Hikari nodded.
"Okay. Come in. We can talk about it there."
The guard looked absolutely baffled as the small group entered the previously forbidden area. They all took seats around the room, Lan choosing to sit on Chaud's lap instead of the vacant chair. Dr. Hikari raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
"So, what's the problem?"
"Yesterday..." Lan started "we went to the power plant because we knew that Elecman would be there. He was, and we battled. And lost."
"You lost?" Dr. Hikari asked. Chaud nodded and sighed downheartedly.
"Yes, and I'm afraid that with this new net op he will be unstoppable. She utilizes his full potential," He paused for a moment, "unlike Count Zap." He ended sourly.
"And -and now.. Megaman's gone!.." Bursting out in tears Lan turned towards Chaud and hugged him tightly. Dr. Hikari looked a little miffed at both the events, pushing up his glasses slightly he tired to console his son.
"I'll do everything in my power to get Megaman... -and Protoman back." He directed the last part to the white haired teen.
"Good."
o-o-o-o-o
Shade yawned as she rolled over in her comfortable bed as light streamed in through her window, which was wide open. A pleasant music was coming from her PET, and she started wondering why she just didn't buy a NORMAL alarm clock. She groaned and ducked under the covers of her bed, causing a chuckle to arise from her desk. She attempted to glare at the offending PET, but found that the blankets covered her weakened eyes.
"Shade," Elecman said through a laugh, "I had to shoo Niricko out of here a few minutes ago. She said something about the data we've collected..."
Shade slowly sat up, letting the blankets pool around her waist. She looked blindly around the room for a minute, then back at her PET. She yawned and rubbed her eyes.
"Lemme guess, meeting in the club house?" she asked, rolling out of bed. Elecman nodded.
"Yep. Niricko says to be there in about an hour." Shade nodded and searched for suitable clothes for her to wear in the winter. Finally, she picked out a pair of tight black jeans and a dark pink top. She did her morning routine of brushing her teeth and doing bathroom things before heading downstairs in her pajamas and with her PET. She stepped into the kitchen of her house and sank down in a chair around the table. Her brother looked up from his book.
"Rough night?" he asked. Shade raised an eyebrow at her brother and dropped her head onto the table.
"I dun feel well..." she muttered. Her mother abandoned her cooking and placed a hand on her forehead. With a hiss, she pulled it back.
"You're burning up dear. There's no way you're going anywhere today!" she said. Shade groaned.
"But mom! I have to meet Niricko at our clubhouse!" Her mother tutted at her.
"I don't know why you give each other these silly names. You can call Ares and tell her you can't come. You're catching a cold and I wouldn't want you getting even sicker. Now eat breakfast, take a hot bath and back to bed with you!" Shade's brother snickered at her. She glared.
"Shut up Kage." she muttered, taking the soup her mom gave her. It seemed that mothers always had something to cure sickness nearby.
Upset, Shade trudged back to her room and took her bath. However, instead of getting into warmer pajamas, Shade got dressed into warms sweat pants, an a turtle neck. She cautiously checked that her mother and brother were occupied before she hunted down her coat from her closet, and winter accessories. She pulled on two pairs of socks and her boots, shoved her PET down her shirt and climbed out the window and scurried to the metro line, never once stopping to find out why Niricko was in her house, in her room, while she was sleeping, and her mother didn't think to tell her.
o-o-o-o-o
"Finally! Shade, where have you been!" Uzu cried as her friend stepped into the clubhouse that she owned. Shade was looking oddly off-balance, but Shade smiled at her and sank down onto a couch. Uzu shook her head in exasperation; Shade was never on time for these things.
"So, we're all here!" Niri said cheerfully, plonking herself down at the large computer that was in the room. She typed in a code and a bunch of complicated data appeared, blinking every once in a while. Shade seemed to be the only other person to get what was being depicted.
"That's interesting..." the girl said. Dai raised his eyebrow.
"What is?" he asked. Niri pointed to the squares that made no sense.
"These are the parts of Zero's data we've collected. These are the seven and a half pieces that we have."
"A half? We don't have it all?" Dai asked, surprised. "Why not?"
"According to our save files on all of these," Bass said, appearing on the screen, "the first half of the data was collected from when Starman fought Megaman and Protoman. We collected it from both of them, oddly enough, and put them together."
"Thank Shade for that," Dai said, grinning over at the girl. Shade gave a weak chuckle.
"Welcome. Anywho," she continued for Bass, "I bet you that we have the other part of the data encrypted on the copy of the disk that I got from my battle with them!"
"Well, about that," Niricko said. "Bass and I took a look at the data you got for us, and we're still missing one quarter of the whole Myst.data!" Shade groaned.
"More fighting! How the hell am I supposed to get to the power plant without my mom noticing I'm gone!" she wailed. Uzu raised an eyebrow.
"She doesn't know you're here?"
"Snuck out," Shade said. "I'm sick. So, what are we going to do about this?" All was silent for a while, until Starman spoke up.
"I have an idea..."
o-o-o-o-o
Lan and Chaud both glared at the guard that wanted to stop them from entering Dr. Hikari's lab two days ago. Despite them not having their navis, Chaud had gotten Lan a single rose that morning, which lifted his spirits a bit. And now, getting their navis back would make for the best Valentine's Day ever.
"Lan! Chaud! I've managed to destroy the firewall that was surrounding your Navi's data!" Dr. Hikari exclaimed when they walked in. He handed them their respective PETs, which made smiles break out on both their faces. Megaman waved to Lan, sending him into a fit of tears.
"Megaman! You're back!"
"Lan, you're crying," the blue navi remarked. "Lan, I'm okay..."
"I-I know!" Lan exclaimed. Chaud smiled and then looked down at his own navi in silent, but grateful greeting. Protoman smiled back.
"Thanks a lot, Dr. Hikari," Chaud said. "Lan, we have to get the power back." Lan nodded his acknowledgement and then pulled Chaud into a deep kiss, unknowingly making his father recoil.
"Yeah. We'll be careful this time, right?" Chaud nodded, then sent a look to Dr. Hikari.
"Right. Let's go, love."
The two teenagers left the office determinedly, leaving a permanently scarred Dr. Hikari behind.
o-o-o-o-o
"Psst! Kage! Big brother!"
Kage looked up from his computer screen and momentarily stopped his rhythmic sucking of his lollypop to gaze out the window, where his sister's voice had come from. But... Shade was supposed to be in bed...
Of course his sister would find a way to escape to go to that meeting of hers. Kage had a feeling that Shade would not be detained from that meeting, sick or not, so he had distracted their mother for a while. He wasn't sure how long that would last, though. Her mother would eventually catch on...
Kage rolled his chair over to his window and unlocked it, then opened it. Shade clambered in, along with-
"Hiko, what the hell are you doing helping my sister achieve world domination!" he had to ask as his boyfriend climbed in after his sister. Hiko was his orange haired, blue eyed, sporty, hot-tempered love. He suddenly wondered why he hadn't thought to think that Hiko wouldn't stop by. It was Valentine's Day...
"Hiko helped me escape the clubhouse! He has the car and he helped me get back." Here, Shade stopped to cough. "Dang. Can you help me out some more, guys? I have to go to the Power plant to get something I left there..." Kage looked at his sister's pleading gaze, then at Hiko's own smiling one. He sighed.
"Fine. Get back to your room, and I'll tell mom that we're bringing you to the doctor, since she needs to get her Valentine's Day gift for dad." Shade raised an eyebrow.
"Doesn't she already have it?" Kage nodded.
"Yeah, but she needs the car for it, and with you sick..." Hiko ruffled Shade's hair affectionately, and Shade nuzzled his side, making cat noises. Hiko chuckled at Kage.
"You sure she's not half cat?"
"Naw, she's all human. I just wonder if she's adopted sometimes..." Shade glared at her brother, but she found that it hurt her to look at one thing too long so she stopped. Kage gave her a worried look, then nodded.
"Right. You get into bed, I'll tell mom, Hiko, you stay here."
"Gotcha!"
o-o-o-o-o
Lan and Chaud both looked up at the large building that was the Power Plant. The lights were still on, and there was a car that was parked in the front of it. The two paid no mind to it, however, and they determinedly strode through the doors, not saying anything to each other. Lan was the first to notice that the girl was standing in her same spot, but Chaud was the one who noticed that she looked sick. The image was shattered when a deep laugh sounded, gradually getting louder and more high-pitched to suit the girl, who had her head thrown back as she cackled at them. Lan twitched.
"We're back for a rematch!" he said loudly, interrupting the girl's maniacal laugh. "So stop laughing and start already!" The girl grinned at them.
"I've decided to make it fair for you this time. Elecman's Wood Armor needed repairing, and I decided to keep it off. That should even the score a bit." Chaud frowned but said nothing. It actually made sense for Elecman to be wearing armor; he was an element navi, and he needed the protection.
"Well, let's get this party started!" The girl pulled out her PET, and pulled the cable out of it. Lan and Chaud copied her, their navis both waiting to get their hands on the grayish navi that had deleted them.
"Jack in, Protoman! Power up!"
"Jack in, Megaman! Power up!"
"Jack in, Elecman! Power up!"
The three navis appeared in their arena, and a buzzer went off from somewhere. Elecman was the first to attack with his Lightning Blast attack. Megaman and Protoman both jumped out of the way.
"Bamsword battle chip in! Download!" Lan and Chaud both said at the same time. Elecman recoiled from the two swords that appeared on his opponents' arms. He managed to dodge the first one, from Megaman, but Protoman's aim was apparently better as it hit him. He gave a pained gasp and had to warp away, behind them to avoid another hit. Megaman and Protoman both raised eyebrows as Elecman looked towards his net op, who shook her head silently. He nodded, and then faced them determinedly.
"Is that all you've got?" he sneered. "If it is, then you're pretty washed up."
Lan chose to ignore the quoting of Protoman from two days ago as he fished around for another battle chip blindly, still watching his navi do battle. He chanced a glance at Chaud, who was still staring at Protoman. Then, quite suddenly, his gaze shifted to the girl.
"Why are you doing this? What's the point?" The girl frowned at him.
"Like I said before, you have something that I want, that I need, and I'm going to get it," she stated simply.
"But what do we have?" Lan asked, confused. "And is it really worth shutting the power off? It's the middle of winter! People might be getting sick all over the place without their heat!" The girl rolled her eyes.
"As if I'd tell you. I already have enough to worry about without having you two slowing me down," she said sourly, and this time Lan noticed that she sounded different. "Elecman! Finish this QUICKLY!"
Megaman and Protoman had to jump out of the way of multiple Lightning Blast attacks. In between them, Megaman managed to shoot at him with his buster, and then had to scream in pain when Elecman warped behind him and used his electricity to shock him. Seeing this, Protoman quickly slashed at him with his sword, freeing Megaman and damaging the annoying Navi in the process.
Elecman quickly retreated and then smiled evilly. Both navis backed up warily and then their eyes widened when Elecman spread his arms wide, ready to unleash an ultimate attack. They both got ready to spring away when a soft beeping caught their attention. The girl frowned, then looked shocked.
"Elecman!" she called out. "We got it." Elecman lowered his arms. "Return the power."
"Right away, Miss," Elecman said before the computerized voice floated out, saying Net Navi logging out and Elecman disappeared.
"Hey!" Megaman called.
"We're not finished with you," Protoman said. The girl shrugged at them.
"I got what I wanted, you have your power back, so why stay?" she inquired before smoke went off in the area. Lan and Chaud both started coughing and they closed their eyes, as the smoke irritated them. When they could see again, the girl was gone. Chaud frowned.
"She's gone," he said sourly. "And we couldn't get Elecman back for Count Zap..." Lan nodded, then sighed.
"Yeah... What do you think it was that she wanted from us?" he asked. Megaman sat on the floor and shrugged.
"I don't have a clue," he said. Protoman crossed his arms and looked around.
"I don't have an idea, either. It's no use worrying about it now, in any case. She's gone, I can't find Elecman, and there's not much else we can do. The power is supposedly back on, so we can go home..." Chaud nodded, pulling out the cable for his PET. Lan did the same, and then pocketed his PET.
"Yeah, lets go home..."
o-o-o-o-o
Shade burst into the room where the rest of her companions were, minus Dai (he was out shopping for them). Uzu and Niricko turned sharply and then sighed when they noticed it was her. They all gasped as the door swung open again and Dai came in, carrying a large bag of chips and soda cans. He placed them on the floor, then walked up and took the seat next to Uzu.
Shade walked over to their large computer screen and smiled when she saw the eighth complete part of the Myst.data. She crossed her arms, satisfied.
"So, we have it." Niricko nodded her head and gave her the thumbs-up sign.
"Yeah. Good work. Now we only have-"
"7 more pieces left to go. How nice..." a familiar voice said. Shade and Uzu gasped as a dancing bunny appeared on the screen, waving its arms around in a cartoon-y like fashion. Despite the cartoon, they all knew who was talking to them.
"Dammit," Niricko said. "He's managed to hack into our computer. I have him blocked for the most part, but I don't know what he's managed to find out..." Shade flew to the keyboard and typed a few commands, making the bunny disappear and a hazy image of a teenager about their age appear. It was impossible to make out his features beyond color. There was a lot of green.
"What do you want, Terasse!" Uzu demanded. The male laughed.
"You know perfectly well what I'm after, girl," he said coldly. "Stop collecting that data. Your little Shadow Girl over there is good with a navi, and the computer, so I don't know the details of your plans. I do know, however, where you plan to strike next." Shade bristled.
"Damn you. Get out of here!" she said. "You know what you're doing is wrong!" Terasse laughed.
"And what you're doing is so much better."
"It's stopping you," Dai muttered. Terasse laughed.
"You wish. Bye bye now!"
As Terasse disappeared, and their screen returned to normal, Shade pushed herself up. Her vision started swimming, and before she knew it, she had fainted into Niricko's arms. The other members of the team gasped.
"Aw crap, Shade!"
"Her brother's outside," Dai said. "Come on!"
And back in the safety of his home in ACDC town, Lan knew nothing of the trouble he had gotten himself and his friends submerged in.
o-o-o-o-o
Goodness graciousness this one is 15 pages long in Verdana size 9... What the heck was Uzu thinking, letting me write this! -laughs- Ah well.
I'm actually really happy with the way this turned out. Other than the long almost-six-month writer's block that happened after the line "Miss Yai, we've arrived at SciLab", it turned out well. We got to see how Shade really interacts with her brother, and all of them together. It's nice, as well, that we get to see more of them, since I enjoy writing them so much. They're fun, and they get funner!
Anywho, hope you enjoy! Feedback, at this point, is craved. We'll continue writing whether you like it or not, but we'd like to know what you think. Feed the authors? Please?
Thanks.
Next Fic: I dunno, expect it later, but before the next big holiday... I think... Before St-Patrick's day... I think... –sheepish grin— I honestly have no idea. Don't wait for it.
-Only Insanity-