AN: My heart goes out to all of you guys that gave me feedback. I hope that you all will continue reading the adventures to come.

Yet again, I'm still a bit new to this kind of writing, so please bare with me.

EDIT: I went back to edit the chapter since was deleted throughout the document. I simply replaced it with RockmanEXE (minus the period.) Sorry for the confusion!

-Facepalm- Thanks for everyone who pointed out my errors! I fixed the bandana color and the FM to AM mix-up.

Disclaimer: I own nothing still.

Chapter 2: Integration! A New Foe Appears?

"To think I'd be on a mission with the likes of you." the brown, beast-like darkloid sneered at its smaller and much chubbier companion. "You're completely worthless, Bubbleman! If it were not for Shademan's request to leave you in one piece… I'd rip you to-!"

"Puku puku…" the short blue navi began with obvious nervousness. Summing up the little bit of courage and confidence that he had, Bubbleman motioned to his chest with his grubby little thumb as he replied, "Beastman, you're talking to an intelligence investigation professional, puku! I'll find the scoop behind this mystery and finally get my first dark chi-"

"Don't test your luck!" the savage navi roared as its claws came threateningly close to his blue other. As expected, Bubbleman quickly dived, head first, into a pile of random junk machinery to hide in at the first sign of trouble. His chubby head poked out a second later to see whether Beastman was continuing his approach.

"L-L-L-Let's not be too hasty, Beastman! Puku!"

"Count your blessings that you're alive for now." Beastman trudged off into the warehouse. His razor sharp claws sliced whatever came in his path as he proceeded forward. Bubbleman tried to wiggle his way out of the junk he secured himself in to follow the other darkloid only to realize something.

"… I-I'm stuck, puku!" he yelled desperately. Beastman simply continued trudging onward, despite his pleas.


"Say, Rockman…Why do you think a dimensional field appeared here of all places? It's not like there is anything here." The new net saver muttered, his PET in hand. "Besides busted up machines at least…."

"I don't know… but earlier I was detecting a large energy reading. But then it just disappeared."

"It's probably the work of darkloids. None of the machines in this place are even functional anymore. Meijin-san is probably going to call up any minute and-"

"A-Ah! Netto-kun! Over there, look!" Rockman yelled out from the PET. Turning quickly to the right, Netto was able to glimpse a pair of metool viruses walking about. Judging by their preoccupied manners, they were searching for something in particular. They paid little attention to the boy's glance. It was their mistake, since Netto wasn't about to let any virus go undeleted.

"Alright! It's about time we found something suspicious! Get ready Rockman!"

"Sometimes, I get the feeling that you just want to cross fuse for the sake of cross fusing." The navi said while shrugging his shoulders, though eager himself. He readied for the unison with his net top.

"Synchro Chip, Slot in!" Netto yelled out, not masking his own eagerness. He inserted the green gem encrusted blue chip into his PET. "Cross Fusion!"

Light began to pour out from the PET as it began to break up into blocks of solid data. As the light from the device enveloped Netto, pieces of RockmanEXE's armor began to materialize over his body. He felt the soul of his netnavi come closer to his own as the familiar emblem solidified on his chest. As the light faded, R Rockman remained where the young net saver had once stood.

"Alright!" Netto exclaimed excitedly, practically jumping up and down. "Now, it's time to get to some serious virus busting!"

"Yeah, with two viruses." Rockman's voice resonated in the boy's head. As if on signal, waves of virus started appearing. They ranged from every corner of the virus family, which was an occurrence that happened probably every century. "I guess I spoke too soon."

"Now we're getting somewhere! Rockbuster!" R Rockman yelled out as his right hand reconfigured and transformed itself into his signature weapon. Each virus fell in one shot from the cannon, but it left little to no dent in the swarm of them. They seemed to care little for their fallen brethren as they continued to meander in their own business. "What's wrong with them? Why aren't they fighting back?"

"It's definitely fishy… Judging by their looks though, the viruses must be attracted to something that's here." RockmanEXE thought for a moment on what would attract such a large amount of viruses. "It could be that burst of energy detected earlier. That would mean darkloids might be behind this."

"Well we better find it before—" the cross fused net-op began but was interrupted by the loud sound of machinery collapsing upon itself along with a familiar roar.

"Damn these viruses! Damn these infernal contraptions!" Beastman yelled as he cut through both metal and viruses like butter. "And damn that Bubbleman for getting lost! How am I supposed to—"

"I-Is that…?" R Rockman began, until he met eye to eye with the savage darkloid that they came to recognize.

"What… What are you doing here?" the darkloid exclaimed. It was strange enough that the net saver was coincidentally in the abandoned facility at the same time the dimensional field was up. "You're the one that caused this, aren't you?" The question itself was completely rhetorical however as Beastman had already lunged to slice the boy in two before he could give a semblance of an answer. R Rockman just barely dodged the attack as the growling darkloid flew past him. With his buster raised, readying for a counter attack, the net saver couldn't help but answer Beastman's question anyways.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm here to kick your sorry butt back to where you came from!"


"Denpa Henkan! Hoshikawa Subaru, On Air!"

Nothing happened. Subaru could swear that he heard the mocking whispers of the wind in the prevailing silence.

"Warrock… this is the 3rd time. It's getting a bit embarrassing yelling something like that out loud for no reason…"

"Alright, Alright… Let me just figure out the problem, and we can try it again!" the alien shifted back into the disconnected Hunter VG, ignoring the boy's loud groan. "Hum… Maybe if I do this… and that…"

"It could it be the fact that it doesn't detect our registration code anymore. The Hunter VG was made to certify those who can Denpa Henkan." Subaru again took a look at the error message the device displayed. It phased in and out between white noise and fragmented images. "It's strange though… I've never heard of the Hunter VG actually losing complete reception." There was a sense of nostalgia looking at the static-like screen. He could hear a familiar buzz in his ear that was reminiscent of… the Meteor Server.

Preparing stabilization process…

"Kid, you haven't noticed yet?"

"E-Eh?" Subaru broke out of his thoughts fast enough to catch Warrock's words, but not necessarily having it register in his head.

"Geez, look around! Don't you notice anything strange?" Warrock re-visualized out of the device. "Use those glasses of yours!"

Subaru tried to push the growing migraine to the back of his mind as he put on his visualizer once again, and just as the alien suggested, he looked around. Then it started to click in his mind. "Th-There's absolutely no wave roads anywhere!"

"And I can't sense a trace of any wave roads in a mile radius either." Growled the AM Wave being, "Wherever we are… it's a place that doesn't utilize—H-Hey! Subaru!" Warrock turned his attention immediately to the sound of a small "thud" where the boy had collapsed. Seeing him clutching his head in pain made the alien panic. "Ooy! What's wrong?"

Compatible Host Found… Continuing stabilization…

"A-Augh…I-It's… th-this sound… I…" Subaru murmured his words through clenched teeth. His grip tightened around his head, trying vainly to squeeze the irritating noise out of his brain. "It's like… na-nails on a chalkboard!"

Realization hit Warrock like a ton of bricks as the memory of the final battle came back to him. "It must be that extra exposure to Noise. His body can't take the—" He cursed himself for not noticing the difference of resilience as an AM being sooner, but he had no idea what effects Noise had on humans. There was nothing he could do for him but wait it out and hope for the best. "Damn it…"

There was no time to waste though as small footsteps started to echo through the halls outside. A small yellow helmet wearing metool poked its head through the door, pickaxe in hand. "Met!" it yelled out after being spotted by Warrock. The alien's low growl sent the tiny virus running. No doubt, it was heading off to find the rest of its pack for reinforcements. He'd hate to push the kid anymore then he had to, put it was literally an emergency.

"Kid! Common! Pull yourself together for a second. This is no time to be dozing off!" Warrock placed his ethereal claw on the boy's shoulders and shook him as gently as he could.

Stabilization Complete. Initiating next process…

"I…I think I'm fine… for now…" Subaru muttered in a hoarse voice. He was still noticeably breathing heavily, but at least he was able to stand. The sound of many tiny footsteps began to draw near to their location. Taking a deep breath, Subaru relaxed his shoulders. He sighed in relief as the noise was surely and steadily growing fainter in his head. "Alright. Let's try it again."

"That's my boy! We're going to go buck wild on these viruses!"

"Erm… Did… you actually make any modifications to the Hunter VG?"

"Well… I smashed some programs here and there. Maybe I hit that confirmation-what-not you were going on about. But enough talk!"

"Well, I guess it's all or nothing." Subaru raised his arm in the air, Hunter VG at hand. "Denpa Henkan! Hoshikawa Subaru, On Air!"

Green light poured out of the small device, engulfing the boy. It was strange though. Something felt amiss.

Initializing Integration… 2%

Subaru could swear he heard that small whisper of noise, similar to that of the Meteor Server's as Warrock's power washed over him. As the light subsided, Subaru had transformed into the familiar figure of Rockman. The new form that the Hunter VG granted was different from his previous transformations in that Warrock was no longer literally a part of his arm. Rather, an extra armor piece was attached where the alien's head used to be with a screen similar to that of the Hunter VG. Warrock primarily talked through it as a substitute. Though Subaru had to admit, it was awfully awkward having his own hand talk to him at times. It was a welcomed change.

"Warrock… did you hear that?"

"What are you talking about, kid?"

"Well, it was like… it said something along the lines of… erm…" Subaru began, but paused as he noticed the many small yellow hard hats that had surrounded them already. There were easily over twenty of them. It was a wonder how they didn't notice the things earlier. "E-Eh?"

"Met!" One helmet popped up to reveal the metool that Warrock had scared off previously. As if in sync, each of the yellow hard hats seemed to come alive as tiny eyes revealed themselves underneath the oversized helmets. "Met met! Met!" the tiny virus commanded the group, lifting its pickaxe high and slamming it onto the ground. Each of the metools followed suit, sending shockwaves all aimed at him.

Rockman jumped upwards, causing the many shockwaves to collide with each other at the one point where he stood. "Th-That was too close!"

With the new advancements of the Hunter VG, visualization of a downloaded battle chip caused it to materialize easier then before. With a simple verbal confirmation, battle cards could easily be used on the fly. "Battle card: Cannon!" Subaru yelled out as his right hand reconfigured itself to a blaster that carried a lot more boom then his simple rockbuster ever could.

Taking aim, he fired the devastating one-shot blast. It decimated a third of the little viruses, sending the remaining ones in a frenzied panic. The remaining metools scurried about, their courage in their numbers obviously was faltering. One unlucky metool however had the misfortune of being face planted into the ground as Rockman landed foot first on the poor thing's head. Seeing the door out to the hall wide open, he quickly bolted for the door as more viruses began to materialize in the room. "Why are all these viruses here any—"

Integration… 23%

"—ways…?" Rockman looked around for the source of the voice. "That voice again…Where is it coming from?"

"Rockman! Puku!" An unfamiliar voice yelled out to him. Quickly turning to the origin of the voice, Subaru couldn't help but contemplate what exactly he was looking at. In a pile of junk was a short and plump looking blue man that gave off the feeling that was akin to most wave beings. It was obvious that this chubby stranger was trying to wriggle his way out of the mess he stuck himself into. "We meet again puku! You're fortunate that I'm choosing to spare you a good beating. Puku puku!"

"Um… Do I know you?"

"Watch out kid, this could be a trap!" Warrock growled in his ear.

"W-W-What puku?" the stranger looked at him with utter disbelief. "You don't remember me, Bubbleman puku?"

"I think you might have me confused for someone else…"

"This is an outrage puku!" Bubbleman ignored the boy's comment, oblivious to the many differences between the two people he was confused with. "I-I know that I fail sometimes… b-but…puku!" The darkloid's thick lower lip began to quiver and his eyes began to water as he cried out, "It doesn't mean you have to forget me! Puku~!"

"A-Ah! I'm sorry! Here, let me help you out!" Grabbing the blue darkloid's two hands that were able to stick out from the pile of junk, Rockman pulled with all his strength. Though, he may have used a bit too much as Bubbleman was sent flying from the extra force used. "S-Sorry…Bubbleman was it?" He apologized once again as Bubbleman landed alternatively from a metal junk pile and into a pile of garbage. Today really just wasn't his day.

"What are you trying to do? Kill me puku?" Bubbleman waved his arms frantically.

Integration… 55% …

Subaru pushed the incessant voice back to the recesses of his mind as he focused on the stranger brushing the foul goop off his self. "Erm… I was wondering whether you know exactly where we are."

"Puku puku… Are you mocking me? You think I'll fall for one of your tricks, Rockman puku? Why I oughta—"

Beep… Beep…. Beep…. Beep…. Beep….

An electronic beeping seemed to be coming from a device Bubbleman was keeping at his side. The darkloid himself didn't seem to notice as he kept ranting on.

"U-Uhm… I think that device of yours is ringing…" Rockman motioned towards the origin of the beeping. It was a rectangular black box with a small antenna at the top. Its little screen flashed red in rhythm with the beeps. Rockman could feel his heart began to race oddly as he heard the rhythmic beating of the electronic sound.

"O-Oh… OH?" Bubbleman grabbed the device that hung loosely at his side, staring intently at the small flashing screen. "The origin of the energy spike is nearby puku! It must be coming from somewhere puku…"

Moving the device left and right varied the rhythm of the beep. From what Subaru could guess, it functioned like a radar of sorts that was used to detect energy signatures. Apparently, the stranger was looking for something specific to what was set in the radar. "Ah, the location..?" Rockman tried to question Bubbleman again.

"I don't have time for you right now puku!" Bubbleman angrily snapped back, but not breaking his concentration on the device. As he pointed it towards Rockman, or at least what he thought was R Rockman, the frequency of the beeps increased. "Out of my way, Rockman! Puku!" Shoving the oblivious boy aside, Bubbleman proceeded to move forward. Though, as he moved further away from the boy, the frequency decreased. "Eeeeh? It's not here puku? Then where-"

Before Bubbleman could finish his sentence, another strange figure crashed through the wall and slammed into the blue darkloid. The two crashed into the same pile of junk that Rockman had unceremoniously pulled him out of. Subaru would've laughed out of the sheer misfortune, but it seemed a bit mean.

"A-Are you alright?" Running over to see how Bubbleman was doing, Rockman couldn't help but notice the other figure's more intimidating look. It vaguely reminded him of Wolf Forest.

"You won't get away Beastman!" another voice yelled out from behind. R Rockman had jumped through the freshly made hole in the wall to see not only Beastman, but also Bubbleman and another person at their side. He paused a second as he looked at the new comer. There was an uncanny resemblance, but…

"W-W-What? Puku? Two Rockman?"

Subaru turned to look at the new stranger. Things were just getting weirder and weirder. Not only did he not know where he was, but he had no idea what exactly was happening. Though, as the two Rockman looked at each other, the same thought crossed their minds.

Sure, there were some similarities. But was it really that hard to tell the difference between the two?

"Who are you?" R Rockman yelled out, obviously on his toes about whether his apparent double was a threat. "Another darkloid?"

"Uh… Darkloid?" The accusation carried no meaning for Subaru. It only served to confuse him more. "What—"

Integration… 95% … Beginning Final Countdown…

"A-Auugh…" Subaru keeled over as he felt his heart race and the noise in his mind return. Gripping his head with one hand, he turned to look up at his accuser as he prepared for battle. "I… I don't know what… you're talking about!"

"I don't care if there are two Rockman or if there were a thousand." Beastman burst from the pile of machinery where he had landed. His claws raised high ready to slice anything as he roared out. "I'm still going to rip you to shreds!" He lunged towards the closest "Rockman" with his claws spread, which unfortunately happened to be Subaru who had simply ran over to the darkloids out of concern.

96%...

"Watch out!" R Rockman yelled out to him. Why would a darkloid attack a darkloid? It didn't make sense unless…

R Rockman aimed and shot at the approaching darkloid before he could even scratch the other boy. It hit him squarely on the chest, knocking him back a foot. The beast's eyes swerved to meet the cross-fusioned human's.

97%...

Rockman knew that the more human looking stranger was saying something to him, but he couldn't make out the words. He saw the lips move, but all he could hear was the head splitting noise as it continued to countdown. "W-Warrock… what's…?" his words came out in a soft whisper. But there was no reply.

98%...

"You… You're going to pay for that!" Beastman roared as he charged again. His target changed to R Rockman as he dodged the rockbuster's coming blasts one after another. In a blink of an eye, Beastman was already face to face with him.

"N-Netto-kun! Watch out!" Netto could hear his netnavi's voice ring in his head clearly as he ducked to dodge a swipe of Beastman's claws. A moment later and his head could have been cut clean off.

99%...

Beeeeeeeeeeeeee~

Bubbleman's radar was ringing out. The screen was lit with a bright red. "What's happening puku? The energy signature is here puku! B-B-B-But where? Puku?" Bubbleman looked frantically around for what device was emanating such energy.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee~

100%... Meteor Server Integration Complete. Initializing Black Ace Program…

Subaru felt it. Something similar to a sense of detachment from what he can describe as his "self". It was the same feeling he had in his battle against the Crimson Dragon, however it felt different. It felt less controllable. He wasn't sure what Warrock was feeling, or even if he was really at his side. All he knew was that his conscious was being slowly stripped away. What was left was just pure emotion as the power welled up inside of him.

Accessing Meteor Server…

Rockman's eyes shot open, his pupils dilated. He stood up slowly, releasing his grip on his head. Only Bubbleman witnessed his recovery as Beastman and R Rockman continued to battle. They were concentrated on their fight as R Rockman parried the darkloid's slash with a long sword.

Corruption in the shape of noise fragments began to form. The air was becoming rich in Noise. Slowly, they tinted into a red hue as the bits congregated into streams.

"W-What's happening, puku?" Bubbleman yelled out. He'd never witnessed such a phenomenon occur in the real world nor the cyber world.

"…Finalize…" Rockman muttered under his breath as the streams of red noise began to circle him. They formed a familiar red shell that encased him in darkness, as he felt change manifest in himself. The surge of energy did not go unnoticed as both R Rockman and the fervent Beastman quickly turned to see its source.

"What the hell is that?" Beastman barked out towards his companion.

"I have no idea, puku! I was looking at this radar puku… and then the other Rockman puku… and then this red stuff puku…!" Bubbleman stuttered, unsure of what he saw himself.

"A… red orb?"

"Get ready, Netto-kun! Something's coming!"

The red shell began to crack under the power that was being encased inside. Light began to stream out from the small slits until the shell finally shattered, revealing the familiar dark armored figure, his wings pulsing with a red glow. Crimson eyes began to slowly open as the figure muttered its name, just loud enough for the other three to hear. "Black Ace…!"

A terrible sound was emitted as the traces of Noise began to dissipate. Though the black armored figure seemed un-phased, Beastman, Bubbleman, and R Rockman were not so lucky. The screech only lasted for a few seconds, but it was enough to rattle anyone's bones. They didn't have to fight the winged stranger to know that he was powerful. None of them made a move, frozen in fear. Only the radar's sound hung in the air.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee~

"Th-The energy's origin that we're looking for is coming from that navi puku!" Bubbleman pointed at Black Ace Rockman as he hovered slightly in the air. He slowly descended, making little to no obvious motion. Though silent, there was a threatening air around him. "W-W-We better head back puku. And report to Shademan-sama puku!"

"You… You expect me to run from here with my tail between my legs?" Beastman roared out. His own pride hurt to encounter any such being that surpassed him to this extent. The darkloid was preparing to rush into attack, but the dark armored stranger had already appeared right in front of him. Beastman paused in surprise to see such speed, only to be blown away by a strong gust of wind. R Rockman too felt the powerful winds push him back against one of the walls of the warehouse despite not being the direct target of the attack.

"Typhoon Dance…!" Black Ace Rockman murmured as he released the wild gale. It flung the darkloid into the air, causing him to hit the dimensional area's barrier. Electric currents sparked over Beastman's body as he roared his words of revenge before logging out.

"B-Beastman puku!" Bubbleman yelled out before logging out as well. There was no way he was going to stick around with something that could take out that savage darkloid in one hit. All that was left was R Rockman and the mysterious figure. They stared each other off. One held obvious indifference in their eyes while the other, fear.

"Who… Who are you…?" R Rockman tried to hide his nervousness to no avail. He hesitantly lifted his rockbuster defensively aiming at the stranger to his mistake. The action prompted the dark armored stranger to lift his own default buster in response. However, there was no hesitation as Black Ace Rockman pulled the trigger, sending a rapid stream of shots at the net saver. R Rockman quickly jumped away from the blast, only to see his opponent come straight at him in the air. With a swift kick, R Rockman was sent downwards crashing into the warehouse buildings.

"Auugh…" Gripping his hurt side, he looked up to see the figure looking down at him from the sky. "This guy's really tough…!"

"This is too dangerous! We have to retreat." RockmanEXE's voice chimed into Netto's head. "At our current state, I don't think…"

Though before the netnavi could finish, the dimensional area had already begun to disappear. No doubt the absence of the darkloids is what caused it. The red eyed stranger zoomed off himself out of eye's view. Netto breathed a sigh of relief as his cross fusion came undone. His whole body was sore from not only the fight with Beastman, but also from the beating he had gotten from the stranger.

"Netto-kun, are you alright?" The netnavi's concerned voice piped up from the PET. He knew that cross fusion sapped the energy of the user to a great extent, but also the damage they sustained from the fight could possibly be even more extensive. Cross fusion protects its user to a certain extent, but the user was still human.

"I'm alright, Rockman. Just a bit tired out." He tried to show that it was only a few scratches to his concerned navi, giving him a thumbs-up in assurance. "I think we better report to Meijin-san about what happened."

"Maybe we should check up on that other boy we saw earlier? I just hope he didn't get caught up in any of the cross fire."

"Ah! I almost forgot!" Netto slapped his forehead with his palm. With swarms of viruses, darkloids, and a powerful navi on the loose, he nearly forgot that there was a civilian in the area as well. "We better go see if he's alright!"

And at that, Netto zoomed off to where he last left the other boy.


"Subaru… Are you sure you're alright?"

"Y-Yeah." He replied. His voice was a bit shaky, but there wasn't a scratch on his body. "Thanks for worrying about me, Warrock." The two of them had appeared back at the room they had first been in. It was a result of a forced pulse-out when in Denpa Henkan to be transported back to one's first location.

"You worried me for a second there, kid." The alien folded his arms in an annoyed manner. "I couldn't get a hold of you for awhile. That device of yours is busted."

"E-Eh? Really?" Subaru glanced at his Hunter VG. It was true. The thing was cracked all over as if the hardware literally exploded from inside. It seemed almost beyond repair at the moment.

"It's probably the Noise again. No surprise that it finally overloaded. But it's strange… There's no waveroads, no satellite signal… Where could it have come from?"

Subaru contemplated on the facts. What happened while in Black Ace mode was as usual, a blur. It wasn't the same feeling however of drawing energy from something far away. It felt more similar to as if the energy originated from…

"Warrock! I think I got it. What happened in our battle against the Crimson Dragon… the Meteor-!"

"Hey! Are you alright!" the same boy with the blue bandana burst into the warehouse room. It scared Subaru to death as the place was still nearly pitch black with only the moon to give a semblance of illumination in the area. "Those viruses didn't get you or anything, right?"

"A-Ah… yeah…um…"

"Did you see some sinister looking guy with wings around here?" the boy suddenly questioned him. It wasn't what Subaru was expecting, especially from someone he just met.

"Sinister?" Subaru was a bit reluctant to say anything more, judging by the tone the boy was using. He didn't remember quite clearly, but Subaru was fairly sure he didn't see this boy while in Denpa Henkan either.

"Yeah, he was in all black, and he sort of had this scary kind of air around him. He sort of just disappeared after the dimensional area fell."

"Dimensional… area?" Subaru assumed the boy was talking about the dome that materialized out of nowhere. For now, he wanted to at least keep his identity as Rockman a secret. "I'm not sure who you're talking about… but I was wondering whether you know where we are."

"Are you not from around here?"

"Y-Yeah. I guess so."

"Have you tried looking at your PET?"

"PET?" This was the third time that Subaru had simply repeated one of the boy's words with a confused look. All these unfamiliar terms were being thrown left and right. His puzzled look didn't go unnoticed. In this day and age, everyone had a PET. And for someone that doesn't even know what a PET is, well that would be just plain fishy. Of course, Netto couldn't quite place it, but he knew there was something off about the kid.

"Who are you exactly?" Netto leaned towards Subaru until he was just inches from his face. "Are you sure you didn't see anything suspicious?"

"No… I was just… caught up in the moment. I'm just not thinking quite straight and…" Subaru trailed off, unsure of what to say. He wasn't sure what answer to give that would satisfy the other boy. Thankfully, he was cut off by a different voice that came from Netto's PET.

"Netto-kun, a call from Meijin-san!"

"Oh?" Netto turned to face the opposite wall with his back towards Subaru. Subaru heard him talking, but none of it was particularly audible. He heard small tid bits of a "suspicious person". No doubt, he already knew that they were talking about him.

"Kid, maybe you should make a run for it now. It beats sticking around here getting interrogated from this guy." Warrock muttered into Subaru's ear.

"That's no good, Warrock. It'll make us look even more suspicious." Subaru sighed. He turned his attention back to the other boy who had finished his call.

"Alright, you!" Netto pointed an accusing finger at Subaru. "I'm placing you under custody to be questioned under my authority as a Net Saver!"

"Eeeeh?" was the exasperated reply that Subaru gave. He knew he could've been in trouble, but to be actually put into questioning by the police seemed a bit much.

"Meijin-san didn't phrase it like that…" RockmanEXE spoke up from the PET.

"Ah, Rockman, you're ruining my fun! It's so much cooler to say it like this!"

The two of them didn't know it, but both RockmanEXE and Subaru let out a deep sigh at the same time as Netto laughed triumphantly at his new power of authority as a net saver.


"Report." Shademan simply said as he sat on his throne. Both Beastman and Bubbleman both kneeled before him. The darkloid leader noticed Beastman's wounds, but did not question them.

"We encountered Rockman yet again…" Beastman began. "Along with…"

"Another Rockman puku!" Bubbleman finished Beastman's sentence to the savage darkloid's dismay.

"Wrong! They look nothing alike!" Beastman tried to quarrel with his partner, but Bubbleman continued to report his own findings.

"He transformed into an extremely powerful black armored net navi puku!" Bubbleman tried to emphasize how powerful an adversary the mysterious navi was. "Beastman got creamed by him in a second puku!"

Bubbleman earned himself a death wish from Beastman through his report on what happened.

Though the information was indeed interesting, Shademan replied in the same annoyed tone he usually used with Bubbleman. "… That was not your mission. Did you find where the energy signature was?"

"That's the thing puku! That extremely powerful net navi was the source puku!"

Shademan thought deeply into the subject. "A navi that is powerful enough to attract the attention of the mysterious man…" the darkloid said under his breath. "Perhaps I can use this information to get the upper hand…"

"Shademan-sama puku. About my first dark chip puku…" Bubbleman rubbed his grubby hands together in anticipation.

"You're right. You deserve a reward…" Shademan however turned to look at the disgruntled darkloid that had been silent since Bubbleman's report. "Beastman. I grant you a dark chip. I trust that you will use your experience with this 'mysterious navi' so that you can bring him to me."

"Whaaaaa? Puku?"

A black chip with purple streaks along its exterior appeared in front of the feral darkloid. A dark crystal at its center seemed to give an evil glow. Beastman gladly received his prize, "Thank you, Shademan-sama. I will not let you down" With a last sneer aimed towards Bubbleman, Beastman logged out of the darkloid's base server.

"What about me, puku?"

"Watch your tone, Bubbleman!" Shademan glared down at the chubby darkloid. "I'm giving you a different mission. It would be one where you cannot rely on the strength of another to get through. If you can prove your worth during this mission, I will grant you what you desire."

"Y-Yes Shademan-sama." Bubbleman dejectedly said as he too logged out.

Shademan was left sitting on his throne. He couldn't hide his smile any longer. "Heh heh… A dark armored navi. Preposterous."


The mysterious man reviewed the video footage over once again in the darkness of his lair. He couldn't help but lean towards the screen slightly to get a closer look at what he was seeing. The battle between R Rockman and Beastman was unimportant in the grand scheme of things. What drew his attention was the appearance and the battle skills of the one named "Black Ace".

"The strange energy is what drew in the viruses. Though his appearance made them seemingly disappear…" Leaning backwards into his chair, the man stared at the paused screen that focused in on this Black Ace. "It's as if this navi assimilated all this raw energy in the area…"

"Sir…" A woman entered the darkness of the room. Her features were illuminated from the glow of the flashing screens. Her braided brown hair flowed down over one of her shoulders. "If I may suggest…"

"There's no need Yuriko." The man raised a hand to silence her as he continued. "If this navi were to hinder our operations, then it would become necessary for it to be eliminated along with the other net savers." With a small click of a button, the screen changed itself to a different display. This time it showed the dark armored navi fighting off R Rockman. "However, at this time we have no idea what its affiliation is. For now… we can wait."

"Yes, sir."


AN: Thank you, and I hope you guys didn't get too confused with three Rockman roaming about (IE. RockmanEXE, R Rockman, and Ryuusei no Rockman). In addition, I think I made Bubbleman really annoying sometimes. Ah heh heh…

I hope you enjoyed reading chapter 2. It's nearly twice as long as chapter 1!

If it isn't too much trouble, a review is much appreciated. Feedback is welcomed especially!