New Megaman Battle Network

A complete reimagining of the universe and stories of Megaman Battle Network.

Story 1: New Origins


Chapter 11: Tenuous Alliance

In a flash of light, Megaman appeared in the Cyberworld at the location he'd picked out. Looking around, he found himself in a secure building; a window to the outside showed he was in Den Net City, but there were no doors at all.

"This is definitely the place!" he reported back to Lan. "There's no other way to get here besides jacking in directly. And it doesn't look like there are too many jack-in points, either."

Lan nodded, slumped against the wall to try and alleviate the pain in his aching back; he was jacked in to a random port deep in an alley in downtown Den City. "Pretty shady area... probably perfect for a Netmafia."

Megaman looked out the window; it was a pretty shady part of the Net as well. Plenty of sinister-looking Navis were hanging around, mostly centered in two large groups on either side of the street. One of them suddenly tossed a Minibomb at the other group.

"All hail Gospel!" it shouted.

"Shut up, you Gospel scum!" shouted a Navi from the other side. "All glory to World Three!" The two groups ran at each other, ready for battle, when a group of Official Navis ran in and started blasting. Megaman turned away.

"Definitely not a good sign," he muttered to himself. "Let's keep checking this place out."

"Where does this place go, anyway?"

Megaman looked away from the streets of the Cyberworld, toward a hallway, which he started walking down. "I'm not sure, but we're going to find out, I guess."

"Stay on your guard," Lan cautioned. His Navi nodded, holding a Sword by his side. Following the hallway, he soon found himself in a large room; it appeared to be a meeting room, given the large table running along the center of it, but there was no one to be found.

"Shoot... this may just be a dead end." Megaman looked around. "Looks like this place is a bit abandoned..."

He cut himself off, as he noticed some motion off to his left; turning quickly, he found two Mettool viruses running toward him. Expecting to defend himself, he was rather surprised when they scuttled right past, heading further into the building and ignoring him completely.

"What is it?" Lan inquired.

"Just a couple Mettools... acting pretty funny, though..." Megaman started to follow them deeper into the building.

"Hold it, you!" he heard a voice call from behind; whirling around, he saw a familiar red Navi dashing at him with a Wide Sword.

"Protoman!" Megaman responded, bringing up his sword to defend himself; the blades met with a clang, as Protoman angrily stared him down, not relenting. "What are you doing here?!"

"What are YOU doing here?!" Protoman demanded. "Shall I take this as proof that you're involved with Gospel?!"

"Gospel?! What are you talking about?" Megaman replied, forcing the other Navi back. "I was just following the lead I got! I thought this was a World Three hideout!"

Protoman frowned, standing down and letting his sword fall to his side, as Chaud's voice cut in. "I don't care how you found this place, but you're going to leave, and now. I told you to stay out of this and leave it to the Officials."

"What the hell is your problem?!" Lan shot back. "We're trying to help you guys, you know! Why is it so important that the Officials take care of it?"

"Because it's my job to do it, and I actually know what I'm doing," Chaud responded. "You're just doing it because you have some fantasy of being the hero."

"Excuse me?!" Lan spat out, incredulous. "You think this is some sort of game for me?! You didn't have to see you and your friends get hurt in a cable car bombing, now did you?!"

"What...?" Chaud's voice was a bit less strong this time; Lan continued, undeterred.

"I've got ten stitches in my head right now! My friend Mayl could have died! I had to take her over to the hospital myself! And where were the Officials then?! Know what you're doing, my ass!"

"Lan, calm down!" Megaman cautioned, as Protoman bristled.

"You insolent punk! You have no right to speak to Master Chaud that way!"

"That's enough, Protoman." Chaud spoke sternly, as Protoman looked up; he stilled his tongue at the rebuke, as Megaman looked on in surprise.

"Alright, fine," he continued. "You can investigate with us, for now. But on one condition: you have to do as I tell you. I'm in charge here, understand?"

Lan felt like pressing the issue, but there was something about Chaud's voice that made him hesitate; it seemed a bit troubled, no longer so arrogant and sure. Lan swallowed his pride and nodded. "Alright... you're in charge."

"Lead the way, Protoman," Chaud ordered. The Navi nodded, heading further into the building, where the two Mettools had gone; Megaman followed close behind.


After a couple minutes of walking, the hallway turned into a stairway, headed downward. Megaman looked ahead, trying to see the end, as Protoman started walking forward.

"A stairway? In the Net?" Megaman pondered.

"We're leaving the general Net," Protoman responded, as Lan's Navi started following him down the stairs. "We'll soon find ourselves in a large computer system, I believe."

Megaman nodded, lost in thought. "But why would World Three need to be linked directly to the Net? They don't seem to have any shortage of operators to travel..."

"That's the second time you've called it a World Three hideout," Protoman mentioned, turning his head. "Master Chaud has investigated this location; it is most definitely owned and operated by Gospel."

"I got this web address off of a World Three Navi, when he was attacking Den City two weeks ago," Megaman responded. "He was wearing a cloak and called himself Bass."

"Bass?!" Protoman stopped and whirled around. "Was he a black Navi, very strong?"

Megaman blinked, not expecting that reaction. "Er... yeah... really strong. I had to use a Life Sword to defeat him, then a World Three Navi came and retrieved him."

"That's ridiculous," Chaud called out from the real world. "Bass and World Three working together, it makes no sense."

"He must be. At that tournament, it was Bass who defeated that Gospel Navi; he said something about taking it to Dr. Wily."

"You two know far more than you should about the criminal elements in Den City." Protoman turned and kept walking. "Unbelievable... if Bass is working for World Three..."

"Am I missing something here?" Megaman inquired, walking after Chaud's Navi. "Who exactly is Bass, anyway?"

Protoman began to answer, but stopped himself upon seeing something ahead. The both of them ran forward, as the thing they saw turned into many things. In a large room, a massive number of viruses was converging; lined up single file, sorted by type, various Mettools, Spikeys, Bunnys, and all other sorts marched forward, mindlessly, further into the building. The two Navis stared at the obscure procession, but not a single virus paid them any heed, all of them mysteriously drawn to whatever lay ahead.

"What the...?" Megaman kneeled down next to a line of Mettools, poking at them; they continued on, oblivious to everything around them. "Why are they all coming together like this?"

"You can't tell?" Protoman responded, as Megaman stood up; he pointed his sword down the hallway. "They're being collected. Take a listen down there."

Lan's Navi turned his ear toward the hallway, and was able to make out a high-pitched frequency of some sort.

"So they're signaling for viruses to come to them?"

"They must be." Protoman started following the viruses. "And we've got an inkling as to why, too."

Megaman followed after Chaud's Navi once again. "Why, do you think?"

Protoman started walking a little faster amidst the viruses, as he could make out a light at the nearby end of the tunnel. "Some sort of project they're working on. We're not sure exactly what it is, but it's intended to cause havoc and destruction by Gospel's word."

"Maybe the name is some sort of indication," Megaman offered, as the end of the hall got closer and closer. Protoman shook his head.

"They seem to have thought of that. The only codename they've given it is... Gospel..." He started, upon seeing something in the lit room, and ran forward; Megaman ran after him, entering the room and staring up, agape, at what lay before them.

A massive, black, dog-shaped virus, four times as tall as a standard Navi, stood in the center of the room, its eyes closed; its skin was rough and jagged, and around its neck was a giant, spiked mane. Around it, all sorts of machines whirred and clicked and moved, monitoring it and inserting odd, black shapes into the dog's body.

"So... this must be Gospel, huh...?" Megaman stared up in wonderment.

"So this is what they wanted all those viruses for... they're turning them into Bug Fragments and using them to create this thing." Protoman motioned toward his right, and Megaman looked over to see the lines of viruses converge; they were all entering a large machine, which was processing them and spitting out dark-colored, oddly-shaped objects in their stead.

He grimaced. "That's sick... it's like wholesale slaughter."

"Better here than on the Net... but we're going to have to stop this before they activate this beast." Protoman braced himself for attack, before a loud sound made them both turn around; the door had been slammed shut.

"You're too late to stop it, fools!" Both Navis looked up, to see a large, spherical Navi colored like the Earth residing on a nearby platform; around it orbited two smaller spheres, as a smallish head on top caddressed them both. "There's nothing you can do about the Viral Beast now! It's almost complete!"

"Planetman..." Protoman gritted his teeth, glaring up at the Navi. "You again... so you're the one in charge of this project, are you?"

The other Navi laughed. "Too little too late, Protoman. Even in its current state, Gospel is more than powerful enough to destroy the two of you." He raised his hand and slammed it on a nearby control panel. "Allow me to give you a demonstration!"

Numerous other machines started whirring, as four large metal spheres attached to poles moved forward, next to Gospel. They glowed a bright blue, before large conduits of electricity erupted forth and shooting into Gospel; blue electricity started shooting all over his body, faster and faster. After a few seconds, the dog's eyes opened.

Letting out a massive roar, Gospel started kicking its powerful legs; with each kick, it shattered a massive chain that was tethering it to the floor. Soon, the beast was completely free, and it looked down on Megaman and Protoman with hunger in its eyes, snarling.

"Hahaha! That's the way, Gospel!" Planetman shouted from his perch, causing the beast to look up at him. "Destroy the two interlopers! Show them what happens when you try-"

With a swing of its paw, Gospel knocked Planetman away, and onto the ground far below. Before he could get up, the paw came back down, claws extended, and smashed into Planetman, shattering his torso. A few seconds later, the Navi dissolved into deletion; Megaman gaped at the ease with which Gospel had destroyed its target.

"Damn, this thing is strong." Protoman extended his arm, upon which a Sword appeared. "And there's no form of control inside that thing; it's no better than a common virus. We've got to stop it from escaping onto the Net."

Megaman looked up at it, as it roared in triumph over its kill. "You're going to use the Life Sword?"

Protoman nodded. "It'll take a while to charge up the blade enough to defeat this thing... I'm going to need you to distract it for about fifteen seconds."

Megaman nodded. "Lan! I hope you have your Area Steal chips ready!"

"I've got four of them here!" Lan called back. "Ready when you are!"

"Let's move!" his Navi called out, vanishing into thin air, only to reappear behind Gospel, far from Protoman. He aimed his buster.

"Hey, you! Come and get me, you stupid mutt!" He fired at the beast's back, the shots doing no damage, but stinging plenty; with a roar, Gospel turned around to face its attacker. Growling, the beast charged the hanging platform Megaman was standing on, ramming into it with his head; the Navi jumped off and landed on Gospel's back, taking out a sword and stabbing.

With a howl of pain, Gospel reared back on his hind legs, while quickly turning around to swipe at the pest on its back; Megaman, with another Area Steal, disappeared and landed on the virus machine, taunting the beast again.

Back down below, Protoman had nearly gathered the energy he needed; he smirked as Megaman bounced around the room, nearly impossible to catch, as Gospel howled with rage and frustration. "He certainly can be annoying when he needs to be..."

"Protoman! We're ready!" Chaud called out. Protoman nodded and swung with all his might.

"Haah!" The Life Sword quickly traveled toward the beast, who barely had time to look over before it had one of its front legs completely severed, as well as a portion of its mane. It sank to the floor, roaring in pain, as Megaman cheered.

"Yes! We got him! Just need a couple more of those and he'll be down and out!"

"Megaman! It's your turn!" Chaud called out. "Protoman needs to recharge for a minute!"

Megaman nodded, holding out his arm as Lan fed him the first Battlechip. "Sword!"

As a sword appeared on Megaman's arm, he ran around to Gospel's front, hoping to target the head and take it out. At the same time, Gospel reared up on his hind legs, letting out a large howl; an instant later, another leg shot out of its torso, replacing the one he had just lost.

"Gah! What?!" Megaman stopped dead in his tracks, as Gospel just as easily replaced the missing portions of its mane. Growling, it turned its sights toward Protoman, who was standing near the sealed entrance to the room. It raised one paw, ready to strike.

"Protoman!" Megaman hopped off the balcony and dashed forward, shoving Protoman out of the way; Gospel's paw knocked Megaman back toward one of the side walls, as its claws tore through the door. The wall crumbled upon this impact, creating a much larger exit to the Net.

Megaman sat up, rubbing his head, as Gospel's brain came to the realization of escape. Running at incredible speed, it squeezed its way through the door it had just made, headed toward the Net.

"No!" Protoman stood and ran toward the entrance, watching as the creature raced up the stairs, far too fast to be caught. Megaman got back to his feet, running over, but Protoman quickly whirled around and punched him squarely in the gut, knocking him back down to the ground.

"What were you doing?!" Protoman demanded, furious. "You had the perfect opportunity to attack, why didn't you take it?!"

"What... I was..." Megaman stammered, coughing.

"You were useless, is what you were," Chaud cut in. "I should have known better than to rely on the two of you. Now look where we are!"

"Hey!" Lan shot back, defensively. "We were just trying to save your Navi!"

"And that's why you're useless. You can't take decisive action properly, and now all of Den City is at risk because of that monster!"

Megaman stood up, holding his stomach, as Chaud sighed. "Go home, both of you! Just stay the hell out of my way!" His voice vanished, as Protoman was jacked out, disappearing in a beam of light.

Lan's Navi ran toward the massive hole in the wall, looking toward where Gospel had just ran. "Damn… I think we just made a big mistake, Lan..."

Lan sighed. "Maybe... I'm jacking you out." In a beam of light, Megaman disappeared from the wrecked room, as numerous viruses now stood and looked at each other, confused as to how they had gotten here.

Back in his PET, Megaman looked up toward Lan. "What are we going to do now? We can't just let Gospel roam free, can we?"

Lan shook his head. "No we can't... but I'm not sure there's anything the two of us can do." He put his PET into its holster, pulling out his skates and carefully putting them on.

"So what are we going to do?"

"We're going to go get someone who knows what he's doing," Lan responded, starting to skate out of the alley, his back feeling a little better than before. "Let's go visit my dad."

Lan quickly skated down the sidewalk, speeding through the intersection where the two buses had hit each other; as several police officers and ambulance workers watched him go, Lan continued right on, speeding through Den City and toward SciLab.