New Megaman Battle Network

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

Story 2: The Sun And The Moon


Chapter 2: A Minor Leak

"And that's the end of the battle! The winner is Lan Hikari!"

"Yes!" Lan pumped his fist into the air as he jacked Megaman out of the battle computer; his opponent did the same, grumbling, and walked out of the arena, as the spectators cheered from the half-full stands of the arena.

"This concludes the Round 2 matches! The third round pairings will be posted immediately in the competitor's area!" The announcer cleared his throat. "The tournament will resume in 30 minutes. Feel free to step outside and get some fresh air!"

As some of the observers got up and headed out, Lan quickly leapt down the stairs toward the competitor's lounge, eager to see who his next match would be with. As he walked through the doors separating the arena from the lounge, he noticed the crowd of participants ahead of them, all shoving at each other and trying to see who their next battle would be with. He ran forward, squeezing his way in and taking a look at the standings, trying to see what had happened.

Whittled down from hundreds of initial entrants in Den City, the tournament proper pitted the 32 best Netbattlers against each other in a single elimination tournament. They had been separated into two blocks, and the winner from each block would move on to the national level. Lan had cleared the first two rounds and had two more to go; he ran his finger down the page, trying to find who his next opponent would be.

"The Navi's name is Aquaman," he recited to his Navi. "Nobody I've ever heard of before..."

"How did the others do?" Megaman asked. Lan looked across the page, searching for familiar names.

"Looks like Dex is up against Chaud in the next round... that'll be interesting... but Yai lost her match last round."

"Ah, that's a shame. Then again, expensive Battlechips can only get you so far..." Megaman shrugged.

"Mayl made it!" Lan announced cheerfully, his face lighting up. "Her match is the one right before mine, it looks like. If we both win, we're up against each other for the finals."

"So we're last again, huh?" Megaman stretched his rm. "Well, at least that gives us some time to relax before our next match. It's around lunchtime, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is." Lan nodded, exiting the lounge and navigating the hallways until he left DenDome, Den City's official Netbattle arena, and stepped into the sunlight. After taking a second to shield his eyes, he walked out into the front plaza, where plenty of spectators were milling about. "I wonder what's to eat around here..."

"Lan!" Lan looked around at the sound of his name being called; lower on the plaza, Mayl and Dex were waving at him. He grinned and ran over.

"Hey, guys! We all made it! Semifinals!"

"Except Yai," Mayl added, as Lan and Dex shared a high-five. "She fought against that Chaud boy... it was a pretty bad loss."

"Think we should go cheer her up?" Lan inquired. She shook her head in response.

"No, she'll be fine. This didn't matter that much to her." She thought back to Yai's reaction, glaring at her opponent before storming off the stage. "She did seem pretty bitter, though. I don't think she likes Chaud very much. I'm not sure why."

Dex smirked and thumped his fist against his chest. "Well, I'll get that Chaud back for her! He's not going to last thirty seconds against me! Then I'll win the finals and go on to the national level!"

Lan grinned, as the three started walking back toward downtown. "Good luck with that. Protoman won't be that easy, trust me."

"Good luck to you too, Lan." Mayl smiled. "If Megaman and Roll both win, they'll fight each other in the final round, and she really wants to fight Megaman. I'm pretty eager myself!"

"Well, we'll both have to make sure we win our matches, then!" Lan's stomach suddenly rumbled, and he looked down. "Though... maybe we should get something to eat first..."

"Yeah!" Dex stepped to the front of the pack. "I'm up for some hamburgers! Let's go!"


Twenty minutes later, both boys were leaning back in their chairs at a downtown diner, satiated and satisfied.

"Boy, that hit the spot!" Dex declared, patting his stomach. "Seven hamburgers from the best place in town!"

"Geez..." Lan held his own stomach, feeling like there was food stuffed into every square inch of him. "I could never eat as much as you do, Dex."

"Not like you didn't try," Mayl observed, sitting across from them. "You two are going to make yourselves sick with your eating contests, I swear." She wiped her mouth with a napkin and stood up. "We should get back soon..."

Lan looked at his PET. "Yeah, definitely. Dex's match is in ten minutes."

"Bring it on!" Dex stood up, flexing his arms. "I'm fully charged and ready to go! Let's move!" He headed out the door with a pep in his step, as Mayl and Lan followed him from behind.

Six minutes later, they had reached the DenDome, and Dex was raring to go. Lan, however, was a little worse for wear.

"Um, Lan..." Megaman inquired, as his operator slowed down a bit, holding his stomach. "Are you alright?"

"Ugh..." Lan held his upset stomach, starting to regret hamburger #4. "I'll be fine..." He looked around briefly and spotted a public restroom nearby.

"You guys go on ahead," he indicated to the other two. "I'll be right back." He hustled over to the bathrooom at top speed, as Mayl sighed.

"I knew he'd make himself sick..."

"Ah, he'll be fine," Dex replied. "Come on, my match is starting any minute!"

The two continued on into the DenDome arena, as Lan made his way into the bathroom. As they went their separate ways, none of them noticed the young, brown-haired man who had been following them ever since they left the diner. He moved quickly to the bathroom that Lan had just entered, disappearing inside. Less than two minutes later, he walked back out, shutting the door behind him and grinning as he placed an "Under Maintenance" sign on it. He quickly turned and walked back into DenDome, trying not to draw attention to himself.


"Mayl did warn you you'd get sick, you know."

"Yeah, yeah…" Lan answered, washing his hands and face, having had a very unpleasant five minutes. "Ugh... feeling better, at least..."

"Come on, we should get out of here," Megaman replied. "We should be able to catch the end of Dex's match against Chaud."

Lan nodded, heading for the door. "Assuming it's not over already, that is. Dex is definitely in over his head." He grabbed the door handle and tried to push it open, but was surprised to find it locked.

"Huh? What's going on?" Lan shoved harder, to no avail. "Who locked the door? I'm stuck!"

"What? Who locks a public bathroom from the outside?" Megaman wondered, as Lan started pounding on the door.

"Hey! Someone, anyone! Let us out!" He kept pounding and shouting until he noticed something near his feet; looking down, he noticed the floor of the bathroom was covered by a thin layer of water, moving about slightly. Confused and worried, he ran back into the bathroom and turned a corner to enter the shower area, only to find all of the showers turned on full blast.

"What the hell?! What's going on here?!" Lan ran over to one of the water knobs and tried to turn it, water raining down on him and soaking his hair, but it was completely locked in place. Changing tack, he kneeled down toward the drains in the floor, wondering why they weren't draining, to find them all sealed with some form of rubber cement; he attempted to claw through them, but had no luck.

"Lan? What's going on? I can't see anything!"

"Someone's filling the bathroom up with water! They've turned on the showers and plugged all the drains!"

"What?!" Megaman exclaimed. "You're going to drown in there!"

Lan stood up, frustrated and soaked, and ran back toward the door, as the water started creeping up his legs. "We have to get this thing open!" He slammed his shoulder against the door a couple times. "I'm not going to die in a stupid public bathroom!"

"Lan! Try jacking me into the lock!" Megaman chimed in. "I'll get us out of here!"

Lan nodded, pulling out the jack-in cable on his PET and sending Megaman into the Cyberworld, praying that the device was waterproof. "Hurry, please!"


"An amazing victory! Eugene Chaud defeats Dex Oyama and movs on to the finals!"

The DenDome crowd cheered as Chaud and Dex jacked out. Dejected, Dex headed out of the stadium with his head down, without shaking his opponent's hand; Chaud, who wouldn't have shook anyhow, put his hands back into his pockets and walked out as well.

"Poor Dex," Mayl observed, as she and Yai watched from the stands. "He doesn't seem very happy. He was certain he'd make it farther than that."

"Well, what did he expect, battling an Official?" replied a rather unsympathetic Yai. "They're some of the best battlers in Electopia. He's lucky he lasted as long as he did."

"Maybe so," Mayl hopped up out of her seat. "It's too bad Lan didn't get to see the match. What is he doing anyway?"

"Still sick, probably." Yai shifted in her seat, a bit restless. "He'll be back for his match, don't worry. He'd never miss this."

Mayl grinned. "I know that. I just don't want him to miss mine. I want him to see what he'll be up against!"

Yai laughed. "You better go get ready, you're on after this next match. Good luck!" Mayl waved and headed off to the contender's lounge.


"Any luck, Megaman?" Lan asked, growing concerned as the water went up past his knees. His Navi, in the Cyberworld, had plenty of wading of his own to do, through knee-deep water.

"Nothing but water here, too... I think I'm close to the lock program, though..." His eyebrows raised as he spotted a program bobbing about in the water, and he trudged his way toward it.

"That's close enough!" a high-pitched voice called out. Megaman quickly looked around for the source of the voice, when the ground started rumbling. Seconds later, a massive tidal wave formed in front of him, sweeping him up and knocking him over, face down in the water. He quickly sat up, spitting out a mouthful of water.

"Who is that?" Show yourself!" He demanded, standing up and forming a buster on his arm. Right on cue, a short, small Navi fell out of the sky, landing amidst the water in front of Megaman. He was colored blue, and wore a giant, clear sphere of water around his overlarge head.

"This is as far as you go, Megaman! Your operator won't live to see the third round!"

Megaman blinked, staring at the surprisingly small being. "Who... who are you, exactly?"

"What are you looking at me like that for?" the Navi demanded, getting visibly irritated. "You think just because I'm small you can treat me like a kid?!"

Megaman took a step forward, confused, briefly forgetting to be on alert. "Erm... no... I just..."

"Shut up!" The Navi stretched his palm out toward Megaman, and a massive jet of water sprang from it; he yelped and jumped out of the way. "I'm Aquaman, and I'm going to defeat you here!"

"Aquaman?!" Megaman glared, forming a sword on his free arm. "You're supposed to be my opponent! Why are you doing this here? Why are you attacking Lan?!"

"It's not a Navi's place to ask questions!" Aquaman started throwing small bombs toward Megaman, who had to work to dodge due to the deep water. The bombs exploded as they hit the surface of the water, spraying more of it around. "My job is to make sure you don't unlock this door, and that's what I'll do!"

"Gah!" Megaman cried out, irritated, as he got splashed. "Is there anything this guy can do that doesn't end in more water?"

"We've had enough of water!" Lan chimed in, the water in the bathroom past his waist; he looked through his soggy chip folder, trying to find something that would work in a situation like this. "We have to find something to stop this guy, and end it quick!"

"Forget it!" Aquaman spoke, forming another tidal wave that swept up Megaman, sending him floating a ways away before it died down. "You'll never defeat me before your operator drowns! There's no way!"

Megaman spat out more water, standing up and looking around, needing some sort of plan. He grinned a bit upon seeing something out of the corner of his eye. "Don't forget, Aquaman, I don't have to defeat you... I just have to unlock this door!" He took off for the program, trudging as quickly as he could through the deep water, as Aquaman gasped.

"No! I won't let you!" He raised his hands in the air, creating a massive geyser out of the water where Megaman was; everything shot directly upward, over a hundred feet in the air and well out of reach of the door program. Looking upward triumphantly, he grew concerned when he saw no sign of his foe above. An instant later, Megaman appeared right behind Aquaman, the result of an Area Steal chip.

"Right here!" he declared. Aquaman turned around quickly, and was just barely able to dodge a swipe from his enemy's sword. Megaman grinned and kept slashing away, giving his opponent barely enough time to dodge each swipe.

"Stop it! Enough of this!" Aquaman declared a minute later; raising his hands up, another tidal wave formed between him and Megaman. Pushing the wave forward, he had no time to react when a massive burst of air punched a hole right through it, knocking him backwards. Megaman dove through the hole, firing his buster in Aquaman's direction and brandishing his sword again. Dodging another swipe, Aquaman leapt high into the air, forming a massive BigBomb above his head.

"Time for you to be deleted! Take this!" He hurled the massive bomb down toward Megaman, where it exploded in a huge fireball, sending a shockwave of water all around. As the smoke cleared, Aquaman looked around for his opponent, but once again found him nowhere. "What?! Where are you now?"

Lan grinned from within the bathroom stall, watching the action unfold; he was treading water now, as it quickly started approaching the ceiling. As Aquaman looked around, Megaman quickly appeared next to the door program with another Area Steal. He grinned up at his foe as he put his hand on it.

"Too bad, Aquaman! Looks like you failed!" he shouted, as he activated the door program. "Good luck getting to DenDome on time!" Megaman disappeared in a flash of light, having been jacked out, as Aquaman goggled.


Outside of DenDome, a young girl of twenty was walking through the plaza toward the public restroom, needing to wash her hands after eating. She thought to herself what she was going to do after the tournament was over, as she'd traveled from the outskirts of Den City to get here, and she wanted to spend as much time here as she could before getting back on another bus home. Maybe she'd go and see her mother over in another suburb, she thought.

As she approached the small building, the door to the men's room suddenly burst open, and a massive wall of water erupted from it. She shrieked and leaped out of the way as thousands of gallons of water spilled out into the plaza, along with a young brown-haired boy, as several other people yelped and stepped back.

After all the water had drained into the sidewalk, Lan sat up, rubbing his head and looking into his PET, relieved to see that Megaman had safely returned. He looked around to see a large group of rather surprised people staring at him.

"Er... um... bathroom's... still not fixed." He hopped up and ran into the arena, water dripping off of him freely, as everyone continued to stare.


"Where on Earth is Lan?" Mayl wondered from the DenDome stands, staring down at the arena. "He's going to forfeit in a minute! What's happened?" Everyone in the stands was muttering, wondering where the young competitor had gone to. His opponent, the same brown-haired man who locked the bathroom, was in position on his side of the Netbattle arena, but Lan's station was empty.

"Lan Hikari, this is your last chance to come and battle before Bruno wins by forfeit!" the announcer called out into his microphone. "You will forfeit your match in ten seconds! Nine... eight... seven..."

"Look, there he is!" someone shouted. Everyone turned their attention to the entrance, where a completely soaked Lan was running in. Everyone started mumbling again, louder than before, wondering what on earth this boy could have been doing, as he ran up to the battle station.

"What in the world…?" Mayl leaned forward in her seat, eyes wide as she studied him, baffled. "Why is he all wet?"

"Stop doing that!" Yai shouted down at him, hands cupped around her mouth. "Get here on time for once, would you?!"

"Er... Lan Hikari has arrived..." the announcer managed, as Lan grinned, still dripping water onto the floor. "Are you… alright?"

"How…?" his opponent wondered, looking completely shocked and a little panicked. "What are you doing here?!"

"I was just cooling off a bit," Lan retorted, smirking. "Sorry I'm late, but I'm here and ready to battle!"

The announcer regained his composure, remembering he had a job to do, and began speaking into the microphone again. "Lan has arrived just in the nick of time! The battle will now begin! Both competitors, jack in your Navis now!"

Lan pulled out the cable on his PET, shaking the water out of it before plugging it in and sending Megaman to the Cyberworld. His attention turned to his opponent, who was standing with his PET in his hand, completely unsure of what to do now. Lan grinned knowingly; Aquaman was still trapped in the Cyberworld of the bathroom, and his operator couldn't leave to go get him.

"Bruno, please jack in Aquaman so the battle can begin," the announcer requested. Bruno did nothing, still paralyzed with confusion and indecision.

Lan smirked. "What's wrong? Your Navi's ready to go, isn't he?" Bruno stood for another few seconds, before suddenly turning around and hightailing it out of the arena. The crowd watched in stunned silence, before the announcer interrupted, even more baffled than before.

"Bruno... has left the stadium..." He cleared his throat. "Bruno is no longer present for his match! Lan Hikari wins by forfeit!"

The crowd erupted again, not in cheers, but in confused babbling, as the announcer tried to call for silence.

"Everyone, this concludes the semi-final matches! The final matches will begin in thirty minutes!" The crowd continued talking as they filed out of the stadium, and Lan walked his way out into the competitor's lounge. As he stepped into the room, he saw Mayl and Yai running in from the other door.

"Lan!" Mayl called out, exasperated. "What's going on? Where were you? Why did your opponent just leave? Why are you all wet?!"

Lan laughed, amused despite the seriousness of the situation, feeling good about having defeated Aquaman. "I'll tell you later. I gotta go get myself dried off." He walked past the both of them, out of the lounge, as they watched him go, completely confused.