New Megaman Battle Network

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

Story 2: The Sun And The Moon


Chapter 5: We Interrupt This Program

Lan stood outside the massive DenDome arena, looking up at it as he prepared to enter for the second time in as many weeks. He grinned to himself in anticipation, once again envisioning his victory, as the various denizens of Den City bustled around him, entering the building and making their way toward the stands.

"Time for round two, Megaman." He looked down at his PET. "You ready?"

"You bet!" Megaman gave his operator a thumbs-up. "After that upgrade your dad gave me, I feel like a million bucks! Let's do this!"

Lan nodded and walked inside, making his way toward the competitors' lounge, ready to see his first-round matchup.


Earlier that day, Lan had gotten an urgent e-mail from his father: Come visit me at SciLab before going to the tournament! Rushing over quickly, Lan arrived with time to spare, entering his dad's office to find him in a rather pleasant mood.

"Bring Megaman over here!" His father quickly stood up, looking rather excited; Lan knew that this meant his father had just created something he thought was really awesome. "I've got something for him."

A minute later, Megaman had been transferred into Yuichiro's PC, where he had been placed into a sleeping state. A number of devices were hovering around him, examining and working on his frame.

"So what's this upgrade supposed to do exactly?" Lan asked, watching the devices work through the main screen of Yuichiro's PC.

"A couple of things," his father replied. "It'll make him a bit faster, a bit stronger, for starters... but there's something else I've put in there as well. Something experimental that I've been working on in my spare time."

"Experimental? What is it?"

Yuichiro smirked. "That'd ruin the surprise. You'll find out what it is when it activates. If it works, that is."

Lan frowned. "What happens if it doesn't work?"

"Then it's back to the drawing board, is what. It won't break Megaman, though, don't worry. I've added in some failsafes."

Lan reached out and tugged his father's sleeve. "So what is it, then? C'mon, tell me!"

With a loud ding, the machines on the screen stopped operating all at once, drawing Lan's attention. The devices quickly moved away from Megaman, as the Navi slowly opened his eyes.

"There, all done. That was quick." Yuichiro turned to the screen. "How do you feel, Megaman?"

Megaman looked down at himself, examining his arms, his body, trying to determine exactly how he felt. "I'm... fine." He lifted his arms, jumping around a bit, grinning at how light his frame felt. He clenched his fists, feeling strength coursing through his arms. "I feel great! I'm even stronger than I was before!"

Lan grinned. "Awesome! Now we can really tear it up at the tournament!" He plugged his PET into the machine, bringing his Navi back to the device.

"Good luck today, Lan. I'm sure you and Megaman will do great," Yuichiro encouraged. "I won't be there for the first round, but your mother and I will be there for the other rounds. Try to hang in there until then, alright?"

"Don't worry, Dad! I won't be losing in the first round, trust me!" Lan took off, waving goodbye and quickly exiting the large building, heading toward DenDome.


Walking into the competitors' lounge, Lan found a variety of faces, male and female, young and old, mostly unfamiliar. Some were chatting animatedly with each other, while others kept to themselves, focused intently on the battles ahead. He took a look down at his watch.

"Looks like we're just in time. The tournament should begin in... twenty minutes? I think." He looked around again, and on the second sweep of the room a familiar face jumped out at him.

"It's Chaud! Hey, Chaud!" he called out, running toward the young Official. Chaud looked over as Lan ran up to him.

"Good to see you're here, too! It wouldn't be any fun if we couldn't fight Protoman!"

Chaud smirked. "Well, your fun isn't going to last very long." He gestured with his head toward a nearby wall, where Lan could see the tournament pairings on an electronic billboard. "Take a look." Lan walked over to take a look at the bracket.

"What's the story, Lan?" Megaman asked from his PET.

"Looks like two people from this tournament will advance, like last time... we're up against someone named Circusman in the first round..." Lan mused, before his eyebrows shot up. "Ah! Chaud's fight is the one right after ours!"

"No way! So we're going to fight him in the second round?"

"Exactly," Chaud answered, walking up from behind. "Only one of us will be moving on to the international level. And it's going to be me."

"We'll see about that." Lan smirked. "I've always liked a challenge."

"You'll get one," Chaud responded, slipping his hands into his jacket pockets. "In any case, you should be on your guard. I'm sure you overheard plenty of my conversation with your father, so you'll know Nebula's got a hand in the tournament somewhere. Stay alert, and let me know if you see anything strange."

"I will." Lan's expression turned serious again, as Chaud turned and walked away.

"Nebula... what could they want here at the tournament?" Megaman wondered aloud. "Not the Cybeasts, you don't think?"

"I'm not sure," Lan responded, pulling out the PET to look at his Navi. "How would they be related to the tournament, anyway?"

His Navi shrugged. "I have no idea. But I don't know anything about them in the first place, so…"

"Well, if they are planning anything, I'm sure the Officials are taking care of it", Lan answered. "And in the meantime, if they try anything here, we'll be here to stop them!"

Megaman nodded, as the two started discussing the battles they had ahead of them.


"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!"

The crowd cheered, as the young announcer stood in the middle of the arena. "Welcome to the national round of the Red Sun Netbattle Tournament! All around the Western hemisphere, Netbattlers are vying for their respective national titles, while our friends in the East duke it out in their own rounds of the Blue Moon Tournament!"

He paused to adjust his sunglasses and take a breath. "Once all nations have found their champions, the Red Sun and the Blue Moon will come together at the world championships, in our neighboring nation of Creamland! One of these great competitors will take home the title of World's Greatest Netbattler! Will it be one of our own, from the great nation of Electopia?"

The crowd cheered raucously, in support of their nation's Netbattlers, and the announcer grinned and continued, loving his job. "Well, without further ado, let's get this tournament underway!"

The audience applauded a third time, an infinite supply of noise and candor. Chaud's father was once again in attendance, in the front row of the VIP box, clapping lazily as he watched. A few rows behind him, Yai sat in her family's reserved seats, along with her parents, Mayl, Dex, and their teacher, Ms. Mari, making a much larger and louder group.

From the research room in SciLab, Yuichiro Hikari watched from a television placed on a nearby machine as he worked. He noticed a pair of footsteps walking up to him, but didn't look back, knowing who they belonged to.

"Alright, our additional security has been put in place," Dr. Regal reported. "Nobody is getting in from the outside, unless one of us lets them in."

Dr. Hikari nodded. "Good to hear." He didn't look away from the screen, knowing that if Regal had taken on the task itself, it was going to be done perfectly.

"So your boy is supposed to be first, I hear?" Regal asked. Yuichiro nodded, and his colleague grinned. "Going up against Electopia's best, hm? This should be interesting." They both paused to watch for a minute, as the announcer continued.

"Our first Netbattler hails from Cyber City, and operates the unique clown-like Navi, Circusman! Make some noise for Yuika Chirol!" A twenty-something girl emerged from the doors, entering the arena, and was met with applause; she bore a kimono and white face makeup, and her long black hair was tied up in large loops. She waved to the crowd as she took her place at the Netbattle stand.

"Her opponent is a sixth-grade student from ACDC Town, here in Den City! Operating the powerful Megaman, give it up for Lan Hikari!" The crowd cheered again as Lan walked through the doors, waving to the crowd. He quickly spotted his supporters in their VIP box, yelling out and spinning noisemakers.

"Go, Lan!" Yai and Dex yelled out, cupping their hands to their mouths.

"Remember your promise!" Mayl called out; Lan grinned and nodded to her. With Mayl's twelfth birthday a week away, they had agreed that Lan would be relieved of his gift-buying duties if he managed to make it through the national tournament. Mayl was hoping to get pictures of herself with Lan and his trophy, in order to convince a penpal of hers from Ameroupe.

Lan approached the battle arena and extended his hand, which Yuika eagerly shook. Both of them looked excited for the upcoming battle, her even more than him, which he didn't think was possible.

"The two Netbattlers are ready! Both of you, jack in your Navis!"

Lan pulled out the cord on his PET and sent his Navi into the Cyberworld; Yuika quickly followed suit. As the two Navis appeared in the arena, Megaman looked up at his opponent; large, round, festive, and covered in red and white circus stripes, Circusman was an intimidatingly large Navi, if a bit silly looking.

Megaman barely had time to register his opponent's appearance before being aware of cheers all around him. Blinking and looking around, He found that the Cyberworld, too, had been outfitted with spectators' stands, and all sorts of Navis were watching and cheering the two competitors on. He had to laugh, incredulous.

"Man, they thought of everything! Even the Navis get to watch!" He spotted Roll, Gutsman and Glyde in the stands as well, waving and cheering his name; he waved back at them excitedly. He glanced toward his opponent, who was waving at the crowd with both hands, hamming it up.

"Both Navis appear to be ready!" the announcer called out. "The first battle of the tournament will begin… now!"

Circusman was the first to act, swinging his arms out in front of him. His white-gloved hands detached from their wrists, growing to great size as they moved to either side of Megaman. He yelped and quickly jumped out of the way before the two hands clapped together, nearly squishing him.

He received a High Cannon from Lan as the hands turned into fists, continuing to pursue him, trying to deliver a massive, Navi-sized punch. Megaman quickly leaped into the air, jumping on top of one of the fists before leaping a second time. He aimed his cannon at his unsuspecting foe, landing a direct hit on Circusman's chin. The Navi was knocked onto his back, rolling a little bit like a ball, and his hands quickly shrunk and returned to him.

"First blood goes to Megaman!" the announcer called out. "Great reflexes!" Circusman rolled backward, doing a reverse somersault to get back onto his feet, a large, silly grin still plastered on his face.

"You're a tough one!" he called out. "But I know just how to tame you, Megaman!"

He extended his arm out to his side, a long whip forming in his hand. He cracked the whip twice, the sound echoing throughout the arena, and with each crack a large hoop appeared on either side of Lan's Navi, appearing in a quick flash of flame. Megaman looked to his left and right, cautious but curious, as an angry and vicious lion leaped out of each one.

"Whoa!" He quickly scrambled backward, trying to create some space between himself and these wild creatures, as they snarled and crept toward him. He quietly requested a Sword chip from Lan, not wanting these things to do too much damage before he had to fight Circusman himself.

"Have fun!" Circusman taunted in a singsong voice, watching as the lions pounced, barely missing their target. He leaped backward, before standing up on the tiptoes of his tiny feet. "And now for my next trick…"

The crowd watched, curious, as Circusman's round torso began to spin around. As it spun faster and faster, the red and white tent-like material he wore began to lift up, revealing a surprisingly skinny body connecting his head to his feet. Megaman glanced over at him quickly, curious, as he managed to stab one of the lions through its head, causing it to dissolve away in deletion.

As Circusman spun faster, the atmosphere of the Cyberworld began to darken, and the air began to fill with a number of yellow, glowing particles. Everyone leaned in a little farther, curious to see what was going on, when some of the Navis in the stands began to collapse.

Dispatching the second lion, Megaman turned quickly to see what was going on, but suddenly cried out, feeling a massive wave of fatigue hit him, and he sank to one knee. "What's he... doing?"

"Megaman! What's happening?" Lan called out, able to see that this was no ordinary attack. His Navi didn't reply, trying to return to a standing position, but quickly looking his strength. The Navis in the stands screamed and tried to escape, but they, too, began to collapse one by one, feeling the energy drain out of them. Some of them were jacked out by their operators, while others erected barriers to try and protect themselves.

"Hee hee hee!" Circusman cackled as the glow in the air grew brighter, and the numerous particles in the air began flying toward him, collecting in the large vacuum in his torso. "This should be more than enough energy to awaken our two friends!"

"Hold… hold it…" Megaman outstretched his buster arm, trying to get off a shot, but he didn't even have the energy to do that. He collapsed to the ground, as nearly the entire Navi crowd fell silent; only a lucky few, who had erected powerful barriers, remained standing. All of the glowing energy, taken from the Navis, collected under Circusman, who stopped spinning; his tent-like cover dropped down, holding the energy in the massive space in his stomach.

"Megaman?! Megaman!" Lan cried out into his PET's screen, as the crowd outside of the Cyberworld began to panic. He grabbed a recovery chip and slotted it into his PET, trying to give his Navi strength. His eyes widened as he saw the chip take no effect; whatever Circusman had done, it had damaged Megaman on a much deeper level than a normal attack. Yuika laughed, jacking her Navi out, as many of the Officials standing around the arena started moving in to apprehend her.

"Looks like our work here is done!" she declared, grinning as she looked around at her would-be captors. "I'll be seeing you all again, I'm sure!" She quickly threw something down toward the ground, which exploded into a massive cloud of smoke. The crowd yelped as the watching Officials moved in to seize her; when the smoke cleared, they had all gotten a tight grip on each other, and Yuika had vanished. Gritting his teeth, Lan turned his attention back toward Megaman, who was lying nearly motionless on the ground.

"Megaman!" Roll, who had remained standing, ran over toward the downed Navi and kneeled next to him, holding him up slightly. "Are you alright?"

"Unh... Roll..." Megaman looked up, his eyes half-focused, barely conscious.

"Megaman, hold on... we can fix this…" she coaxed, rather anxious and trying to think of a way to fix him up quickly. As she fretted and held Megaman in her hands, both of the Navis started to glow pink, causing Roll to jump a bit. A second later, the glow faded, and Megaman's eyes suddenly opened wide, as he sat up.

"Whuh..." Megaman looked down at his hands and arms, feeling his energy return. "Roll... what happened? What did you do?"

"I… I don't know!" Roll looked down at herself, equally astonished. "Was that even me? I've never done anything like that before!"

Megaman quickly hopped up. "Well, let's figure it out later! We need to go after those two!" Roll nodded and quickly stood up after him, but just as quickly faltered, falling forward, her frame going limp. He gasped and quickly reached out his arms to catch her.

"Roll! What's wrong?!" He looked over her face, her eyes glassy. She relaxed against him for a minute, as he studied her, quickly coming to a realization. "Wait, did you… give me your energy, or something?"

After looking at her in amazement for a moment, he quickly shook his head, snapping himself back into the moment. He looked up, toward where he was sure Mayl was watching. "Mayl, jack Roll out! She needs to be restored!"

An instant later, Roll vanished upward in a flash of light, as Megaman quickly followed suit. Wasting no time, Lan turned on his heel and ran toward the door, only to collide headfirst with another boy, who was running in the same direction from a different angle. Both of them were knocked to the ground.

"Ow!" Lan sat up, dazed, his eyes quickly focusing on the obstacle he had just collided with. "Chaud?!"

Chaud quickly stood up, rubbing his head. "Ugh, watch where you're going, would you?" He started running again, as Lan hopped up and followed suit.

"Where are you going? Are you following them, too?"

"Of course I am. I'm hopping the Metroline to SciLab." Chaud quickly leaped down a set of stairs. "Come along if you want, but don't blame me if you get your Navi deleted." Lan nodded, following close behind.


"What in the hell just happened?!" Yuichiro stared at the TV in the research room, trying to register the events of the last two minutes. "She must be with Nebula… there's no way she's not on her way here."

"I can't think of anywhere else they would go," Dr. Regal muttered, watching from behind as one of his hands picked up a piece of metal piping. "Doing something like this on live television… they're bold, you have to give them that."

"You really don't," Yuichiro replied, rubbing his head as he walked over to his desk to grab his PET. "I'm going to get the Officials ready to intercept her. You've got cybersecurity under control, right?"

"Don't worry about that, Yuichiro." Dr. Regal lifted the pipe and brought it down onto the head of Dr. Hikari, who quickly crumpled to the ground, unconscious. He grinned as he tossed the weapon aside. "I've got everything under control."

Regal chuckled as he walked calmly out of the room, leaving Lan's father bleeding on the floor.