New Megaman Battle Network

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

Story 2: The Sun And The Moon


Chapter 6: Cybeasts Reborn

Lan watched his PET carefully as he called his father for the fourth time, hoping the call would finally go through. He groaned as he found himself sent straight to voicemail again.

"Damn it!" He thrust the device back into his belt holster, as the Metroline he was riding slowed to meet the SciLab stop. "Dad's still not answering!"

"Not a good sign," Chaud responded from one seat in front. "They may be blocking communications into that building somehow. And the only reason they'd do that is if they needed a lot of time in there."

Lan didn't like the sound of that. "Chaud, the Cybeasts aren't in SciLab, are they?"

"They're being held in stasis in one of SciLab's servers. They're under heavy guard, and it would take a large amount of energy to revive them... but it seems neither of those things are going to be problems for Nebula."

The train stopped, and Chaud quickly leapt up. "Which means we've got to hurry if we're going to stop them." Lan jumped up after him, and they both ran toward SciLab as quickly as they could.


Deep inside a SciLab server, an oddly giddy Circusman was standing at the bottom of a small set of stairs. Looking up, he saw two massive statues at the top of the stairs, sitting on a large raised platform. One statue depicted a giant wolf, not unlike the beast Gospel that was set upon the Net the previous month; the other was a large, imposing falcon.

"The coast is clear, Yuika!" he called out. "No trouble at all!"

From a room deep within the lowest basement in SciLab, Yuika Chirol watched her PET's screen with a grin on her face. "Good work, Circusman. Master Regal will be quite pleased."

"It sounds like things are going well." Yuika looked over toward the stairs, to see Dr. Regal walking down leisurely.

"Yes, master, they are." She bowed lightly as Regal approached. "There was no security to deal with at all, just as you assured. We can start awakening the Cybeasts any moment."

"Then let's not waste a moment's time." He adjusted his glasses. "Nebula's rise to power in Electopia begins now."

Yuika nodded, turning to her PET. "Circusman! Let's do it!"

"As you command!" Her Navi began spinning around once again, and his tent began to lift up as it had before, revealing the large, glowing mass of energy he held within. As he spun, the energy started to leave his body and surround the two massive beast statues. It layered them completely, eating away at the stone, and both statues began glowing as everyone watched.

"Perfect. The process is underway," Regal commented. "Now we should take our leave. It won't be long until the Officials figure out what we're up to. Leave Circusman to ensure the job gets done."

"Leave?" Yuika turned to him questioningly. "But the process isn't complete yet! Don't we need to be here to capture the Cybeasts?"

"That won't be necessary. The Cybeasts will be more than willing to listen to my commands." Regal turned and started to walk away.

Yuika was quite unsure, but nodded regardless, trusting his judgment. "Yes, master." She followed quickly after him, as the two evacuated SciLab in secrecy.


Chaud and Lan emerged from the subway and quickly raced toward SciLab, nervous, imagining a building under siege with barricaded doors and numerous armed Nebula agents. As they arrived, both of them were even more shocked to find the building looking perfectly normal. They looked around the lobby as they entered the front doors, mystified to see business going on as usual.

"What the…" Chaud walked slowly through the lobby, with Lan following behind. "It doesn't look like Nebula's done anything. How is no one on alert? Was nobody else watching the tournament?"

"But... why wasn't Dad answering?" Lan wondered aloud, growing increasingly worried. "You go on ahead. I'm going to my dad's office."

Chaud nodded, and the two of them parted ways at the stairs. Chaud ran downstairs, to the server where the Cybeasts were being held, while Lan headed up a floor to his father's office.

"Dad?" Lan looked around as he stepped in, surprised that his father was nowhere in sight. He could hear a television nearby; it was a news report, talking about continuing troubles at the Red Sun Tournament that were keeping the Officials occupied.

"Unh..." He started at the sound of his father's voice. Looking around again, he noticed a pair of feet sticking out from behind one of the machines. His eyes widened in panic.

"Dad!" He ran over, to find his father lying on the floor, slowly regaining consciousness. He kneeled next to him, reaching out, trying to help him up. "What happened?! Are you alright?!"

"Ugh... Lan..." Yuichiro slowly got to his knees, holding his throbbing head, feeling blood matting in his hair. "Regal... it's Regal... he's after the Cybeasts, I'm sure of it..."

"Regal?! He's with Nebula?"

His father got unsteadily to his feet. "I don't know where he is now, he cold-clocked me… but he's gotta be downstairs. Cybeasts are there…"

"Dad, you're hurt. You need to sit down," Lan commented, taking his arm and trying to coax him toward a chair. "Chaud's already downstairs. I'll go join him. You stay here."

"No, hold on." Yuichiro pulled away stepped carefully over to one of the computer terminals, typing away with surprising speed despite his injury. "I can bypass some security and get you connected to the server from here. The two of you together may be able to stop them, but you need to be quick."

Lan nodded, stepping up to him and pulling out his PET, looking down into it. "Are you ready, Megaman?"

Megaman nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be. Let's do this!"

"There." Yuichiro finished typing, as various system noises came out of the computer. "Quickly! Jack in!"

Lan immediately did as he was told, sending his Navi into the Cyberworld.


Deep in the SciLab servers, in the shadow of the statues of the Cybeasts, Protoman was locked in a highly irritating battle against Circusman. While Chaud's Navi was far superior offensively, Circusman seemed to be an endless barrel of stamina, taunts, and annoying laughter. After a couple minutes of battling, Protoman had made no reasonable progress, as the Cybeast statues continued to glow threateningly.

"What's the matter, Mr. Official Navi?" his foe taunted. "Not getting tired, are we?" Circusman cracked the ground with his whip, and four fire hoops appeared around Protoman. He turned around quickly, his mind racing with how he was going to handle what was coming next, but a digital lion appeared out of each one half a second later, giving Protoman almost no time to react.

With a flash, two laser blasts flew through the air, striking down two lions behind Protoman. Reacting quickly, he dashed forward and quickly took out the other two in front of him with his Long Sword.

"You look like you could use some help!" Both Navis turned to see Megaman running in, his buster out and ready for battle. Circusman frowned, not expecting to deal with both of these Navis at once, when a loud crack suddenly rang out, causing all three Navis to jump. Everyone quickly turned toward the glowing statues, to see a massive crack on the muzzle of the wolf statue; an instant later, several more cracks formed, spreading across both statues.

"No...!" Protoman gritted his teeth, as Megaman watched the stone start to break apart, a sick feeling in his stomach.

"Yes! It's done!" Circusman grinned to himself as large pieces of stone began to fall off both statues. "Come forth, Gregar and Falzar! Destroy these two!"

Both Megaman and Protoman watched, horrorstruck, as the head of the wolf statue began to move a bit. It tilted slightly to the left and right before letting out a massive roar, and the remaining stone was blasted away. The wolf Cybeast stood up and shook itself off to remove the remaining stone; beside it, the falcon Falzar outstretched its wings and shrieked, separating itself from its constraints.

"This is bad," Protoman commented. "This is very, very bad..."

"What are we supposed to do now? Do we attack?" Megaman wondered aloud, receiving a Long Sword from Lan, as the feeling of unease continued to spread throughout his body. "Would we even do anything if we did?"

"We don't have any other options now. We can't just let them go free." Protoman got into a fighter stance, as Circusman began issuing commands to the awakening Cybeasts.

"Heed my words, both of you!" he called out, trying to make himself look as imposing as possible. "Do you see these two Navis here? I command you to-" Before he could finish, Falzar screeched and dashed forward, seizing the Navi in its powerful talons.

"Agh! No! What are you doing?!" Circusman cried out, as Falzar tossed the Navi into the air. The Cybeast pointed its wings at the falling red-and-white sphere, and a number of razor-sharp feathers flew out, piercing Circusman in every part of his body. He fell heavily to the ground, completely defunct, before dissolving away into deletion.

"One attack… that's unreal…" an awestruck Protoman commented, needing a moment before he could steel himself again. "Well, here goes nothing... are you ready, Megaman?"

Megaman was far from ready, breathing heavily and feeling weak. Something was affecting him to his core, something he couldn't put his finger on.

"No... I'm... gah!"

He fell to his hands and knees, his vision swimming and his body starting to glow red and black. As pain racked his frame, he looked down toward his hands, seeing a shadow of claws and wings. Protoman watched, horrified all over again, as Megaman collapsed, his body starting to transform slowly.

"Megaman!" Lan cried out from the real world, as he and his father watched on his PET. "What's happening?!"

"Damn it! I had completely forgotten about this!" Yuichiro felt his fingers clench as he held his aching head. "This is one of the powers of the Cybeasts..."

Lan watched nervously, as his Navi desperately tried to keep control. Gregar slowly walked over toward Megaman, snarling, as Falzar advanced on Protoman, both Cybeasts ready to strike.

"Gregar! Falzar!" Dr. Regal's voice rang out through the Cyberworld, and both Cybeasts immediately snapped to attention. "Forget about them! Return to me at once!" To Protoman's surprise, both creatures immediately took off, heading in the same direction.

"Wait, what?!" Yuichiro grabbed the PET out of Lan's hands, peering into it. "Why are the Cybeasts obeying him?! What's going on?!"

He quickly handed the PET back to his son, moving as quickly as he could toward the door. "Lan, I've got to try and track those things down in our servers. Be careful with Megaman. Make sure he's okay." Lan watched him disappear before turning his attention back to the device in his hand. With the Cybeasts' presence gone, Megaman's frame quickly returned to normal, and his eyes snapped open, the wave of nausea suddenly gone.

"What... happened?" Megaman quickly got to his feet, looking down at himself.

"The Cybeasts have taken off," Protoman answered, relieved that his companion had recovered, before turning and giving chase. "I'm going to follow them. You stay behind!"

"No way!" Megaman took off after the Official Navi. "I can't let you fight those things alone!"

"You're not prepared for them! You'll just Beast Out and get in the way!" Protoman retorted, not slowing down. Megaman started to reply, when a laser blast exploded near his feet; he turned quickly to see a group of about ten Nebula Navis nearby, moving backwards as they aimed at him.

"Grr... alright, fine. You chase the Cybeasts; I'll stop these guys!" Megaman stopped running and turned toward the Nebula Navis, who began to focus their fire on him. Blaster fire repeatedly flew past him, but he was able to dodge the attacks easily, the recent upgrade to his frame starting to pull its weight. He fired his buster repeatedly, knocking down three very surprised Navis, as they started talking and running amongst themselves.

"What?! He's not supposed to be that strong!" "Did we miscalculate or something?" "RUN AWAY!"

Megaman took off after them as they fled, running past the few Navis he downed; one of them grabbed at his ankle, but a flick of his Long Sword quickly removed the offending hand. He continued chasing, as the group of Navis retreated and fired at him.

As the chase continued, Megaman cocked his head a bit, realizing something wasn't adding up. The Navis had given up on the assault, but they were refusing to jack out, risking deletion instead. He kept pursuing, firing his buster and running as fast as he could, as the Nebula Navis approached a random server building and busted in. They quickly barricaded the entrance in an attempt to keep him out, before turning and looking around, eyes widening in shock.

"What the-?!" one of them wondered aloud, as he surveyed the large, empty expanse in front of them. "What the hell happened?! Where's our base?!" The giant room was almost completely dark, as the only lights that still worked were near the entrance. Small bits of debris and machinery were scattered about, with loose connections all around the walls. Whatever had been here earlier had been uprooted and removed in a hurry.

"Those bastards! They took off without us!" another exclaimed, looking deeper into the base. "Why did they even tell us to come back here if they just…"

Walking forward, his eyes focused on something he could barely see, deep in the shadows. "Ah, cripes. So that's what they sent us back for. We need to grab the baggage and get the hell outta Dodge."

As a couple of the Navis started moving into the back, ready to extract the remaining item, the front door was suddenly blasted open, and the Navis holding it shut were knocked back. Megaman ran in, as a Mega Cannon vanished from his arm, and the Navis quickly scattered, wanting none of what he was offering.

"No time! We gotta jack out now or we're toast!"

"Hold it!" Megaman called out, dashing toward one of the Navis, but he quickly disappeared in a flash of light, followed by all of the other Navis. He cursed, looking around at the nearly empty server.

"Why did they all run here... what is this place?" Megaman walked over to one of the walls, inspecting the floor and finding a number of cables and wires, quickly piecing together how the place had been abandoned.

"What are you finding, Megaman?" Lan's voice called out.

"Looks like they've robbed this server or something. They took all of whatever used to be here." He came across a symbol crudely etched into the wall, a large "N" that seemed to be made of talons or something similar; he logged it into his memory, to ask Dr. Hikari about later. "They may have been occupying it? It's not really clear."

"Well, we can figure that out later," his operator answered. "I'm jacking you out, Megaman. Maybe we can help Chaud with the Cybeasts or something..."

"Wait." Megaman stopped moving completely, falling silent. A few seconds later, he heard a sound, halfway between a cough and a sob. "There's someone here..."

He turned back inward, toward the back of the room, which quickly grew dimmer with each step he took. Once it became too dark to see, Megaman touched his fingers to the yellow strips on his helmet, and they shone forward like a flashlight; a figure quickly came into view, taking him by surprise.

"Gah! Who are you?" He pointed his buster at the Navi on the floor, who flinched fearfully in response.

"I'm sorry!" A female voice responded, as the Navi quickly curled up into a ball, her voice despondent. "Please don't... I'll be good... I'm so sorry..."

Megaman lowered his buster, taking a closer look at the lump of a Navi on the floor. Her frame was almost entirely white, with light blue stripes running down her side; she held herself with long and frail arms as she looked down, her long, brown hair falling raggedly over her bloodshot eyes. Most disturbingly, her body was connected to a series of cables, all of which appeared to have been connected rather forcefully and unnaturally.

"I didn't know what to do… everyone left and they didn't take me… please, don't hurt me, I'm sorry…"

Megaman kneeled down next to her, putting his buster away, as fearful tears started to leak out of her eyes. Getting a closer look, he saw that this girl was covered with an assortment of cuts, scars and bruises. His breath caught, as he pieced together what had been happening to this poor girl. He had no idea what they were using her for, but he knew he was going to do something about it.

"I'm not here to hurt you, I promise," he offered, his voice gentle. "I'm with SciLab..."

"S... SciLab?" Her voice was a little less pained, though significantly less than hopeful.

"That's right. I can get you out of here. We'll keep you safe."

"No... no..." The girl shook her head. "I can't leave... they said they'd punish me if I tried to leave..."

Megaman stood up. "They're not going to hurt you again, I'll make sure of it. They'll have to go through me first." He looked at the cables that had been connected to her. "What are these cables?"

"They tell me... what to do with those... they send data to be processed…"

He nodded, brandishing his Long Sword, which made the girl flinch again. "Well, these will have to go... I'm going to cut them, okay?"

She nodded, wanting to protest but still scared of the Navi in front of her. Megaman walked around her frame, carefully slicing through every cable connected to her. The girl remained tense the entire time, her eyes fixed on his sword, until the cables were all gone and he had put the blade away.

"Hey!" Megaman looked toward the door, as the female Navi shrunk down, and he saw a number of Nebula Navis near the entrance. "You get away from her! She's ours!"

"No chance!" He fired his buster toward the door, causing the girl to shriek, and the Navis to scatter. Looking forward, he found nearly a dozen of them near the door, more than he was prepared to fight; they must have gone and obtained reinforcements.

Thinking quickly, he reached down and grasped the girl's hand. "Lan! Jack us out, quick!"

"No!" The enemies ran forward, aiming to attack, but Megaman and the girl quickly disappeared in a flash of light, both of them headed for Lan's PET.

Back in Yuichiro's office, Lan pulled out his jack-in cable, looking into his PET. "Are you alright, Megaman?"

Megaman nodded, glancing down at his companion, who was looking around at her new surroundings, terrified. "I'm fine... and the girl's okay as well... comparatively, anyway."

"We need to talk to my dad. This is getting way too complicated for me." Lan turned and walked out of the office, starting to track down his father, his mind trying to process all of the events that had just occurred. Around him, he could hear the sounds of panic, as the employees of SciLab finally realized what had just happened.