New Megaman Battle Network

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

Story 2: The Sun And The Moon


Chapter 12: Beast Out

Protoman's sword clashed with Colonel's, as the two Navis dueled fiercely with all of their might. Neither warrior had achieved much of an edge, as they were rather equally matched.

"Why are you doing this, Colonel?" Protoman demanded, swinging away. "What reason do you have to want to destroy this world?" The two clashed swords, and they struggled against each other for a moment. Protoman's eyes locked on Colonel's, allowing him to see the dark purple clouds that filled his eyes, behind his irises.

"I don't have to explain myself to you," Colonel shot back, slowly pushing his foe back with his considerable strength. "Gryfon and I will raze this world to the ground. That's all you need to know."

"So you're just another Navi gone mad, then." Protoman generated another sword and stabbed toward Colonel, who quickly jumped backward. "You're just the kind of cretin I'm designed to delete." The two continued their battle, as Megaman flew across the arena behind them, crashing into a wall.

"Ugh..." He rubbed his head, standing up and looking back at his monstrous opponent, wishing that his HeatGuts style was still active, ineffective though it was. He had reverted to his normal form a couple of minutes ago, making an impossible battle even harder than it already was. "Lan, how much longer until I can change again?"

"Any second now!" Lan replied, sending his Navi an Area Steal. As Gryfon charged, Megaman vanished and reappeared atop the arena wall behind his foe, taking a moment to catch his breath. Seconds later, a ready icon appeared on the screen of Lan's PET.

"Alright, we're ready! Let's try AquaCustom Style!" He quickly pressed a couple of buttons, and Megaman flashed for a minute before changing into his light blue AquaCustom form. He smirked a bit as Gryfon turned around, snarling, and he received a Fire Sword from Lan.

"You may be stronger than my HeatGuts Style, but I'm sure a Program Advance or two will cut you down to size..." He leaped down into the arena, receiving an Aqua Sword and running in, as Gryfon charged again.

"Let's do it!" Lan slotted in an Elec Sword chip, and Megaman raised his weapons above his head, forming a powerful blade of glowing red energy.

"Take this!" the Navi yelled, swinging the Life Sword 2 forward in front of him, the attack arcing forward and flying directly at the Cybeast. Gryfon quickly stopped its charge, screeching to a halt and steeling itself as the Life Sword approached. Right before the attack connected, its wings extended in front of it, acting as a shield, absorbing and deflecting the brunt of the Life Sword. Megaman gaped as the energy sword dissipated, leaving a nearly unscathed Gryfon behind.

"Not even a scratch…" He could only stare in amazement as Gryfon roared, stretching its wings and aiming them in his direction. Megaman snapped back to reality as the Cybeast unleashed a barrage of razor-tipped feathers, and he barely managed to dodge the brunt of it, receiving several small wounds to his legs.

"Gah! Ow... damn it..." He quickly got up onto one knee as he looked over at Gryfon, who was slowly advancing on him once again.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Lan wondered aloud, trying to stay calm and not panic. "Our strongest attacks don't do anything!"

"I don't know what we do," Megaman replied, standing up on somewhat tender legs, upon which his hands rested. "I'm not remotely strong enough to…" He stopped himself as he felt something on his hip; he looked down and saw the small, circular device attached to him, warding off the Beast Out effects of the Cybeasts. "Strong enough to…" he uttered again, his mind concocting a crazy idea.

"Megaman, what are you doing?" Lan prompted. Megaman didn't respond, instead grabbing the device from his side and throwing it on the ground. He immediately stomped on it, shattering it into a hundred pieces.

"No! Megaman! Are you crazy?!" Chaud looked over at Lan briefly, surprised by his shouting, as Megaman stared down at the remnants of his protective device. An instant later, he felt a familiar sense of illness wash over him, and he collapsed to the ground, feeling his legs go weak. Gryfon stopped his charge, curious, and watched as his presence washed over the Navi in front of him, who was beginning to transform.

"Aah!" Megaman cried out as feathers began to burst from his arms, which were turning into bright red wings. His frame started to change colors as well, to a dark purple and gray mix that matched Gryfon's fur. He continued to scream in pain as claws grew from his hands, his cries slowly becoming more deep and guttural as they changed into roars. The strange noises caught both Protoman and Colonel off guard, and both of them looked over to see what was going on. Colonel quickly came back to his senses after realizing what was happening, stepping closer to his foe and swinging his sword; Protoman noticed the movement and reacted as quickly as possible, stepping back, but Colonel's blade still sliced deep into his side.

"Argh!" Protoman fell to the ground, grabbing his injury, as Colonel smirked and advanced, victory in his sights. He raised his sword to attack a second time, but was knocked away by a massive energy blast, sending him careening into one of the processing towers. Protoman looked toward the source of the blast to see a snarling Megaman standing up, his arm outstretched and his buster smoking. Without missing a beat, he growled and fired another blast in Protoman's direction, instantaneous and just as powerful. Protoman barely managed to roll out of the way, looking back at Lan's Navi, who had now turned his attention back toward the monster he had been battling previously.

Protoman watched as Gryfon roared and ran toward Megaman, ready to attack. As the monster came within striking range, Megaman dashed forward and jumped, slamming his foot into the side of the monster's head. The Cybeast flew across the arena and slammed hard against the wall, howling in shock and pain. Megaman raced after it with incredible speed, sliding to a stop and grabbing the monster by its foot as it tried to stand. Letting out another roar, he started spinning the massive monster around in circles, lifting it off the floor, before letting go and sending Gryfon flying toward another wall, where Colonel and Protoman were standing and watching. Both had to dive out of the way to avoid the flying Cybeast.

"My God… what strength…" Protoman uttered, awed and somewhat fearful of what he was witnessing.

"Megaman…" Lan watched the battle unfold through his PET screen, hope and fear jostling for position in his heart. "If he keeps this up, he'll destroy everything else along with the Cybeast…" He gripped his PET tightly with both hands, anxious. "Megaman! Snap out of it, please!"

His Navi faltered a bit upon hearing Lan's words. He stopped running, his harsh eyes softening a bit, before he fell to his knees and grabbed his head, as if it were in great pain. Gryfon stood up and shook itself off before turning toward its foe, enraged and snarling. It let out a deafening roar and charged once again, seeing its prey distracted.

"Agh… haaah…" Megaman doubled over, in clear mental and physical distress, as the Cybeast advanced, ready to strike. It pounced upon its foe, breathing fire in his direction as its claws closed in. As Gryfon swiped at its adversary bathed in flame, an explosion of energy came from below, blasting the Cybeast away once again. As the flames subsided, Megaman was standing up, breathing heavily as his buster smoked.

"Sorry about that, Lan," he spoke, a little out of breath. "I'm back now… I think. Pretty sure."

Lan breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't scare me like that, Megaman! That was totally crazy!"

Megaman grinned. "Sorry to worry you. I was running low on ideas..."

"What?! How?!" Colonel exclaimed in disbelief, as he watched Megaman come to his senses. "No ordinary Navi should be able to-!" He stopped short, gasping as he felt Protoman's sword piercing through his stomach from behind. He felt weakness spread through his body, as his foe stood behind him, smirking.

"It seems that Megaman is no ordinary Navi," Protoman taunted, confident that the end of the battle was at hand. "Too bad for you." Expecting Colonel to begin dissolving into deletion, he was shocked to see the Navi force himself forward off of the sword that was impaling him, before turning around.

"This battle isn't over yet," Colonel growled, extending his hand and using up every Energy subchip he had, partially healing the wound. "Not for either of you." He stepped forward and swung his sword once again, their battle resuming.

At the other end of the arena, Megaman watched as an infuriated Gryfon got back to its feet once again. "We need to finish this fast. Protoman needs our help."

Lan nodded in agreement, as Gryfon once again set its sights on the half-beast Navi. It paused for a moment, having learned that charging its opponent was not a good idea, trying to think of another way to attack. Seconds later, it spread its wings and swept them forward like twin swords, sending a wide-reaching barrage of razor-sharp feathers in Megaman's direction. He stood still and watched them approach, vanishing with an Area Steal at the last minute. An instant later, the Cybeast felt a light explosion on its back; turning around quickly, it found Megaman's arm outstretched right in front of him, firing a series of feathers straight into its eyes.

Gryfon shrieked in pain, blinded, breathing fire all around as Megaman jumped back, grinning. "That should slow it down a bit..." He watched as the Cybeast started turning in all directions, stomping about and roaring, determined to find and destroy its assailant. As it rampaged, it exuded flames and feathers in all directions, including toward Colonel and Protoman, as well as Iris's limp and unconscious form. Megaman gasped as they flew over her frame, missing her by inches.

"Crap... that backfired completely, didn't it?" He watched as the monster continued to rampage. "We've got to finish this quick, Lan, before it destroys everything!"

His operator nodded, pulling out three Battlechips for another Program Advance. "You ready, Megaman?"

Megaman nodded, extending his right arm, which quickly generated a Cannon. As a High Cannon appeared on his other, he watched Gryfon turn approximately toward Protoman, charging and breathing flames in his general direction. Protoman leaped backwards to get out of the way, but quickly fell back over, holding his injured side.

"Ugh..." He was unable to hold his pain in, landing on the ground in front of Iris's body. Gryfon instantly turned toward the sound, preparing for another assault, before a blow from the side knocked it away and onto its back. The Cybeast rolled over and stood up quickly, trying to sense the location of its attacker.

"Over here, ugly!" Megaman called out. Gryfon quickly snarled and turned toward the sound of his voice, unable to see the large Zeta Cannon that had formed on his arm, and unable to defend itself from the assault that followed. Megaman fired one explosive round after another directly at the Cybeast, and a series of massive explosions rang out throughout Mother Computer as Gryfon took the full force of every blast. Over the noise, a horrific mix of roars and screeches could be heard, as the monster disappeared behind a massive cloud of smoke.

When the blasts ended and the smoke finally cleared, the room collectively gaped at the sight in front of them. The Cybeast was lying on its side, nearly dead; major parts of its face were gone, its legs were in pieces across the arena, and several large holes had pierced themselves right through its torso. Megaman lowered his buster arm, breathing heavily, his energy drained.

"Unbelievable," Protoman muttered to himself. "He's... it's..."

"Impossible!" Colonel ran forward, trying to get a better look, not wanting to believe the evidence from his own eyes. "You can't have defeated Gryfon, you miserable Navi! You can't!"

"It appears he has." Protoman slowly got back to his feet, pointing his sword at Colonel. "Your terror ends here, Colonel. There's nothing left for you to throw at us."

Colonel gritted his teeth, looking to Protoman, then Megaman, then the fallen Cybeast. "No... it's not over, not yet!" As Protoman tensed, Colonel suddenly vanished with an Area Steal; both Megaman and Protoman looked around for him, finding him standing next to the Cybeast. He quickly reached out and placed his hand on the half-obliterated carcass, and the two of them began to glow a blinding white.

Megaman tried to aim his buster at the Navi, but was forced to look away from the intense light, covering his eyes. Moments later, a shockwave of energy nearly knocked him off his feet, and he struggled to stay upright, as the injured Protoman fell back to the floor. Once the light faded, both Navis looked back to see Colonel covered chaotically in purple, orange and red streaks, fully energized and emitting a light glow.

"What?! What did you do?!" Megaman demanded, even though he already knew the answer.

"I took matters into my own hands," Colonel responded, his voice low and growling. "I won't let you stop me here! Nothing will stop me!"

Megaman gritted his teeth, charging up his buster. "We'll see about that!" He fired a shot directly at Colonel, the same shot that knocked him away minutes before; his foe knocked it away as it if were a beach ball, before dashing toward Megaman and grabbing him by his neck. He gasped and struggled for a moment as Colonel grinned maniacally, his hand glowing a bright white; seconds later, it exploded in a flash of light, knocking Megaman backward and sending him rolling across the floor. He groaned as he came to a stop, rubbing his sore head and starting to stand back up. As he put his hand on the floor to push himself up, he looked down at it, his eyes widening as he realized something was very wrong.

"What the…" He looked all over himself, seeing his normal blue armor and bodysuit, his heart sinking into his stomach. "I'm not part Cybeast anymore! What did he do?!"

Colonel couldn't help but laugh at the confusion on Megaman's face, practically giddy at the situation, as Protoman limped toward him from behind, swinging his blade. Colonel quickly wheeled around, gripping Protoman's sword tight and lifting the Navi clean off the ground. He swung him around and flung him toward Megaman, and the two Navis collided hard, falling back to the ground. Megaman quickly got back to his feet, while Protoman could only manage to rise up on one knee, both of them staring down their terrifyingly powerful foe.

"What… what do we do now?" Megaman wondered, as the superpowered Navi advanced on them.

"You got me," Protoman replied, as Colonel smirked at the two of them, thoroughly pleased. He extended both his arms in their direction, starting to charge a powerful energy blast in each one. As he gathered energy into his hands, a pair of arms suddenly appeared from behind him, locking over his shoulders and holding the Navi in place.

"Gah!" Colonel abruptly stopped charging his energy blasts, taken by surprise. "Who-" He tried to throw his arms forward to dislodge the smaller Navi behind him, but his body refused to respond. He tried to march forward, but his legs wouldn't obey him, as if he had no control over them.

"You're not the only one who can control the Cybeasts, Colonel," spoke a soft but stern voice from behind him. Megaman immediately recognized the voice, running to Colonel's side to see who was holding him.

"Iris!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing?"

"You! What?!" Colonel exclaimed, trying once again to free himself, to no avail. "Let me go this instant, you little…"

"I won't," Iris responded. "You're not going to be hurting anyone else, ever again."

"You… you…" Colonel struggled to respond, his rage tempered by a sudden panic, as he realized the grievous mistake he had made. By merging his body with Gryfon's and becoming part Cybeast, he had inadvertently given Iris the power to control his every move, just as he had been able to control the beasts himself. He could hear a strength in her voice that he had never heard before, unmarred by the fear that had always been present up until now. Her sudden confidence and power over him quickly filled him with a fear that he had never experienced before.

"What are you going to do, Iris?" Megaman called out, concern clear in his voice, as Colonel continued to struggle.

"The only thing I can do," Iris replied, holding her brother as tightly as she could. "I'm going to self-destruct, and take him with me."

"No!" Megaman exclaimed, as Protoman stepped forward to listen in. "Iris, you can't! You don't have to do this!"

"Megaman, please..." Iris spoke more calmly, as her arms began to glow. "You have to let me do this. This is what I want." Megaman paused, not expecting such a response, as she continued.

"I've spent so much of my life being used by others. First Colonel, then Nebula… both of them using my powers for their own twisted ends, for years. I've had no control over my own life, ever since we came to this world."

"This... this world?" Megaman wondered, mystified by this comment.

"Now, I finally can use my powers the way I want to..." Iris continued, as the rest of her body started to glow as well. "And I want to use it to save the people I care about... I want to help my friends."

For the first time since Megaman had met her, he saw Iris smile.

"Iris..." he spoke softly. He felt gutted, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop her now, but deep inside himself, he felt proud of her at the same time.

Iris's face became serious once again, as she started to glow brighter, electricity crackling all over her body, as well as Colonel's. "Go! Now!" Megaman nodded reluctantly, as Lan jacked him out, with Protoman following soon after.

"Grrgh..." Colonel struggled as hard as he could, trying in vain to break free of Iris's grasp. "This is the last time I'm going to tell you! Let me go this instant!"

Iris didn't respond, closing her eyes tightly, letting her mind transport her elsewhere in her last moments. She saw an image of rolling green hills, lush forests and pristine lakes; the image was fuzzy at first, but came into view more clearly as she delved deep into her memories. The image turned to abandoned cityscapes, covered in grass and vines as nature worked to reclaim them. Finally, her mind brought forth a vision of a tall tower, dominating the landscape, with Iris living inside of it, alongside the gruff but kind-hearted brother she once had. She held onto this image as her body expanded into a bright white light, one that encased Colonel and his screams, before they were silenced for good.


The next day, Megaman was back to normal and safely in Lan's PET, finally allowing his mind to be still. The last twenty-four hours had been chaotic, but a good kind of chaotic, where the whirlwind of ensuing events had gradually relieved his stress instead of adding to it. The Princess and the other hostages had been freed, Dr. Regal had surrendered himself peacefully to the authorities, and Electopian Officials had finally arrived to help clean up the mess that Nebula and Colonel had wrought. He was thankful for the distractions, not wanting or needing any more time to lament the sacrifice that had finally brought everything to an end.

He looked through the PET's screen at the outside world, where Lan was standing atop a small podium next to Chaud, a nervous excitement coursing through him, as a small crowd watched from below. He wrote a brace on his injured wrist, while his chest had been wrapped in bandages for the sake of his broken ribs, the pain from which had receded to a dull but constant throb. In front of both him and Chaud stood a highly appreciative Princess Pride, who was receiving a small blue box from a nearby advisor. She held it carefully in her hands as she walked closer to them, stepping gingerly on the ankle brace that was hidden by her dress.

"Lan Hikari... Eugene Chaud..." she began. "This nation owes you a great deal. Had it not been for your skills, judgment, and courage, our country would have been forced to surrender to the evil hands of Nebula and the Cybeasts. We are forever in your debt."

She opened the box to reveal two shining medals, attached to blue ribbons topped with silver stars, adorned with the national seal of Creamland. She took one and stepped forward, pinning it to Chaud's vest, whose demeanor gave every indication that this was just business as usual.

"This medal represents the highest honor this country can bestow: the Blue Star of Creamland." She stepped over toward a more energized Lan, pinning one to his vest as well. "This honor is given to those who risk their lives for the sake of protecting our country from outside threats, just as you have. Creamland will never forget your bravery, and neither will I."

She stood back, taking a good look at the two Netbattlers in front of her, beaming. "I personally thank the both of you, from the bottom of my heart. Remember that Creamland's doors are always open to you." She gave a formal curtsy to both of them, as Lan and Chaud bowed back respectfully.


"The Blue Star of Creamland... that's just phenomenal, Lan. I've never even seen one, though I've always dreamed of receiving an honor like that..."

Lan grinned, sitting in the lobby of Creamland Castle some time later, talking to his father on his PET. "Well, this one's mine, you can't have it."

Around him, government workers walked about with Electopian Officials, still sorting out the mess that had been caused. The other tournament Netbattlers were also standing around, awaiting transportation to the airport. All of them were rather eager to get themselves home, after the ordeals and humiliation they had suffered; most of them had always dreamed of saving the day with their Netbattle skills, and were heavily chastened by the knowledge that someone else had taken the role of hero while they languished in captivity.

Yuichiro smirked. "I wouldn't think of it. At least I'll get to see it for myself when you come home."

"I thought you'd be coming here, after all that's happened," Lan responded. "But you're still there?"

His father nodded. "I was going to head over there with the other Officials, but by the time we could even get a flight scheduled, you and Chaud had already taken care of everything. I thought about going anyway, but in the end I didn't think I'd be of much help. Plus, SciLab is kind of a mess right now."

"Yeah, that's what Chaud said," Lan replied. "Officials everywhere, and the SciLab OS was deleted too, I heard."

"It was. Backups, too, so we can't just restore it. Honestly, it's kind of a blessing in disguise. The old one was nearly twenty years old. It was slow and complicated and everyone hated it."

Lan let out a laugh. "Well, now you can make a better one."

"Don't worry, we will," his father answered, eagerness in his voice. "We've already got a preliminary system up and running. It's not ready to run any jobs, but it's already a lot more promising than the old one."

"Really? Already?" Lan raised an eyebrow. "That was fast."

"The Officials who were looking at the Creamland Mother Computer found some extra data left behind, and sent it over for us to look at," Yuichiro explained. "We analyzed it, and found that it was extremely efficient in processing large amounts of data, so we used it as the basis of our new OS. Want to take a look?"

Lan blinked, confused. "A... look? At an OS?" He watched as his father walked over to a nearby screen and powered it on; once it finished humming to life, a familiar sight greeted Lan and Megaman's eyes.

"Iris!" they exclaimed at once, as her face smiled back at the both of them, excited.

"There wasn't enough data left to reconstruct her frame, but she doesn't seem too fussed about it," Yuichiro continued. "She tells us that this is what Nebula was using her for, more or less, but she seems happy doing the same for us. It'll definitely be strange working on a system that wants to design its own interface, but it'll probably be better in the long…" He cut himself off, realizing he was rambling. "Anyway, she'll be staying here for quite a while, to say the least."

Lan grinned. "We'll have to pay her a visit when we get home, huh, Megaman?"

Megaman grinned and nodded. "You bet! We need to thank her for stopping Colonel."

"I'm sure she's looking forward to it. Your mother and I can't wait to see you, either. She's probably going to be doting on you night and day until you've recovered."

Lan nodded. "Our flight leaves in about three hours. We should be there really late tonight."

"We'll see you then. Have a safe flight." He ended the call and looked up, watching as the other Netbattlers started walking out the door, toward the airport shuttle that had just arrived. He stood up slowly, grabbing his roller suitcase and starting to follow the others.

"Lan, wait." Lan turned around, surprised, to see Princess Pride walking in his direction.

"Princess? What is it?"

She walked up rather close to Lan and leaned in, her voice a bit hushed. "If I may... could I ask you to hold off on departing, for now?"

"Huh?" Lan wondered. "How come?"

"There is one more favor I would like to ask of you... if I could just speak to you in private..." The princess backed away and moved toward a door leading to the restricted area of the castle, smiling and beckoning for him to follow. Lan nodded, partly curious and partly nervous, as he followed her back to where no one else could see.


Story 2: The Sun And The Moon

End