New Megaman Battle Network
A complete reimagining of the universe and stories of Megaman Battle Network.
Story 3: The Dimensional Core
Chapter 3: Descent of Darkness
The security alarm continued to blare through SciLab, both in the real world and the Cyberworld, as Navis ran about to try and get the building locked down. Dozens of viruses had been found in the halls of SciLab so far, posing a threat to everyone present, and so far their only solution was to close every door they could to keep them contained. Dozens of copies of Iris's Navi avatar flew through the air, guiding Official Navis from one place to the next.
One of these Irises was hovering in front of Megaman as he ran, a map having appeared in the air in front of her, more for his benefit than her own. He was moving as quickly as he could to the network location of the room where Lan's classmates were, wanting to do something to help ensure their safety, though he had no idea what that might be.
"We're nearly there," she confirmed as they rounded a corner.
"Is everyone alright?" he asked, picking up the pace a bit. "The viruses haven't gotten to them, have they?"
"The children look distressed, but they're unharmed." Iris pulled up a security camera view of the class; everyone was huddling together, as Ms. Mari tried to urge everyone to remain calm. "The doors have been securely locked, though I'm not sure if these viruses can break through."
"I'd rather not find out." Megaman continued following Iris further into the SciLab network, screeching to a halt as four Mettool viruses came into view. All of them looked like translucent holograms, much like the viruses that were nearby in the real world. One of them was swinging their pickaxe into the air repeatedly, where it seemed to collide with some invisible wall. He paused, watching the Mettool work for a couple of moments.
"Iris, bring up that camera again?"
She quickly did so, showing a view of the four viruses that were in the real world at the moment. They watched as one of the viruses slammed its pickaxe into the locked metal door in front of it, not making much progress, but determined to break it down eventually. Megaman's eyes moved back and forth between the virus in the camera and the one in front of his eyes, seeing the two move in exactly the same way, mirror images of each other. It didn't take long for either of them to put the pieces together.
Lan's Navi looked upward. "Lan, send me a Cannon!"
"Got it!" came the reply. Seconds later, Megaman's arm glowed briefly as it changed shape, transforming into a larger weapon. He carefully aimed at the Mettool that was swinging into the air before firing, his shot hitting the mark and instantly deleting the virus. The other three jumped in surprise before turning toward him, advancing angrily. He felt a Sword appearing on his other hand as he started to run forward, and seconds later the remaining viruses had been dispatched.
"Megaman, look!" Iris exclaimed urgently as he turned back around. She gestured toward the security camera footage, which now showed an empty room; the viruses that were there previously had vanished.
"They're gone… so they were the same viruses after all." He walked back over to Iris. "Partly in the real world and partly in the Cyberworld… how is that even possible?"
"I don't know," she answered. "That's a question for the scientists here. They'd have to study one of the viruses a bit more."
"Well, they're not going to get the chance." He glanced in her direction. "Can you tell where the viruses are? Can you mark them on your map?"
"Of course." She summoned a map in front of them both, already marked up with a number of glowing red dots.
"Good." Megaman held his sword in front of him. "Let's go hunting."
Minutes later, the number of dots on the map had dropped significantly, with only a handful remaining. Megaman had transformed into his AquaCustom style, a Long Sword formed on one arm and a High Cannon on the other; he had taken out over a dozen viruses already, and showed no signs of tiring out. All of the Official Navis in the SciLab network had been given their new instructions, and they had deleted nearly all of the remaining viruses.
"I only see three viruses remaining," Iris reported, traveling alongside Megaman. "They're all gathered in the same place. You appear to be the closest to them."
"Then let's go finish this off," he responded. "Is there anyone around them in the real world?"
"Possibly. There are offices in this area." She brought up her camera screen once again, gasping at the image appearing before her eyes. Megaman took a look at the footage as well, his heart dropping as he saw three Spiky viruses in Dr. Hikari's office. Yuichiro was standing in the corner, having made a makeshift barricade out of chairs and filing cabinets; it didn't look as if it would hold, as the viruses advanced on him.
"No!" He sped off as fast as he could, following Iris as she led him to the viruses as quickly as she could. He kept one eye on the map in front of him and the other on the camera footage, trying to mentally calculate how quickly he could reach the viruses. As he watched the viruses approach, only feet away from Dr. Hikari, he knew that he had no chance of making it in time.
He pushed himself to his limit, running at a breakneck pace, watching helplessly as the closest virus open its mouth and started charging up a fire blast. Just as the Spiky finished charging the attack, it suddenly cried out in pain, fizzling out before disappearing completely. Both Megaman and Iris watched, shocked, as the other two viruses followed suit, vanishing into thin air. Yuichiro stared at the empty space for a moment, confused, before leaning back against the wall and slumping to the ground, relieved.
"What the…?" Megaman finally reached the network location of Dr. Hikari's office, skidding to a stop as he saw a Navi clad in black facing away from him, arms folded. Three large shurikens were embedded in the ground nearby.
"You're much too slow, Megaman." The Navi glanced backward, not turning around.
"Shadowman?" Megaman took a step forward, wary, as Iris hovered behind him. "Why did you…"
"I was removing a few distractions," Shadowman answered, turning around. "It would be difficult to resume our battle with those things running around causing havoc."
"Our battle…" Lan's Navi brandished his Long Sword, standing up straight. "You're not providing security for your client anymore?"
"After the device exploded, there was no longer anything to keep secure." His opponent folded his arms. "There's no more obligation for me to fulfill, so I may do as I please. The only thing I still need here is a true battle with a Navi of your caliber."
"That's the only thing you care about, isn't it? I guess I should be thankful for that."
Shadowman drew some kunai from his belt. "If you want to thank me, do so by giving me a good fight."
"Megaman, can you battle this Navi yourself?" Iris hovered closer. "Should I summon help?"
He shook his head, turning back to face her. "I'll be fine. You should make sure Dr. Hikari is alright." She nodded, her avatar vanishing into thin air as she turned her focus elsewhere; Megaman turned back to face his opponent, who had adopted a battle stance.
"You had better not let me down this time," Shadowman spoke, as the two dashed toward each other, prepared to strike. Before their blades could connect, however, Shadowman found himself suddenly flung upward into the air. Megaman screeched to a stop, staring at a thin yet tall tornado that had sprung out of the ground, launching his opponent skyward. As Shadowman tried to orient himself, another larger Navi appeared above him, slamming his fists into Shadowman's torso and sending him back toward the ground, where he landed painfully.
"Whoa!" Megaman ran over to him as he slowly got to his feet, and both of them looked up at the mysterious interloper, who was slowly descending to the ground. This Navi was powerfully built, his torso a mix of black and white, with gray, plane-like wings protruding from his back; his hair was large, blue and wild, and he wore a red mask on his face, with an unusually long nose. Most disturbing of all, however, was the strange aura that surrounded him, which seemed to absorb light and darken the space immediately around his frame.
"Your work here is finished, Shadowman," the Navi spoke, his voice gruff. "And now you have seen too much. You cannot be allowed to leave."
"Tenguman..." Shadowman stood up, his hand at his hip, ready to strike with one of his weapons. "Last I saw you, you were training with Feng Tian in Cyber City. Now you've aligned yourself with Forte?" Megaman's eyebrows shot up at the mention of Forte's name, quietly putting the pieces together, as the enemy Navi continued.
"I've found a greater purpose now. The work that Forte is doing will change the world. Not even the researchers of SciLab or Nebula can measure up to him."
"SciLab? Nebula?" Megaman stepped forward. "What is he working on? What's his plan?"
"That's enough talk," Tenguman responded. "Time to eliminate you both." He brought his feet together and began to spin in place, counterclockwise, with increasing speed. As he became a blur, strong winds started moving inward toward the spinning Navi, and Megaman had to fight to keep from being pulled in; he eventually lost his grip on the ground, being swept off his feet and toward Tenguman. His opponent's strong arm slammed into the side of his head, knocking him away, but the winds immediately brought him right back. Tenguman's second blow hit him powerfully in the gut, and he fell to the ground a few yards away.
"Nngh…" Megaman sat up slowly, then quickly ducked to avoid Shadowman, who had been flung in his direction. He pulled out his buster as he stood up, firing repeatedly at his foe with one hand while a sword appeared on the other; a small whirlwind appeared in front of Tenguman, catching the buster shots and flinging them about the Cyberworld. Megaman dashed forward while dodging the projectiles, ready to attack with his blade, but he was caught off guard as his enemy's nose suddenly extended outward, striking him in the gut and knocking him back once again.
"What… what the…" He sat up, watching as Shadowman made another attempt to attack Tenguman. "Did I just get attacked by a nose?"
"A nose strike was enough to knock you down?" Lan wondered aloud. "What kind of Navi is this?" Both he and Megaman watched as Shadowman attacked repeatedly with his blade, eschewing his projectile weapons. Tenguman effortlessly dodged his every attack, quickly reaching out and grabbing the blade on the last swing; holding it in his hand, he clenched his fist tightly, and the blade shattered from the sheer force of his grip.
Shadowman barely had time to be surprised before a knee to his gut sent him flying backwards. As Tenguman outstretched his hand, forming another tornado and sending it toward the ninja Navi, Megaman started charging up a Mega Cannon he had received from Lan, hoping to catch his opponent off guard. Once he had built enough power, he fired the massive blast directly at his foe, only to have him leap up into the air at the last instant.
"Damn it!" Megaman cursed, watching Tenguman fly up and above the suspended Shadowman, clasping his hands together. he flew back downward, slamming his elbows powerfully into Shadowman's chest. The Navi's eyes bulged out as he flew into the ground, and upon landing, he didn't get back up. Both Megaman and Lan stared in shock at Shadowman's motionless frame, as Tenguman flew back down to block Megaman's view, his aura of darkness stronger than ever.
"You might as well surrender now, Megaman," he warned, staring down Lan's Navi. "You haven't managed to lay a finger on me. Your deletion is inevitable."
"You…" Megaman clenched his fist, frustrated at his complete lack of progress in this battle. "I won't let you get away with this, I don't care how strong you are!" He dashed forward, ready to attack; Tenguman snorted, and his nose extended once again, striking his opponent on the side of his neck. Megaman's eyes widened, and he fell onto his face, surprised.
"Megaman! Are you alright?" Lan inquired, anxious, as Megaman tried to push himself up. He tried to bring one of his legs underneath him to stand, but it wouldn't respond, and he collapsed back to the ground.
"My legs… what did you do to me…"
"Don't bother getting up," Tenguman replied, walking over to the fallen Navi. "Your legs are done for, and so are you." He grabbed Megaman by his upper arm and flew upward, far higher than he had flown before, nearly reaching the limits of the Cyberworld; he immediately turned around and started flying down toward the ground, prepared to slam Megaman into it as a finishing move, his arms wrapped tightly around the Navi's torso to prevent him from moving.
Megaman struggled to get free, his arms pinned and completely immobile, due to Tenguman's massive strength. He formed a Mega Cannon on the end of his arm, starting to charge it up, but without any ability to aim it, the attack would be useless.
"Megaman!" Lan called out, panicked. "You need to get free, quickly!"
"I… can't!" his Navi responded, his voice strained as he fought against his captor's grip. "He's… too strong…"
Lan gritted his teeth, clenching his PET more tightly as he watched Megaman and Tenguman plummet toward the ground, as if he could somehow send some of his strength to his Navi. As he stared at the screen, he felt his nausea and his headache disappearing, his mind emptying as he focused purely on the events unfolding in front of him. He watched as his Navi struggled to get free, his frame starting to glow faintly; Megaman's eyes widened as he felt an unusual surge of strength coursing through him, and with one final push, he managed to break one arm free of his foe's grip. Thinking quickly, he aimed the fully charged Mega Cannon upward at Tenguman's wings, shattering them both.
"What?! What are you doing?!" Tenguman demanded, as the two of them started to speed up, his descent now completely out of control.
"I'm ending this fight!" Megaman declared, as they continued to plummet uncontrollably toward the ground, exchanging his Mega Cannon for a Long Sword. Right before they hit the ground, he yanked his arm away from Tenguman as hard as he could, rotating them in midair so Megaman was underneath, and he pointed his sword skyward.
The two crashed into the ground with incredible force, causing a shockwave that knocked Shadowman some yards away and practically crushing Megaman's frame. Groaning in pain, he looked up at the Navi that was now lying on top of him, seeing the expression of shock and pain on Tenguman's face, his body fully impaled on the Long Sword. Moments later, his body dissolved into deletion, the bits of data floating away as if they were caught up in a breeze.
"Ow..." Megaman tried and failed to move his body, as the glow of his frame quickly faded. "That hurt… a lot…"
"Megaman, you did it!" Lan exhaled, holding his chest. "Don't scare me like…" He stopped mid-sentence as his nausea suddenly returned in full force, sweeping over him and causing him to nearly vomit on the spot.
"Lan? What's wrong?"
"Ugh…" Lan managed to keep his breakfast down, his clenched fist covering his mouth for a moment. "Just feel terrible… same as before… but you're okay, that's what matters…"
"'Okay' is relative… I feel like I've been hit by a truck…" Megaman used one arm to push himself onto his side, trying to sit up, breathing heavily. He blinked as an outstretched hand came into his field of view, looking up to see Iris standing over him.
"I'm glad that you're alright," she spoke, as Megaman took her hand. "I alerted the Officials as soon as I saw you battling that strange Navi, but it seems they weren't fast enough." She pulled him up into a sitting position, his legs splayed out in front of him, still not functioning correctly. He hoped that returning to his PET would fix them.
"Thanks for doing that anyway," Megaman offered. "How is everyone in the real world?"
"They are unharmed, thankfully," Iris reported. "The children were scared by the alarm and the lockdown, but they are otherwise alright. Some SciLab personnel are lying to them about what happened as we speak."
"Probably for the best…" He looked around at whatever he could see in his field of vision. On his left side, he could see Shadowman slowly getting to his feet, surrounded by three suspicious-looking copies of Iris, ready to jump in if he tried anything. Looking over to his right, Megaman blinked as he noticed a bit of chip data that hadn't been there before, exuding the same dark aura that had enveloped Tenguman.
"What's that?" he wondered aloud, as Iris hovered over toward it.
"If I were you, I would stay as far away from that as you can." He looked over to see Shadowman glancing in his direction, holding his side. "That chip data is extremely dangerous. You don't know the damage that it can do to a Navi."
"If it's that dangerous, then it cannot be left here." Iris reached down toward the chip data, encasing it in some sort of barrier before lifting it up. "I will see that it is delivered to the appropriate scientists for further study."
"Suit yourself." Shadowman turned away. "I suppose this means I won't be taking any more contracts from that backstabber Forte."
Megaman looked over at him again. "How did he hire you? What did he want you to do, exactly?"
"I don't discuss my work with anyone but potential clients." He glanced back. "You and I will finish our battle one day, Megaman. Count on it."
Megaman smirked. "I'll be ready for it." He watched as Shadowman teleported away in a beam of light, before turning his attention back to Iris, who was hovering back in his direction; her three clones quickly dematerialized.
"Are you going to be alright?" she asked, kneeling in front of him.
"I'll be fine," he answered, meeting her eyes. "I just need to rest and recharge for a little while."
"You should leave now. SciLab is about to become very busy."
He nodded. "I will. Thanks again, Iris." She gave him a small smile as he was jacked out by Lan, returning to his PET, just as the Officials arrived. She stood and turned around, starting to debrief them on the situation.
Back in the real world, Lan rolled over onto his side as he looked into the screen of his PET, his head pounding harder than it had all morning. "Mega, how are you feeling?"
"I feel about as bad as you look right now," his Navi responded, noticing Lan's pale complexion and half-closed eyes. "How about we rest now and talk later?"
"Sounds good…" Lan managed to get himself up and shamble over to his computer, wordlessly placing the device in its charging dock before returning to bed, feeling worse than ever. He mumbled something unintelligible in Megaman's direction before falling back asleep. Megaman grinned a bit before laying back and closing his eyes as well, feeling the PET starting to restore his frame.
