New Megaman Battle Network

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

Story 3: The Dimensional Core


Chapter 7: The Belly of the Beast

Lan sat absentmindedly in the SciLab lobby, preloading Battlechips into his PET, creating a special preset folder for the task that lay ahead. He looked out the large windows in front of him, taking on the sight of Den City in the night; it was midnight, the tail end of an extremely long, trying day, and the city was asleep for the most part. Lan's adrenaline was starting to run low, but he was still wide awake, and would have to be for the next few hours. He had one more task in front of him before he could finally rest.


Shortly after Frostman's defeat, the crew had moved on to Yuichiro's research lab, partially relieved that they had managed to get out of the siege alive, and partially worried about the mysterious Navi that had appeared to retrieve Frostman's frame. While Dr. Regal and Dr. Hikari were thinking to themselves about their next move, Lan decided to take the opportunity to get some answers.

"Hey, Dad?"

"Huh?" Yuichiro turned around a bit to look at his son, along with the other people in the room. "What is it?"

"Dad, what exactly happened to me and Megaman?" Lan inquired. "Was that Cross Fusion or whatever you were saying? Did that weird Battlechip do that?"

"Right, yes, that was Cross Fusion." Yuichiro turned in his chair to face Lan, as Dr. Regal went back to work. "In a Dimensional Area, computer programs are able to take on a physical, tangible form. Cross Fusion takes advantage of that, and allows an operator and their Navi to…" He took a moment to find the words he was looking for. "It's like your PET becomes an extension of your body, like a suit of armor. We made it so that it looks like the Navi currently in your PET, plus the visor. The Synchro Chip I gave you kicks off the process."

"How can you do that, though?" Mayl chimed in, sitting on a bench close by, next to Dex. "It doesn't seem possible, merging with a Navi like that. I've never even heard of anything like that before."

"The answer is absurdly complicated," he responded. "I don't really know how to explain it well. Some of it I barely understand myself. For now, let's just say Lucius and I do it with magic."

Lan nodded, knowing that he would never understand any explanation his father could give. "Alright. So how do Battlechips and other stuff work? Me and Megaman tried using some, but they wouldn't always work."

"We're still working on the Battlechip activation methods." Yuichiro pushed his glasses up. "Eventually, we want the user to be able to insert them during Cross Fusion, but that's not even close to working right at the moment, so we're using a workaround. You know the preset folders you have stored in your PET?"

"Yeah, I know." Lan pulled out his PET and opened up the Folders tab; Mayl and Dex leaned in, as Lan checked out his currently preset tournament folder. "Is this what Cross Fusion uses?"

"Yes. The data's all preloaded, so activating the Battlechips is a snap. It should be, anyway, in theory."

"No, it definitely is," he confirmed. "Way easier than using Battlechips normally, that's for sure."

"Well, that's good to hear," his father responded. "We don't have much data on that to go on. Only one other person has ever gotten the Cross Fusion to work for them properly. I'm a bit surprised you were able to do it, really."

"Really?" Lan glanced up, looking a bit puzzled. "I mean, it wasn't hard. I just put the chip in my PET. I did it by accident, even."

"Well, that's not what I mean," Yuichiro began to explain. "Whether or not you can Cross Fuse correctly depends on the relationship between the Navi and the operator, how synchronized the two of them are. Right now, Cross Fusion is only feasible if the operator/Navi team have a Synchronicity Rating of 95 or higher."

"95? I bet me and Gustman have that easily!" Dex boasted, speaking up for the first time, as he stood up from the bench. "There's no oner closer than me and him! Do you think we could do Cross Fusion?"

"Erm... no offense, Dex, but probably not." Dr. Hikari glanced over at him. "It takes an immense amount of synchronicity to get a rating that high. Mindset, construction, all sorts of things are considered in the rating. Maybe later, after more work on Cross Fusion, you'd be able to."

Dex grumbled, as Mayl spoke up. "But Lan can do it? He's got a 95?"

"Lan and Megaman, they've probably got a 99, to be frank," Lan's father answered, to the surprise of all the children present. "They're probably the most synchronized team on the planet. It's because of the way Megaman is constructed. The two of them are about as synchronized as they can be."

"Wow, really?" Lan looked down into his PET. "Megaman, did you know that?"

"Yeah, kinda," Megaman replied. "I was made that way, so the two of us would be really similar. I didn't know that it would let us do this Cross Fusion, though..."

"That was a bit of an unintended side effect," Dr. Hikari addeed. "A fortunate one, though, in this case. If it weren't for you two, who knows what might have happened to us." The room went quiet for a moment, contemplating the fate they had narrowly escaped, before Dex spoke up again.

"Dr. Hikari? What's that Dimensional Core thing Frostman wanted? It sounds super powerful or important or something." He rubbed his neck lightly, remembering how far Frostman was going to go to get his hands on it.

"The Dimensional Core..." Yuichiro leaned forward, holding his jaw in his hand. "It's something that should be able to exist, in theory, but we've never managed to make one. It's basically the next evolution of a Dimensional Area and Cross Fusion." Lan looked up again, intrigued, as his father continued.

"Right now, programs can only come into the real world inside of a Dimensional Area. A Dimensional Core is basically a... sphere, I think, that exists in the real world and the Net at the same time, and it acts as a direct link between the two. In the space immediately surrounding a Dimensional Core, it's like being in a Dimensional Area."

"Wouldn't it be better to just make a Dimensional Area, though?" Mayl wondered. "Those can be really big, why would you need a Core?"

"Well, there's one major difference." Yuichiro dropped his hands into his lap. "A program, or a person, should be able to completely absorb a Dimensional Core, and then they'd be able to Cross Fuse anywhere at all. That's why we were trying to synthesize one. Then once we have that, we can move to portable, temporary Cross Fusion. Think of the uses of that." The kids did exactly that, a bit awed by the possibilities.

"How long exactly would a Dimensional Core last?" Lan wondered. "Are we talking like a few hours, or..."

"A major core, like we're trying to create?" Dr. Hikari shook his head. "No, no, we're talking weeks. I'd say three weeks or so on a single core."

"Three weeks? That's nuts," Lan responded, looking down at his PET and thinking of bringing Megaman into the real world whenever he wanted. "Forte could really use that for his... he could..."

Lan's voice trailed off, as realization hit him like a bag of bricks. With a Dimensional Core, Forte could materialize himself into the real world for weeks at a time. With the level of power he possessed, he could do incalculable levels of damage on a mere whim, and with his Dark Aura, he could be close to indestructible. If he traveled through the Net, he could appear anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes. He would be able to bring this planet to his knees, just like he had threatened a month ago in Cream Square.

His father looked down at him, seeing the horrified expression on his son's face, an expression that Mayl and Dex shared. "So you understand now."

Lan quickly looked back up. "How long could it take Forte to create a core?"

"I don't know. I wish I did." Yuichiro shook his head. "Could be weeks, could be days. Could be hours."

The room went silent again.


The plan was rather basic and hastily conceived. Forte would be lured away from the research lab by the attempted synthesis of a Dimensional Core, which would be nothing but a simple trap. As he battled with a number of stock Navis at the main SciLab campus, Lan and Chaud would use a small, portable Dimensional Area to get inside Forte's lab. They would then Cross Fuse with their respective Navis and destroy all the equipment they could, as well as the generators creating the Dimensional Area. If all went well, Forte would return to a demolished lab, with Lan and Chaud long gone, along with Forte's research notes.

Lan looked down, slotting the last few chips in, then organized his preset folders. He had included a large number of slow yet powerful attacks, with some Program Advances thrown in for good measure, and a small amount of quick attacks like blades. Chaud had cautioned that while their main targets were large, immobile machines, the place would surely be guarded; if they were unlucky, there would be a powerful Dark Navi at the helm. Lan had planned accordingly, filling up as many folders as he was allowed and hoping his reflexes would hold out.

Lan wasn't alone. Mayl stood silently in the doorway, watching him work, her presence unknown to him. She stood watching the side of his face, trying to figure him out and failing miserably. He had been so energetic in demanding to stop Forte immediately, yet looking at him now, his face was solemn and resigned, almost as if he was dreading what he had to do. Had he had a change of heart?

She eventually stepped forward into the room. "Hey..."

Lan looked over, a bit surprised but relaxing upon seeing her. "Hey..."

"Is that... um... going well?" Mayl motioned to Lan's PET.

Lan looked down, sensing this was going to be a bit of an awkward conversation. "Yeah, I guess so... as well as it's going to go, anyway."

Mayl sighed. "Lan… do you really have to do this? Is this the best idea we have?"

"It's the only idea we have," he responded, his voice low, not looking up.

"It's so dangerous, though," she protested. "I know you enjoy doing this hero stuff, but-"

"Excuse me?"

Mayl abruptly stopped, a bit shocked by Lan's sudden harsh tone, as he turned back to face her. "You think I enjoy this? You think I like putting myself in danger? You think I like having people and Navi monsters trying to kill me all the time?!" He stood up, his PET falling sideways off his leg and onto the chair. "I hate this, Mayl! I hate everything about this! This is the worst day of my life!"

She stood and stared for a moment, stunned at being shouted at, before glaring and stepping forward, not about to take this without defending herself. "Well, if you hate this so much, then why are you doing it?!"

"What else am I supposed to do?" he demanded, standing his ground as she marched toward him. "Just stay at home and do nothing while Forte threatens everything?!"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "What Forte does isn't any of your business! You don't have to be the one who stops him!"

"Who else is going to do it?" Lan shot back. "There are only two people on the entire planet who can use Cross Fusion, and both of us are going in."

"Why do we have to use Cross Fusion, though? That can't possibly be the only way to deal with this. There has to be something else. We're in a building full of scientists, they must be able to figure something else out!"

"This is what they figured out, Mayl!" he retorted. "This is it! This is what some of the smartest scientists in the world went with. If you can think of something better in the next ten minutes, let us know."

"Lan… you're twelve years old!" Mayl's anger and frustration was starting to give way to desperation. "You have no business trying to save the world! You're not supposed to be fighting off Dark Navis, or going to foreign countries and coming back with broken ribs, which you still won't tell me about!"

Lan turned away from her, grabbing his PET again, having no desire to relate how his injury in Creamland came about. "I'm tired of this."

"I don't care!" she fired back at him. "I don't want you going out there, Lan! I don't want to know what else could happen to you! I don't want to see what other broken bones or worse that you come back with!"

"Broken bones?" Lan hissed, turning back to face her, now pushed to his breaking point. "You mean like a broken arm? Or a concussion and twelve stitches, when my head hits the window of an exploding cable car?!"

"What…" Mayl's anger was swiftly replaced with confusion, then shock, as she realized what he was referring to. He kept his eyes on hers, his furious expression softening a bit.

"Do you have any idea what that's like?" he asked, his voice less harsh, glad that he had managed to get through to her. "To see your best friend lying there, bleeding, not knowing if she's alive or dead?"

She shook her head lightly, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape, barely breathing. He exhaled, some of the tension leaving his body.

"You can hate me for this if you want," he continued. "I don't care. If I never have to see you like that again, it's worth it." The pair kept their gazes fixed on each other for several long, silent moments.

"Lan." The two of them turned around to see Chaud standing in the doorway; his eyes looked tired, but he was alert all the same. "Forte's on the move. Let's go." Lan nodded, walking toward the door, as Chaud headed off ahead of him.

"Go home, Mayl," he advised, walking past her. "Get some sleep. It's going to be a long night." He was nearly at the door when he heard her speak again.

"Lan…" He stopped in his tracks, hearing her voice breaking, giving him pause. He turned back toward her, watching as her eyes filled with tears.

"Ah geez, Mayl…" He took a step back toward her, not wanting to leave her in this state. She dashed toward him in response, wrapping her arms tightly around him and burying her face in his shoulder.

"Lan, I'm so sorry… you were doing all this for my sake, all this time… I had no idea…"

He held her back awkwardly as she squeezed him tightly, trying to suppress sobs. "Come on, Mayl, enough with the waterworks… I'll be fine, really…"

"I'm so scared, Lan," she replied, as if she hadn't heard him. "Every day now, I'm scared of what might happen to you, that you might get hurt, or worse…"

He sighed, not wanting her to waste time worrying over him. "Mayl…"

"You know I love you, don't you, Lan?"

"Of course I know that." He placed his hands on her shoulders and carefully separated the two of them, looking her in the eyes. As outwardly affectionate as she was, she rarely used that word with him, so her using it now must have meant she was well and truly terrified. "Mayl, listen to me. I'm not going in there alone. I've got Megaman, Chaud and Protoman all on my side. We're going to keep each other safe, and we're all going to come back unharmed. Do you believe me?"

She swallowed hard and nodded, not sure if she really believed that, but desperately wanting to. His expression softened. "Good…"

"I hate this," she spoke, sniffling. "I hate this so much. I just want everything to go back to normal."

"I know, Mayl." He nodded at her. "That's what I want, too. It'll happen soon, I'm sure of it. But I have to do this first."

"I know you do," she responded, resigned. "And I know you can do it. If anyone can, it's you."

He forced a smile onto his face. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." She tried and failed to return the smile, still too choked up and upset. She reached out to hold his face in her hands instead, leaning in and planting a kiss on his cheek, before hugging him tightly again.

"Ave iyneci," she spoke softly into his ear. "Please be careful, Lan… please come back."

"I will." Lan put his arms around her as well, comforting her properly this time. "Ave iyneci" was one of a very small number of Ameroupic phrases that Lan understood. It was a common shorthand for the platonic Ameroupic phrase "averit aerti iynecilud" which translated roughly to "you are in my heart always". Mayl had used it often when she was younger, being an affectionate and playful little tyke; as the two of them had grown older, the phrase had become more infrequent, though more sincere as well. Lan never said it back, but he didn't need to. Mayl knew she was just as important to him as he was to her.

"Lan!" Dr. Hikari's voice rang out harshly, causing the two of them to jump out of their shoes. "We don't have all night! Are you coming or not?!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Lan answered angrily, walking out into the hall; Mayl finally smiled, feeling better, and followed him out as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. The two of them went up to Dr. Hikari's office, Lan to be prepped for the mission ahead, and Mayl to find a nice bench to sleep on.


Ten minutes later, Lan and Chaud were being driven to Forte's research lab by one of Dr. Hikari's lab assistants, who was clearly not happy to be doing this, and was eager to turn around as soon as he could. Chaud was making adjustments on his PET, as Lan looked out the window, looking for the Dimensional Area that would soon come into view.

"So once we get in there, what's our plan, exactly?" Lan wondered aloud. "We can't just go in guns blazing, can we?"

"No, we can't. That's the perfect way to get every Navi inside on our backs," Chaud responded, not looking up. "Stealth is the name of the game. We find the Dimensional Area generators as quickly as we can, and destroy them before anyone realizes we're there."

"What if they're guarded?"

"They will be guarded," the young Official answered. "We'll have to be smarter than the guards. Nobody said this would be easy."

"Great…" Lan took a deep breath, trying to swallow the nerves that were starting to creep in. "I don't know how we're going to do this…"

"We're going to do it because we have no other choice." Chaud placed his PET back into its holster. "Failure is not an option, so we're going to succeed."

"Right…" Chaud's words were little comfort to Lan, who could feel the pressure piling itself on even more. He had feigned confidence back at SciLab to try and assuage Mayl's fears, but he was unable to do so here, as they approached their fearsome destination. As he tried to summon the courage that had helped him to protect Mayl and his father, he started a bit as he felt Chaud's hand come to rest on his shoulder. He quickly turned and found himself looking into the boy's eyes.

"You'll be fine. We both will," Chaud offered. "You're one of the best Netbattlers in the country. Just keep your head about you. We'll both come out alive on the other side of this."

Lan was shocked at this uncharacteristic display of concern and encouragement, too stunned to speak for a couple seconds. He eventually managed to nod. "Y… yeah…" He took another breath. "Yeah. Alright." Chaud withdrew his hand, as Lan looked out the window again, slightly flustered, but calmer than he was before, as the car pulled over to the side of the road.

"You two should walk from here. We don't want to drive too close," the driver spoke, clearly relieved that he wouldn't have to get any closer.

Lan nodded and got out, along with Chaud, and they started walking toward the multicolored dome as the car quickly turned around and headed back toward SciLab. He forced himself to walk forward toward the laboratory, lagging a couple of steps behind Chaud, for once glad to let him take charge. After a minute's walk, the two boys stood in front of the Dimensional Area, looking up.

"Ready?" Chaud inquired.

"No," Lan answered. "Let's do this."

Chaud nodded, pulling a strange device out of his pocket and fiddling with it for a moment. After a second, a strange light emitted from the device and surrounded the both of them, forming a small Dimensional Area that intersected with the larger one. A strange humming sound filled the air for a moment, and the rainbow wall immediately in front of them vanished, the two Dimensional Areas cutting themselves off. The two boys walked forward through the opening, into the larger dome.

"Good, it worked," Chaud muttered. "Time to Cross Fuse, then." Lan nodded, holding up his PET and inserting the strange Synchro Chip he had received before. In a quick flash of light, he found himself once again enveloped in Megaman's blue armor and bodysuit. Looking to his left, he saw Chaud standing beside him in red armor similar to Protoman's, wearing a pointed helmet and a green visor over his eyes. Without wasting a moment, Chaud began walking forward into the building, and Lan followed after.

"So what's the plan of attack here?" he whispered.

"Split up, cover as much ground as we can, find the generators," Chaud replied, as they approached the wide-open front door. "Try not to get spotted. If you do get spotted, take down whoever it was who saw you immediately, before they can sound an alarm."

"Got it," Lan nodded, as they looked in the front entrance. Expecting some hustle and bustle, or at least a handful of guards, they were both surprised to find the entryway totally empty.

"Uh... where is everybody?"

"Good question," Chaud replied, peeking his head in and looking around. "My guess is they're all working on that Dimensional Core right now. No guards, even... Forte's recklessly overconfident." He stepped inside, turning his head to look down two different hallways, with Lan close behind.

"Let's split up. You head right, I'll head left. Megaman, if you and Lan get yourselves in trouble, contact Protoman and we'll be there ASAP." Chaud turned and started walking slowly down the left hallway, not waiting for Lan's response, sticking close to the wall and listening for approaching bodies. Lan watched him go for a moment.

I guess we have our marching orders, Megaman's voice commented in Lan's head. Be careful, alright?

"Don't have to tell me twice," Lan answered. He started down the other hallway, hyper-vigilant, moving as quietly as he knew how.


Back at SciLab, Dr. Hikari and Dr. Regal had returned to the Cross Fusion experiment lab, prepared to engage in an experiment that was destined to fail. They fiddled with various keyboards, levers and knobs in the control room, looking out through the glass window at a black, metallic pedestal in the large main room, where Lan had battled Frostman. They rushed through preparations as quickly as they could, trying not to think of the danger they were about to put themselves in.

"All done on my end," Regal eventually spoke, turning back toward his colleague.

"Almost ready on… okay, ready," Yuichiro answered. "Time to do one of the dumbest things I've ever done."

Regal nodded, pushing a button on the console in front of him, causing the pedestal in the other room to start humming to life. Roughly one minute later, a glowing, multicolored cloud of energy began to form a few inches above the top of the pedestal.

"Well, it's going better than before," Yuichiro commented.

"Let's hope it doesn't go too well, though," Regal added. "Let's keep going."

The two scientists continued to type away at their keyboards, trying to stabilize the bizarre reaction that was occurring in the next room. Three minutes later, a very quiet alarm started beeping on Dr. Hikari's PET, causing both of them to stop breathing for a moment. Regal looked through the window for anything out of the ordinary, finding nothing, while Yuichiro glanced over cautiously at another screen, showing energy signatures in the adjacent room. Alongside the large cloud of energy that was growing greater and greater over the pedestal, there was one more in the room, hiding out in the corner, taking on the shape of a humanoid creature with two large fins atop its head.

"He's here," Dr. Hikari spoke quietly, feeling his voice shaking a bit. "Start up the generators."

Dr. Regal nodded, moving to another control panel and pressing a number of buttons on it, and the two listened as the Dimensional Area generators in the adjacent room started whirring as they powered on. After a few seconds, the room was bathed in the rainbow glow of a form-fitting Dimensional Area.

"Now! Do it!"

Both scientists sprung into action at the same time, working quickly to put their plan into action. The pedestal in the room quickly went silent, as the energy hovering just above it quickly dissipated. Seconds later, a dozen orange Official Navis appeared in the room at once, all of them staring at the same corner, summoning swords and cannons and numerous other weapons.

Dr. Hikari ran to the window, followed by Dr. Regal, both of them focusing on the corner in question. They watched as a black, cloaked figure suddenly appeared out of thin air, as its Invisible chip fell away. Forte's expression registered no surprise, only disappointment and irritation, as two of the Navis ran in and swung at him with their swords. As their blades closed in, the dark, crackling shield of the Dark Aura formed around Forte, and both swords immediately shattered upon making contact with the powerful barrier.

The two Navis backed away nervously, not having expected such strong defenses, as their foe extended his arm and formed a Long Sword of his own. He dashed forward and swung his blade at his opponents, separating both of them cleanly, and he didn't even bother looking at them as their two halves fell apart, to the ground. He turned his attention to the other ten Navis, dashing forward again as they all raised their arms.

The two scientists watched with horror as the battle became a massacre. Forte's Dark Aura absorbed and deflected all incoming damage from his foes, none of whom had the time to form a more powerful attack before being effortlessly dispatched by the monstrously powerful Navi. Forte stabbed, sliced, grappled and blasted his way through the remaining ten Navis, until none of them remained, less than a minute later. Yuichiro and Regal continued to stare as the Navi dispelled his sword, jumping as he immediately turned to look at them. They stood their ground as he moved closer, thankful for the Dimensional Area barrier that separated them and kept them safe.

"I'm both disappointed and insulted." Forte hovered over to the window, his eyes locked on Dr. Hikari's. "Was this truly the best plan you could come up with? Perhaps you were too panicked to think of anything better?"

Neither scientist responded, not sure what to say in response. Forte snorted. "Cat got your tongue? Very well, then."

Both scientists jumped once again as the Navi suddenly vanished into thin air, and they looked around the room carefully, trying to find where he had gone. Immediately afterward, they heard the Dimensional Area generators slowing to a stop, and the rainbow shell covering the room quickly disappeared. Seconds later, the generators started up again, working even harder than before, and Yuichiro felt a small electric charge shoot through him as it filled the air. Just as he realized what was happening, he heard a voice from behind him that turned his blood to ice.

"Much better." He and Regal quickly whirled around, gasping and flattening themselves against the window as they saw Forte floating in the air, mere feet away, his eyes narrowed. "Now we can have a proper conversation."


"Geez, there's no one down here, either," Lan muttered, quietly sneaking down the hallway, his caution waning a bit as he continued to find nobody defending the complex.

They're probably all working on a Dimensional Core, like Chaud said, Megaman offered. That's all he'd need to start doing whatever it is he's planning to do.

Lan nodded, looking around and seeing a doorway to his left. He approached it quietly, standing next to the entrance and peeking in as quickly as he could manage. Inside, a large number of standard-issue Navis were working at mainframe terminals, typing away, studying data, and muttering to themselves. Lan could clearly see from one of the terminals what they were all working on; further back, he saw two tall and familiar machines that were humming loudly.

"Jackpot," Lan whispered to himself, ducking his head back out into the hallway. "Chaud was right on the money. And it looks like the Dimensional Area generators are in the same place."

Sure looked like it to me, Megaman replied. How are we supposed to get in there, though? We can't fight off that many Navis. Should we contact Chaud?

"Yeah, do that. But in the meantime, I've got an idea…" Lan started going through his Battlechips in his mind, activating a few of them; a second later, he was holding two Minibombs in his hand. He threw both down the hallway, past the door, where they exploded loudly. As they detonated, he ducked behind a nearby machine, concealing himself as best he could, wishing that Invisible chips worked during Cross Fusion.

"What was that?!" several voices cried out from inside the room. Most of the Navis quickly filed out, rushing toward the burnt and damaged area to inspect what had happened. Once they had crowded around, another explosion from beneath them sent the Navis sky-high, as a Mine chip was triggered right underneath their feet.

Inside the research room, the few Navis that remained moved toward the door, curious and nervous as to this sudden assault. Peeking outside, they had no time to react before a bright blue blade of energy sliced through both them and the wall, cleanly bisecting them. Lan stood in the doorway, inspecting his handiwork, watching the pieces of Navi fall to the ground; glancing over at the blast area near him, he was unable to see a single surviving foe.

"Perfect." He ran inside, stepping up to the nearest machine and sticking his sword right through the screen, inserting a Minibomb into it afterward. "Let's take care of this mess, as fast as we can. This should stop Forte in his-"

He paused, hearing a strange sound behind him, and quickly pivoted to face it. He quickly yelped and dove away, barely dodging a massive drill head moving toward him. He scrambled to get back to his feet and looked toward the center of the room, finding a red-and-gray Navi standing and staring back. The Navi's head, hands, shoulders, and even his feet all seemed to be the components of one gigantic drill; he appeared to have been designed in a rather straightforward manner.

"Megaman," the Navi spat. "I should have known you'd be showing up, after Frostman failed to take care of you..."

Lan glared back, not in the mood for a difficult battle. "Let me guess, you're probably named Drillman?"

The Navi snorted. "Good guess. Let's see if your fighting skills are as good as your wisecracks!" Drillman leapt into the air and stiffened his body like a board, arms straight down at his sides, legs together. The massive metallic parts on the various parts of his body clamped together, forming a giant, pointed drill, and he drove himself right at Lan.

"Whoa!" Lan dove out of the way once again, watching as his foe flew by, before a mysterious hole in space opened up in front of him. Drillman charged forward and vanished into it, effectively disappearing into thin air; Lan blinked and stood up, looking around the room.

"Huh? Where'd he go? Did he run away?"

I don't think so, Megaman chimed in. Let's stay on our guard...

Lan nodded, keeping his eyes and ears wide open. After a second, he heard a sound from behind him, and quickly whirled around to see Drillman appearing out of another hole in space, barreling right toward him. He put his hands out in front of him, trying to catch the incoming attacker, but the force of the impact knocked him away, and he landed heavily on his back.

"How pathetic." Lan sat up as quickly as he could, watching Drillman leap toward him, his arms outstretched, both of them ending in sharp-looking drills of their own. Before he could administer the final blow, a small cannon blast exploded against his side, knocking the enemy Navi away. Lan immediately got to his feet, seeing Chaud standing in the door, a smoking Cannon chip on the end of his arm.

"Stealth isn't your strong suit, is it?" he asked, looking both unimpressed and resigned.

Lan smirked. "I found the Core room, didn't I? I figured that if we took this room out, we wouldn't have any more trouble."

"Well, here's some trouble," Chaud repliied, turning his attention back toward Drillman. "Let's finish this quickly and get those generators shut down." Lan nodded in response, following his gaze, as their enemy got back to his feet.

Drillman frowned, not having expected any Cross-Fused Navis from SciLab, let alone two of them. "Well, this certainly makes things interesting. Time to raise my game." He pointed his arms at Lan and Chaud, firing oversized drill heads at the both of them; they dodged the attack with ease, rushing forward for a dual strike.


"I don't know why I bothered worrying about either of you." Forte kept his distance as he stared down Dr. Hikari and Dr. Regal, who were pressing themselves up against the window, fear written all over their faces. "Two of the brightest minds in the country, possibly the world, and this is the sort of half-baked trap you come up with to try and stop me. Clearly, you two don't think well under pressure."

His gaze moved past the two scientists, looking over the pedestal in the other room. "Not only that, but you're nowhere close to creating a Dimensional Core. You two are clearly months away from success, while I'll have one of my own in a matter of hours." He shook his head. "It wouldn't even be worth the effort it would take to dispose of the both of you. Really, I should be thanking you for quieting my concerns." He raised one of his arms, palm outstretched, and a ball of yellow energy appeared on the end of it. "Still…"

Dr. Regal moved quickly, diving toward his colleague and pushing him out of the way of the attack. Forte didn't bother adjusting his aim, firing the blast through the window, where it collided with the Dimensional Core pedestal, reducing it to scrap metal. Another quick series of shots made quick work of the Dimensional Area generators, which both toppled over and crashed to the ground, now useless.

Instantly, the two scientists could feel energy being sucked out of the air, as the Dimensional Area collapsed. They turned toward the generators, watching them smolder for a moment, before looking back toward where their adversary had been moments ago, to find that he had vanished. Yuichiro quickly looked around the room, his brain not yet registering that Forte had vanished from the real world; he quickly spotted the Navi looking at them both from the other side of a large computer monitor.

"There. Just for safety's sake," Forte spoke, satisfied with his handiwork. "I suppose this was worth the trip after all. Now I need to attend to more important matters."

"You…" Dr. Hikari stood up, looking Forte in the eyes, needing to buy as much time as he could. "Why are you doing this? Why are you doing any of this? This isn't who you were when you were working with Dr. Cossack." He tried to calm his pounding heart and shaking legs, pushing his fear down, needing to buy Lan and Chaud as much time as he could.

Forte's eyebrows raised, amused that this man would suddenly try to appeal to his conscience. "This is the end result of a lifetime of betrayal." He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking backward through his life. "For as long as I can remember, I've been used by one human after another, abused and then thrown away as if I were a broken tool. Repeatedly, I was abandoned left for dead, with not a single human turning a sympathetic eye in my direction."

His eyes opened again, though they weren't focused on anything in particular. "Now I've been given another chance at life, and at revenge, by my god, my creator… and I swear to him, I will succeed."

"Your… creator?" Regal stood up as well. "What do you mean? You were created in that experiment…"

"My creation was no accident." Forte's eyes snapped to Dr. Regal. "I know that for certain now. I was not synthesized. I was crafted, deliberately, by skilled and powerful hands. I have been shown the moment of my own creation… and the same power that created me is the one that delivered me from a horrible fate, after the Alpha Incident." He looked down at his own hand, which was clenched into a fist. "I will not let his mercy go to waste."

"So this god of yours showed you mercy, and your response is to show no mercy to humanity?" Yuichiro responded, sounding much more bold than he was. "That's rather ironic."

"Mercy is for those who are deserving," Forte answered coldly. "And the extent of my mercy toward humans will be tonight, when I allow the two of you to live for another few hours." He lowered his hand again. "I suggest you spend them wisely."

"Wait… wait!" Yuichiro exclaimed reflexively. The Navi's eyes focused on him curiously, wondering what else he might have to say, as he tried desperately to think of something to say to keep the conversation going. As Forte watched the man struggle for words, something finally clicked in his mind.

"You're stalling," he spoke, concern in his voice. "Why are you stalling?"

Yuichiro started to panic more visibly, still trying and failing to think of a conversation topic. Less than a second later, Forte vanished into thin air, disappearing from the SciLab network.

"No! Damn it!" He immediately reached down to grab his PET, tapping on the screen a few times and yelling into it. "Chaud! Forte's on his way back! You have to get out of there, right away!" He clenched the device tightly, not hearing any response, praying that the boys might be able to escape in time.


Lan fired a Vulcan Cannon directly at Drillman's body, as his opponent once again turned into a giant metal drill. One or two of the miniscule bullets connected, but the rest ricocheted wildly about the room, and Drillman vanished once again into a hole in space. Lan steeled himself and listened to the ambient noises around him, as Chaud looked around in confusion.

"What's this?" he wondered aloud, on edge. "Where did he go?"

"Shh!" Lan silenced him. "He's going to reappear somewhere, but you can't-"

Lan didn't get to finish, as Drillman appeared right behind Chaud and delivered a powerful kick to his head. The boy went flying across the room, crashing into a wall and falling to the floor. He groaned, dazed from the impact, not getting up.

"No! Chaud!" Lan turned back toward Drillman, who laughed, highly pleased.

"And here I thought an Official would have a bit more fight in him," he taunted. "Now let's see if I can finish you off quickly." He aimed his pointed hands in Lan's direction, firing off a large number of drill bits. Lan had to move quickly to dodge all of them, twisting and jumping and diving; as the onslaught ceased and Lan finally could look toward his foe, Drillman dashed forward and drove his foot into Lan's gut, then elbowed him in the face, knocking him across the room and into a wall.

Lan held his head for a moment as he tried to regain composure, doing his best to stay focused and collected, when a number of tall drills started shooting up out of the ground, burying their tips in the ceiling and almost completely trapping him. He looked around at his new prison, wiping blood from his mouth, and saw Drillman standing directly in front of him, grinning deviously.

"Let's see you try and dodge me now!" The Navi once again transformed himself into a giant drill, barreling straight toward his opponent, ready to put an end to this battle. Unable to escape, Lan could do nothing but throw up a Barrier chip, to try and slow his foe's approach. The pointed tip of Drillman's head was stopped only briefly by the spherical barrier, before the entire thing shattered into pieces, and Lan was forced to reach out and catch the approaching drill in his hands.

Instantly, the force of Drillman's attack pressed him up against the wall, and it took all the strength he had to keep the sharp drill from burying itself in his face. His arms trembled as he held his foe back, all of his muscles firing at once, his teeth gritted so hard he thought they might crack. Drillman was slowly advancing, one millimeter at a time, the smooth surface of his spinning head gradually slipping past Lan's fingers. It would only be a few moments before he broke through.

As Lan worked to push back his foe as hard as he could, he felt a strange clarity enter his mind, his panic fading away as it was replaced with a determined focus. He started to somehow push his opponent further back, a newfound strength surging through him, as his hands started to glow, along with the rest of his body. He eventually gripped the spinning drill head tightly in his fingers, bringing the spinning to a complete stop, before swinging the shocked Drillman sideways into the tall metal pillars that surrounded him, shattering them and freeing Lan from his prison. With another swing, he heaved the Navi across the room, where he crashed painfully into one of the Dimensional Area generators.

"Ugh… you… how did you…" As Drillman tried to stand, he was suddenly surrounded by four sharp bamboo lances, pinning him in place. He grabbed at them, trying to free himself, as Lan glanced over to his right, where Chaud had managed to get himself up on one knee.

"Chaud! Are you alright?" Lan asked, feeling the surprising strength from before leaving him, replaced with what was threatening to become a pounding headache.

"I'll live," Chaud answered, getting to his feet. "But Drillman won't. Let's finish this with a Program Advance."

Lan nodded, turning back toward his foe, who was hacking away at the powerful lances holding him in place. He focused as hard as his aching and dizzy head would allow, summoning a Fire Sword in one hand, and an Aqua Sword in another. He raised both blades above his head, joining them with an Elec Sword to form the Life Sword 2 Program Advance. To his right, Chaud had managed to successfully form a Life Sword 3, a powerful green blade of energy dancing above his head.

With a simultaneous cry, both operators swung their blades downward, sending out two powerful energy waves toward Drillman, just as he managed to free himself from the lances that had trapped him. His freedom came too late, as the two Program Advances hit him at the same time, cutting him into multiple pieces that fell limply to the ground, the life immediately evaporating from his frame. The blades continued on, cutting through the Dimensional Area generator behind Drillman, which emitted the painful noise of metal grinding against metal as it fell apart, toppling over and smashing into the other generator beside it.

As Lan and Chaud watched the machinery fall apart, they both could feel the Dimensional Area starting to fall away as well, as a strange energy was sucked out of the air. Both of their bodies glowed, their armor receding back into their PETs, until they were both standing in their normal clothes once again. As soon as Megaman's bodysuit was gone, a wave of painful nausea slammed into Lan like a tidal wave, immediately making him woozy and knocking him off his feet.

"Lan! Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Chaud rushed over, looking into Lan's briefly unfocused eyes, as the young boy took a moment to grapple with the dizziness that had overtaken him. He quickly managed to find Chaud's face, which was spinning along with the rest of the world.

"No, not hurt…" Lan muttered, feeling like jackhammers were digging into his skull. "Just… really sick all of a sudden… is that normal?"

"That's definitely not normal…" Chaud walked quickly around Lan, trying to find some evidence of a serious injury, exhaling in relief when he found none. "Hopefully, feeling sick is all it is." He offered his hand to Lan, who waved it away, not in any hurry to stand up.

"Could've been a lot worse… I'll take sick over dead any day of the week." Lan looked back at the destroyed generators, one of which was still whirring futilely, and progressively more weakly. "Did we actually do it? Did we win?"

"Yeah, we actually won." Even the normally unflappable Chaud was obviously relieved, despite his confident talk before their mission had begun. "All we need to do now is call your dad and tell him the news. Then they can start tearing this place apart."

"Thank goodness for that…" Lan grabbed his PET, looking into the screen. "Megaman, are you-" He paused, his aching head taking a minute to process the empty screen. "Wait, where's Megaman?!"

"Try jacking into the network," Chaud responded, pulling out his own PET to activate the phone function. "Sometimes after Cross Fusion, Navis don't return to the right location."

Lan nodded, slowly forcing himself to stand, one hand resting against the wall for support. He looked around the room for a jack-in port, quickly finding one on the far wall and making his way over. Pulling out his PET cable and plugging it into the wall, he turned his attention back to his PET screen, which quickly located Megaman in the network. Sensing the connection, Lan's Navi whirled around to see his face looking down at him through the screen.

"There you are, Megaman." Lan smiled wide upon seeing his Navi, far beyond thankful that everything seemed to have worked out in their favor. "Are you alright? Are you hurt or anything?"

Megaman shook his head. "No, I'm totally fine. What about you? You're looking a bit worse for wear."

"I'm just feeling sick. I'm sure I'll be better in an hour or two," Lan answered, his smile turning into a grin. It finally began to sink in just what he and Chaud had managed to pull off. They had managed to sneak into a villain's lair and disrupt his plans, as if the two of them were real-life superheroes. He could already envision himself returning triumphantly to SciLab, where his father and Mayl would be waiting for him in perfect safety.

"That's good to hear." Megaman grinned wide as well, his expression matching his operator's. "We really did it, huh? We stopped Forte right in his tracks. Let's see him make a Dimensional Core after this."

"Yeah…" Lan nodded in response, leaning against the wall, feeling all of the tension leaving his body. As he looked back at his Navi, his eye caught something in the corner of the PET screen that caused his stomach to drop. "Megaman, behind you!"

His Navi tensed and quickly whirled around, trying to find this danger, when a thin, purple beam of energy shot through the air and straight through his chest. Megaman's eyes went wide, as the beam knocked him backward, his body going slack as all of his energy left him at once. He hadn't had any time to react, and only the briefest of moments to see his attacker before he collapsed to the ground. Several yards back, Forte let out a deeply disappointed sigh, as his pointed finger returned underneath his cloak.

"Far too careless… I should have known that trap was too simple," he grumbled. "This will set me back immensely…"

The Navi disappeared in a flash of light, as Megaman's frame lay lazily on the ground. Lan tried desperately to jack Megaman out and return him to his PET, but it was far too late. He could do nothing but watch, horrified, as his Navi slowly dissolved away, deleted, into the air of Cyberspace.