New Megaman Battle Network
A complete reimagining of the universe and stories of Megaman Battle Network.
Story 3: The Dimensional Core
Chapter 12: Forte's Exhibition
Several minutes on, Forte nimbly dodged a flying blow from Gateman, grabbing him by the ankle and using his body to knock away an advancing Serenade. Both Navis tumbled to the ground, falling over each other, as their opponent stared the both of them down, barely a scratch on him.
"Surely you can do better than this," he taunted, as his two opponents got to their feet. "Is this all that's left of my old sparring partner?" Serenade cracked her knuckles, glaring up at her former rival.
"This is crazy... he's way stronger and faster than he ever was before," she commented to herself. "What the hell has he been up to?"
"I've never seen a Navi with powers like this," Gateman added. "If anyone's going to defeat him, though, it would be the two of us."
"Well, I wouldn't mind some help," she replied, dashing forward. Gateman stayed behind, looking upward at Forte and opening up the metallic gate in his chest with his hands, firing off another blast.
Outside of the Cyberworld, the stadium was abuzz with curious rumblings. Who was this mysterious cloaked Navi? Why was Gateman fighting alongside the queen of the Undernet, when they were opponents just minutes ago? Was it possible that Mr. Famous could lose?
"What the heck is going on?" Yai demanded, as she looked down at the unfolding battle. "Who is this guy?" She looked around at her two friends on either side, who were watching the battle intently, worried looks on their faces. "Guys?" After receiving no response, she prodded Mayl sharply in the side, causing her to yelp.
"Ow!" Mayl rubbed her side painfully. "That's Forte, remember? Didn't I tell you about what was going on?"
"Forte?" Yai looked back down at the field, trying to remember where exactly Mayl had mentioned him. "He's the guy who... wait... no, isn't he the guy who deleted Megaman? That's why you were trying to call Lan?"
"Yes, that's him." Mayl nodded affirmatively. "He's the Navi who's been trying to take over the world, or whatever he's trying to do. I don't know what he's doing here, though..."
"He's fighting Gateman, duh!" Dex interjected. "He wants to delete the strongest Navi in the country!"
"But why, though?" Mayl wondered. "I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much into this. It's not like I know that much about him... I don't know if anyone does." Yai shrugged in response, as they continued watching the battle along with the rest of the crowd.
"Keep going!" Gateman called out, as he continually fired his powerful chest laser at Forte, with Serenade trying to attack him after he dodged. "I think we're wearing him down!" He was incorrect; Forte was merely growing impatient.
"Hmph... disappointing," he muttered to himself, easily dodging and countering a blow from Serenade. He had expected much more out of the woman who had been his rival for so long. Had he really outstripped her by that much? Well, no matter, he thought to himself. If she no longer posed a challenge, then she no longer served a purpose.
After dodging yet another blow, he jumped high into the air and looked directly down at Gateman, his other opponent, as he readied another laser blast. Forte put his hands together and concentrated, focusing power into his hands. Moments later, a grotesque sight met the crowd's eyes, as his hands morphed into the large, open-mouthed head of some sort of dog-like beast.
"Gateman! Let's see how your laser stands up against my Gospel Cannon!" he called out, his eyes gleaming. Gateman was taken aback by the challenge, but had no choice but to accept, and the two of them both fired their beams at the same time. The two energy blasts met in midair and instantly exploded in a blinding flash of light, one that caused everybody to avert their eyes.
"Agh!" Serenade quickly covered her eyes with her arm, blinded momentarily. As the light began to recede, she uncovered her eyes again, only to find herself face-to-face with her opponent. She barely had time to react before Forte's sword stabbed directly through her chest.
"Lan? Wake up, kiddo."
Lan furrowed his brow as he stirred, his eyes opening slowly as he glanced to the side, taking in the sight of his father's face. "Dad?" He sat up and rubbed his eye, the blanket on top of him falling and bunching up on his lap. "Is it done? Is Megaman ready?"
Yuichiro nodded. "Yep, all done. Come and take a look." The boy eagerly cast the blanket off of himself and stood up, following his father to the computer desk, where Dr. Cossack was seated. Yuichiro removed Megaman's PET from the dock it was connected to, and his son reached out for it, but he handed it to the scientist sitting in the chair instead.
"So, how do we use it?" Lan asked curiously, leaning in to look at the screen.
"Your Navi needs to lay its hand on its target," Cossack explained. "It will know how to use the program after that." He started navigating through the PET's screens, slowly and deliberately for Lan's benefit, bringing up a menu that the boy had never seen. "Your Navi can store up to ten new abilities at once, which you'll see here. If all ten slots are taken and you want to acquire another, you'll have to delete one first."
"Wow, ten, really?" Lan reached out a second time for his PET, which the scientist handed over. "That's better than I thought!" His eyes ran over the empty menu several times excitedly. "This is going to be a huge deal!"
"What do you say, Lan?" His father's hand came to rest on his shoulder.
Lan quickly looked up again, remembering his manners. "Thanks! Thanks a lot!"
Cossack nodded. "Think nothing of it. I'm just doing my part." He slowly stood up, his legs pushing back Yuichiro's computer chair. "Part of me thinks was no avoiding this outcome… Bass was always a volatile one. But such a brilliant mind…" He sighed wistfully. "That Navi could have been so much more than what he's become."
Dr. Hikari nodded in agreement. "He was… is incredible. But there's nothing we can do now to change what's happened." Lan looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment, wanting to contribute to the commiseration but not sure how. He eventually looked back at the PET in his hands, backing out of menus until he was able to see his Navi's face.
"How are you feeling, Megaman?"
"I feel great," Megaman answered, his voice a bit stiff, strained. "Dr. Cossack did a great job. No problems." Lan blinked in surprise, wondering why his Navi sounded different from usual, when he noticed Megaman gesturing with his head toward Lan's unread messages. Reaching up to access his notifications, Lan's eyes shot open in surprise as he saw numerous missed calls from Mayl and Dex, as well as a number of text messages; the word "Forte" was clearly visible in the preview of one of them.
"Hey, uh…" Lan took a moment to figure out what lie to tell. "If this is done, I think I'm going to head back home. Is that alright?"
"Oh, um… sure." His father nodded after a minute. "Yeah, we're done. Go home and get some rest. I'm just going to see Dr. Cossack off."
Lan nodded, already turning toward the door. "Alright. Thanks again. See ya." He forced himself to walk slowly as he left the office, ignoring the conversation that had resumed between the two scientists. Once Lan had left the office and traveled several steps down the hallway, he started speedwalking toward the elevator, trying to move as fast as he could without drawing undue attention, immediately opening his unread messages. His eyes bugged out as he read their contents.
"What?! He's at the Famous exhibition?! Is he still there?"
"I don't know," Megaman answered. "We need to find out what's happening over there."
Lan started to run as he pulled up the phone function on his PET, nearly colliding with a researcher as he did so. "Let's get going, then! I'll try to call them in the meantime."
"You want to go there now?" his Navi responded, a bit surprised. "Are you sure you're feeling up to it?"
"It doesn't matter if I am or not," Lan answered. "If he's there now, we can't let this chance pass us by." He continued running toward the elevator as he tried calling Mayl, needing more information.
Gateman stared in shock as Forte stood in front of his rival Serenade, his sword completely piercing her torso. He removed the blade smoothly and quickly, and the female Navi fell to the ground, her eyes wide as she held herself, her breathing ragged.
"It's been fun," Forte muttered, looking down at her. "But the time for games is over. I will not allow anyone to stand in my way any longer."
The Cyberarena stood still and silent for several moments, until the silence was shattered by a battle cry from nearby. A tall blue Navi, sporting many flamboyant customizations, ran up from behind and leaped into the air, bringing his foot down toward Forte's head. The cloaked Navi quickly reached out and grabbed the Navi by the ankle without even looking.
The Navi yelped and struggled as Forte brought it in front of him, looking the over-customized Navi over. He snorted, unimpressed.
"A word of advice, whoever you are," he offered. "Battle cries and sneak attacks don't mix." He tossed the Navi into the air and flung a powerful energy blast at it, creating a massive explosion and deleting the Navi instantly. Hearing another noise behind him, Forte turned around to find several more weak-looking Navis advancing toward him. As they came closer, their numbers grew, as more and more Navis started jacking into the Cyberarena.
He couldn't help but laugh, a smirk appearing on his face, in a rare moment of mirth. "How precious," he commented, starting to rise into the air. "All these children coming to play the hero and defend Electopia's champion."
He raised his hand into the air, and a large, purple energy wheel started to form, as he dodged the occasional shot of blaster fire. "Come on, then! Show me which of you brave warriors can stand up to me!" He flung the energy wheel down at the forming crowd of Navis, which cut through a dozen of them like a hot knife through butter, deleting them effortlessly.
Some of the Navis began to disperse in fear, their operators jacking them out, while others doubled down and increased their attacks. Forte dove down into the crowd, grabbing one Navi and crushing its throat in his hand, before flinging it back into the mass of Navis. As he continued his brutal onslaught on the mob of opponents, he failed to notice a short pink blur moving through the crowd and toward Serenade.
Roll looked around quickly, making sure that Forte was distracted, and that Gutsman and Glyde were safe and unharmed. Seeing that they were out of harm's way, she knelt down next to Serenade and placed her hands on the hole that Forte had made, closing her eyes and focusing. The fallen body began to glow a light pink, as the hole quickly repaired itself.
Serenade's eyes fluttered briefly, then shot open as she sat up and looked around. "What..." She looked down at her abdomen where the injury had been, only to find it gone.
"Don't strain yourself," Roll warned. "I was able to fix your wound, but you're still really low on energy."
"The hell with that..." The injured Navi struggled to her feet. "I'm not going to just stand by while…" She stood up and started stumbling toward the cloaked Navi, but Roll blocked her path, putting her hands on Serenade's shoulders.
"Come on, think!" she retorted. "You couldn't defeat him when he was at full power, what makes you think you can now?"
"Doesn't matter." Serenade tried to get past, eager to fight again, but with her strength sapped, she wasn't as strong as the Navi holding her back. "Who else is going to be able to take him down?"
"We'll be-" Roll began, before a loud clang made them both turn around, and they watched as Forte clashed swords from above with a red Official Navi that had dropped in. Forte and Protoman jumped back a moment later, dashing toward each other to cross swords again. As Forte swung, Protoman ducked to deliver a successful Minibomb blow to his opponent's body, pushing him back. Growling in frustration, Forte dodged another sword swing and grabbed Protoman by the wrist, flinging him across the Cyberarena. As he watched the Official Navi fly off, he grunted as a barrage of small-arms fire hit him in the back.
"We'll be fine!" Roll continued. "This battle isn't that important. You need to get strong again in case you need to battle him later!"
"Grr..." Serenade clenched her fist, hating to leave, before she finally teleported off. Sighing in relief, Roll began to dash around again, looking for Gutsman and Glyde, or any other Navi she could help out.
Lan caught his breath as best he could, seated on a cable car that was traveling through downtown, taking him closer to his destination of DenDome. He clenched his fist tightly, praying that his phone call would finally go through, after a half-dozen attempts. Finally, after numerous rings, he saw a face appear in his screen.
"Lan!" Yai exclaimed in surprise. "Took you long enough! We all called like a dozen times!"
"My PET wasn't working!" Lan replied, not wanting to waste time with a full explanation. "What's going on? Forte is there?"
"Yes! He showed up and started fighting Mr. Famous's Navi, and someone else! Now we're all trying to fend him off!"
"All of you?" Lan's eyes nearly popped out. "You mean you guys, too?"
"Of course!" Yai answered. "Everyone else is doing it, why wouldn't we join in?"
"You're trying to fight Forte?! Are you crazy?!" Lan gripped his PET more tightly in his hands. "Jack out of there, now! He's going to delete all of you!"
Yai's natural combativeness fell away, not used to seeing Lan so panicked. "I mean… I'll try to tell them, but you know how Dex can be!"
"Ugh, for…" Lan ran his fingers through his hair. "I'll be there as soon as I can! Just don't get deleted before I show up!"
"We won't!" Yai reassured him, with a false confidence that was growing weaker by the second. She ended the call, eager to get back to operating her Navi, as Lan looked out at the streets in front of him, trying to will the cable car to go faster.
Protoman rushed forward, accompanied by Gutsman and two other generic Navis, as Forte tended to some more attackers to his right.
"Alright, now don't attack until I-" he began, before the two additional Navis dashed forward, overeager, and started firing their blasters. Forte quickly turned and dispatched them with a single swipe of his sword; Protoman cursed and hit the brakes, putting up his shield as his opponent dashed forward, while Gutsman leaped out of the way.
Forte's fist shattered Protoman's shield, and though it softened the blow, the force of the strike still knocked the official Navi a good distance away, his chest cracked and badly damaged. Forte hovered above the attacking crowd for a moment, watching him land.
"Hrm." He watched as Protoman struggled to get up, holding his chest. "I could have sworn I've dealt that Navi lethal damage more than once now. He's starting to become a real pain." He turned around to delete more fodder, but a light pink blur appeared in the corner of his eye, one he hadn't noticed before. Diving through the crowd with his sword out, deleting more Navis, he re-emerged above the fray to see a pink-colored Navi kneeling next to the Official, healing his wounds.
"You okay?" Roll asked Protoman, as he sat up. He gave her a quick nod, and they both turned around to look at Forte, jumping when they saw him racing toward them. Roll quickly tried to run off, but the dark Navi immediately had his hand clutched around her throat and lifted her off the ground.
"So, you're the one who's been making these Navis reappear once I've taken care of them," Forte grumbled, rising up into the air with Mayl's Navi in his clutches, out of range of Protoman's attacks. "If there's one thing I don't need, it's people making my life more difficult."
Roll tried to retaliate, forming her crossbow on her right arm, before Forte's fist slammed powerfully into her gut. She immediately went limp in Forte's hand, her energy sapped, as pain wracked her frame. Her adversary spun about and flung her downward, and she crashed into the ground heavily, damaging her even further. She weakly tried to stand, groaning, but her legs had no strength in them.
Mayl raced through her folder, looking for any additional recovery chips, attack chips, or anything that could get Roll out of this situation, knowing that if she were deleted, there was no bringing her back. Yai and Dex did the same, before a bright light from the arena drew their attention. They all watched in horror, along with the other Navis, as Forte flung a large energy blast down at his foe, engulfing her in a massive explosion.
"No! Roll!" Mayl could feel her heart sink as the smoke from the explosion filled the Cyberarena, causing many other Navis to shield their eyes. As the smoke began to clear, several gasps could be heard as a light blue energy shield emerged, surrounding the fallen Navi. Standing inside the barrier, inches in front of Roll's frame, was a blue Navi that many in the room recognized.
"Megaman?! Then…" Yai's eyes quickly scanned the room, and a moment later she pointed down toward the center of the stadium. "Look! Down there!" The others followed her finger, gasping as they saw Lan standing at the center console, one hand resting on his knee as he struggled for air, the other hand holding his PET that was now attached to the console. Eugene Chaud, who had his own PET connected to another port on the console, sized him up curiously.
"I was wondering when you'd show up," Chaud commented. "You look like hell."
"Yeah, thanks for that." Lan managed to stand up a bit straighter, looking back at the young Official. "Is everyone alright?"
"A lot of kids had their Navis deleted, but everyone we know is… still here, for now." He glanced up into the stands, able to see Yai handing a Battlechip to Mayl, who quickly inserted it into her PET. Lan nodded, standing up fully and looking at the large screen in the center of the room, where Forte and Megaman were staring each other down.
"You've returned sooner than I expected, Megaman," Forte spoke nonchalantly, as Megaman lowered his barrier. "Much like myself, you have a strange tendency to achieve the impossible. Tell me, how was your trip to the other side?"
"Why don't I show you?" Megaman cracked his knuckles, as a newly-healed Roll stood up behind him. "I've learned a few new tricks while I was out."
"I'm sure you have." Forte began to lower himself to the ground. "Whatever new skills you've acquired will make no difference. You had no chance against me before. Nothing has changed."
"How about we put that to the test?" Megaman retorted. "You think you can defeat me and my friends, all working together against you? Let's see just how strong you've become."
"Not just them." Gateman stepped up as well, standing by Megaman's side. "You and I haven't settled our business yet, either. I will not allow evildoers like you to threaten this nation and its people." Behind them, Roll, Protoman, and the other remaining Navis began to gather, standing as defiantly as they dared.
Forte smirked. "So... this is going to be Electopia's last stand, is it? Their best fighters all come here to try and defeat me once and for all?" He began to rise into the air again. "There is no obstacle I cannot overcome, Megaman. You don't have the slightest idea who you're dealing with. Nevertheless..." He raised his hands above his head. "I accept your challenge!" A massive, crackling ball of electricity formed above him, which he flung down at the Cyberarena.
"Jump!" Megaman instructed, leaping into the air, and his allies quickly followed suit. As the electricity hit the ground, the entire floor of the arena lit up with energy, and the cries of dozens of electrocuted Navis filled the air. The children of DenDome all cried out in surprise and fear as their Navis were deleted, one by one. By the time the attack had subsided, only seven Navis remained: Forte, Gateman, Megaman, Protoman, Roll, Gutsman and Glyde.
"Now this is the sort of battle I was looking for. Myself and six competent opponents." Forte touched ground again, staring down the blue Navi in front of him, grinning deviously. "I look forward to seeing how you've grown while you were away."
While half the dome lamented the loss of their Navis, the other half watched on in amazement at the seven remaining battlers, enraptured, wanting to see what would happen next. After a minute, Protoman finally dashed forward, his sword by his side; the others joined him quickly, and the battle began anew.
