New Megaman Battle Network
A complete reimagining of the universe and stories of Megaman Battle Network.
Story 4: Defiance of Fate
Chapter 9: Waking Nightmare
(Warning: graphic violence ahead. If you wish to not read this content, a plot summary will be posted at the bottom of the chapter.)
Magnus Gauss slumped back into the ornate and plush chair that sat behind his office desk, a bit exhausted. It had been a long day of boring meetings, and he was greatly looking forward to getting out of the building and heading home. His daughter was coming home tonight, after being out of the country with her husband on a business trip. They had left their daughter, Ampere, in Magnus's care for this trip, as it was a very busy one, and a six-year-old girl would not likely have enjoyed herself.
As he relaxed and exhaled, he heard his PET buzzing, indicating a new message, and the specific vibration pattern told him that it was a message from his daughter. He reached for it eagerly, imagining that their plane had landed early, and they were ready to meet for dinner somewhere. As he lifted the PET and looked into the screen, however, his eyes widened as he read the surprisingly short message:
I love you Dad.
He quickly changed modes on his PET, feeling his blood going cold, and called up his daughter using the phone function. He wasn't sure that she would answer, his mind now racing with worry, but to his surprise, he heard her picking up on the other end. He could hear the sound of screaming, with alarms blaring.
"Dad!" she responded, terror evident in her voice.
"Tesla! What's going on? Why did you send me-"
"Our plane is crashing," Tesla replied, voice wavering, trying to stay as calm as she could. "We're going down. We're going to hit the ocean. I don't know if we're going to survive."
"Wh…" Magnus was stunned into silence, his heart stopped. His mouth couldn't form any words with which to respond. His daughter continued.
"I love you so much, Dad. So, so much." He heard her voice starting to break on the other end, and could envision the tears rolling down her face. "Please take care of Ammie. Tell her we love her more than anything. Tell her we're sorry that-"
Before she could finish speaking, Magnus heard a loud sound like crunching metal from the other end of the line, followed by an instant of loud screaming, before the connection suddenly went dead. Magnus sat in horrified silence, unable to do anything except listen to the soft white noise of the dead signal.
"Mr. Gauss?"
Magnus was shaken out of his memory by the voice of an assistant, trying to bring him back down to Earth. He blinked a couple of times before returning his focus to the task at hand.
"Sorry, just… thinking." He shook his head a bit, as if he was trying to wake himself up. "Everything's ready to go?"
The assistant nodded. "Yes, sir. We can start up the Dimensional Area anytime."
"Good. Let's get started, then." Gauss stepped up to the window in front of him, looking out at what lay beyond. Several large, mechanical devices were aimed at what looked like a large slab of metal, ready to fire, ready to create. "As soon as the Dimensional Area is active, bring him in and we'll begin."
The assistant nodded, walking up to a control panel, calling out orders to several other lab techs. Gauss watched the machines carefully, eager to get started, eager to undo the cruel fate that he had heard on that fateful phone call just under a month ago.
The crash had made international news, as it was the biggest mass loss of life in years. Hundreds had perished as Tesla's plane crashed heavily into the Atlantic Ocean, with only a handful of people surviving. The airline put out a statement saying that the crash was caused by a number of compounding software errors, and they would reevaluate their testing procedures. His son-in-law was found among the dead, having died on impact. Tesla's body, like many others that had sank into the water, was never recovered.
Gauss didn't react as he felt the familiar jolt run down his spine, as the Dimensional Area generators came to life. He stared stoically forward, certain that his plan wasn't going to fail now, not when he was so close.
In another part of the lab, someone else was woken up by a similar jolt, at the same time. Lan's eyes snapped open, then darted around in a panic for a few seconds, not recognizing where he was. Soon, however, his memory caught up to him, and he pieced together what had just happened. He instinctively tried to sit up and move in some way, but he was unable to; he had been tightly bound to the chair he was sitting in, with no small amount of rope. He struggled against his restraints, his chair rocking back and forth a bit, before a familiar voice caused him to quiet down.
"Lan!" Mayl called out from somewhere else in the room. "You're awake? Are you hurt?"
"Mayl!" he responded, a bit relieved. "I'm fine… don't feel hurt… are you okay?"
"I feel like I bashed my elbow somehow, but I'm fine."
"Good." He sighed a bit; that was one thing off his mind. He turned his head as far as he could in either direction, wanting to at least catch a glimpse of her, but he was unable to see anything. She must have been directly behind him.
"Gauss, that… that… argh!" He could hear Mayl struggling to move, to get free, just as he had. "When I get out of here, I'm going to…" Her anger toward Gauss had grown into a rage, preventing her from panicking.
"Well, I don't know how we're getting out of here," Lan replied flatly. He was plenty scared himself, but his instincts were taking over and keeping him calm and level-headed. "I'm not exactly an escape artist. I can't untie these."
Mayl took a deep breath, trying to keep her cool as well, thinking of anything she could do to get free, but nothing was coming to mind. They both struggled for a bit, lacking in any better ideas, before the sound of approaching footsteps made them stop. Their heads quickly snapped toward the hallway leading to the room, as the footsteps got closer; whoever they belonged to, it was closer to a child than an adult. Their eyes widened as they saw Eugene Chaud coming into view.
"Good, you're both awake." He stepped into the room, carrying three PETs in his arms, before kneeling down and depositing the devices on the floor. "We've got work to do if we're going to stop whatever's going on here."
"Chaud!" Lan exclaimed. "They didn't tie you up, too?"
"Of course they did." The young Official walked over to Lan's chair, starting to untie the ropes that bound him. "It's not the first time I've had to escape from a situation like that." Lan felt the ropes loosening just a bit, before they fell away from him, and he stood up and rubbed his arms, as Chaud moved to free Mayl as well. Lan wanted to make a snide comment about how bizarre Chaud's life was, but decided now wasn't the time.
"They've started up a Dimensional Area, haven't they? What are they trying to do?"
"I'm not sure," Chaud replied, as he finished untying Mayl's ropes as well. "But if they have Pharaohman here, it can't be anything good."
Lan goggled. "Pharaohman?!" He had only heard tales of the powerful and legendary Navi; he had emerged some years ago, wreaking havoc on large parts of the Net, before disappearing just as suddenly as he had appeared. "He's here? He's still… active?"
"Yes, and I guess so." Chaud turned back to the small pile of PETs, reaching down and picking his up. "Whatever's going on here, we need to stop it."
"How do we do that?" Mayl asked, following him and grabbing her own PET as well. She glanced into the screen, letting out a small sigh of relief to see Roll still there, waiting for her.
"We have three options. We delete Pharaohman, we shut down the Dimensional Area generators, or we cut power to the entire facility." He slid off his vest and started fiddling with the hem, as Lan watched him curiously. "We're going to try all three."
"How are we-" Mayl began to say, before she was silenced by the sound of Chaud violently ripping out one of the seams. He shook the vest a couple of times, causing three Synchro Chips that had been sewn into the vest to fall out into his open hand.
"Mayl, you look for some sort of power conduit or circuit breaker, something that's supplying power, and stop it from operating." He handed one of the three Synchro Chips to her, and she accepted it a bit nervously. "Lan, you track down where they're summoning Pharaohman and do your best to fight him. Be careful and try not to get hurt." He handed over the second Synchro Chip, and Lan carefully took it, not sure how he was supposed to hold off such a dangerous Navi.
Chaud kept the final Synchro Chip for himself, holding up his PET and slotting it in. His PET glowed with a characteristic light, forming a suit of armor over him, and seconds later he had completed his Cross Fusion with Protoman, as he had many times before. Lan followed suit, steeling himself as he tried to mentally prepare for the battle that lay ahead. Mayl was the last to transform, and when the light had faded she looked down at herself, breathing a sigh of relief, thankful that it had managed to work.
"Careful out there, both of you," Chaud warned, turning toward the door. "There shouldn't be any other Navis, but you never know when danger will show up." Lan and Mayl nodded, watching as he dashed out the door, before turning to look at each other.
"Mayl, are you going to be alright?"
"I'll be fine," she replied, her words trying their best to mask her nervousness and fear, her heart starting to pound again. "I can take care of myself, Lan. You don't have to worry."
He nodded, thinking to himself that he did have to worry, but not saying it aloud. "Alright. Be careful."
"You, too."
Lan turned and walked out the door, not sure exactly where he was going, but moving confidently all the same. Mayl watched him for a moment before taking a deep breath and following him out the door, looking for a set of stairs that would take her further down.
Elsewhere in the facility, Gauss was watching a variety of machines through a large window, as they whirred and glowed. Several machines, with long, extended arms that ended in laser-like points, were spinning around the metal slab, shooting blasts of energy that were all focusing on the same point. The point got progressively brighter and brighter, until it was far too bright to look at, and everyone was forced to look away.
When Gauss and the various workers looked back a moment later, their eyes widened at the mysterious being that had appeared on top of the slab. The newly-formed Navi had the shape of a large golden sarcophagus, with the bottom half of the sarcophagus replacing its legs entirely. The Navi had its arms crossed over its chest in an X shape, with two small wings attached to its back. It appeared to be in a deep sleep, its eyes closed.
"So, there you are, Pharaohman…" Gauss muttered to himself. "The one Navi powerful enough to handle the power I'm about to give you."
He turned his head toward the lead lab tech, giving a small nod; the tech understood the nod perfectly, giving the orders to proceed to phase two of the plan. As various workers typed away at their consoles, the machines that had brought Pharaohman into the lab were moved away automatically, and replaced with a similar-looking set. They were soon crackling with unstable energy, with bolts of what appeared to be electricity darting all along the machinery.
With another nod from Gauss, and more typing from the various techs around him, these new machines all started shooting beams of energy directly at the sleeping Navi. As his body started glowing and crackling with energy, his eyes flew open and he started to scream in pain, his frame not accustomed to the energy that was flowing within him at this moment. His screams rent the air for several long minutes, as the machines kept him paralyzed, unable to escape. Gauss watched with a stony expression, feeling nothing for the creature he was torturing.
Eventually the machinery came to a stop, their task complete, and moved away from Pharaohman. The Navi rose into the air with an otherworldly glow, and a strange aura about him. It was as though he was distorting the world immediately around him, curving it toward him, as if he was weighing down the fabric of reality. He spent no time looking around to discover where he was; he instead glared forward through the window, scanning the humans on the other side, trying to find who was responsible. His eyes quickly settled on those of Magnus Gauss, who was looking defiantly back at him.
"You… what have you done to me, human?" he demanded, speaking in a sinister and raspy voice, exhibiting more of a quiet, seething anger than an apoplectic rage. "Who are you?"
Gauss stepped forward, undaunted. "My name is Magnus Gauss. And I have just blessed you with an incredible power, one that only you are capable of properly utilizing… and you're going to help me in return."
Pharaohman's eyes narrowed. "You do not know to whom you are speaking, mortal. There is no being alive who makes demands of me." The aura around him flexed and changed shape, as the Navi started exploring what had happened to new him, trying to discern what new powers he had been given.
"I think you'll find that with the right technology, I can do whatever I want… or convince others to do whatever I want." Gauss kept his eyes on the Navi in front of him, doing his best to not look at the machinery that was creeping up on Pharaohman from behind.
"You will come to regret those boasts, Gauss…" The Navi glared back, starting to get a feel of what exactly he was now capable of, just as the machine behind him started to activate. He could hear the sudden hum behind him, hear the crack of electricity shooting out in order to subdue and control him. His eyes narrowed and he turned around, the world-warping aura around him growing and expanding, fully encompassing the room he was in. As the aura passed by various machines, they instantly stopped moving, holding their positions; as it passed through the window and into the control room, the people watching him also froze one by one, not moving, not blinking. By the time he turned to face the machine, it had completely frozen in place like everything and everyone else, bolts of electricity frozen in the air on their way to him.
"Very curious…" he spoke quietly to himself, upon observing what he was now capable of doing. His eyes glowed for a moment before two powerful beams shot out of them, making contact with the device that was attempting to pacify him. Releasing the aura, he watched as the machine exploded, sending shrapnel around the room. Behind the glass, the various humans were watching with mouths agape, as they were quickly reanimated.
"What… what just happened?!" one of them spoke, highly confused and alarmed, having been frozen just like the rest of the room. "He turned around and destroyed the pacification machine in an instant!"
Gauss cursed loudly, eyes fixed on Pharaohman. "Get some Navis in there, now! We need to get him under control!"
The techs around him quickly got to work, and within seconds a number of stock model Navis began teleporting into the room, on the other side of the glass. Pharaohman watched, curious but undaunted, as about a dozen of them appeared in front of him, weapons drawn.
"Now! Everyone move in!" The golden Navi watched as the others all jumped toward him at once, some with swords drawn, others with Cannons. Focusing himself for a moment, he let his aura expand again, encompassing all of the foes in front of him, stopping short of the glass. Gauss and the workers around him watched, both amazed and terrified, as Pharaohman summoned a Long Sword, which floated in the air around him before swinging in a large arc, cutting through all of the Navis that had been sent to dispatch him. The aura retracted again, and they all fell to the ground in pieces.
Gauss took a step back, fist clenched, starting to panic for the first time. He had greatly underestimated how quickly Pharaohman would come to grips with his new powers, and overestimated how easily he could be controlled. He wasn't ready to throw in the towel just yet, but he wasn't sure how to proceed from here.
"If you know what's good for you, you will cease these attempts to capture me." Pharaohman started floating away from the glass. "I am willing to spare you after this gift you have given to me… but you should not push your luck." He dashed away, disappearing further into the facility, looking for a way out. Everyone in the room stared in amazement and fear, unable to believe what they had just witnessed.
"Boss… what have we done?" the lead tech asked, voice trembling, before correcting himself. "What… what do we do?"
"Get more Navis. All of the ones you can. See if any of them will respond to the same treatment." Gauss started rapidly moving toward the door. "I'm going to see if I can make this crazed Navi listen to reason." He pushed the door open and started running, trying to track the rogue Navi down.
In the basement of the lab, a Cross-fused Mayl was carefully making her way through rows of complicated-looking machinery. She could see the large, reinforced steel doors of the server room out of the corner of her eye; she had already been through it, recognizing nothing inside, but she was fairly certain that none of it was supplying power, either. She kept a careful look out, having some vague idea of what she wanted to find.
Her eyes eventually caught a large red sign, with white lettering and bolts of electricity, reading DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE. Stepping closer to it, she found next to it a large device with all sorts of cables coming out of it. This had to be what she was looking for.
"Finally…" she said quietly to herself, summoning a Sword chip on her right arm. "I just hope Lan and Chaud are still alright…"
She brought her blade back, winding up and ready to slice clean through the device. As she was about to swing, however, her eyes went wide as an indescribable pain shot through her chest. It sucked the breath out of her, causing her to gasp loudly, as her legs suddenly felt weak, unable to support her properly. She could barely make out a chuckle from right behind her, but wasn't able to turn her head to see the red-and-black Navi standing behind her, his own Long Blade piercing all the way through her chest from behind.
He smirked, leaving her in that position for a moment, letting her understand what had just happened to her, before he quickly withdrew his blade. Mayl immediately collapsed to the ground, lying on her front, gasping for air as she started to go into shock, her hand trying to cover up the massive wound that was now gushing blood. She tried to push aside the terror that was overtaking her, needing to focus, needing to maintain the Cross Fusion, trying to summon a Recovery chip on the off-chance that it might somehow fix this. The Navi reached out with his foot, using it to flip her over onto her back. Her eyes were wide with fear as she looked up at her attacker, seeing the smirk on his face, and the blue jets of flame shooting out of the back of his red helmet.
"Sorry about this," Burnerman spoke, glancing down into her eyes, not a shred of guilt present in his own. "But I can't have you ruining the fun before the party gets started, now can I?"
Mayl tried to form words in response, but no sounds came out of her mouth. With nearly all of her energy gone from her body, all she could do was watch as Burnerman raised his own sword above his head, an evil smirk on his face, before quickly bringing it down.
Elsewhere in the lab, an unconscious Dr. Hikari was starting to stir. He groggily opened his eyes, looking around and trying to find where he was, able to hear muted voices from close by. He eventually realized that he was in one of the two observations rooms that were part of the lab, and furthermore, he realized that he was currently tied to a chair. He struggled for a moment, trying to get free, before recognizing one of the two voices that was speaking. He turned his head to the left to see Magnus Gauss standing close to the window, speaking to a familiar golden Navi on the other side. Yuichiro's eyes widened and he quickly stopped moving, quieting down and listening in.
"…Surely you must have some shred of empathy in you," Gauss said, almost pleading. "Wouldn't you do the same, if you were in my position? Wouldn't you do anything to try and bring back what you lost?"
"You are a meddlesome fool, Gauss," Pharaohman replied, his voice not particularly sympathetic, but less angry than it was before. "A mortal trying to reverse fate and play God… disasters befall humans every day, yet you feel that you are the one who should claim exemption from the rule?"
Pharaohman started to back away slowly. "No, I will not give you the help you think you deserve. I will, however, take these gifts that you have given me, and use them to make myself the all-powerful ruler of the Net, as is my right. Your continued survival is my thanks to you."
"No! You can't do this!" Gauss slammed his fist on the glass as Pharaohman slowly floated away, while Dr. Hikari watched in fear. His mind tried to imagine the havoc that Pharaohman might wreak, especially if he ever got his hands on a Dimensional Core. He tried his best to come up with some sort of plan, but nothing was coming to mind, especially with him tied up.
"Dad!" Both Gauss and Yuichiro snapped their heads toward the back door in the room, where Lan was currently standing, covered in Megaman's armor. He glanced around the room for a moment, taking in the situation, his eyes homing in on the golden Pharaohman on the other side of the glass. He paused for a moment, fear starting to rise up in him, as the prospect of a battle with such a powerful Navi started to become a reality. He cast the idea aside as he ran over to his father and started to untie him.
"Lan! You're alright!" Yuichiro tried to crane his head back, but eventually looked back forward, feeling his ropes get loose. "How did you manage to Cross Fuse?"
"Chaud came prepared," Lan replied simply, as the ropes he was untying fell away. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Yuichiro stood up, rubbing his arms. "Looks like we've got real trouble on our hands, though…"
"Yeah, I know." Lan stepped closer to the window, his eyes locked on Pharaohman. "Time to see how good of a Netbattler I am…"
Pharaohman let out a derisive laugh, hearing Lan's words and watching him step forward. "You think that you can challenge me? You are asking for your own death, human." He started floating toward the window again. "If you insist, however, I would be more than happy to oblige."
The entire room stood in silence for a few moments. Lan and Pharaohman stared each other down, waiting to see who would make the first move, while Gauss and Dr, Hikari's eyes darted between the two of them, not sure what was going to happen. Before either of them could attack, however, another Navi suddenly dropped into the room from the rafters, its frame colored in an all-too-familiar red and black. Burnerman landed heavily on Pharaohman's frame, grinning maniacally as he plunged his hand into the Navi's back.
"What?! Burnerman?!" Lan exclaimed, in shock, as the two Navis started crackling with electricity, lighting up the room. Pharaohman screamed in pain as Burnerman drained all of the power out of him, his eyes widening and his breathing getting harsher as the immense power flooded his frame. After a few moments, the light show stopped, and Pharaohman fell to the ground uselessly, now merely a shell with no life inside of it. His enemy laughed, floating in the air still, the strange, warped aura that once encompassed Pharaohman now surrounding him instead.
"Incredible… so much power… this is exactly what I've been looking for!" He steeled his gaze and tightened his muscles, powering up, as everyone else watched in horror, feeling the heat in the room rapidly increase. "Now, I can truly burn this whole world down… starting with all of you."
"What's going on? Who the hell are you?!" Gauss demanded, taking a couple of fearful steps back. "How did you get in here?"
"You should really teach your workers to keep your doors locked," the Navi replied with a smirk. "Waltzed right in via the Cyberworld without a second thought." He raised his arm, forming a flamethrower cannon on the end of it. "Then again, you probably aren't going to be able to tell them."
Lan watched the enemy Navi aim his arm cannon at the glass, toward the room behind it. The cannon quickly started glowing, ready to fire in nearly the blink of an eye. Reacting on instinct, he grabbed his father by the wrist and ran toward the window. He turned and wrapped his arms around Dr. Hikari protectively before leaping out the window, glass shattering all around him. He fell heavily onto the lower floor below, sore but mostly unharmed, just as Burnerman shot a massive fireball into the room they had escaped.
Lan looked back as the fireball exploded upon hitting the back wall, bursting into a massive plume of flame that encompassed the entire room. His heart was in his throat, his stomach twisting as he heard the horrific and desperate screams of Magnus Gauss, who was trapped in the all-consuming inferno. The screams lasted for several long moments before he suddenly fell silent.
"What the hell… what's happening…" Lan spoke quietly to himself, Gauss's screams echoing in his mind as he tried not to throw up. Burnerman grinned evilly, drunk with power, amazed at the abilities he now possessed. He turned his attention back toward the two Hikaris, ready for more, when a voice from behind caused him to pause.
"Who are you? What's going on here?" Everyone turned around to look back at Chaud, clad in Protoman's armor, a Long Sword already summoned.
"Chaud!" Lan quickly stood up, starting to come to his senses, as his father got to his feet behind him. "We have to delete this Navi, right away! He stole Pharaohman's powers!"
"What?! How?!" Chaud exclaimed, looking up at this strange fiery Navi hovering in the air.
"Explain later," Dr. Hikari spoke quickly. "Action now. You two fend him off. I'm going to the master control room to shut everything down." He didn't wait for Lan to affirm the plan, running off, happy to get as much distance between himself and the pyromaniac as possible.
Burnerman watched him go, not worried about the consequences of letting him live, before turning his attention back to the two Cross-fused Navis standing on either side of him, smirking. "Two normal Navis, versus one who has absorbed a god… you two might cause me to break a sweat."
"It'll be three soon enough," Lan spoke through gritted teeth, trying to calm his nerves. "Once Mayl gets back, you'll really be in for it."
Burnerman laughed in response. "Mayl? She wouldn't be that girl in the pink armor, would she?" Lan's eyes widened, listening closely, as his foe smirked. "I wouldn't count on her saving you… she couldn't even save herself."
"W… what?!" Lan's heart stopped, as did Chaud's. "No! You're lying to me! You're lying!"
His opponent grinned wide. "It wasn't even a battle. Two blows was all it took."
"Shut up!" Lan leapt at Burnerman, furious, swinging his own Wide Sword angrily. The floating Navi laughed and aimed a powerful energy blast at Lan, knocking him away and into a back wall, where he lay dazed for a moment. Burnerman hovered back down closer to the ground, thinking of the best way to finish Lan off, as he sensed a bit of movement from behind him. Turning around quickly, he saw Chaud leaping toward him, blade outstretched, hoping to end this battle in a single blow.
Several feet away, Lan was coming back to his senses, and he watched as Burnerman reached out and forcefully grabbed Chaud's wrist, pointing the blade away from him. As Chaud worked to try and summon a Cannon, Lan watched as Burnerman used his other hand to grab the sword, violently breaking it off in one large chunk, smaller pieces of the blade falling away from the bottom. Grinning an evil grin, he turned the blade around and plunged it mercilessly through Chaud's chest.
"No!" Lan screamed, scrambling to his feet and running toward the both of them, as the superpowered Navi tossed Chaud aside. The boy landed heavily on the floor, his strength completely sapped. Lan kneeled next to him, turning him onto his back, deeply panicked and starting to lose his grip on his sanity. Chaud's eyes tried to focus on him, but they were having trouble, his breathing heavily labored.
"R… run… get out…" he managed to get out, before coughing up blood, his head lolling to the side.
"No, no, stay with me, Chaud," Lan responded, his heart pounding and his voice quivering. "You can't… you have to…"
"Amazing!" he heard Burnerman exclaim behind him, causing him to turn around. "So much power… so much blazing heat!" The Navi held his hands above his head, his body starting to glow and shimmer, and Lan could feel the temperature of the room start to sharply increase. He stood up, summoning a Long Blade to his hand and charging forward, but after only a few steps he he to cry out in pain from the massive, intense waves of heat emanating from his foe.
"I'm doing it!" Burnerman exclaimed, his body starting to glow a bright white as he grew hotter and hotter, reaching higher temperatures than he ever had before. "I'm going nuclear!"
Faced with even greater temperatures heading his way, almost starting to burn him, Lan had no choice but to back away quickly, gritting his teeth. He ran back toward Chaud, grabbing his arm and starting to lift him up, pull him along, trying his best to be careful of the sword still stuck in the boy's body. He looked around as quickly as he could, knowing that his only option was to get away, to hide somewhere… but where could he possibly hide them from this?
In a moment of surprising clarity, his mind flashed back to earlier in the month, where he, Mayl and Chaud were all standing around in SciLab with his father and Magnus Gauss. He lifted Chaud up as best he could and started running, looking for the server room, remembering his father's words about it being able to withstand a nuclear blast. He moved as fast as he could, knowing that he likely only had a handful of seconds.
Running down a staircase, Lan turned and saw a massive set of doors, slightly ajar, barring access to a room with lots of whirring machines inside. Breathing a small sigh of relief, he ran inside as quickly as he could, setting Chaud down gingerly before turning to the control panel, slamming the door lock button as hard as possible. He peeked outside as the mighty reinforced doors started to close, the world outside shimmering and turning white.
The last thing Lan saw, right before the doors sealed themselves shut, was Mayl's lifeless body lying in a pool of blood, right next to the lab's central power converter.
Several long minutes later, the horrific din from outside the doors, of what sounded like the world being blown apart, finally started to settle down. As the noise outside began to fade, it was replaced with the hum coming from inside the room. The servers inside, as well as the Dimensional Area generators, were amazingly still running, isolated from the lab and running on backup power sources. Lan, who was still Cross-fused with Megaman, was sitting in a corner of the server room, hugging his knees to his chest, having spent all of his time trying not to cry, scream, throw up, or all three at once.
He slowly got to his feet, moving not toward the door but to Chaud, who had stopped making noise a couple of minutes before. He knelt down and reached out, terrified, tilting the boy's head to look into his eyes. There were no signs of life to be seen; he was gone.
Lan staggered backwards, hands and legs shaking, trying to tell himself that this was all just a terrible nightmare, that this couldn't be real. He took several deep breaths before turning back to the console next to the door, lightly pressing the button that would open them back up. He turned toward the doors as they hissed and slowly pulled themselves open, and his heart stopped as he surveyed the scene that lay beyond. Almost everything in the room beyond had been destroyed and blown away; anything that remained was melted and scorched beyond recognition. Small fires lingered here and there, remnants of the incredible blast that had just occurred. Mayl's body was nowhere to be found.
His heart pounded as he slowly walked forward out of the server room, his breathing shaky. The air around him was hot still, burning just a little in his throat, as he made his way to what remained of the stairs. He started to climb them carefully, looking upward to see that the roof of the lab, and any of the floors above, were long gone. He could have seen the night sky above, were it not completely clouded by ash. The Dimensional Area was still active, powered by the heavily shielded generators, but the hexagonal shell that normally covered it had been blasted into pieces, and the dimensional radiation was simply emanating out into the world.
After what seemed like an eternity, he made it to the top floor, stopping dead at the horrible vision he saw. As far as he could see, Den City had been devastated, scorched, with much of the surrounding area reduced to ash. Fires burned all over, with several buildings partially or completely blown up, and a handful of skyscrapers knocked over entirely. Further out, he could see burned bodies littering the streets. The only sounds, aside from the crackling of flame, were those of distant alarms.
Lan was unable to take another step, far too overcome by what he was witnessing, the strength starting to leave his legs. He collapsed forward, falling onto his hands and knees, his body and breathing trembling. Fear and despair set upon him as he had never felt before, as he stared down at the charred ground, arms trembling, trying not to completely lose his mind. There was almost no chance that his father had survived, being so close to the blast; based on the visible blast radius, his mother had certainly perished as well, along with any of his friends living in the ACDC suburb. Everything was gone. Everyone was gone. He had nothing left.
Tears started to fall from his eyes, dropping onto the ground below and quickly evaporating. His whole body trembled, as he tried not to scream, tried not to punch holes in the ground. He didn't manage to hear the slow footsteps approaching him, though he did hear the voice that followed.
"This… this is exactly what I've always wanted…" Burnerman spoke, his voice almost reverent as he took in the sight before him. "The world around me reduced to rubble and ash… not just the Cyberworld, but the human world as well. It's a thing of beauty, wouldn't you say?"
Lan didn't look up, his trembling breaths getting progressively harsher. His enemy smirked and continued.
"Still, my work here isn't done… this is only one city, out of thousands, that all need to disappear." He smirked at the thought. "It will take a lot of energy. I'll have to find some more from somewhere… but soon, my dream is going to become a reality…"
Lan started to grit his teeth, clenching his fists, the fear and despair starting to be replaced with a white-hot rage. Megaman, still present and still watching what had happened with abject horror, was growing just as enraged himself. The doomsday scenario he had been dreading had come to pass, and now he knew who was to blame for it.
Burnerman walked past Lan a few paces, smirking. "You could even help me, if you wanted. It's not like you have anything left here to live for…"
As he turned around, his eyes widened as an enormous energy sword swung toward him. He backed off as quickly as he could, but still suffered a deep wound on his frame. Crying out in pain, he grabbed his chest, glaring at the figure standing in front of him.
Lan stood before him, adopting a battle stance, wielding a powerful Dark Sword in his hand, which Burnerman had given him only days before. His teeth were gritted and his muscles were tensed, as a strange purple fog swirled about in his eyes. Both Lan and Megaman had given themselves completely over to anger, knowing nothing but a desire to hurt this Navi as much as they possibly could, by any means necessary.
Lan screamed in anger as he charged forward, swinging the Dark Sword with all his might.
Plot Summary: In a flashback, Magnus Gauss recalls the death of his daughter Tesla in a plane crash. He creates a Dimensional Area and brings Pharaohman into the real world, giving him the power to control time. He tries to command Pharaohman, but the Navi escapes further into the facility. Chaud helps Lan and Mayl escape captivity, and they split up to try and stop Gauss's plans, but Mayl is killed by Burnerman, who has secretly entered the laboratory. Burnerman attacks Pharaohman and saps his immense power and energy, killing both Gauss and Chaud, then uses his new strength to power a nuclear explosion that destroys Den City. Lan and Megaman escape the blast by hiding in the highly-secure room with the Dimensional Area generators, making them the only survivors of Burnerman's attack. Enraged and distraught, they use a Dark Chip and start attacking Burnerman.
