"Zero?"

Zero looked up from the report he was reading over, seeing Megaman was in front of him.

He had a worried look in his eyes, wringing his hands.

"Can I talk to you about something?"

Zero moved the data screen away, giving a nod.

"What's on your mind?"

"It's about the fire earlier. When I was done putting it out, something… weird happened." Megaman started. "You and Dad were really concerned earlier so… I thought if I told you it might help." He looked away, frowning.

"Tell me everything."

He took a deep breath.

"I saw something in the last of the flames. It was a figure and I heard someone telling me to watch myself before I got burned." He explained, "After that you guys came home."

Zero narrowed his eyes, concern coming to them.

"You didn't see any specific details?"

Megaman shook his head.

"No… but will that help a little?"

"It'll help a lot. Just… be careful, alright?"

"I will." He sighed in relief. "Just glad Lan didn't get hurt… I don't think I'd forgive myself if… y'know."

Zero tilted his chin up, a gentle look in his eyes.

"I know, Son. He's alright and so are you… Now." He smirked a little. "I think you're up past your recharge time."

"Zeeerroooo!"

oooooo

"Whoa, you went through that yesterday?"

"Yeah." Lan rubbed the back of his neck.

It was the next day at school. It was almost like nothing had ever happened the other day but yet… Lan knew it did. As did Megaman.

He was currently at lunch, sitting with his friends, Mayl, Tori, Dex and Yai, at a table outside the school.

"Man, I don't know what I would've done if that had happened at my house." Tori said, munching on part of his meal. "I think I probably would've panicked."

"I would've gone in guns blazing." Dex brought a fist up. "Nothing scares me!"

"Cat bot in fifth grade." Lan and Tori both deadpanned as he winced.

"One thing! Doesn't count since that thing was rigged!"

"Just sayin." Lan took a bite of his lunch.

"Hmph. They would've had to try harder than that to start trouble at my place." Yai huffed. "Our security's top notch!"

"Yeah but didn't yours cost like a billion zenny…?"

"That's cheap!"

"For the Ayano family… But yeah, it was crazy. Just glad it didn't spread."

"No kidding." Mayl moved a little closer to Lan, rubbing shoulders with him a little. "So glad you're safe."

Lan blushed a bit at this.

"M-Mayl…"

"Oooooo." Tori smirked.

"Not. One. Word." Lan hissed.

He cleared his throat.

"Anyways… You wanna hang out later today, Mayl? Maybe the park? I got some new skate tricks I wanna try out."

"After 4 would be a good time." Mayl smiled. "I have to practice piano the minute I get home from school."

"Oooo! Can I come too?" Yai asked. "I could get us top notch ice cream!"

"Sure thing! We haven't hung out as a group in awhile, so, why not? Maybe we could have a battle royale with our navis."

"Lan!" Megaman hissed. "You said you'd stop doing those."

"Aww but they're fun. Right guys?"

"Yeah!" Everyone cheered.

The navis on the other side all gave a bit of a sigh.

"We'll make the best of it." Roll smiled. "Besides, we don't have to do hardcore."

"Indeed. We can take it nice and easy." Glide, Yai's navi, smiled. "We can even just bust hologram viruses instead of going against each other."

"Awww but Gutsman loves doing navi to navi, guts." Dex's navi, Gutsman whined.

"Yeah, but then that winds up with being used as a projectile!" Tori's navi, Iceman, protested. "I'd rather fight the holo viruses!"

"We'll just have to see how it goes at the park." Megaman chuckled, folding his arms behind his head. "You know how they get. Once they start planning, there's no stopping it."

Hey, long as it keeps Lan distracted then it's all good.

"Then we have ourselves a deal!" Lan raised a fist in the air. "Fun at the park for everyone!"

"Yeah!"

oooooo

I know I've seen this symbol somewhere before… Come on there's gotta be something.

W3… It means something.

X brought a hand to his chin, frustrated with his lack of results in his search to find an answer for the weird symbol that had appeared in Yuichiro's email.

And on top of that, his home was a victim of the fires going around… I have to wonder if they're connected.

"Commander X! We're back and ready to report!"

X looked behind him, seeing two net navis behind that were practically twins in appearance, save for minor differences.

"Ah, Aile, Vent, report."

Both saluted.

"We went looking through the email streams like you asked and we found numerous emails that matched Professor Hikari's."

Vent pulled out a screen, showing all the emails they had found.

"Too many to count. And the stranger thing, all who have received these emails thus far were victims of the fire epidemic going around."

"So, they were marked." X narrowed his eyes. "They could track where to strike via the home's IP address and then strike the ovens system from there."

"Yessir."

"However, that doesn't answer the question of who they are. Can you keep looking into it for me?"

The twins saluted.

"Sir yes sir!"

"At ease." X gave a salute of his own. "Keep me updated on progress in the search."

They nodded before logging out back onto the internet.

He sighed, looking to the screens around him, before starting another set of scans.

There has to be something… W3… The fires… The email that marks the targets…

I just hope we get to the bottom of this before someone gets killed.

He narrowed his eyes. As far as he was concerned, they were already top priority to take down. They had targeted his family.

Even if I'm not blood, I'm still part of the Hikari family. I'll do whatever it takes to protect them.

I'm not a soldier anymore but it doesn't mean I can't fight.

There was a large THUD behind him as he caught the reflection of a younger navi in similar build to him.

"What happened this time, Axl?"

"I need backups for Mikhail's computer. The rig broke again." He grinned sheepishly. "Got any spares?"

X shook his head. He couldn't be mad. Axl was still relatively new to the errand boy job between his other duties.

"I got them right here-... Axl?"

"Hm?"

"Has Mikhail gotten any emails that look like this?" X pulled up the symbol, showing it to him. "Think carefully."

Axl shook his head, confusion in his eyes.

"I'd definitely remember that. Some spam and one that was hiding a Mettaur riding on a popup but that was it. Nothing like that though!"

"I see. Very well, carry on… and try not to get into trouble."

"H-Hey! I've been really good lately!"

"Regardless."

Axl sighed, giving a salute.

"Yes sir. Now, spares?"

X nodded, sending over a data package to the navi.

"Keep it safe now and don't trip on the way out."

"I won't!"

Axl left without another word.

X chuckled before focusing again.

W3… W3…

Wait…

X eyes' widened.

No… It… It couldn't be.

oooooo

It was dark in the room he found himself in, barely lit by the monitors that were scattered about the area. It wasn't dark enough to be blind but it was dark enough to not make out details.

While Mr. Match couldn't see the features of his boss, he could tell he was less than amused with his report.

"You were defeated by a simple navi?" He asked, irritation in his voice.

"I don't know if I would call it a simple net navi, Lord Wylie." Mr. Match kept his stance strong. "This one was different… and I believe this one might be of interest to you."

"Oh? What makes you think that?"

Mr. Match pulled out his PET.

"Torchman, show him what you saw."

"Right away, sir."

A holoscreen appeared in front of Mr. Match, showing the image of a net navi that was dressed in blue armor that had teal and yellow highlights. The screen floated up to Lord Wylie, giving him a good look at the navi.

"That crest that navi has on its chest. That's the Hikari symbol, isn't it?"

He sneered.

"Indeed it is… So, this is where they've been hiding all this time." He looked to Mr. Match. "You're forgiven this time. However, next time won't end so well. Got it?"

"Yes sir. What are your next orders?"

"If you see this navi again… Delete him."

Mr. Match nodded.

"Understood, Lord Wylie."

"Good. You're dismissed."

Mr. Match gave a bow before leaving.

Lord Wylie grinned as he looked at the image of the blue net navi, a slight chuckle escaping him.

So… This is the magnum opus of Dr. Yuichiro Hikari.

"Hmph… Pharaohman. Save this on file."

"Yes, Lord Wylie."

The image closed, Mr. Wylie chuckling again.

Let's see how good you are.

Megaman.