"So… where do we start?"

Lan and Chaud found themselves on the balcony area of the Hikari household, just outside of Lan's room, the two leaning against the railing, looking out to the sight of AC/DC town.

"I guess just the basics for the Net Police since I know Ciel already gave you a history on WWW." Chaud kept his eyes locked on the town. "Or rather, being a Net Agent."

"Which… you are? Kind of… young, aren't you?"

"Heh, I am but I'm not the first." Chaud gave a slight smirk. "Helps to have those people would least expect as agents. Draws less attention."

Lan smirked.

"Guess that makes sense." He propped his chin up. "Mr. Super-spy and all."

"Oh please, I wouldn't go that far." He shrugged. "It's just… part of the job is all. Protoman and I showed enough potential and we signed on willingly."

"Mm-hm… Boy, you must get to brag to all the girls at your high school eh?"

"Huh?" Chaud shook his head. "No, that's strictly confidential. I can't even tell most people unless they are part of it. The only person I've been allowed to tell is my own father… Besides… College girls aren't my thing."

College-WAIT WHAT!?

Lan stood up straight, his jaw dropping open a little.

That's… But he's my age!? That's…

"You're kidding me!"

Talking all like he's normal… Okay, I take back all that "he's cool" stuff!

"Sorry? I skipped a few grades. Let's get back to the matter at hand though. You're part of this now, like it or not. Can you handle it?"

Lan composed himself, taking a few deep breaths before answering.

"... Maybe?" He brought a hand to his head. "It's just… a lot for a 14 year old… I mean… I know I've been dealing with insanity for the last few months but… I… I'm not sure. I think I can but then stuff like what happened today makes me hesitate."

"There will be moments like that but that doesn't mean you can't handle it. Even the best agent can slip."

Lan looked back out towards the town, leaning against the railing. He had a point…

Lessee… Dad was around my age during the war too… Heck, he was in the thick of it all with Zero. They're veterans to this…

"Do you ever get scared?" He asked after a moment. "Like… do you ever regret it?"

Chaud hummed in thought.

"Sometimes… It's not exactly fun when whatever I'm fighting decides to go after me directly. However, I can't say I have any regrets." He smiled a little. "I get to serve and work with my net navi to help people. I can't say that has too many bad drawbacks."

"Alright… and then school? Cause my mom's navi will kill me dead if I start to let my grades slip."

"Oh, all included pass. Plus, can always cram the night before."

Hah, so it's not just me who does that.

"Alright…" He took another deep breath.

It was a hard decision. Keep going into danger or wait for WWW to find him instead. Neither sounded particularly fun in the long run…

He thought back to the day's events… How scared Ciel was, knowing what he did now about what WWW had tried to do to their family so long ago…

He clenched his hands into fists, looking to Chaud with an intense gaze in his eyes.

"Deal me in."

"Perfect. Tomorrow, you'll report first thing in the morning to SciLabs with your father. Don't worry, we'll make sure to cover for you at your school. All will be taken care of." Chaud whipped out his PET. "Protoman-!"

Chaud stopped short at seeing a tag team net battle between Megaman, Protoman, Ashe and Grey going on in the server they were in.

"What the…?"

"What?" Lan blinked.

"Pull out your PET."

Lan did so, his expression matching Chaud's in surprise.

"Hah!?"

Protoman launched Megaman in the air, allowing the net navi to rain down a barrage of blasts upon Ashe and Grey, sending the two flying.

"Yes!" Megaman landed next to Protoman, giving a grin. "Way better than the last one."

"Indeed."

"Ahem." Chaud cleared his throat, catching their attention. "Ya done?"

Protoman stood at attention.

"Was just going through a few combat scenarios. Getting him up to speed."

"I see. Looked like a lot of fun."

Megaman looked to Lan, giving an innocent look.

"It was a matter of pride."

Lan pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a deep sigh.

"How can you make THAT phrase sound like the most innocent thing in the world? And that's MY line bub!"

"Ehehe?"

Lan and Chaud shook their heads, chuckling.

"Glad you're getting along. We'll be seeing a lot more of these guys. Starting tomorrow we're part of the Net Agents."

Megaman gulped a little.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. WWW wants a piece of me, they can deal with me head on!"

"Well…" Megaman sighed. "... Alright. But let's try not to do anything stupid. Okay?"

"No promises!"

Megaman hung his head.

Somehow I knew he'd say that.

oooooo

Y'know, when he said first thing in the morning, I didn't think it'd be literally first thing… Lan thought, looking outside the passenger window. He was sitting in his father's car as Yuichiro drove them to SciLab. The sky was shades of orange and purple hues as the sun rose over AC/DC town.

Rush whined a bit, nudging his hand. Lan reached down, rubbing behind his ears, letting out a yawn.

"You okay, Kiddo?" Yuchiro asked.

"M'fine. Tired, but fine."

"You can sleep until we get there."

Lan shook his head.

"No... " He sighed a little. "Dad… You weren't much older than I was when the war started right?"

Yuichiro frowned at this.

Those memories were a mixed bag for him. Some were good... some, he wished he could forget.

"Yes. I was actually a little younger. We had, to our credit, a bit of a grace period between the original "Hunters" becoming active in cyber defense, but… Lan, I won't lie and say it was easy or that your grandfather even wanted us in that. We had to fight him on it. A lot."

Lan winced. That was… the first time he could even remember Yuichiro speaking about the late Dr. Hikari in such a manner.

"But I thought Grandpa T was always pretty chill."

"... Eh?" Yuichiro scrunched his nose up. "Usually he was a genuinely nice man. Always wanted the best… but sometimes, the best for the family wasn't…. what we needed to do. His first concern as a parent, like mine, was our safety and happiness… but that safety and happiness had to extend to X, Zero and Giro as well…. If I had to be honest?"

"Hm?"

"I genuinely think we just wore him down because we kept finding trouble anyways."

"Were you ever scared?"

"Lan… I don't want anything I say to influence your decisions. Are you asking as a sign of what's to come or asking for an idea of what you might go up against?"

"I just wanna know…" Lan looked out at the town as it rushed by them on the freeway. He sighed, resting his head against the window. "You and Zero were unstoppable. X… He did so many incredible things. You were a genius netbattler before it was even a thing."

Yuichiro sighed as he pulled into his parking space at Sci-Lab. The drive hadn't been that long… but he didn't want to get out yet.

"Lan…" He turned to him, his gaze serious. "When I was your age, the net was a very different place. Everything shifting the way it was, was new and exciting… and sometimes very scary."

Lan kept quiet, listening intently as Yuichiro went on.

"But I never regretted a single bit of my choices, just like how I'm supporting yours." He smiled, squeezing his shoulder. "And I have no doubt you'll be an amazing Net Agent."

"Heh… You think so?"

"I know so." Yuichiro got out. "Besides, you'll have to get up early on a regular basis now. Imagine what that'll do for your school work."

Lan's PET screen lit up… as a very distinct sound was heard.

"Will you stop laughing at me!?"

"Sorry, he's got a point!"

Lan rolled his eyes, getting out, following his father inside, Rush trailing behind him. He kept close to him, looking around.

He had been here so many times as a kid but each time it seemed something new was always happening.

Yuichiro led him through, until they got to the conference room.

"Here we are."

Lan took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

It's fine, don't worry about it. It's fine, don't worry about it.

Lan hung his head a bit.

... It's mostly fine. Don't worry about it.

Lan and Yuichiro were quickly seated, Rush making himself cozy on Lan's lap.

"Hey, Lan."

Lan looked to his right, seeing Ciel was sitting next to him, along with another young boy about their age with long blond hair he didn't recognize and Chaud behind them.

"Hey, Ciel." Lan gave a tired smile. "Who's..." He yawned. "Your friend?"

Ciel smiled, looking to the blond haired boy, gentleness in her blue eyes.

"Lan, this is Zarek. He's a Net Agent just like you and Chaud... and kind of a secret bodyguard."

Zarek nodded his head.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Lan. Ciel has told me a lot about you."

"Likewise. So, you're the one she's been going on about." He nudged her. "Hope you're treating her nicely."

At this, both of them blushed.

Ciel nudged Lan, clearing her throat.

"As you can see, he's just like I said… Sweet but sneaky."

Zarek chuckled.

"And I look forward to getting to know him."

"Same… hope you don't mind a newbie joining the team."

"Not at all." Zarek looked to Chaud. "Always good to get fresh blood on occasion, right?"

"Indeed." Chaud nodded. "And we definitely could use a duo like Lan and Megaman."

"Can agree."

Lan gave a puzzled look at this.

"What's so special-"

"Attention, everyone."

All eyes turned to the end of the conference table, X present at the front.

"We're about to begin." X gave a bow. "I thank you all for coming, respected Net Agents. During these trying times, I am grateful that our best are coming together to try and prevent this revival of WWW." X snapped his fingers. "And joining me today are the Four Guardians of the net."

Four new holograms appeared beside X. Lan's eyes widened at seeing them. He had vague memories of seeing them as a little boy and seeing pictures of them in textbooks but he never thought he'd get to see them in person like this.

Sage Harpuia... Fairy Leviathan... Fighting Fefnir... Hidden Phantom...

"They shall be assisting in reporting what has happened thus far with WWW. Both big events and small ones that have almost flown under our radar. As it was discussed in a previous meeting with the Net Police, it was feared WWW had returned... and now, without a doubt, I can say they have. However, this will not be made a public affair as a means of not causing a panic. We will warn of net terrorism but we can not, under any circumstances, reveal who it is till we're sure we can assure the public that we can keep them safe and that we have a solution. The last thing we need is for the public to remember what happened many years ago and speculate that it will all happen again once more."

Yuichiro lowered his head a bit, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Definitely do not want a repeat of that time...

"As for what has happened so far, I shall let the Guardians speak."

Harpuia cleared his throat, pulling up a file of information.

"It began with the oven fires, causing arson via their connections to the internet. It was revealed to be a net navi known as Torchman causing the fires and after he was defeated, the problem stopped short… although that was just the beginning."

"The second incident was more benign…" Phantom looked across the room, his gaze locking on Lan. "It involved the game files for Rockman Legends 3, but it was a distraction. During this particular incident, there was a data breach across town and several pieces of data were stolen."

Great, so it wasn't just us who had our nights messed up… or nearly had their navi deleted… Lan stole a glance down at his PET. Megaman had a guilty look on his face and immediately looked away.

Ugh that was just a BAD time…

"Then the final and most recent incident… While another data breach was occurring, there was a detonation caused at the AC/DC Aquarium." Leviathan began, "Thousands of Zenny in damage was caused, along with reports of minor injuries and… unfortunately, one of our own nearly lost as well. The data breach and the attacks happened at the same time. Grey and Ashe, along with Protoman, were the strike force for that particular mission. We have reason to believe the detonation occurred because of who was there." She looked towards Lan and Ciel.

The two looked down, Zarek bringing an arm around Ciel's shoulders.

"They were going to kill Lan and Ciel, no matter what."

Yuichiro let out a heavy sigh. The facts were there but it didn't hurt any less.

I shouldn't have ever let them go alone… I'm such an idiot…

"Oh, but it gets better." Fefnir growled. "Hey, Errand Boy! Your screenshots?"

A navi popped up nearby, nearly falling over as they slung a data file to Fefnir.

"I'm sorry, I was beta reading them and-"

"That will be enough, Axl." X held up a hand. "Please, carry on… and Axl, please keep in mind when I say it's a deadline."

Fefnir opened the screenshots.

"We acquired these from the remnant data of deleted security navis. These were their last transmissions before being taken offline."

A blur was moving across the screen, caught in the freeze frame. The image was distorted due to how fast the target was moving. Fefnir zoomed in on it as the image became clearer…

They were a navi of a smaller size with a long cloak trailing behind them, a buster shot firing from their arm, aimed at a security navi out of range. Their face was partially covered by a mouth guard, their helmet having a fin like design.

"We believe this is the navi WWW has been using for their data breach spree. A speed model, with an emphasis on combat capabilities. They're a walking weapon." Fefnir folded his arms behind his back.

Axl leaned over his shoulder, trying to reach for the screenshot.

"Hey, can I just copy-"

WHAM!

He was sent flying backwards.

X narrowed his eyes.

"Fefnir…" He said in a low tone.

"The kid can look at these later. Bottom line, they all have one thing in common. Large data breaches, violent virus attacks and an apparent hatred for Megamen."

... Megamen?

X sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Which means we'll need to double down on our defenses. The last major data hub in AC/DC, is right here at SciLab. Anything else to report?"

"I believe that was it as far as incidents go as of recent months. Anyone else?"

"There is a concern I have…" Phantom began, "but I would rather discuss that in private, X?"

"Of course. Anyone else?"

"No sir!" The Guardians chorused.

X nodded.

"Then, there you have it. We are still figuring it out as we go. This job doesn't come with all the answers, even for navis. Any questions?"

… I'm so going to get it for this, buuuut…

Lan raised his hand.

X gave a nod.

"Yes?"

He stood up, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves.

"We know for a fact, the only "Megaman" they went after was my navi. Let's stop beating around the bush. WHY do they want him gone?"

X narrowed his eyes.

"Lan… If I had that answer, I would have told you already myself."

"No further questions then." He sat down with a huff, giving a look to his PET.

Megaman rubbed at one of his arms.

I know the answer... kind of... but even then now is not a good time.

"If there are no further questions here is the plan for now. We will be doing high scale security sweeps around the net and doing everything we can to locate the base of operations of WWW. All Net Agents will be on high alert-"

"Axl give that back!"

"It'll just take a second!"

X gave a flat look at seeing Axl had finally got a hold of the screenshot, copying it onto a file.

"There? See? Painless." Axl handed it back to Fefnir.

Fefnir swiped it, his eyes burning a bit with annoyance.

"I oughta turn you into a clump of data bits."

"Yipe!"

"AHEM!"

Fefnir and Axl straightened up, both uneasy as they met X's eyes.

"I would appreciate not being interrupted."

"Y-Yes, Sir." Axl saluted. "I-I'll be leaving now. I just wanted to get this information for Dr. Cossak." Axl hurried out, disappearing from sight.

X raised an eyebrow at this.

"What would Dr. Cossak want with something like that?"

All the Guardians shrugged.

"I'm sure we'll find out later. You were saying, X?" Leviathan prompted.

"Ah, yes." X cleared his throat. "As I said, Net Agents will be on high alert. We will also be testing agents' synchro rates with their navis. Those of the highest rate will be tasked with bigger missions that will ultimately lead to battles."

"Synchro rates?" Lan whispered to his father.

"They're to show how connected you and your navis are. A high synchro rate means you're basically working as one against a common threat." He whispered back. "Don't worry, the tests won't hurt."

"... I don't trust you when you say it like that." He raised an eyebrow. "Anything else?"

"It's… a bit hard to explain. You'll know when it occurs."

"So… It's fine, don't worry about it?"

"... I regret ever teaching you that." He ruffled his hair. "Just be patient."

"Yessir…"

Net terror, synchro rates and meeting the freaking Guardians…

Yeah, a totally normal day for this family.