Chapter 7: Data Drain

'Aaron has plans to completely drain Internet City while having his sights set on a certain female warrior. This doesn't look good!'

Having left Sci-Lab, Lan, Tori, and Maylu have returned to the residential area where Lan and Tori have walked Maylu home.

Sakurai Residence

Lan, Maylu and Tori are all gathered in Maylu's room as Lan continues comforting Maylu.

"I promise you that everything will be ok." Lan speaks in a comforting tone, continuing to embrace Maylu. "I will see to it that you get your victory against Allegro."

Maylu now lifts her head off Lan's shoulder and catches with his gaze as a small smile crosses her face.

"Oh Lan, I love you so much." Maylu replies as she plants a kiss on Lan's lips.

"And I love you." Lan replies in a whisper, now returning the kiss.

Maylu's smile widens as her gaze gets locked with Lan's.

"You are my love and I will always do my very best to protect you." Lan continues, keeping his gaze with Maylu's. "Even if it means risking life and limb to keep you out of harm's way, then that's what I'm going to do."

"I know and the same goes for you." Maylu responds as she kisses Lan once more.

"Now, I want you to put all of this out of your mind and get some rest ." Lan gentely says. "If you can't sleep, call me."

"Ok." Maylu agrees with a nod.

"That's my girl. I'll see you tomorrow at 7:30am." Lan says as he gives Maylu a peck on the cheek.

"Good night Maylu." Tori greets to her with a smile.

"Good night Tori." Maylu greets back, now turning to him with a smile.

Maylu's HP

Megaman is continuing to comfort Roll as well as he continues embracing her.

"Are you ok now?" Megaman inquires in a soft tone as his gaze now catches with Roll's.

"Yeah I am." Roll answers with a small smile. "Thanks for being there for me, you're the best."

"I'll always be here for you, no matter what." Megaman replies with a smile, keeping his gaze with Roll's.

Megaman and Roll's gazes now lock as their cyber surroundings begins fazing out around them. Continuing to gaze into each other's eyes, a cyber window now opens behind Megaman, with Lan appearing on it.

"Megaman, we're heading home now so say good night to Roll." Lan commands, breaking both navi's concentration.

:Leave it to Lan to ruin a good moment.: Megaman mentally says to himself with a sigh.

"Alright." Megaman replies, not turning his gaze from Roll's.

"Well, this is good night." Roll says.

"Sadly it is, but I'll be here first thing in the morning to see you." Megaman speaks as he takes Roll's hands into his and kisses the back of them.

"Looking forward to it." Roll says with a smile.

"Alright, see you then." Megaman speaks in a whisper as he now leans down and kisses Roll on the lips. "Sleep well and I'll see you in the morning."

"Sure thing." Roll speaks in a whisper as her and Megaman's lips meet once more.

Releasing Roll's hands and gazing at her once more, Megaman now teleports off Maylu's Hp and back to Lan's PET.

"Alright, let's head home Lan." Megaman's voice speaks from Lan's PET.

"Alright." Lan replies as he gives Maylu a kiss on the cheek. "See you in the morning."

"Bye." Maylu greets to Lan as he rises from sitting on the bed and now exits her room with Tori.

"Well, we better get some rest." Roll says to Maylu from her HP. "Good night Maylu."

"Good night Roll." Maylu says to her navi with a smile as she now stands and begins making her way over to the closet to pick out her bed clothes.

Regal's Tower

Aaron is at the computer and is typing in command prompts as different explorer windows pop up on the screen with one window in particular, that is positioned on the right side of the computer screen, that has data sentences scrolling down on it.

"Now to put part two of my plan into play." Aaron speaks, continuing to type. "Once phase two is completed, I will, then, begin finalizing my plans for conquering Dentech City."

Continuing to type in the command prompts, Aaron now types in the final prompt and hits enter. Having hit enter, all of the windows on the screen now disappear and a sign in blue now appears on the screen that flashes: Access Granted!

"Perfect." Aaron says as a smirk crosses his lips. "The virus has been planted and now the destruction of Internet City begins. Once Internet City is completely drained, I will begin to plan my lay out for where my empire will be built, atop Dentech's ruins."

Now turning to the next computer screen, Aaron spots the Dark loids talking among themselves.

"Flashman." Aaron calls to the dark loid, now catching his attention.

"Yes Aaron sir?" Flashman replies.

"I want you to head to Internet City right now and see to it that phase two of my plan is completed successfully without any interruptions." Aaron commands. "And if Megaman arrives and tries to intercept my plans, inform me immediately."

"Right away." Flashman says as he now teleports off the computer, now on his way to Net City.

"Videoman." Aaron calls.

"Yes Aaron?" Videoman responds as he turns to screen, to Aaron.

"I want you to replay the battle, but only replay the section of the battle in which my princess is in." Aaron requests.

"You got it." Videoman says as the play symbol on his chest now flashes and a video projection window appears on the computer screen.

The video of the battle now begins playing as Videoman begins fast forwarding it, especially the parts that Lan is in. Continuing to fast forward the battle and now arriving at Maylu's battle with Starman, Videoman begins playing that section at the normal speed.

Maylu's Battle

Now finishing his dance, Starman aims the palms of his hands towards Maylu once more as a meteor shower forms and begins falling. Noticing this, Maylu quickly forms a barrier around herself as the meteor shower now begins impacting the ground.

"This guy is really annoying." Roll speaks.

"Can't argue with you there." Maylu agrees as she now converts her right arm to the Roll Arrow.

The meteor shower now comes to an end and the barrier falls as Maylu now aims her arrow towards Starman.

"If I were you, I would demand a refund from that dance class you attended because those are the worst dances moves I have ever seen!" Maylu firmly speaks. "Roll Arrow!"

Maylu now releases the arrow and sends it in flying towards Starman. Unable to dodge the oncoming arrow, Starman is now impacted and is knocked to the ground.

"Catch a falling star on me." Maylu says with a grin.

"Videoman, pause it right here." Aaron commands, keeping his sights on the screen.

Videoman obeys and pauses the video where Maylu is grinning.

"No words can describe such beauty, no words indeed." Aaron says in a dreamy voice, continuing to gawk at the screen. "Not much longer my princess, our meeting will be very soon."

Blademan catches sight of Aaron oogling the screen and shakes his head while rolling his eyes.

Internet City

The digital sky now turns pitch black as violent bolts of lighting begins streaking through the sudden dark skies, unknown to the navis below as they are going about their daily routine in the city.

Next Day: Sci-Lab

It's a new day in Dentech City and the production of the citizens are going as usual. At Sci-Lab, the normal procedure of work is going as normal. Dr. Hikari, having done his morning rounds around Sci-Lab, has returned to his sector and is now checking Iceman current statistics with the unconscious artic net navi positioned vertically on the screen as data rings cirlce him.

"Ok, let's see what we have here." Dr. Hikari speaks as he begins reading over Iceman's stats. "Data restore: complete, recovery: 100 percent, Damage report: no report, power level: 12, and no data is corrupted."

Having read over the stats, Dr. Hikari smiles and nods with satisfaction.

"Tori will be very pleased when he comes to see Iceman later on." Dr. Hikari speaks with a smile. "Now, time for me to investigate a bit further about the dark loid encounter Lan and Maylu had last night."

Now heading over to the computer across the room and reaching it, Dr. Hikari types in a command that brings up a sectional quadrant map of both Dentech and Internet City.

"Something or someone caused that dark loid attack last night and I'm going to find out exactly what did." Dr. Hikari says with determination as he begins looking the sectional map over.

Continuing to look the map over, Dr. Hikari's eyes now fall on a window of Internet City's section of the map and spots navi's scattering through the street as huge bolts of lighting strike the ground.

"And I think I just found my answer." Dr. Hikari says.

Grabbing the mouse, Dr. Hikari drags the pointer over the image and clicks on it. The image now enlarges as Dr. Hikari gets an eye full of what is going on in Net City. Lighting bolts are violently shooting across the dark skies and are impacting the ground as net navi's scatter through Cyber Link avenue to avoid from being stuck by the bolts of lighting.

"Unbelievable!" Dr. Hikari speaks in shock as his eyes widen. "I've got to contact Lan about this immediately!"

Dentech High

Teaching is in full swing at Dentech High as it is only the third period of the day.

Tori's Gym Class

The third period gym class is in session as the coach is giving the class the lesson plan as to what the class activity is going to be with the class sitting on the benches. As the coach continues giving the lesson plan, Tori's mind now wanders to Iceman.

:I can't stop thinking about the damage that was done to Iceman.: Tori mentally says to himself, completely diverting his attention away from the coach. :What if Dr. Hikari isn't able to repair him as he promised:

Flashback

Tori's PET screen has gone fuzzy.

"Lan?" Tori calls, hoping Lan can hear him. "Lan are you there? Lan?"

The PET's screen now goes to the main screen with a sign flashing in red: Transmission disconnected!

"Trasmission disconncted?" Tori says in disbelief. "How did that happen?"

Turning around to the dimensional area, Tori now spots a black armored net navi standing over an unconscious Iceman. The navi now turns in Tori's direction with his eyes shining a bright crimson. Fear completely consumes Tori as his eyes now widen from the sight of the navi.

"Iceman..." Tori chokes out.

End of flashback

:Blademan injured Iceman pretty badly, but if it weren't for Lan and Maylu showing up when they did, I wouldn't have Iceman today, despite the injuries that he endured.: Tori continues.

Flashback

"All of this could have been avoided, but since you two couldn't mind your own, then I'll see to it personally that the next time you will." Blademan speaks as he brings his Blade Dagger into his view with an evil grin crossing his lips. "And to make sure I get my point across, I'm going to delete your navi!"

"ICEMAN NO!" Tori yells, now breaking from his fear.

"Put the weapon down and step away from the navi!" Lan's voice sternly speaks from behind Tori.

Hearing the voice, Tori and Blademan turn in the direction of Lan's voice, now spotting him and Maylu walking in their direction.

"Lan, Maylu, boy am I glad to see you guys!" Tori speaks with happiness.

End of Flashback

:Blademan isn't going to get away with what he did to my navi.: Tori continues thinking to himself. :He is going to pay for what he did and I will see to it that he gets a dose of his own medicine.:

Continuing to think to himself, Tori is unaware that the coach has finished giving the lesson plans and have called the class to the gym floor to begin the activity, only leaving him on th bench. The coach, who is choosing teams for the class activity, now notices that Tori is not among the class. Turning to the bench, the coach notices that Tori is in thought.

"Mr. Froid, do you mind joining the rest of the class?" The coach speaks loudly, hoping to catch Tori's attention.

Having said that, the coach doesn't get a response from Tori as Tori is still deep in thought about Iceman. Sighing, the coach now makes his way over to Tori and places his hand on Tori's right shoulder, knocking him out of his thought. Being back to reality, Tori now turns to his right and spots the coach.

"Yes sir?" Tori inquires in confusion.

"Would you like to join the rest of the class?" The coach replies in a calm tone. "You were caught in your own world when I called the class to the floor."

"Oh sure and sorry about that." Tori says as he now stands.

"It's fine." The coach replies. "Just pay closer attention next time."

Tori nods as he and the coach make their way to the floor.

Lan's English Class

Mrs. Stoffer is giving a lecture on Pronounciation, Puncuation, Adjectives and Adverbs. Lan, who is catching bits and pieces of the lesson, is nodding off. Feeling his head drop once more, Lan jolts up in his seat as he now focuses his attention back on the lesson.

"So by placing the proper puncuation marks in your sentences, need be quotation marks or semi-colons, you are following the rules of Puncuation." Mrs. Stoffer continues lecturing.

:Mrs. Stoffer is so boring.: Lan mentally says to himself as he rests his chin in his right palm. : At least when Ms. Mari was teaching this to us, she made it interesting.:

Continuing to listen to the lesson, Lan's PET now begins vibrating, which alerts Lan. Feeling the vibration, Lan grabs his PET from the case and positions it under the desk, where it is only in his view. Having his PET in sight, Lan spots Megaman on the screen as the blue navi points to an email on his right. Hitting the A button on the PET's console, the email opens as the message appears on the screen with the subject line reading: URGENT! The body of the message reads:

'Lan, Internet City is under attack. Send Megaman there ASAP! Signed, Dad'

Hitting the clear button, Lan places the PET back in the case and raises his hand. Mrs. Stoffer, who is looking out over the class while giving the lesson, notices that Lan's hand is raised.

"Yes, Mr. Hikari?" Mrs. Stoffer inquires.

"May I please be excused to the rest room?" Lan replies with an inquiry.

"Yes, you may." Mrs. Stoffer replies with a smile.

Lan rises from his seat and begins making his way to the exit of the class. Now reaching the exit, Lan exits the class and grabs his PET as he begins down the hall. Lan turns the volume of his PET back on.

"What was that email about Lan?" Megaman inquires curiously.

"It was from my dad." Lan answers his navi. "He informed me that Internet City is under attack, so I'm heading to the computer lab now so I can send you to the city to investigate. I told Mrs. Stoffer I was heading to the bathroom so she wouldn't suspect anything."

"Well, you're going to be spending a lot of time in the bathroom, considering what the current situation is." Megaman replies with slight laughter.

"Oh, so should I have said: Mrs. Stoffer, may I please be excused to the computer lab so I can jack my navi Megaman into the Cyber World so he can save Internet City from destruction? Oh and by the way, I'm a Net Savior." Lan speaks in a sarcastic tone. "Not a chance. Wait, shouldn't we contact Maylu and Roll about this?"

"No, they have been through enough already." Megaman replies. "We will deal with this."

"Very well then." Lan agrees. "Now where is that computer lab again? I remember seeing on the first day."

Continuing down the hall, Lan now looks ahead of him and spots a student heading in his direction.

"Excuse me." Lan speaks up, now catching the student's attention. "Where is the computer lab?"

"Come to the end of this hall and make a right." The student answers. "It's the first door on your right."

"Thanks." Lan says.

Having the directions, Lan now comes to the end of the hall he is in and makes a right, now arriving at the computer lab. Entering the lab, Lan stops at the first computer.

"I'm sending you in now." Lan says to Megaman, bringing his PET into his view.

"Let's do it." Megaman replies with determination.

Aiming the infer-red port of his PET towards the computer tower's hard drive sensor, the infer-red beam now shoots from the PET and to the sensor, now logging Megaman into the Cyber World.

Internet City

Now arriving in Internet City, Megaman teleports in the middle of a huge crowd of navis that are scattering through Cyber Link Avenue as the bolts of lighting strike the ground.

"What is going on here?" Megaman inquires.

Having asked that question, a bolt of lightning now impacts the ground in front of Megaman, nearly knocking him off of his feet.

"Lighting?" Megaman inquires in confusion.

Now turning his attention towards the sky, Megaman notices that dark clouds have covered the digital sky as violent lighting bolts rapidly shoot through the dark sky.

"A thunderstorm in Net City?" Megaman inquires in disbelief.

"Megaman, what's going on there?" Lan asks.

"A violent thunderstorm is wrecking havoc." Megaman answers Lan, not turning his attention away from the sky.

"A thunderstorm in Net city?" Lan says in confusion.

The dark clouds that have covered the sky are now starting to spin as tornado funnels now begins forming. Megaman's widen at the sight in front of him.

"Lan, do you have any battle chips with you?" Megaman inquires, keeping his vision on the skies.

"Yes, I do." Lan answers.

"Good, because I'm going to need them." Megaman replies.

Through the crowd of navi's, Flashman now catches sight of Megaman.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Flashman speaks in a devious tone. "It appears that the little blue pest came to play hero and try to put a stop to phase two. Aaron will be most please to hear of this." (Flashman would grin, but he doesn't have a mouth)

Data sentences now begins scrolling down Flashman's eyes as he begins composing his message. Completing his message, the sentences now stop scrolling as he sends his message.

Regal's Tower

Data sentences now scroll up Blademan's eyes as he just received Flashman's message.

"Aaron, Flashman just notified me that Megaman is in Net City." Blademan informs Aaron.

"And while the life is being sucked from the city." Aaron replies with an evil smile. "Excellent. I'm killing two birds with one stone and all in one sitting. Not only am I getting what I want, but Megaman is giving me a hand in destroying him. This can't possibly get any more perfect."

A thought now pops into Aaron's mind.

"Or maybe it can." Aaron speaks as he now begins thinking. "While Megaman is trying to save Net City, I know Lan is with him which means my queen is completely unprotected and that gives me an idea."

Quickly mapping the idea out in his mind, Aaron's evil smile now widens.

"And I have just the perfect thing to bring my queen out of hiding." Aaron says as he now begins typing on the computer.

Dentech High (Maylu's Math Class)

Ms. Smith is giving a lesson on Probablity as she is giving the class a written demonstration on the black board.

"Now the tricky thing about probablity is that you usually have no idea which percentage of what you're looking for will favor over what you're not looking for, thus making it difficult for you to get an answer 90 percent of the time." Ms. Smith continues explaining.

Maylu is taking note of everything Ms. Smith is saying when suddenly, her PET begins vibrating, which alerts her. Grabbing the PET from the case, Maylu positions it under her desk where it is only in her view. Looking on the screen, Maylu spots Roll on the screen with an email positioned to her left. Pressing the A button, the email opens with the message appearing on the screen. The subject line reads: Contact me immediately! The body of the email reads:

'Maylu, contact me immediately. You immediate attention is requested!' Signed, Mr. Famous.

Placing the PET back in the case, Maylu now raises her hand. Mrs. Smith now turns back to the class from the black board and notices that Maylu has her hand raised.

"Yes Maylu?" Ms. Smith inquires.

"May I be excused? My mom just called and I need to call her back." Maylu answers with a lie, covering up the real reason. "We recently had a family emergency, my aunt's in the hospital."

"Of course you can be excused." Mrs. Smith permits with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow and I hope your aunt gets better."

"Thanks." Maylu replies as she rises from her seat.

Grabbing her things, Maylu begins making her way towards the exit of the class. Now reaching the exit, Maylu exits the class and enters the hall. Grabbing her PET and turning the volume back on, Maylu brings it into her view and presses the C button. A transmission window with Mr. Famous on it now appears.

"Good, I was able to reach you." Mr. Famous speaks, sounding out of breath. "I need your help."

"What's going on?" Maylu inquires in a whisper.

"There is trouble at the Music Store on 35th Avenue." Mr. Famous informs Maylu. "A virus outbreak has occurred and I need for you and Roll to head down there right away."

"Did you try contacting Lan about this?" Maylu asks.

"Yes, but he and Megaman are dealing with a situation in Internet City at the moment." Mr. Famous answers. "I didn't know who else to contact, considering that Chaud is gone to America on a buisness trip."

"Ok, I'm on my way." Maylu says with a nod.

Pressing the clear button, Maylu now places the PET back in the case and begins down the hall towards the exit of the school.

Maylu is unaware of the trap is about to walk into.

A/N: Ok end of chapter 7 and I hope you all liked it. I apologize that this chapter is late, kind of sucks , and is short. This is all I could come up with. I have been ridiculously busy and life just wouldn't slow down for me. As usual, no flames and if anything is confusing, please let me know and I'll modify it for you. Chapter 8 will be out when I have another moment, but until then, please review.

Review Please!