A/N: Alright, where did Lan and Mega go, and what became of Mike and Razor? Let's find out. Also, sorry for the holdup. I've been busy with making a comic on my PC. If anyone wants to try them, give me your email-address, and I'll send a few of them to you. I warn you though, I suck at humor. -_-;;
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None of your Buisness: Well, if I'm honest with myself, that was one of the best fights I ever wrote. Still, I could do better (don't know how, but it's possible).
Song: Couldn't help it! I just had to put it in!
maverickzero: I will.
Song: 'Don't sell the skin before the bear's shot'. That's an old saying here which means 'don't take your conclusions too fast'. I mean, did I actually write that Shine kissed Chaud??
Youkai Ryuu: Woops!! Sorry about that! I always confuse those :( Anyway, thanks for correcting me. Translations?? Uh… I'll write them below the reviews.
Chibiki: Well, Bass is cool, I admit that, (I have something with those anime-bad/mysterious-guys, I don't know what it is 0.0) but he can't kick Mega's ass. Bass is just too overconfident for that. ^_^ Thanks.
Dr. Bross: Yep. It was Japanese.
Sirk: Not really. Ragnarok was the name of some kind of holy blade, but I forgot who wielded it. And Jinn is just another word for Genie.
TJ and Rikumon: I never said I hated your jokes, it was just a bad pun. Oh, and about that figure, don't get your hopes up about it, because I'm known to give almost every story a violent twist, leaving everyone thoroughly confused.
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Japanese words:
Oyasuminasai – loosely translated, it means 'Good night' or 'Sweet dreams'.
Genki des ka – commonly, it just means 'How are you?'
Genki desu – that means 'I'm fine'.
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--
Chapter II Part 2: The Search
"Why did Shine go with Chaud anyway?"
"You jealous??"
"Jealous?!? Of what?!"
"I dunno, you tell me."
"Mega!!!"
"Hey! I'm kidding!! You know that!!"
--
Lan arrived at the Official Center quite easily using the metroline. He needed something to do, so he figured he could do some requests for people. If there were any good requests that is. Lately, people have been asking for things they could easily handle themselves. Those were cases he really didn't like.
"You think there're some good requests?" Mega asked.
"I dunno. Why don't we check?" Lan said, and was about to head downstairs, when someone tapped him on his shoulder.
Lan whirled around, surprised to see a boy around his own age standing there.
"You're Lan Hikari, MegaMan.EXE's Operator, right?" the boy asked.
"Uh… yeah, why?" Lan asked.
The boy smiled and said: "There's a request for you. Something about a problem in Den City. Don't know what it was about, the request didn't say so."
"Oh, uh, thanks," Lan said, not completely trusting this guy. "Who are you anyway?"
"Who, me?" the boy asked. "Name's Mike. I'm a City NetBattler since yesterday, but it was mostly Razor's doing."
"Razor???" Mega questioned.
"That would be me!!" a voice said from Mike's PET.
Mike pulled out his PET, which was a dark green hue with dark blue spikes sticking out at some places, and Lan looked at the screen curiously.
"They said you needed to have a Z- or B-License to get an A-License, but I got one without either of them," Razor said with a cocky smirk.
"Whoa! You must be good!!" Mega said, impressed.
"Pah! I've just trained a lot with a friend," Razor said calmly. "Oh, and you'd better take that request. I think it's rather important."
"Okay. Maybe we'll see you guys later. Bye!!" Lan said, and ran down the stairs.
Mike watched him go, then said: "I get the feeling he doesn't trust us."
"Now why would that be?" Razor asked sarcastically.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Mike demanded.
"Nothing," Razor said innocently. "Hey, let's do some requests ourselves. I'm getting bored!"
"Oh fine!!"
--
"This looks promising," Mike said. "Listen to this;
My computer's been acting funny for awhile. I can't touch it without being zapped, so I can't get on the Net either. Also, metal and copper things are flying at it. I'm too afraid to have my Navi deleted, so I'm looking for a fellow City NetBattler with a tough Navi who'll do me this one favor. If you accept, please come to my villa in ADCD Town."
"'Villa'??" Razor repeated. "That's Yai! No doubt about it!"
"If she can't handle it, it must be something. Let's do it!"
--
"Jesus Christ!!" Razor exclaimed. "It's a whole lot bigger than in the game!!"
Indeed it was. The house was much wider, and the garden was more like a miniature jungle. It was still yellow though. However, it took some time for Mike to find the entrance, seeing as there was a gate blocking entrance to intruders.
"This has to be it," Mike said, reaching the driveway.
He pushed the intercom button and waited. The screen flicked to life, and a familiar voice popped up.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Glyde asked calmly.
Mike quirked an eyebrow and said: "Did someone in this house need a City NetBattler?"
Glyde blinked.
"Hang on a moment," he finally said, and the screen flicked off.
The gate slowly creaked open.
"Come on in!!" a girl's voice said cheerily.
Mike smiled, and walked down the road toward the house.
--
"Good morning! I'm Yai, and this is Glyde, my Navi," Yai said, introducing herself and her Navi.
Mike smiled and bowed to the younger girl, saying: "Pleasure to meet you. I am Mike, and this is Razor."
Razor saluted the girl and said: "Razor.EXE reporting for duty, ma'am!"
Yai smiled and blushed a little.
"Likewise," she said. "Come on. I'll show you the problem."
Mike was guided through the large house, toward Yai's bedroom. When they entered, Mike instantly noticed that there was a lot of stuff sticking to the PC.
"Whoa! Did your computer change into a magnet or something??" Mike asked.
"I was starting to suspect that myself."
--
"Plug in!! Razor.EXE!! Transmission!!"
--
Razor shot down in a beam of dark blue and green and looked about.
"Whoa. The place is littered with viruses!" he said.
The place was a real mess. Electric viruses were causing mayhem all over, and of course, the usual Mettools were there too. Razor took a deep breath while rolling his eyes, and sighed with his eyes closed.
"I'll be done in a few moments," he said, and slid out his blades.
With a yell, Razor shot forward, lashing five Mettools apart with a simple slash, before running off to delete the rest. He jumped back and forth across the Net, deleting viruses with a simple lash of his blades as he went, speeding this way or that.
Once all viruses were gone, Razor stopped, and didn't move a muscle. He didn't even blink for a few minutes.
When he did, he said: "That was a little too easy."
He looked around carefully, trying to find something, though he wasn't sure what.
--
"Razor? What's wrong?" Mike asked.
"I don't know. I have a feeling something's about to ha--AAAAAAAAH!!!"
Yai and Mike looked at each other in shock. Something had happened indeed.
--
"Razor!! Razor!! You okay?!"
Razor slowly got up, holding his head. He didn't say anything for awhile; his head was still ringing from whatever had slammed into his back.
"………………………Ouch."
He turned around, his face masked in anger. When he saw who had hit him, his face didn't even show the confusion and shock it wanted to.
'MagnetMan?? I thought he was deleted in MMBN2 during Gospel's reign. ………Ah, oh well! At least I've got something to do.'
"Let me guess, MagnetMan, right?" Razor said, still looking pissed off as hell.
MagnetMan didn't say anything, until he smirked. Razor whirled around when he heard a strange whoosh behind him. MagnetMan had somehow gotten behind him. ……No, wait a minute.
Razor looked back, and noticed MagnetMan still standing on his previous spot. When he turned again, he suddenly noticed that that MagnetMan was blue instead of red.
"Uh-oh…" Razor mumbled, just before the two Navis shot at him.
Razor looked back and forth between them, before placing his hands on his hips with a sigh, and jumping up. The two Navis knocked their heads together, and stumbled away, the blue MagnetMan vanishing without a trace.
"Oh please," Razor said as he landed back on the ground. "Don't tell me you thought I'd fall for that! That trick was just old!"
MagnetMan growled in anger, and Razor simply smirked. A strange whine suddenly sounded around the Net, but only MagnetMan looked around for the source. Razor continued to smirk wickedly.
When the whine became too much, Razor grabbed both his Busters and aimed them at MagnetMan.
"Uh… oh…"
"SURPRISE!!!" Razor screamed, and fired.
The large bolts of plasma hit the red Navi head-on, and it gave Razor the time to place his Busters away and draw his blades. With a yell, Razor shot forward at the Navi. Magnet growled and pulled his fist back to punch. Razor jumped aside to avoid the hit, and lashed downward with a yell.
Magnet screamed as his arm landed on the ground and vanished in a mass of small blue cubes.
--
"About time we finish this!" Mike said. "Mega Cannon!! Slot in!!"
--
Razor's arm shifted into a large cannon, which was easily aimed at MagnetMan. Razor fired, but before the bolt could hit the other Navi, he dissipated into the words "LOG OUT".
"Damn him! He got away!!" Razor cursed in anger.
"Razor!! Calm down!! We'll get him some other time! Okay?!" Mike said, trying to calm his Navi.
"Some other time," Razor repeated with a nod.
"Okay. Jack out."
--
With loud crashes, the stuff attached to the PC dropped onto the desk. Mike winced from the sound and jacked out.
"Well… that went easy."
"Too easy if you ask me," Razor mumbled.
Yai whistled, then asked: "What was that?"
"If I'm not mistaking, that had been one of Gospel's Navis. Or one of World 3's, but I'm not sure," Mike said.
"Gospel, definitely Gospel," Razor said calmly.
Yai smiled, and turned to Mike.
"Thanks for helping me out."
Mike smiled and said: "All in a day's work ma'am!"
"Here, it's not much, but I'm sure you'll put it too good use," Yai said, handing Mike a couple of bills.
--
"I think I understand what that guy had wanted from Mega and Lan," Razor said, pacing around inside his PET.
"Right. Someone's found a way to revive deleted Navis and reuse them."
"You're supposed to say 'Someone found a way to reanalyze data of deleted Navis, and managed to reprogram them in bodies equal height, weight and voices, but managed to give them more strength than they had with World 3/Gospel."
Mike was silent for a while, then said: "You're starting to sound like Laze."
"Who???" Razor asked as he stopped his pacing.
"Nah, just someone I read about on FanFiction.Net," Mike said. "She's a real bitch, but when she wants to be, she can be the nicest girl around. Which isn't often."
"Oh. Never heard of her."
"No matter. But anyway, we need to get some help! Not just Lan's, but of as much people as we can!"
"I know…… Jack me in on the Net, maybe I can find some tough Navis."
"Roger!"
--
After hours of searching, Razor found himself on top of a high building in KotoSquare, feet dangling over the edge as he stared at the magnificent view. He had searched everywhere, but had been unable to find anything. There was one more place he could check, but he wasn't too sure if he should go there. Because he felt like it wasn't worth it.
Razor had bumped into GutsMan and Roll (literally) while running around searching for strong Navis, but had not mentioned anything to them (hadn't even stopped to apologize, just shouted 'sorry' over his shoulder). GutsMan couldn't even last against NumberMan (loser), and Roll wasn't made to be a fighter.
With a sigh, Razor placed his hands on the side of his head, and allowed the helmet to slide off of his head. His wild ivy-green hair was a little sticky, so he shook his head, placed his helmet beside him, and ran his hands through it. Unless Ray decided to show herself somewhere, they were on their own.
Ray…
Ray and him were pretty close, though they weren't close enough to be in a 'boyfriend-girlfriend' relationship. She wasn't ready for it, and Razor just didn't feel that way about her. They were just friends, and that's how Razor wanted it to stay. Any phases Ray would go through, he'd accept.
Razor might be impatient when it came with games, but around his friends, he could wait as long as they needed for something.
He stared across the city, watching the Navis down below walk about, not even considering the danger that was approaching. One arm was on both knees, and he was leaning on his other hand, jaw on his knuckles. He closed his eyes, and thought back to when he and Mike had first met Shine and Ray.
*Flashback*
"I could easily beat you with my hands tied behind my back!!" Michael dared the other boy.
"Ha! I'd like to see you use chips then!" Dare retorted with a forced laugh.
The duo was on their way to the arcade, planning to go spend some of their money on games. When they came to the arcade, Dare stopped and just stared. Michael, who had walked ahead, stopped, and walked back, backwards.
"Hey, you okay?" Michael asked.
"Look over there," Dare said with a nod.
Michael looked over, and instantly noticed a young girl standing there, shoulder-length white hair tied up in a loose bun on her head. She seemed to be horribly out of place, seeing as she kept looking around, her light purple eyes showing a slight twinge of fear.
"Let's see what's wrong," Dare said, and walked over.
"DARE!!" Michael hissed, but ran after his friend anyway.
"Hey," Dare said, and the girl looked up at him in confusion and fright. "You okay? You look lost."
"I am!" the girl whimpered, bottom-lip trembling. "I lost onnechan somewhere and I can't find her!!"
Michael blinked and asked: "You can't find who??"
"Big sis!!" the girl said. "Well… okay, she's only five seconds older… but…"
"She's still older than you," Dare finished.
"Yeah!"
"Oh! I'm Dare, by the way, and this here is Michael."
"Hi."
"Ugh! Porn! OOF!!"
Dare had elbowed Michael in his gut, with his eyes closed and an exasperated look on his face. He opened his eyes and gave the young girl an apologetic look.
The girl giggled and said: "Is he an oversexed kid or something?"
"Nah, he's just crazy," Dare said.
"I AM NOT!!!" Michael shouted, but Dare had already slapped his hand over the boy's mouth.
"Sorry."
"That's okay! I'm Shine."
"Nice to meet you."
"Wikewise," Michael said behind Dare's hand.
Dare finally removed his hand and said: "So, why are you here?"
Shine sighed and said: "Onnechan said that if I ever got lost, I had to find the local arcade and wait there for her. So, here I am!"
"Your sis likes arcade games?" Michael asked.
"No, but it was the only place I could memorize from the back of my head in this place."
Dare and Michael looked at each other with an odd look.
"Hey! I hardly go to the mall okay!? Onnechan comes here all the time!"
"Why?" Dare asked.
"Probably buying stuff about that… that… that game she's always playing. Oh! I can't remember the name!"
"What's it about?" Michael asked.
"Uh… a little guy in blue armor and he can change his hand into a gun," Shine said.
"Mega Man!" Dare said, smiling.
"THAT'S the game!!" Shine said with a broad smile, while pointing at Dare. "Personally, I don't really like the game, though."
"You don't?" Dare asked. "Too bad, they're the best!"
"I agree on that one," an unfamiliar voice said, and the two boys whirled around in surprise.
The gothic girl standing behind them looked like she was seriously pissed off at something, and her ankle-length gray hair was tied back in a tight ponytail, jerking wildly as her head moved. Magenta colored eyes sparked with a strange fury, but Dare could tell it wasn't out of anger. She was about the same height as Dare, but seemed almost twice as adventurous.
"ONNECHAN!!" Shine screamed, and ran forward, hugging the other girl around her waist.
The taller girl looked seriously pissed off at the other child, and pushed her away.
"How many times do I have to tell you!? Don't call me THAT!!" she hissed.
"Oh," Shine said, as if she only just heard. "Okay, onnechan!"
"AAAAARGH!!!" the girl exclaimed, slamming a hand against her face in exasperation. "Shine, you'll never change!"
"Nor will you!!" Shine countered.
The girl snorted, and then looked at Dare and Michael.
"I don't say this often, so be glad. Arigatou for keeping Shine occupied. She's a lot calmer when she's not worrying her head off."
Dare blinked, then saw Shine mouthing the words: "'Arigatou' means 'thanks'."
He gave a silent 'ah', then turned to the other girl.
"You're Shine's sister?" he asked.
"That would be me. Watashi no namae wa Ray desu, and you are?"
Michael looked confused, but Dare managed to understand her.
"I'm Dare, and this is Michael," he said, once again doing the introduction.
"Huh?? Oh, hi there," Michael said, pretending to take a hat off.
Ray rolled her eyes at that, and lightly shook her head, making her hair jerk about.
"Ch, not like I'll ever use those names, bushhead," she mumbled.
"Well I---huh?!!? Bushhead!?!?" Dare exclaimed, confused.
Ray simply scoffed and said: "I hardly call people by their names, so either stick with that, or I'll simply ignore you."
Dare was confused, because Ray was the complete opposite of Shine, and the duo looked nothing alike. He couldn't judge them by their faces, because Shine kept smiling, and Ray kept frowning.
Suddenly, Ray whirled around and suckerpunched Michael straight against his shoulder, who had walked over to right beside her, sending him to the ground. Michael winced as he rubbed his shoulder, looking up at Ray, who was looking seriously pissed off. Shine had taken a cautious step back, and gulped quietly.
"Never, touch the hair, got it?!?!" Ray hissed between her teeth.
Michael gulped, and nodded. Ray smirked for a millisecond, before straightening up.
She turned to Dare and said: "I suggest you don't try a stunt like that."
Dare looked at her, his face a blank look, before he smiled.
"Hey! I'm not called 'Dare' for nothing! I live every day like it's my last! It's the only way I can actually enjoy life!!" he said proudly.
Ray raised a curious eyebrow at him as Michael scurried over to hide behind him.
"Prove it," Ray said, but Dare heard the challenge.
She was testing him, and Dare had a feeling this might be the only chance he'd get to befriend her.
"Sure," he answered with a wicked grin.
*End Flashback*
And how he did! He would never forget the look on Ray's face when he had triggered the fire-alarm, and nearly had them all arrested. She had been baffled by what he had dared, and she's said so once they had managed to escape the guards.
"Kuso!" she had hissed. "You're a freaking daredevil!!"
"Hey, what's with the accent anyway?" Mike had asked.
"Ray went to Japan to study! And she also practiced the Martial Arts there!" Shine had said with a smile.
"Shine shut up!!" Ray had said angrily.
Razor chuckled at the memory. Yep, the first meeting with Ray and Shine had been a real rush for everyone.
That was when he remembered what had caused him to think of Ray.
"Now what? I mean, it's not like Ray's going to show up anytime soon."
He knew that was true, but why did he feel so funny about it?
--
"Nothing."
"Aw nutbunnies!"
"'Nutbunnies'??"
"I always wanted to say that!"
"……Mike, I'm seriously starting to doubt your sanity."
"Hey! I'm not crazy!! I'm---"
"'Slightly insane', I know I know. I still say you're a nutcase."
"HEY!!!"
"Shut up about it! We're leaving the subject!"
"Oh."
"…………"
"…………"
"We could ask Ch---"
"NO WAY!!! I am most certainly NOT working with HIM!!!"
"Why not??"
"Look, it's bad enough that I might have to fight with Mega's friends, but there is no way in HELL that I'll work with that little bastard!!"
"Okay, okay! Forget I said that!"
"Good."
"Well, do you have any ideas?"
"We could ask Sal, Miyu, and maybe even Masa to help us."
"Would they help us?"
"They helped against World 3, right?"
"Yeah, but they could be out of shape."
"Possible. But we have to try."
--
Mike sat down on the bench with a sigh, staring up at the still bright sky. It was still rather early, but he already felt like he'd spent two days within the past few hours. It was exhausting, I can tell you that.
"I'm beat!"
"You're beat?! I'm doing all the work around here!!"
"Razor!! I'm absolutely not in the mood!!"
"And you think I am?! And besides, you're the one who started this mess!!"
"Me?!!? Well you certainly aren't doing anything about it!!"
"You want me to clean up your mess!?!?! Like hell I will!!"
"Razor you---"
Mike stopped, and gave a sigh, trying to calm down.
"Would you listen to us?! We're sounding like a bunch of kids!!"
"Yeah……sorry Mike."
"Nah, I should be sorry. Like you said, I started it and all."
"Yeah, but I didn't stop it."
"Okay! Enough with this!! Let's go!! We have to find help! You ready for action, partner?"
"Ten-four, partner."
--
"Tell me again, what are we doing here?" Mike asked as he walked into the Official Center.
"Ray once mentioned that to become an Official NetBattler, you need to have a SSS-License, and for that, you need an S- and SS-License. So we'd be better off starting early, because Ray said she's been busy with that for hours," Razor explained.
"Ah. If Ray had difficulties with that, then, yes, it would be wise."
Mike walked to the computer and jacked in.
"Go for it, Razor."
--
Razor calmly followed the instructor who would guide him to the test-area. Even though he looked calm, it was making him kind of nervous. He remembered what Ray had said. All too well.
--
"I swear! That had been the only part of the game I had serious troubles with!!"
"Why's that?"
"Well, for an S-License, you have to win ten battles in a row without healing."
"What's so hard about that? I thought you did that anyway?"
"Usually, yeah. But you try winning ten battles when your enemies move faster, their attacks are more powerful, and they have 50% extra HP."
"You're kidding!!"
"Iie."
--
'I am NOT going to have it easy here!' Razor thought with dismay.
--
Razor raced across the UnderNet, deleting viruses as he went. Most of them were easy to beat, seeing as all monsters were only affected by swords. The battles had taken a lot out of him, and now that he had an S-License, he had tried to get an SS-License, but apparently, you needed ArmyData for that.
After a while, Razor stopped to ponder for a moment.
'Now where did she say that ArmyData was?'
He closed his eyes, and sought through his mind, trying to find it. His eyes finally opened with a snap, and he smirked.
With a burst of speed, Razor shot off, lashing at viruses and sending them into deletion within only a few seconds. He had no time to toy around with those viruses.
--
Razor skidded to a screeching halt (literally) and looked at the warp laying ahead of him. Unlike the others, it was a bright red with a purple outlining.
"Yo Mike."
"Yeah."
"I won't be able to jack out in there. Do you have any SneakRuns?"
"I'm sure I do, hang on a sec."
Razor could hear Mike rummage through his folder for awhile while reading aloud.
"Unlocker… Untrap… MiniEnrg… AH!! Here we are!! SneakRun!"
"Good. Once I'm in there, use it!"
Before Mike could object, Razor jumped on the warp. The Net seemed to flash from normal to blood-red and back, over and over, until it sped up and Razor felt like he was being torn apart. He wanted to scream, but his throat was plugged. His hair flew upward as the pain lasted for what seemed like hours, until finally… he was warped away.
--
"WHOA!! OUCH!!!" Razor yelped and tumbled out of the warp in a heap.
He shook his head and put a hand to his forehead, groaning as his body ached. Someone definitely had to check that warp!
"Fuck!!" Razor shouted in anger as he got up, rubbing his head as he had a feeling he was getting a lump. "Of all the idiotic---!!"
Whoosh!!
"Huh?!?! What the?!"
Razor whirled around, forgetting the pain he was feeling. Something was there. And he had a feeling it wasn't a virus. The atmosphere was too cold to be that of a virus, even for an ice-virus. Chills and shivers ran up and down Razor's spine as he pulled out his blades and guns while slowly looking around.
"Who's there!?! Show yourself!!!" he screamed, but like he expected, he got no response.
"Razor!!" Mike's voice called out from afar, sounding awfully distorted. "What's going on?! My PET suddenly feels like… I don't know! Like it's being filled with hatred and anger!!"
"Hatred and anger…" Razor repeated softly, and suddenly, he understood. "Oh SHIT!!!"
Razor didn't waste any more time and began to run, not at all feeling like taking him on.
--
A pair of blood red eyes slowly opened, and he watched the Navi run away. He sensed the Navi's strength easily, and he knew he would make a fine adversary. But the Navi seemed to be in a hurry, so he didn't even bother to give chase.
'Some other time…' the dark figure thought, and smirked wickedly, before whooshing his poncho and vanishing out of sight.
--
Like I said, sorry for the holdup. Anyway, if there are any yaoi-lovers out there, I suggest you try 'After The Storm'. My own characters make an appearance in that one! ^_^