A/N: Slight Delay, But still here! *Wipes sweat off forehead*

~Chapter 12~

'I almost forgot how flying without the messenger bag feels like' Lei thought to herself, as she picked up her speed through NetCity, enjoying the cool wind against her face and in her long hair, 'So much.. Lighter.'

It was already Wednesday noon, and the female Navi was making her way fast, flying carefully between the city's skyscrapers to the location she and MegaMan had agreed on meeting in, while making sure to maintain her height so that she could avoid any potential fans.

She didn't want to be late, after all.

'I wonder if he's already there..' Lei wondered, as she passed NetCity's exit, reaching the wide area outside of it and finally able to have a clear look of the portal to the UnderNet in the distance.

She narrowed her eyes as she continued flying in its direction, until she was finally able to make out the form of a short, blue NetNavi, sitting on the edge of the path next to it.

"MegaMan!" She called to him, catching his attention.

The male Navi lifted himself to his feet, and waved at her.

"Hey Lei!" He called back to her and smiled, as he watched her fly closer and closer, until she landed in front of him.

"Sorry, Did you wait long?" She asked as she lifted a hand to her mouth, her expression turning somewhat worried.

MegaMan shook his head at her.

"Nah, I just got here. To be honest, you had a perfect timing." He reassured, as he smiled and put a hand on his waist.

Both Navis shifted their eyes to the square arch.

"Ready?" He asked her.

Lei stared at the blue Navi next to her for a few seconds, then smiled.

"Ready." She answered with a confident voice.

Keeping with the pace of an ordinary non-flying NetNavi was something Lei wasn't very used to.

All of her friends from the delivery service were able to fly just like her, so it had been a long time since she needed to actually float next to one while still trying to somehow maintain a conversation. She found it odd and uncomfortable to basically talk to the top of MegaMan's helmet, so she decided to try marching as well.

"What are you doing?" The confused blue Navi asked, as he watched her lower herself next to him.

Lei only smiled at him.

"I'm walking from now on!" She declared.

MegaMan just stared at the female Navi next to him with a puzzled expression.

"You rather walk than fly?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

Lei shifted her blue eyes to her feet as they both kept moving.

"It feels weird talking to you while I'm in the air," She explained as she raised her gaze back to him, "So I decided I'd join you."

MegaMan chuckled, as they both continued moving.

"Man, I wish I could fly, you and Bass sure have it easy." He said as he lifted his green eyes to the oddly colored sky above them.

Lei said nothing and only stared at him as he continued;

"Well, I mean, At least you have that ability for a reason, Bass is just purely exploiting it."

Lei blinked as she remembered how the cloaked Navi helped her find the path back to NetCity the day before, then laughed.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that." She said and smiled at him.

MegaMan suddenly blinked.

"That reminds me.." He said as he jokingly narrowed his eyes at her, "You said you were 'Invited' to this fight, What did you mean?"

Lei went silent at his question for a few moments.

MegaMan simply waited for her answer, watching her closely.

"Bass invited me." She finally said.

MegaMan's eyes widened as he just stared at her for a while.

Neither of them spoke, and the silence was getting heavy.

"Holy crap." He said and chuckled.

Although his reaction was something Lei pretty much expected, somehow seeing with her own eyes how genuinely shocked he was to hear about it suddenly made her realize how undeniably odd it was of Bass to actually do something like invite another person to come see his battle.

Her brow furrowed.

'All I did was tell him I didn't want him to get hurt..' She thought to herself, 'Isn't that a normal thing to be worried about?'

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by MegaMan's voice;

"Oh, I didn't mean it in a bad way," he explained and smiled at her, "It's just super shocking, you know?"

But why was it that shocking?

She still couldn't fully understand the big deal about the whole thing.

"Is Bass really that hard to talk to, normally?" She asked him, watching him closely.

MegaMan's green eyes widened at her question.

"Very. It took him a long time until he actually started to trust and listen to me. And I'm not even gonna start talking about how he deals with NetNavis he doesn't know – he has two options for those: don't bother with, or kill on the spot." He explained and let out a sigh.

Lei stared at the blue Navi next to her for a few moments.

"I.. See." She said.

MegaMan stared back at her.

"So say, how do you get him to cooperate so easily?" He asked her, his green eyes filled with interest, "If it was any other NetNavi, he would've probably not even listened to what they had to say.. Not to mention he has only met you for a few times and already inviting you to his battles."

Lei's expression turned confused.

"I'm not really sure.." She said, as she blinked at the blue Navi next to her.

MegaMan went silent for a few moments, staring at her.

"And yet he still listens to you.." He said as he playfully narrowed his eyes.

She simply nodded.

Neither of them spoke for a while.

"Maybe he likes you." He suddenly said as he crossed his arms and smirked at her.

Lei's blue eyes widened at his words.

She stared at him for a few moments, her expression turning into pure confusion, causing MegaMan to chuckle at her reaction.

"Well, I see no other reason!" He said.

Lei blinked.

Suddenly, she remembered the events which caused Bass to share the details of his past with her, making her exhale, as she realized the actual reason behind them.

'He opened up to me just because I asked him to. That's all.' She thought to herself.

"I don't think that's the case.." She quickly said and smiled, "I guess we just kind of.. Get along?"

In truth, Lei wasn't even completely sure herself. But for the time being, she decided that was the best she could come up with.

MegaMan chuckled.

'Hmm.. We'll see about that.' He thought to himself, as he lowered his hands down back at each of his sides and continued moving.

After walking for a while and completely deserting the path which Lei had gotten to know so well, both Navis reached an area full of randomly arranged, tall piles of rubble.

"Well, Bass and I usually fought in a rather specific area of the UnderNet which is right behind these huge piles of rocks." MegaMan said as he turned to Lei, "So we're almost there."

Lei smiled at him as she looked all around her.

They had been talking for the whole time, so she barely noticed the completely new features this new part of the UnderNet had to offer her, gasping at how its uniqueness simply never failed to amaze her.

They both carefully walked over the rocky surface, and climbed over the piles of rocks which blocked their view, until they could finally see what was hiding behind them.

Lei's blue eyes widened as she gasped at what she was witnessing, and she could see all of it from where they were standing.

The wide ground surface before her had been pounded almost completely flat, looking as if it had been through many battles, each one reshaping it in a completely different way, leaving its mark on it as if it was a signature.

"Welcome to our battlefield, Lei." MegaMan said and smiled at her, as he jumped down the high pile of rocks they both stood on top of.

Lei was left astonished, as her lips parted in amazement and her blue eyes wandered all over the place.

"It's incredible!" She said, excited, as she floated down to the surface next to the blue Navi.

MegaMan shot her with a confused look.

"Is it?" He asked as he looked all around him, trying to figure out what she found so amazing about it, "It's just a messed up area that's comfortable for fighting." He turned back to the female Navi.

"Exactly." A third voice suddenly said, coming from behind them, making both Navis turn around to its source.

Bass was standing on top of the big pile of rocks they had just climbed down from, glaring down at them, his cloak fluttering in the wind.

MegaMan smiled with excitement.

"Bass!" He called to him, happy, "Man! It's been a long time since I've seen you! Still can't give up on a fancy entrance, huh?"

The cloaked Navi didn't answer him.

Lei said nothing as she simply stared up at UnderNet's most fearsome NetNavi.

Then, his red eyes met hers.

"I hope you're ready to lose, MegaMan." He declared with a confident voice, as he shifted his gaze back to his nemesis.

MegaMan cracked his knuckles.

"In your dreams!" He said, smiling, "Lan's gonna be a bit late since he's still in school, but unfortunately for you, he prepared me with some chip data this morning, so that shouldn't be a problem."

Bass smiled viciously.

"Hmph. We'll see about that." He said, as he flew above both Navis on the ground below him, until he was now floating in front of them.

MegaMan turned his attention to Lei.

"Stay back so you won't accidentally get hurt, okay? We'll fight far from you, but you could still see us, so don't worry." The blue Navi reassured her.

Lei nodded and smiled at him, then shifted her blue eyes to Bass, catching his gaze on her.

Both Navis just stared at each other for a few moments, not saying a word.

"Well.." Megaman suddenly said, grabbing the cloaked Navi's attention, "Should we get started?"

Bass kept silent as he simply smirked, then suddenly flew back and then into the air with high speed, MegaMan quickly jumping after him, causing a strong shock wave of power Lei wasn't expecting.

Her blue eyes went wide, as she raised her head from behind her arms.

They were.. Gone.

Confused, she looked all around her, trying to figure out what in the world just happened, when a loud explosion above suddenly caught her attention.

She lifted her eyes up to the source of it.

Both Navis were fighting with such speed, she could barely keep up with their movement.

She could see Bass was landing point blank attacks on MegaMan without stopping, forcing him to hold a defensive position.

"Wow.." Lei said as she could only stare at them in amazement.

'To think that NetNavi battles were this intense..' She thought to herself.

'What's with him today?!' MegaMan thought to himself, blocking one hit after another, 'He's super fired up!" His eyes widened as he realized far too late that thought alone cost him with a punch to the face, knocking him a few feet back.

He rubbed his aching jaw as he glared at the cloaked Navi before him.

"Alright Bass! No more playing around." The blue Navi said with a confident smile as he lowered his right hand to his side.

"Electro Sword!" He yelled, as his right hand engulfed in a bright blue light, then shifted into a long blade.

Bass only smiled viciously as he suddenly charged forward, completely surprising him, and kicking him in the stomach, sending him crashing into the ground.

Lei went completely speechless at what was happening before her.

Her first instinct was to run up to MegaMan and see if he's okay, but she remembered this was their fight, and that she was only there as a spectator.

She clenched her fists as she stared at him with a determined expression.

Suddenly, MegaMan rose from the rubble he had just crashed into, angrier than ever, then jumped back up to face the cloaked Navi, making Lei sigh with relief.

Now completely covered with dirt, MegaMan just stared at Bass with an annoyed expression for a few moments.

'Not only is he a lot more eager than usual, his attack pattern is completely different.' He thought to himself, 'What's going on?'

Then, he blinked.

"What's the matter, MegaMan? Don't tell me you're getting tired already." Bass said with a mocking tone, his vicious smile never leaving his face.

MegaMan said nothing, as he charged right at him and with a swift movement, slashed his blade sideways in the cloaked Navi's direction.

Bass quickly dodged that attack, using the opportunity to break his blade completely, and land another impossibly fast hit on him, sending him a few feet back.

"Your fighting style has changed Bass.. I don't remember you ever being this unexpected" The blue Navi said as he rubbed his aching face, his broken blade now shifting back into his hand.

Barely even letting him finish his sentence, Bass already charged at his nemesis with another set of frequent close range attacks, forcing MegaMan once again into a defensive position.

"Do you think you're the only one who trained since we last fought each other?" The cloaked Navi said between punches.

MegaMan smirked.

"Oh? Are you sure you're not just trying to impress someone?!" He asked, smiling wide at him.

"What are you-"

Bass' eyes widened, as he suddenly stopped attacking all at once.

The blue Navi clenched his fist.

"You let down your guard-!"

Quickly taking advantage of Bass' hesitation while not even letting him finish his sentence, MegaMan put his whole strength into his fist and bashed the cloaked Navi's face so hard, he was sent spiraling down, crashing into the ground below them, creating a new small crater full of broken rubble.

MegaMan stayed in the air as he stared down for a few moments at where Bass had just crashed into.

"What do you know.. I guess there really is a first for everything!" He said to himself, and chuckled.

Lei gasped, as her blue eyes widened in shock.

"Bass..!" She whispered to herself, as she could only stare in disbelief.

A/N: Aaand Bass is down!

I needed to make sure that MegaMan is actually capable of attacking without Lan, which going over the manga again, I was relieved to find that he is. (I'm not a Lan hater, I promise! He will join in on the fun soon enough. ;)

Please review! :)