~Chapter 13~

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Lei clenched her fists as she stared, wide eyed, at the ground where Bass had just crashed into. He was buried so deep under the rubble, that she could only see parts of his cloak sticking out from between the rocks.

'He hasn't moved for a while now.. Is he okay?' Lei thought to herself as her shocked expression turned into a worried one.

She blinked as she ran the last few minutes through her mind again, making her brow furrow.

'He was fighting so fiercely too.. What on earth made him stop attacking so suddenly?' She wondered to herself.

Her thoughts were interrupted by MegaMan's voice from above her;

"Come on, Bass! One hit and you're down?!" He yelled down, smiling.

Suddenly, the rocks which completely buried the cloaked Navi were pushed away with great force, his form rising slowly from under them.

Bass was now completely covered with dirt, and his expression was pure anger.

Lei smiled with relief, happy that he wasn't seriously hurt, yet she couldn't help but wonder if he was in pain after crashing into the ground like that.

Suddenly, he turned his gaze to her, causing her to blink with surprise.

Bass held it for a few moments, then blinked.

"Damn it." The cloaked Navi cursed to himself as he shifted his gaze back to MegaMan, his expression turning even angrier than before, and his red eyes emitting a death glare.

"Ohh.. He's pissed now." MegaMan said to himself as he raised a hand to his mouth and chuckled.

Bass clenched his fists as he charged up at his nemesis once again, causing the blue Navi to quickly raise his right arm at his direction.

"Mega Buster!" MegaMan shouted as his hand transformed into a large, blue canon, shooting several powerful energy orbs at his opponent.

Bass quickly dodged them all, as he raised both of his hands from underneath his cloak, charging them with dark energy.

"Why the hell would I need to impress anyone?!" He yelled up at him as he unleashed a series of flying black energy wheels at his direction.

"I think you can answer that question yourself!" MegaMan answered him as he darted to the side, away from his attack and quickly charged down at Bass with a strong kick, only to have him block it.

Bass growled with anger as he quickly pulled back a few feet away from his nemesis.

"Don't test my patience, MegaMan!" The cloaked Navi yelled, his expression furious.

MegaMan only smirked at him.

'Good, that threw him off balance for now' He thought to himself, 'Can't believe he hasn't realized anything himself yet, though.'

Both Navis then charged at each other simultaneously, engaging in another set of quick close-ranged attacks.

Meanwhile on the ground, Lei lifted her hand up to her ear, then squinted her eyes in the direction of the two Navis above her. She could hear their voices, but unfortunately for her, they were too far away.

'They're really yelling up there.. I wish I could hear what they're saying.' She thought to herself, as she lowered her hand back at her side, and kept watching.

"You know, you better act before it's too late! She won't wait on you forever!" MegaMan said between hits, smiling wide.

Bass narrowed his eyes at him.

"I don't have any idea what you're even talking about, you fool!" The cloaked Navi growled back at him, dodging his punch.

'Why does his nonsense get to me like this?!' Getting too distracted by his own thoughts, Bass was too slow to dodge MegaMan's next attack, which sent him flying back.

He raised his open palms as he lowered his glare at them.

'Shit!' He thought to himself, greeting his teeth, 'What the fuck is wrong with me?'

MegaMan just stared at him with disbelief for a few moments.

This was the first time he had ever seen Bass.. Confused.

'Getting distracted like this for the second time! This is absolutely pathetic!' The cloaked Navi raised his glare to his nemesis.

'I can't fucking lose! I..'

Then, he blinked.

'I just.. Don't want you to get hurt.'

Bass' eyes widened as Lei's voice suddenly popped into his mind.

He said nothing for a few moments, then simply clenched his fists as his expression turned calm, causing MegaMan's eyes to widen.

"Prepare to lose, MegaMan." He said with a firm voice, his red eyes fixed on the Blue Navi in front of him.

MegaMan blinked.

'What's going on? He's completely different than just a minute ago-!' He could barely even finish his thought, as Bass had already charged at him with high speed, landing several impossibly fast hits on his face and body.

Stopping himself mid-air, MegaMan held his stomach in pain as his eyes widened.

In a matter of seconds, Bass already shifted both of his hands into two busters, and fired at the blue Navi, catching him off guard and hitting his left arm.

MegaMan winced in pain as he quickly moved away and dodged the rest of Bass' attack.

Breathing hard, He stopped at a safe distance from the cloaked Navi.

'Damn! Cant believe I got hurt this fast..' He thought to himself as he held his damaged arm, 'I'm at a disadvantage now!'

Neither of them spoke for a few moments.

"I hope I'm not too late for the party!" Suddenly, a voice was heard from above them, grabbing both of their attention.

A face of a young man with spiky, messy brown hair and a blue bandana quickly appeared on a big screen next to them.

Lei's blue eyes widened as she stared up at what was happening.

"Lan!" MegaMan called happily as his mouth broke into a huge smile.

The young man simply gazed at his Navi up and down for a few moments.

"Pfft- Really MegaMan?! You got hurt already?!" He asked with a loud voice, then broke into an even louder laugh.

MegaMan's expression quickly changed into an irritated one.

"What the-! You know I can't use 100% of my abilities without you! Not to mention you prepared me with some really basic chip data!" He yelled back as he stuck his tongue at his NetOP.

Lan gasped in utter shock.

"BASIC?! Those are CLASSICS! You take that back right now-!"

They both bantered for a few more moments, completely surprising the female Navi watching them from the ground.

'Is that really MegaMan's NetOP?' Lei thought to herself as she stared at them, her curious eyes fixed at the loud boy on the screen, 'He seems funny.' She smiled, then shifted her gaze to Bass, who was for some reason, already looking at her direction.

As their eyes met, Lei couldn't help but giggle at the thought of him simply waiting for MegaMan and his human to finish talking so they could continue their fight.

Bass quickly shifted his eyes away from her and back to the two fools in front of him, his expression turning angry.

"Enough!" He called with a firm voice, grabbing both of their attention.

"Oh, hey Bass! Long time no see." Lan said as he smiled wide at the cloaked Navi, which only made him narrow his eyes at the human boy.

"Lan Hikari." He answered him.

The young man then lifted his hand to the screen, revealing a small chip between his index and middle fingers.

"Alright MegaMan, I'm gonna fix you up with this health chip now" He said to his NetNavi, as he slid the chip into his PET, causing MegaMan's damaged arm to be quickly engulfed in a bright blue beam of light.

"Thanks." The blue Navi said as he tried moving his now repaired hand.

Lan clenched his fist as his expression turned determined.

"Now, I think it's time for us to get serious! FULL SYNCHRO!" He yelled, as MegaMan's whole body suddenly started glowing.

Lei blinked.

"Full.. Synchro?" She repeated the words to herself, remembering the rumor about some NetNavis being able to completely fuse with their NetOPs.

Her blue eyes widened.

"Amazing..!" She said as she clenched her fists with excitement.

Bass simply smirked at the blue Navi.

Then, he vanished.

MegaMan's green eyes widened in surprise, as the cloaked Navi suddenly appeared behind him, kicking him with impossible speed, barely giving him any time to block it. Having no other choice, MegaMan quickly dodged his attack as his hand shifted once again into a big canon, firing multiple shots at him in return.

'He's the same as he was before, now!' The blue Navi thought to himself as he realized that Bass had disappeared once again.

His eyes widened in horror as he noticed far too late that the cloaked Navi was now above him.

Bass smirked as he punched MegaMan with great force, knocking him once again into the ground below them, creating another new small crater.

"Ouch.." The blue Navi said as he pushed a huge rock off of himself. The dust around him was so thick he could barely see anything past it.

'He's not the same as before, he's somehow even stronger.. ' MegaMan thought to himself, staring up at the cloaked Navi's figure through the dirty air.

Then, he smiled.

Flying back up to Bass' eye level, MegaMan cracked his knuckles.

"How about we go ahead and take this fight to the next level?" He asked him as he watched the cloaked Navi closely.

Bass smiled viciously at his offer.

"Sounds good to me." He said.

MegaMan's whole body then glowed with a bright light as he clenched his fists, feeling a new surge of power run through his system.

"HUBSTYLE!" He cried, suddenly appearing much taller, parts of his helmet and body glowing with a brilliant bright green color.

His power was so incredibly strong, it was felt through the entire area.

'Is that.. MegaMan?!' Lei couldn't believe what she was seeing, as her lips parted at disbelief. She shifted her eyes to Bass, who seemed completely calm at what was going on before him, 'Will he.. Be okay? Worried, she bit her lip.

Bass broke into a loud, evil laugh.

"Good, MegaMan! you're getting serious." He said as his expression turned dark, "Now I can finish you off with no mercy."

Both Navis just stared at each other for a few moments.

Then, they vanished.

Lei blinked.

She looked in all possible direction, desperately trying to figure out where they could have disappeared to, but with no success.

Then, a strong gust of wind coming from her far left caught her attention.

Right there, she saw them both for a split second, and just like that, they vanished from her sight once again.

"What's happening?" Lei asked herself, Confused.

"Seems like they're moving too fast for an ordinary NetNavi to see." A sudden calm voice said.

Lei jumped with surprise as she turned around to the source of it.

Her eyes widened as she smiled.

"Serenade!" She called to him, as he floated closer.

The tall Navi smiled down kindly at her.

"Hello Lei, the delivery girl." He said.

Lei's expression turned serious as she stared up at him for a few moments, causing him to blink.

"What is it?" He asked her.

Her expression suddenly turned confused.

"I know I keep asking you this, but.. What are you doing here?"

Serenade simply chuckled at her words.

"I sensed some very powerful energy coming from this area, so I came to check it out." He said, "If I may ask, what are you doing here, Lei?"

The female Navi went silent for a few moments.

"I'm.. watching their battle. Or at least trying to.." She said, as she shifted her blue eyes up, searching for somewhat of a hint at where they were.

Serenade watched her closely.

"Why would you do that? NetNavi battles could be dangerous, you know." He asked.

Lei shifted her gaze back to him.

"I know.. But I was worried, So I.. came along." She answered him, smiling softly.

Serenade said nothing as he stared down at Lei for a few moments.

"Worried for MegaMan?" He asked her.

Lei shifted her eyes away from him to stare at the distance.

"For Bass, actually.." She said quietly.

The tall Navi said nothing for a while as he simply watched her once again try to find the current location of both Navis. Still silent, he simply wore a soft smile on his face.

"I believe they'll slow down soon," He begun saying, "Maintaining this speed takes a lot of energy."

Lei turned her gaze back to him, only to find out that he was already gone.

Another sudden strong gust of wind then blew through the area, surprising her.

Her eyes widened as she noticed MegaMan and Bass were now above her, both Navis breathing hard. It took her a few seconds to notice MegaMan was not in his HubStyle form anymore, and that Bass' leg was slightly disintegrating, causing her brow to furrow.

"You didn't.. Turn into.. HubStyle yourself.." MegaMan said between breaths.

Bass simply smirked at him.

"I don't need your stupid ability.. To defeat you.." He answered him.

Suddenly, and just before both of them charged at each other for the last time, dozens of NetNavis began appearing from all around, and in each direction, completely surrounding them.

MegaMan and Bass simply stared wide eyed at what was going on before them.

Lei blinked.

She was suddenly filled with a very bad feeling she couldn't describe.

Shifting her eyes back to both Navis, Lei noticed Bass was staring intensely at her.

Her eyes dropped to his mouth as she noticed him telling her something.

"-Hide!-"

She nodded as she managed to figure out his words, and quickly hid behind the nearest pile of rocks she could find.

"Remember me, Bass?!" A voice was suddenly heard from behind them, making both Navis turn around.

Bass glared at the large, bulky metal Navi before him.

Hiding behind the pile of rocks, Lei could only stare quietly as her eyes widened.

'Is that.. The gang leader of the NetNavis Bass was winning against the other day?' She thought to herself, as she raised a hand to her mouth.

A/N: Cliffhanger!

Lan finally appears! And also Serenade because why not. :)

Review please! :)