I own no Megaman characters, any familiar dialogue or the main plot. Credits to Capcom.

Before i begin, I would like to say a big thank you to 'Jackpot 2', 'ChaotixController' and 'Captain Hwawrang' for adding this story to their favorites.

Reply to Ghost501's review of Chapter 19: I know that feeling. Sometimes, when I need to ask my teachers something, I look for them, only to find that they're not around! Yeah, don't show up when I need you. Swell... And when there's a teacher I don't want to see, that teacher is there!

Bah...

-Chapter 20: The Beginning Of The End-

One Week Later...

"Eeeeeeeek!"

"Mom! What's wrong?"

"Look at what's on TV! It's awful!"

Immediately, Lan rushed down the stairs and into the living room, Megaman worrying about what the hubbub was meanwhile. On TV, the two saw a close up of an old man. His elderliness was apparent in his white mustache and the fact that he had no hair on the very top of his head.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said old man began. "I am pleased to announce that World Three's master plan, the EndGame, is entering its final phase! Our next targets are this country's military satellites!" Megaman, Haruka and Lan, along with everyone else in the country, gasped in horror at this statement. The more faint hearted children fainted, while the life spans of the not so crazy elderly were shortening by the second with the announcement blaring out. "We will be launching a hacking rocket from our lab. Once we have control, the EndGame begins!"

"We need to get to World Three's lab!" Megaman said to his NetOp.

"Right! Let's go!" Lan affirmed as he took off, ignoring his mother's call for him to come back. "Dad said that World Three's lab was in the mountains, right?" he asked his Navi outside.

"Yeah, but he said that there's no roads or railways to get there," Megaman responded with slight frustration. "Not even an airport will take us there... And walking's out of the question, that's for sure!"

"Then how the heck are World Three's goons getting in DenTech City!?"

"I have no idea..."

The brown haired boy paced back and forth, then groaned, "We need to find a way fast!"

"Wait a minute, Lan," Megaman said. "I don't think your dad said anything about the Metroline. Maybe there's an underground line that'll take us to World Three's base."

"Hmm, that might work. But I'm not really gonna say 'I'd like a ticket to World Three's base, please', am I? I would be crazy!"

Lan continued to walk around ACDC Town, until taking a seat on a park bench. The blue Navi that accompanied him assumed that he was thinking of a way to get to the criminal organization's base, but he came up with an idea of his own. "Lan, maybe Higsby knows something."

"Ah, of course! He's an ex member!" Lan realized, changing his course of action to heading for the chip shop. However, before he could open the door, he heard a voice call his name. "Hey, what happened?" Lan asked the boy in front of him, Tory, who panted in slight exhaustion. Clearly, he was in a rush to look for Lan.

"L-Lan," Tory said worriedly. "Mr Higsby got taken away by some strange men!"

"What!?"

"He threw something to me, though." Tory reached inside his pocket and took out a pass of some sort. The cream card was outlined in blue. Written in orange was 'DO NOT LET NON MEMBERS HAVE THIS'. "I asked one of the staff if it was a valid pass, but he said no," the boy continued. "Afterwards, we heard something weird."

"Really? What?"

"Get this: we could hear another train, but there was no train going by!"

"No way!"

"Easy there, Lan," Megaman spoke up. "It might just be another line running."

"Maybe," Tory's Navi, Iceman, said. "But something about how that train sounded gave us the chills. I think there's more to it than 'just another line'."

"Well, it's the only lead we've got," Lan said. "We should move out and find that other line."

Tory nodded and asked, "Should we split up?"

"Yeah. That way, we'll cover more ground in less time."

Lan decided to take the left side of the town, while Tory headed for the right. At first, there was nothing suspicious. None of the trees had any secret door, there wasn't a booby trap in any of the fields of grass and there wasn't even a button anywhere to summon the station.

Tory walked past the school gates in his search. He took a glance at them and saw that they were open. Strange, he thought, that they were left in that state. What if someone came in and took something? In a time of crisis, such as this, anything could happen! The boy was about to enter the school and search, hoping to find something there, when he couldn't help but hear a 'woosh' from somewhere. He gasped at the sound.

"A train?"

"Call Lan and tell him to get over here," Iceman said. "What we're looking for is probably around here."

Tory nodded and called Lan, telling him to meet in front of the school gate. The two guessed that ACDC Elementary was more than meets the eye and decided to check around the front yard for a bit. The school's pond stood still, despite all that had happened so far, while the two boys were restless in their search. What Lan found behind the pond, however, changed what he thought of it for the rest of his life. He felt around it, looking for something suspicious. Round the back was a handle like object. All his life, Lan thought that it was a part of the structure's design. However, with a grab a swing on the handle, he realized that it housed a secret.

"A door?"

"Lan! What is it?" Just then, a 'woosh', the same sound Tory heard before, echoed. This time, it was louder than before. "Do you think it has something to do with the 'door' you found?" Tory asked.

"Probably," Lan responded. "Let's go!" The two walked down a dimly lit staircase, curious to know what stood at the bottom. Little did they know it, a lone girl stood behind them the entire time, watching what had happened.

"Huh? Where did they disappear off to?" she gasped. She wanted to find the entrance to wherever it was that those boys went to, but she found herself turning away from the school and heading back.

Meanwhile, Lan and Tory found something they couldn't begin to imagine they'd find. They laid eyes on a checkered floor, a floor that they didn't think they'd find underground! As they took some steps in, they laid eyes on what was in front of them: a train ticket gate, just like those of the Metroline stations!

"Well, this looks like the place," Tory assumed.

"I'm gonna go ahead and use that ticket," Lan said, taking steps to the machine. "Then, I'll get to the base!"

"Lan! Wait!" Tory tried to warn his friend, but he was too late. The ticket was scanned, but access was denied.

"What?" Lan gasped. "Is this thing out of date or something?" At that moment, a alarm blared. It blared so loudly, that anyone on the upper floors of the school could have heard it! "Gah! Let's get out of here!" Lan tried to shout over it, covering his ears in the process. He and Tory sprinted up the stairs and left the scene.

"Well, what do we do next?" Tory asked his friend, panting meanwhile. "The pass must be expired..."

"I... I don't know... But we could see my dad. He could probably fix it!"

On that note, the two friends headed off to Marine Harbor once more. After the twenty minute long journey, they rushed over to SciLab and headed for where Yuichiro was.

"Dad! Check this out!" Lan said to his father, flashing out the pass. Yuichiro took it and took a closer look at it.

"Yes, this is definitely the 'World Three Pass'," he said. "We've heard rumors of their secret Metroline. But where did you get such a thing?"

"Mr Higsby gave it to me, sir," Tory spoke up. "He threw it over to me while he was being hauled away by these strange men!"

"Really?" Yuichiro gasped.

"I tried to use the pass and get to World Three's base," Lan said. "But it didn't let me through the gate! Is there any way to fix it, dad?"

"Hmm..." Yuichiro looked at the back of the pass and made a conclusion from his observations. "All we need to do is change its expiration date."

"That's possible!?"

"Of course." Lan's father took the pass over to some sort of machine and slotted it in. Afterwards, he typed up a code. Then, a green ray was emitted on the object. Happy that the machine changed the expiration date successfully, Yuichiro handed the pass back to his son, who thanked him and left the scene to get to World Three's base, along with his friend.

However, Yuichiro called over Tory and told him to stay put. Lan turned back to see what was up.

"Why, sir?" said boy asked the adult.

"This is something Lan needs to do," Yuichiro said to him. "It's bad enough that he's risking his own life out there because of my decision! I don't want to put his friend out there with him! If you were there with him, I can't begin to imagine what your father would think!"

"Father..." Tory placed his hand where his heart was and took a deep breath. "I guess I worried him enough... But who's gonna be there for Lan if he's in trouble?"

"Don't worry about it," Lan assured his friend. "I can handle it!"

"... Alright, then. Good luck, Lan." Tory took his friend's hand and shook it.

"I'm gonna need it," his friend said. After he bid Tory and his father farewell, he left SciLab and made his way back to the secret Metroline. All his friends and family could do was wait...

A few minutes later, Yuichiro's phone rang.

"Dr Hikari speaking. ... Oh, honey! Hey!"

"Did Lan drop by your lab?" Haruka asked her husband fearfully.

"Hmm? Yes, he was just here. Now he's-" He couldn't continue, since he was interrupted by a whimper from Haruka. "What's wrong? Are you... worried?"

"Yes... Lan's our son! Megaman's out there, too!"

"Don't worry. I'll look out for them," Yuichiro assured her. He closed his eyes as Haruka sniffled, assuming that she was crying over the phone. "I won't let what happened ten years ago ever occur again." The man thought back to that time, possibly the worst moment of his life. Even to this day, he could remember everything that had happened that day.

Your son... He's...

"Sorry for calling you at work," Haruka said to her husband, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"No, no. I should be sorry for not spending enough time at home."

"Ha ha. I'll be fine... I... have to go now. Goodbye."

"See you soon." Just then, one of Yuichiro's colleagues burst in on the scene. The distraught look on his face meant that bad news was to be told.

"I've got info on the virus in World Three's rocket!" The scientist proceeded to explain everything to Yuichiro, who put on a thoughtful look on his face.

"We need to act now," he said. "Will you be able to help me?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Tory, I may need some help from you, too," Lan's father said to him as he turned to face him. "Will you be able to handle it?"

"I will."

"Good. We have to help Lan, or he won't stand a chance out there! And if Lan doesn't stand a chance, neither will..."

"Who, sir?"

"... Hub..."

I could have uploaded this earlier. I really could have. However, as I said before, I wanted to make sure that everything else was refined first. I know that it's been a month and I know that I'm most likely unable to update next week, but I'm trying my best. Patience is a virtue, guys.

With that said, folks, that's Part 1 of the EndGame. Check in for Part 2, when Lan and Megaman head out for World Three's base!

-Have a great day, week, month, whatever, and stay upbeat, y'all!-