Ai Star: Great to know that!

Out of pure inspiration and procrastination on writing out this chapter, I wrote a new story. Escapades is basic PTT pre-story plot that happens in a Classic universe setting. Check it out if you want to. With that story, I'm taking requests for possible future chapters because that's an interesting thing to do. I've always wanted to try that.

I don't own Rockman EXE.

Teacher

Netto couldn't help but panic as she sped down the street, trying to make it to school on time. 'I'm going to be late!'

There was a huff of irritation from Forte. 'You shouldn't have stayed up late reading about Dr. Regal's new theory about Full and Perfect Synchro.'

'But it was super interesting!' She whined. 'No one managed a Perfect Synchro yet, and very few people could even reach Full Synchro! And yet Dr. Regal manages to gather enough Synchro data to prove the possibility of Perfect Synchro to be powerful enough to destroy a part of the Internet just from a regular attack! That's absolutely amazing!'

She turned, skating past the school's open gate and paying no attention to her surroundings. 'And that was just-'

'Net, watch out!' Forte warned just before she crashed into someone, the impact sending her to the ground. He sighed. 'Pay attention when you're skating.'

'Ow, sorry.' Netto rubbed at her face in pain, then looked down at the ground where a bunch of battle chips lay scattered about, and at the man who was crawling around picking them up. She picked up one that was closest to her and gazed at the image. 'Isn't this…'

The chip was soon snatched away by the man she had bumped into. "Don't put your fingerprints on it!" He snapped, and carefully examined the chip with a magnifying glass. "I hope it's not scratched…"

'Don't you have somewhere to be?'

Netto blinked. 'What?'

The bell rang. She paled.

"Oh, shoot!"

Thankfully, Mariko-sensei let her off fairly easily since it was her first time being late. Netto slumped in her seat, wondering why an adult who carried battle chips like Super Vulcan around would be doing at a high school.

"Today we have a special teacher from Rensan University." Mariko-sensei announced. "I'm supposed to introduce him to you all, but…" She sighed and glanced at her watch. "He's late."

At that moment the classroom door slid open and in came the man Netto had bumped into.

Oh, that's why.

"I'm sorry I'm late." He apologized, scratching at the back of his head. "I'm Higure."

Mariko-sensei then continued. "Higure-sensei will be teaching us about virus busting."

"That's right." He said as an image appeared on the whiteboard. "Eh…computer viruses can be deadly enemies." He tapped at the image. "This is the security system that protects Akihara High School. Not that it's very effective or anything."

Forte perked up. 'How did he know the security system isn't effective?'

Netto paused in her doodling of the system, watching Higure rave about powerful and rare chips. '…Is it?'

Forte sounded like he was about to laugh. 'Of course not. It's a security system. What would you expect?'

'True.' Netto looked at the finished drawing, and lightly bit her lip in thought. 'If these three lines are supposed to be barriers…' She tapped her pencil on the lines that circled around the 'system'. '…What would be the easiest and fastest way to get to the system?'

There was an unspoken question that Netto said yes to. Her free hand, the left one, reached over to grab the spare pencil. Twirling it around, Forte then drew an arrow that went straight through the 'barriers', pointing at the center. 'A concentrated attack would do it. It shouldn't be too wide, though.'

Netto used her right hand to write 'needle?' next to the arrow. 'Like that?'

Forte hummed in affirmation. 'If I gather energy into my finger instead of my palm, it will do. But if the shot's angled…' He drew another arrow, this one pointing at the 'barrier' at an angle, then drew an x over it.

'I'll keep that in mind.' She folded up the paper, stuck it in her pocket, and started paying attention to the lesson again.

"Yaito-chan, is this what you wanted to show us?" Netto asked, looking up at the giant wooden house situated on a tree. How did they do that without looking like it's going to fall?

"This huge bird house?" Dekao added.

"How rude." Yaito placed her hands on her hips. "It's a secret base that Papa built for me."

Netto, Dekao, and Meiru turned to her and asked in unison. "Secret base?"

Yaito smirked.

Inside the secret base, Netto could see one side that was a mixture of a kitchen and a dining room, and the other side seemed to be like a living room. It was, Forte had to agree, already pretty impressive. Perks of having a rich family.

"So this is supposed to transform into a secret base?" Dekao asked. Yaito smirked again and pressed a button.

The walls of the base flipped to show off the fancy machinery, and Netto gasped in delight at the 3D monitor that popped up.

"What do you think? It's the latest 3D monitor on the market!" Yaito said smugly. "Of course, you can have net battles on it as well!"

"So cool…" Netto whispered, and took out Rockman's PET. Meiru and Dekao did the same.

"Plug-in, Gutsman, transmission!"

"Plug-in, Roll, transmission!"

"Plug-in, Rockman, transmission!"

The three navis appeared in bursts of light, and Netto couldn't help but laugh. Seeing Rockman on the monitor was different from seeing him in the PET. "It looks so realistic!"

There was another burst of light that faded to show Glyde. "Greetings, I'll be your opponent." Netto frowned, confused. Wasn't Glyde…?

"But you're not a fighting-class navi." Rockman pointed out.

Glyde held up a finger, smiling. "I have Yaito-sama's battle chips, so it's no problem."

Meiru hummed. "He's quite confident." Netto nodded, glancing at Yaito. Just what kind of battle chips does she have?

"Gutsman will go first!" Dekao stepped forward. "Knock out that ridiculous navi!" Gutsman grunted in agreement and blasted at Glyde.

…Who looked completely calm? "Activate battle chip!" On cue, a purple aura appeared around him and kept him from suffering damage.

Dekao gasped. "No way!"

"That aura and defensive power…" Netto muttered to herself, then brightened in recognition. "That's the Dream Aura!"

"Bingo!" Yaito held up a chip. "Now for the next one, slot-in!" Glyde's arm transformed into a sword with a stone embedded in the upper half.

Netto recognized it instantly. "Paladin Sword!?" She gasped as Glyde toppled Gutsman over with an attack.

"Hey, Yaito!" Dekao yelled. "Using rare chips is cheating!"

'Is it really?'

'No, of course not.'

Yaito grinned. "Physical fighting and strategic fighting are the same thing."

"Paladin Sword and Dream Aura, huh?" Netto murmured.

'Just from that display, have you determined how to defeat him?'

'Hmm…with the way Glyde's using the sword, it's obvious he's not a fighting-class navi. That would make it easier to predict his movements and dodge them. Dream Aura doesn't have any weaknesses, but it can wear away if you keep on attacking.'

'And?'

'…And? …Oh! I can't be sure that those are her only chips, so I have to watch out in case there's more surprises.'

The wave of pride that surged through the link afterwards was more than enough to make Netto smile. "Rockman, it's our turn!"

"Right!" Then he froze and spun around. There was a feeling that transmitted through their link. One that Netto had the day Ikazuchi left.

"Rockman, what's wrong?"

"I just…" The navi hesitated. "I got the feeling that we're being watched."

Yep, that's the feeling. "Watched by what?" She wondered.

"Don't worry." Yaito said. "The top security programs are being used in this system. There's no way an outsider can penetrate it!"

'Ah…' Netto mused. 'That must mean that an outsider managed to infiltrate it.'

'It seems likely.' Forte sighed. 'I doubt they'll be found until they make a move.'

"Hey, Netto-kun." She blinked and looked up at Rockman, who was the one speaking. "It's our turn, remember?"

"Oh, right!" Netto dug around in her pocket for the chip she wanted. "Let's start things off with a Shotgun!"

She remained alert for the rest of the time in the secret base, but there were no more signs of the possible intruder.

Rockman sighed. "Why do you always do this?"

It was the day after they visited the secret base, and Netto was lost in the school. Again.

She laughed sheepishly. "At least I left the data for the school newspaper with Meiru-chan, so I won't get in trouble for being late?"

He groaned. "It's been over two weeks, why are you still getting lost?"

"Anyways." Netto said loudly, avoiding the question. "The classroom's this way, right?" She pointed down a hallway. Which, to her, was identical to every other hallway in the school.

Rockman nodded. Netto looked up at the classroom signs until she reached the classroom where Meiru-chan and the others should be at. The door was closed. She tugged on the handle, trying to get it to open. It wouldn't budge.

Netto frowned. "The classroom isn't supposed to be locked, right?" She peeked in through the window. There seemed to be no open exits, and her attention was drawn to the unfamiliar navi on the board. Unfortunately, even when she pressed her ear against the door, she couldn't hear anything clearly.

Stepping back and sighing, Netto held up Rockman's PET. "Can you check to see what's going on in the classroom?"

"Got it!"

"Plug in, Rockman, transmission!" Rockman appeared in front of the strange navi.

"You're that…" The navi trailed off. Netto narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She was pretty sure she had never seen that navi before…

'Must have been the one that Rockman noticed yesterday.'

'Seems like it.'

"Rockman!" Glyde called out from where he was. "Watch out for the dice bombs!"

A giant dice rolled to a stop at Rockman's feet. It showed a one and exploded, but Rockman leapt backwards and avoided the blast. "Dice bombs?"

"Right." Glyde confirmed. "The higher the number, the more blasts there are!"

There was a whirling sound, and a purple wall appeared, separating them.

Rockman pushed at it with no success, and two more walls appeared. "What's this barrier?"

"I made this barrier using the school's security systems." The navi said. "It's a polyvirus barrier, impossible to break using your power."

Rockman brought out his Rockbuster and fired at the barrier, just to try to prove the navi wrong. The barrier, however, remained undamaged.

"This is a one on one battle. I won't let you interfere."

Roll showed up. "What do you mean one on one? You trapped everyone inside and started a gambling battle."

Rockman turned to her. "Gambling battle?"

"Somebody used Numberman to override the school systems." She explained. "He wants Yaito-chan's rare chips."

"Oh." Netto blinked. "So it must have been Numberman who was watching us the other day. And his operator…rare chips…school's security systems…oh!" She gasped. "It must be Higure Yamitaro!"

Numberman's reaction proved it. A small screen popped up on the lower left corner of the screen, showing Higure. "So you've figured me out…"

"Higure-sensei!" Netto could hear Mariko-sensei call out. "Why are you doing something so foolish?!"

"What's so foolish about trying to get my hands on rare battle chips?" He snapped. "Numberman, use your dice bombs!"

Yaito must have slotted in Dream Aura, since Glyde was now covered with the signature purple aura. The dice landed on a one and exploded.

"It looks like the dice aren't up to par today." Higure sighed. "Numberman, keep using your dice bombs!"

"Even with the Dream Aura, he can't defend himself against those blasts!" Right, Dekao and the others were watching this from inside the classroom.

"Mariko-sensei…" The voice belonged to Meiru. "If that wall was made using the school systems, then there has to be a password to disable it, right?"

"Right."

"Then hurry sensei." Yaito yelled. "Enter the password!"

"Sorry, but I forgot it." There were three simultaneous groans.

Rockman spoke up. "But there might be a hint as to what the password is."

Roll stepped forward. "I'll search the system for any hints." She walked up to the barrier and connected her antennae to it.

A swarm of Chikurito viruses appeared and charged at Roll, only to be deleted by Rockman. "I'll take care of the viruses. Hurry up and find that hint!"

"Leave it to me!" A few moments later, Roll smiled. "Got it! The first password hint is H-A-T-O."

There was some muttering about what the password hint meant until Mariko-sensei realized that it was the number of pigeons looked after on campus. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember the number. So Netto had to head over there to count.

'Netto, wait.'

She slowly stopped, about to leave the building. 'What's wrong?'

An image briefly flashed across her eyes. It was the paper of the system that she had drawn.

'You want to destroy the barriers?'

'We still have that Invisible chip.'

'Oh, right.' Netto looked around, in case there was someone around. She was alone. Approaching a nearby plug-in port, she dug around in her backpack and took out Forte's PET and a purple battle chip case. She picked out the Invisible chip and put the chip case back inside the backpack.

"Plug-in, Forte, transmission!" He appeared not too far from where the barrier was. Rockman and the others were too preoccupied to notice him. Good. "Battle chip, Invisible, slot-in!" Forte disappeared, except for a slight distortion where his body should be. Netto placed his PET into the backpack and zipped it up. "I'm going to go count the pigeons now!" And she left.

Forte floated over to the barrier, placing his hand flat on it. It was well made, for a replica. Soon, Netto announced the number of pigeons and the outer wall slid away. Two left. 'You should go check on Rockman.'

"…What? Go check on Rockman?" Forte sighed.

He could see Rockman looking up in alarm. "Netto-kun, is someone there with you?"

Listening to Netto splutter, he moved over to Roll and placed one hand on her shoulder, the other hand gathering energy for a Darkness Overload.

She turned around, disconnecting from the barrier. "Rockman?" Roll asked in confusion. But he wasn't close enough, still blasting away at the viruses. So who…?

Forte pulled her away from the barrier, grimacing at her shriek of surprise, and raised his other hand up. Focusing the energy to his index finger, he fired, watching in satisfaction as the beam pierced through the two layers and to the other side of the barriers. The barriers crumbled, falling to pieces and disappearing. There was a moment of silence. Forte took this time to teleport away to the Uranet. He needed some practice with that.

Rockman spotted the telltale light of teleportation and dashed towards it, wanting to find out who the navi that destroyed the barriers was. "Wait!" The light faded and he grasped nothing but stray data.

"Rockman!" The lights on his helmet glowed. "We need to help Glyde first! Battle chip, Wide Sword, slot-in!" His Rockbuster shifted into the sword and he rushed at Numberman.

Numberman panicked, throwing a bomb at Rockman. It was sliced in half. "Please forgive me!" He screamed, dropping into a bow.

"Unlock the classroom doors!" Rockman ordered. Numberman hastily agreed and the door slid open just as Netto reached it. She grinned, hearing the cheers from within the classroom.

"What a day." Netto commented. She and the others were outside the school entrance, watching Yaito's limo drive away.

"Did something happen?" Saloma asked, walking up to them.

"Ah, Saloma-san, hello!" Meiru greeted, then started to explain. "We got locked in a classroom because the special teacher, Higure-sensei, wanted Yaito-chan's rare chips!"

"And then," Netto added. "Since I was the only one not in the classroom, I had to go and find the passwords to disable the barriers that he set up."

"Netto-kun only found one password before an invisible navi showed up and destroyed the rest of the barriers." Dekao finished. "Taking down Numberman was easy after that."

"An invisible navi?" Saloma frowned.

Meiru nodded. "Higure-sensei thought that the navi was using an Invisible chip. It's rare, and makes most attacks ineffective, but not many people like to use it because they can't keep track of where their navi is."

"Oh, yeah." Dekao turned to Netto. "Were you with someone when you told Roll the first password?"

"Huh?" Netto blinked. "O-oh, yeah, kind of."

"What was that person like? Were they the invisible navi's operator?"

"Um, they were kind of standing in the shadows, so I couldn't see them all that well." Netto lied, glancing over to the left. "I think they might have been the navi's operator though, since they told me to meet up with Rockman."

"I see. I'm glad that you are all safe, though." Saloma smiled.

"Yeah, I am too." Netto stuck her hands into her pockets, and noticed that something was missing. "Hey, my notes from yesterday are gone."

Meiru gasped. "What were they about?"

She shrugged. "Nothing that important. Just some stuff on the polyvirus system."

"You'll be fine." Dekao dismissed. "Anyways, you guys want to go to Game Soul to play the arcade games?"

The two girls agreed, and raced off together after saying goodbye to Saloma. They didn't notice Saloma taking a slightly dirty piece of paper from her pocket, unfold it, and look at the polyvirus system drawn on it.

Science fact: If you're standing on the material that a car window's commonly made of and try to break it with a pickaxe, it's not going to break. However, if you're standing on it and you dropped a diamond cutter with the point down, it's going to break the material. This is because the tip of the pickaxe is not as pointy as the diamond cutter tip, and so the force is more distributed for the pickaxe. Watched this in a Chinese science show, it was amazing.

A common way to tell if someone's lying is to look at their eyes. If they're looking to their left, they are most likely lying. If they're looking to their right, they're likely telling the truth.

The Invisible battle chip is an actual thing, I looked it up because the 'Forte blasting the barriers to pieces' part was going to be a thing if it was possible. Because Forte deserves some in-story action by now.