"How do you know my father?" Baritone questioned once more.

"We've met and worked with him before. I'm Protoman." The red Navi explained. Protoman took a couple steps forward and Baritone stepped back in response.

"Easy... We're not going to hurt you. We just want to help you. You're hurt and you'll need to be repaired." Protoman retracted his sword and his arm morphed back to normal.

"Why not have the Iris copies do the job instead? There are millions of copies roaming around here, right?" Baritone argued.

"We don't know which ones may be corrupt with bugs. It would be safer if you come with us so that Dr. Hikari can help you."

Baritone glared at Protoman for a few seconds before he let his guard down and crumpled to the ground. He sat on the ground with his legs outstretched and his arms were weak as jello. The blue Navi approached Baritone slowly and patted Baritone's shoulder.

"Don't worry. Like Protoman said, we're here to help. I'm Megaman. Ehehe... Kind of hard to imagine that Bass has a son. And here I thought Roll and I were the only ones who would have a kid, too."

Silence followed. Baritone stared at Megaman quizzically.

"What? Why are you guys not saying anything?" Megaman asked.

"Megaman, this isn't really the time." Protoman uttered.

"Uncle Hub! Are you OK?" A voice called out. A moment later, a screen popped up behind Megaman and depicted a 12-year-old boy who had mahogany hair tied in a short ponytail and had dark brown eyes. Around his neck was a blue bandana that had Megaman's symbol embroidered on it.

"I keep telling you to just call me 'Megaman'..." Megaman insisted.

"Did you delete the Colonel Copies?" The boy asked, ignoring Megaman's comment.

"We only managed to scare them away."

"Rats. Let's hope they won't come back for a while. Who's the white Navi?" The young boy asked.

"Oh, this is... Wait, what is your name?" Megaman turned to Baritone.

"I'm... Baritone."

"Please to meet ya, Baritone." Megaman extended his hand out to Baritone. The white Navi looked at Megaman's hand and then looked up with a confused look. Baritone didn't understand that Megaman's gesture was an act of greeting.

"Oh, sorry about that. You're injured. Let's get you to SciLab. Patch..." Megaman turned toward the screen where the mahogany-haired boy was. "Tell Lan that we're coming in about 15 minutes, OK?"

"OK, Uncle Hub!"

"I said just call me 'Megaman'..." The blue Navi sighed.

"Be sure not to pull off any attacks here. The security systems can get vicious." Protoman explained as he, Baritone and Megaman teleported into the SciLab's main computer system.

"OK." Baritone complied.

"Lan. Lan! We're here!" Megaman called out. A second later, a screen popped up and a young scientist who had spiky brown hair and friendly brown eyes was depicted on the screen. On his right arm there was a blue sash with the same insignia of Megaman's crest.

"Hey, Megaman. Glad that you came safely. Dad and Patch are here, too." Beside Lan, an older scientist was present. The elderly scientist had grayish brown hair and a pair of glasses. Patch was next to Lan's other side.

"...Is that... Bass?" Lan exclaimed when he took a closer look at Baritone.

"No, Lan. This is Baritone... Bass' son." Protoman answered. "Where's Chaud?"

"Chaud should be coming anytime soon," Lan replied. "Interesting... So, I'm guessing Baritone's... the son of Bass and Naomi, right?"

Baritone slightly blushed in reply. He didn't say anything.

"Hahaha, just as I thought." Lan commented.

"Baritone surely is an interesting Navi," Dr. Yuichiro Hikari, the elderly scientist, remarked as he was scanning and healing Baritone. "His data structure is radically different from many other Navis. I'm also surprised that even the bug shards that hit him doesn't seem to have any other adverse effects... It's almost as if... Baritone's data is neutralizing the bug data..."

Baritone shifted uncomfortably.

"Uhm, thank you for helping me, but I really must go," Baritone said.

"Why?" Yuichiro asked.

"I must find Father."

"Bass? What's happened to him?" Yuichiro asked once more.

"Baritone, I thought Bass stayed with Naomi when we last saw him." Protoman remarked.

"Yes, but..." Baritone looked downcast at this point. He stood with his head down for a few seconds or so before he lifted his head up and looked at Protoman and Megaman with a determined face.

"Father's mind and body is taken over by some clone Navi named NeoForte... and has ran away. I've been trying to find him for weeks..." Baritone confessed. At Baritone's reply, everyone became alarmed.

"That could explain all the bugged Colonel and Iris copies attacking Net City these days." A voice said.

"Chaud! Right on good time!" Lan turned around and greeted as a broad-shouldered man with a short, black and white ponytail came in the main computer room. His hands were buried in his pockets and he had sharp, blue eyes. Those eyes widened with surprise when they saw Baritone.

"Well, I'll be... I never thought Bass could ever become a father." Chaud commented as he smiled lightly. Baritone's face blushed a light pink.

"Can you tell us from the beginning as to how Bass ran away, Baritone?"

"S-Sure..." Baritone stuttered, intimidated by Chaud's figure.

"It's alright. We all knew your mother and father, so there's nothing to worry about." Chaud assured.

"OK... Well, this is what happened..." Baritone said as he stood still for the healing program to do its job.