A/N: Hello everyone, today is the moment you have been waiting for, the first battle between Lan, MegaMan and Chaud and his NetNavi ProtoMan as well as Jerry and Sophie, my co-author's OCs who are now Dr. Hikari's assistants. Enjoy!
Chapter 10: Power Outage Panic! Lan vs Chaud!
Many days have passed since the traffic light incident, so our heroes were taking a well deserved break from having to deal with the WWW for the time being. Since there hasn't been any attempts from the WWW for some time, Lan and his friends have decided to rest up from their recent battles and just take it easy. Until one afternoon…
Our heroes were at the park, after school
"Oh man, I'm so hungry! I don't know how long I can keep going! I wonder what mom is cooking for dinner tonight?" Lan groans as he slumps back on the bench as the Mew Mews all sweat dropped at this.
"But you just had lunch at school, Lan… There's no way you are still hungry after all of that. You should learn how to control that." MegaMan sighed as he shook his head in annoyance.
"That's easy for you to say, I can't recharge once a day like you, MegaMan! I'm not a robot or anything like that." Lan replied back with an annoyed face while Bridget couldn't help but giggle at their interactions.
"Those two are at it again. I suppose some things really don't change, do they? They're almost like brothers whenever they argue like this." Bridget said to her friends.
"Yeah, they sure do. Almost makes you wonder if they could've been brothers if MegaMan was a human." Zoey agrees while imagining MegaMan as a human and couldn't help but blush a little.
"Alright, alright, I get it. You're not a machine and you can't recharge once a day like I can. But you really should… Hey, wait! Lan, we gotta get home! "The Bonne Bunch" is about to start!" MegaMan said with a gasp as he noticed the time until Lan's PET started ringing as well. "And you just got mail! …It's from your dad!"
"From Dr. Hikari? The last time he sent you a message, he gave you the PowerUp program when we stopped by his lab to visit. What does it say this time?" Zoey asked him as she and her friends gathered around him.
"Here, I'll read it to you guys. "Lan, how have you been, son? This may come as a surprise, but I'll seeing you later tonight! That is, you'll be coming to see me… I'll be attending a party at the Government Complex and I'm inviting you and your mother to come join me for dinner. Not only that, but you can also bring some of your friends as well if you like. The party starts at 7, so let's meet up in front of the TV in the SciLab lobby. Say hi to your mother for me, and let her know about tonight. I'll be seeing you soon enough. —Dad." Wow. We've haven't seen Dad in a long time. And now he's inviting us to a party to catch up with us." MegaMan said with a smile.
"Then it's settled! We've got to go see Dad at the party tonight! I can't wait to see him again and I'm going to eat till I drop today!" Lan said excitedly.
"And maybe this time, we'll be able to ask him about the Marks of S. We didn't get the chance last time, so hopefully we'll get at least some answers this time." Bridget agrees.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to that party!" Kikki shouted excitedly as she leapt into the air happily.
"Then let's head for my house and tell Mom the good news. I'm sure she's been wanting to see Dad as well." Lan said as he and the Mew Mews all headed for his house.
While on the way to Lan's house, Lan gets two new emails from two different senders. The first one is from Froid saying that he's got something for Lan and his friends when they come to visit the Waterworks again while the other is from Officer Ash saying about the traffic light incident and a mystery operator. He can tell the last one was talking about him, so he decided to save them for later until the party's over.
(Later)
"Hey, Mom! You're not going to believe this! Dad's inviting us to a party!" Lan told his mother excitedly.
"A party? That sounds like a great idea. That's so sweet of him to think of his family at such a busy time. I haven't been to a party in a long time since we've dated in high school. So what's the time and place are we meeting your father?" Mrs. Hikari asks her son.
"He said it's at 7 in front of the TV in the SciLab lobby." Lan told her.
"Ok, sounds good. …But it's already almost 7 now! If we don't hurry up and change, we'll be late!" Mrs. Hikari gasped as she ran upstairs to change.
"While Lan's mother is getting ready for the party, how about we go ahead to SciLab? We can wait until the party starts and maybe we can see Sal again." Renee suggested to her friends with a smile.
"Good idea. I've been wanting to see Sal again, so let's head on over to SciLab." Lan agrees with a nod as they leave the house and head for SciLab.
After leaving the Hikari residence, our heroes arrived at the Metro station and took the Metroline to the Government Complex to meet up with Dr. Hikari just before the party. Upon arriving at the next station, they walked over to the area where they first met Sal who was tending to her boxed lunch stand.
"Hey, Sal! What's up? How are things with your stand?" Lan greeted their new friend.
"Hello, Lan. Nice to see you and your friends again. Things have been going well, so no complaints from me." Sal greeted back with a smile. "So what brings you guys here? Is there a special event happening?"
"Yeah, Dad invited us to a party. We're just about to head inside to meet up with him. It's been a while since we last saw him, so we're going to use this time to catch up." Lan told her excitedly.
"I see. How nice of him to take the time to spend with his son and his friends. I'm sure you'll have a great time at the party." Sal said with a smile. "Oh, by the way, there's a new merchant here who sells fish. I believe his name is Masa and he's right next to the sandwich stand. I told him all about you guys, so why don't you pay him a visit?"
"Sure, we can do that. It's always nice to meet with new faces. Since we still got time before the party starts, we'll pay him a visit." Zoey nodded as our heroes headed for the fish stand to meet Masa.
Not to far from Sal's stand, our heroes arrived at another food stand with a fish drawing on a white banner. At the stand was a man with a black thin mustache and pink lips, wearing a long sleeved blue shirt, green pants, white gloves and boots, a black apron with the same white fish on it and a white bandana with cyan dots. The man was busy stocking some fish in a cooler before noticing our heroes walking up to his stand.
"Well, howdy! Nice to see some new faces here. The name's Masa. As you can see, I sell fish because fish is what makes you smart." Masa introduced himself with a smile. "You must be the kids Sal told me about before. Which one of you is Lan?"
"That would be me. I'm Lan. And you heard right, we're the ones Sal mentioned to you. So Masa, do you NetBattle?" Lan asked politely.
"Yep, I sure do! I've been NetBattling since I was a kid. Thanks to my NetNavi partner who is good in the water. His name is SharkMan and he's just as fierce as the very predators of the sea. Say, Lan, you want to have a NetBattle SharkMan?" Masa asked him.
"Sure thing. I'm always up for a NetBattle. So be prepared to have your fish friend turned to sushi!" Lan agrees as he takes out his PET.
"That's what I like to hear. Time for us to show these little guppies who rules the sea! SharkMan, time to take a bite out of this battle!" Masa shouted as he does the same.
MegaMan appears in an aqua like battlefield where it looks like he's underwater. As he turns to the other side of the arena, a NetNavi that looks like a shark appears with his fin like arms crossed as he shows his razor-sharp teeth in a wide grin.
"Howdy! Nice to meet you. I'm SharkMan, Masa's NetNavi. I take it that you're MegaMan, right?" SharkMan asked with a smile.
"Yes, that's right. I guess you and your Operator heard a lot about us from Sal, huh?" MegaMan replies back.
"That's right, so I'm hoping for a good battle with you. Don't be too disappointed when I take a huge bite out of you." SharkMan smiled as he entered a battle stance.
"Right back at you, SharkMan. Prepare to get beached." MegaMan smiled back as he did the same.
"Battle Routine, Set!' Both Lan and Masa shouted.
"Execute!" Both MegaMan and SharkMan acknowledged as both Navis charged at each other.
MegaMan vs SharkMan
SharkMan started the battle by rushing towards MegaMan, hitting him for medium damage. SharkMan even produced two fins that he flung at the Blue Bomber. He quickly dodged it.
"Sword! Battle Chip! Slot-in!" Lan shouted as he inserted the Battle Chip into his PET. The Sword appeared in MegaMan's left hand as he charged towards SharkMan and slashed him three times.
"Ouch! You're pretty good, but I'm better!" SharkMan commented as he did a charge swim towards MegaMan. He managed to hit MegaMan, but Lan came prepared.
"Recover120! Battle Chip! Slot-in!" Lan shouted as he inserted another Battle Chip. MegaMan's wounds recovered.
"Thanks, Lan! Now have a taste of my MegaBuster!" MegaMan shouted as he fired rapid fire Buster shots at SharkMan, hitting him for small to medium damage.
"Hang on, SharkMan! Bubbler! Battle Chip! Slot-in!" Masa yelled as he inserted a Battle Chip with a picture of a red shrimp into his PET's chip slot.
"Here I go! Bubbler!" SharkMan yelled as he blew bubbles from his mouth, forcing MegaMan to put up a defensive position. SharkMan took this opportunity to swipe at him.
"MegaMan! Defensive maneuvers!" Lan ordered. MegaMan nodded while still holding his position. When SharkMan tried to swipe him, MegaMan leaped up above him and slashed him with his Sword two times. MegaMan dispelled his Sword.
"Alright! Fin Cutter!" SharkMan yelled as he flung shark fin like attacks at MegaMan, he easily evaded them.
"Alright, time to finish this NetBattle! ElecSword! Battle Chip! Slot-in!" Lan yelled as he inserted one of his favorite Battle Chips.
"Awesome!" MegaMan grinned as the ElecSword appeared on MegaMan's right hand. MegaMan and SharkMan got ready as they charged towards each other.
SharkMan tried to swipe at MegaMan, but MegaMan dodged it and slashed SharkMan three times with the ElecSword, defeating him. "Wipeout!" SharkMan groaned as he was jacked out.
"That was a nice battle, Lan. You and MegaMan really pulled out a win at the end there." Bridget congratulated him.
"Thanks, Bridget. It was a little bit tricky because of how fast SharkMan was, but we've managed to keep our cool and get the win." Lan said gratefully as he and Masa shook hands.
"Now that's what I call a NetBattle. Probably the best one I've had in a long time. You young ones are definitely more than capable of keeping the spirit of NetBattling alive. And as a reward for winning, here's a SharkMan chip and my address." Masa said with a smile as he handed Lan said items.
"Thanks, Masa. I'll be sure to put it to good use." Lan said gratefully as he placed the SharkMan chip with his other Battle Chips.
"Now that you've had your battle, it's about time we head for SciLab. Your dad's waiting for us, Lan." Renee reminded him while closing her eyes and smiled.
"Yeah, you're right, Renee. We can't keep him waiting." Lan agrees before turning his attention back to Masa. "And thanks for the NetBattle, Masa. I hope we'll see you again sometime." He and the Mew Mews said their goodbyes as they head for SciLab.
"Right back at you, my friend. Y'all come back now, ya hear?" Masa waved as our heroes head into the Government Complex. However, little do they know, this won't be a normal party.
As our heroes entered the complex, they decided to stop by the Waterworks and meet up with Froid again who wanted to thank them for saving his son. As a way to thank them, he gives them an item that the WWW gave him when they kidnapped his son, a WWW Pin, with it, so Lan and MegaMan can use it to open up the areas that the WWW locked to get to items they couldn't before, and an IceMan chip. Lan and the Mew Mews thanked Froid for the items and continued on their way to the lobby, but as soon as they arrived, they were shocked to see Chaud in the lobby as well.
"Chaud?! Is that you? What are you doing here?" Lan demanded as the boy in question turned to face them.
"Hmm? ...You kids again? What are you twerps doing in the SciLab? This isn't a place for little brats like you to play games. I suggest that you leave right now before you cause any problems." Chaud scowled at them, which caused Lan to become steamed.
"Hey, what do you mean by that?! What makes you think that you can tell us what we can or can't do? Just because the five of us are kids, except for Renee, that doesn't mean you can push around!" Lan countered back with an angry vein on his head.
"Yeah, that's right! That gives you no right to tell us what to do!" MegaMan agrees.
"Hmph… Noisy little brats… In any case, I don't have time to deal with you now. I've got more important things to do than waste my time with you… Later, brats." Chaud said coldly as he left the lobby.
"Ugh! That guy just burns me up! Who does he think he is ordering us around like that?" Lan growled angrily.
"Lan, calm down. Don't let what he said get to you. C'mon, let's go wait for your dad. He should be arriving soon enough." Bridget told Lan as he takes a deep breath and calms down.
As our heroes waited for a few minutes, a man with brown hair, wearing a brown shirt with the same symbol as on Lan's bandanna and MegaMan, glasses and black slacks walks into the lobby. He looks around the lobby as he seems to be searching for someone, only to find who he was looking for and smiles as Lan immediately recognizes him and his eyes widen in happiness.
"Lan! Look! It's Dad! Your dad's here!" MegaMan said happily as Lan ran over to his father.
"Lan, how have you been, son? Did I make you wait long? I see you're looking as fit as a fiddle." Dr. Hikari smiled as he opened his arms wide.
"Dad!" Lan shouted happily as he jumped into his father's arms and gave him a big hug. The Mew Mews couldn't help but smile at the father and son.
"Dad! It's so nice to see you again. I haven't seen you in, like, forever. You were always so busy with your work and we were wondering if you'd ever come home." Lan said as he looked up at his father who ruffled his hair.
"Believe me, I've been wanting to see you and your mother for some time and when this party was announced, I knew this was the perfect chance to spend some time with my family." Dr. Hikari smiled at his son before turning his attention to the Mew Mews. "By the way, Lan, who are your friends? I don't believe I've seen them before."
"Nice to finally meet you in person, Dr. Hikari. I'm Zoey Hanson." "I'm Corina Bucksworth, pleased to meet you." "My name is Bridget Verdant." "Kikki' Benjamin's my name." "And I'm Renee Roberts." The Mew Mews all introduced themselves.
"They're from another town and they've been living with us for some time now. They've just never had the chance to meet you until now, Dad." Lan explained to his father.
"I see. Well, it's very nice to meet you in person as well, Zoey, Corina, Bridget, Kikki and Renee. I know my son can be a bit of a handful, but he's a good kid. Please keep an eye on him for me." Dr. Hikari smiled as Lan elbows him playfully as the Mew Mews giggled. "By the way, where's your mom, Lan? I thought she'd be here with you."
"Don't worry, Dad. She'll be coming soon enough. She just had to get dressed for the occasion." Lan told him with a smile.
"Hahaha! I see, that makes sense. Well, for as long as I've known your mother, she'll probably take a while deciding on what to wear." Dr. Hikari chuckled as they waited for Lan's mother to arrive. 2 minutes later, Lan's mother arrived wearing a dress.
"Sorry! I'm here, Honey. I couldn't decide on what to wear, so I decided to wear this." Mrs. Hikari said while closing her eyes and smiled.
"It's alright, Dear. I've known you tend to take a while deciding on what to wear, but I also know you're beautiful no matter what you wear." Dr. Hikari smiled at his wife.
"Oh, you. So how have you been? Are you keeping well? …Well, you seem to be good enough. So let's go downstairs to the restaurant floor and have a nice dinner together." Mrs. Hikari said with a smile as everyone nodded and headed downstairs to the restaurant floor.
(At the restaurant floor)
After reuniting with his father, Lan and the Mew Mews were checking out the restaurant floor to see what it has to offer. A few minutes later, Kikki was sitting at a table eating some food while Zoey, Corina and Bridget were talking with each other and Renee was staring at Chaud with hearts in her eyes. And Lan jacks into a PET that is recycled from plastics and got an HPMemory upgrade for MegaMan. Soon after that, Lan and the Mew Mews head back to the table where his parents are sitting.
"It's so good to finally see you again, Dad. I've been waiting for when we get to spend time with you, so thanks for inviting us to this party to catch up for lost time." Lan said with a smile.
"It really has been awhile since we've last talked, Lan. So I'm glad to be here with you and your mother." Dr. Hikari agrees before turning serious. "Actually, there is something I've been meaning to ask you, son."
"Sorry to interrupt, Dr. Hikari, but before you ask Lan, can we ask you something? You might be interested in what we're about to tell you." Zoey apologizes as she steps forward.
"Oh? What is it, Zoey? What do you want to show me?" Dr. Hikari questions as Zoey and her friends showed him their Marks of S on their hands as he adjusted his glasses to look at them in wonder. "Those marks… I wonder what they mean…?" He then faces the Mew Mews. "I'm sorry, ladies, but I'm afraid I don't know any information on those marks. But don't worry, I'll be sure to search for any information on them. I can promise you that." The Mew Mews all smiled and nodded at this.
"So, Dad, what was it you wanted to tell me? You sounded really serious before Zoey stepped in." Lan said to his father in concern.
"Well, it's about my research… And it involves you and MegaMan…" Dr. Hikari said in his serious tone.
"That sounds difficult. How would I know about that? How does it involve us?" Lan asked in curiosity.
"Well, it's connected to both you and MegaMan. You see, I personally made your PET, so it's much different from the normal ones. As for MegaMan, he…" Before Dr. Hikari could start, two people about the same age as the Mew Mews walked up to their table. The first individual was a boy with spiky brown wearing a dark blue shirt, brown pants and a white lab coat. Next to him is a girl who is slightly older than the boy with orange hair tied in a side ponytail, shades mounted on her hair, a green shirt that shows her midriff, white pants with a brown belt, green boots and a white lab coat.
"Excuse us, Dr. Hikari. But you're needed in the Lab. Please report to the Lab immediately." The orange haired girl said with a smile.
"Whoop! I'm sorry, looks like I have to go. Thank you for the report, Sophie." Dr. Hikari said in gratitude as he stood up from his chair before turning to his son and bowing in apology. "I'm sorry, Lan, but I'm needed back in the Lab. We'll finish where we left off next time. In the meantime, how about you and your friends get to know my assistants? I'm sure you'll have a great time together." Dr. Hikari suggested as he takes his leave.
"Y-Yeah… G-good luck, Dad. …So much for having dinner together as a family again… I was so looking forward to spending time with him…" Lan said sadly as he slumps on the table. What was his dad trying to tell him and what does it have to do with him and MegaMan?
"Hey, cheer up, Lan. I'm sure your dad will have dinner with us again whenever he has time. Just be happy for the time you did spend with him, even if it was for a short period." Renee cheered him up by patting his back.
"Renee's right, Lan. We know how you wanted to see your dad, so I'm sure you'll get the chance to spend some time with him soon enough." Zoey agrees as she places her hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, you're both right. I should be happy that I got to see him after so long and was able to spend a short time with him." Lan said with a smile as he and the Mew Mews turned to the 2 newcomers.
"From what Dr. Hikari just mentioned, you're both his assistants, right?" Corina asked them with an impressed look.
"Yeah, we are. We've been working part-time at SciLab while still attending high school, but we're really enjoying our time working under Dr. Hikari." The girl named Sophie answered her with a smile. "As Dr. Hikari already said, my name is Sophie and this is my friend Jerry. It's nice to meet all of you." Jerry nodded as all of them started talking with each other.
(Seconds later)
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for your patience and for coming to this gathering tonight. I hope that you're all enjoying yourselves for the evening." The host said as everyone clapped. "Now before we get to our main events, I'd like you to welcome our speaker for the evening." As everyone clapped, the host steps aside as Count Zap enters and takes the microphone.
"Thank you for the introduction and welcome, ladies and gentlemen. I want to thank all of you for coming to this event tonight. Now without further ado, I'd like to welcome you all to our… WWW Party of Death!" Count Zap shouted evilly as everyone in the crowd all gasped in shock.
"That guy's no speaker, he's a WWW Agent!" Zoey shouted as she pointed at the man in question.
"That's right, and we'd like you to know that the WWW has just taken over the underground power plant! So now, let's get this party started with a little… No, a really big… blackout! ElecMan! Zap to it!" Count Zap shouted evilly again as the lights shut off.
"A blackout?! Oh no! The air vents have stopped working! If no one fixes them in time, we'll run out of air and then…" One of the guests gulped.
"Now with that settled, I suggest that you all just relax and take your last breaths! Because this'll be the last night you'll ever see the light of day again!" Count Zap laughs evilly as he walks out from the room with his bulbs flashes as he leaves.
"This is not good! If we don't get the power back on, then everyone's going to suffocate! We have to get the power plant back up and running before it's too late!" Bridget shouted to her friends.
"Let us help you! We're not going to let that WWW creep do whatever he wants with the power plant!" Jerry said as he stood up from his chair.
"Are you guys sure about that? It could be dangerous as we're dealing with someone from the WWW. There will be times where you'll be targeted by them." Renee warned them.
"We know, but we're willing to take the risk. We're not going to let them have their way with people like this." Sophie told her with a look of determination.
"If that's what you really believe, then we won't stop you. We're going to need all the help we can get, so welcome to the team." Zoey said as everyone nodded in agreement.
"Now that we've got some backup, let's go, Lan! We've got to save your mother and everyone!" MegaMan shouted to his operator.
"That's easy for you to say! I can't see anything in front of my face! It's pitch black in here! …Wait, hold on, my eyes are starting to adjust to the darkness… I can see a little now. How about you guys?" Lan asked the Mew Mews and father's assistants.
"I got a flashlight, so we're good here." Jerry answers as he takes out a flashlight from his pocket and turns it on.
"And we can see just fine. So no worries with us." Zoey replied.
"Good, then let's go! We gotta stop that WWW Agent and restart the power back!" Lan shouted as everyone nodded in agreement.
Lan, Jerry, Sophie and the Mew Mews headed out of the restaurant and towards the elevator. They tried to get it to work, but it won't start, so Bridget suggested the chute that leads to the power plant. Seeing as their only way to the power plant, our heroes took the chute down until they've reached their destination where they've came across a guy trying to open the door to the power generator. Our heroes then met with a scientist trying to open the door to the control room where they can jack in, so they returned to the first man and he told them the control room was now open. Once inside the control room, our heroes found a place for Lan, Jerry and Sophie to jack in.
"Ok, here's where we'll jack in and put a stop to that WWW goon and turn the power back on. Here we go, Jack In! MegaMan, Transmit!" But before Lan can jack in as well as Jerry, Sophie and the Mew Mews, the scientist stops them.
"Waaait! Don't jack in! You want to have your Navi be delated? Jacking in right now is suicide! If the power's out here, then it's out in the Net as well! If you kids jack in now, there's a chance your PET's battery will run out quickly! And if that were to happen… your PET's battery runs out while you're jacked in… The energy sent to your Navi will be cut off completely… and your Navi won't be able to heal themselves! And it will only be a matter of time before your Navi gets deleted!" The scientist said in a serious tone.
"Wait, are you serious?! I don't want MegaMan to be deleted! …What should I do now!?" Lan panicked.
"Lan, let's go! We've got to put a stop to that WWW Navi and bring the power back on!" MegaMan said bravely.
"W-What are you saying, MegaMan!? Didn't you hear what he said? If I jack you in while the power's out, the battery on my PET will run out fast and you might be deleted when it happens! I don't want to lose you!" Lan shouted in shock.
"We're going to have to take that chance, Lan, all we have to do is jack in, defeat the WWW Navi and jack out. We'll be done before the battery on your PET runs out." Zoey said in confidence.
"B-But…" Before Lan could protest, MegaMan interrupted him.
"I know it's a huge risk but if we don't stop them, there's a chance that your mother and everyone on that floor will die! And believe me, I know you're a good enough operator to do it! You just need to trust me!" MegaMan said in confidence.
"And we'll be there to back you up in case that happens. We won't let our batteries run out." Sophie agrees as Jerry gives him a thumbs up and nods.
"Yeah, you're right. We've got to do this for my mom and everyone! We won't let them down!" Lan shouted in confidence as he turned to the scientist and both Jerry and Sophie. "Hey, you guys may want to close your eyes. But right after you two jack in." The scientist looked at him confused but closed his eyes anyway.
"Okay, but how come? Why do you want us to close our eyes?" Jerry asked in confusion.
"I wish we had more time to explain, but just trust us with this. We'll explain after we get the power back on." Zoey reassures them as they all get ready.
"Jack In! MegaMan, Transmit!" Lan shouted while holding out his PET.
"Jack In! BladeMan, Transmit!" Jerry shouted as he does the same before closing is eyes.
"Jack In! SplashWoman, Transmit!" Sophie does the same as the boys before closing her eyes as well.
"Jack In! Marks of S!" The Mew Mews all shouted, seconds later, the Mews were gone.
"Whoa!" MegaMan shouted.
"What is it, MegaMan!? What's wrong?" Lan shouted worriedly.
"There's some heavy protection on this thing, but no problem! I should be able to break through it." MegaMan told him as he does so. "Ok, I'm in! Now let's go!"
Eventually, MegaMan and the Mew Mews appeared in an almost dark area. Appearing next to them were two Navis they've never seen before. The first Navi had a mostly black suit with purple armor and white hands, green on his shoulders and boots and short blades on his wrists. His most prominent feature was his head shaped like a blade with eyes. The second Navi was a female as she wore a black suit, a blue helmet with a yellow oval on the front, a light blue armored bikini and blue boots with fins just behind her ankles. MegaMan and Mew Mews were amazed at the sight of the 2 Navis with them.
"Whoa… that's just cool…" Kikki said in amazement.
"I take it that you two are the Navis of both our new friends, Jerry and Sophie, correct?" Renee asked them.
"Yes, that's correct. I'm BladeMan Though I'm sure you already know that when my operator jacked in. I'm honored to fight alongside you." The purple Navi named BladeMan said as he bows.
"And I'm SplashWoman. A pleasure to meet you. Now with the introductions out of the way, shall we find a way to restart the power?" SplashWoman then asked them with a smile.
"I wish it was that easy. I can almost not see anything in this area. I don't know how long we'll have until everything goes pitch black." Kikki said with a sigh.
"Ok, then we've better get moving before then. I'll display the PET's batter bar to let us know how long it'll last, so we'd better find that WWW Navi and fast!" MegaMan said with a frown.
"Got it! Good luck, guys!" Lan said with a smile as our heroes started on their way.
As MegaMan, BladeMan, SplashWoman and the Mew Mews made their way, they've ran into Mr. Progs who told them that they need to place the batteries in the right sockets to get through invisible paths that they can feel. One of the Mr. Progs gave them batteries and also told our heroes that one of them can recharge the batteries should they be out of power. As our heroes continued on their way, they came across one of the sockets that the Mr. Prog mentioned earlier and after some deliberating, they placed the batteries in the right sockets and continued on their way. Along the way, our heroes battled some new viruses, one of which is a Mr. Prog that was damaged and turned into a virus, so our heroes defeated them and Lan got 2 new Battle Chips. It took them 2 hours to get through this challenging Cyberworld as they were placing batteries in the right sockets and it confuses them, but after making it through the final Cyberworld area and placing the final batteries in the right sockets, the colorful path leads to the power generator section.
"Lan! The door to the power room should be open now! Quick! You, Jerry and Sophie go get that generator up and running!" MegaMan called out to them.
"Roger! We're on it!" Lan nods as he, Jerry and Sophie headed for the power room. But as soon as they got inside, they noticed something strange. "Huh? What's going on? The lights are on in this room…" He looks around the lit room.
"But that can't be right. Why is it that only this room has power while everywhere else doesn't?" Jerry asked in confusion.
"There must be a reason why this room still has power. Maybe there's something we're missing." Sophie tries to figure it out as Lan notices something and walks over towards it, only for him to see the switch busting with electricity.
"What the…? The generator… is working?! Then why's the power out?" Lan got out his PET. "MegaMan! Check out the power generator area again! I think something or someone is keeping the power on in that area!"
"Got it! Let's go, everyone! We need to head back to the generator area!" MegaMan said as BladeMan, SplashWoman and the Mew Mews all nodded as they headed for the power generator area. To their surprise, they've encountered ElecMan.
"Hmm? Who are you? Official NetBattlers? Hrmph… You did good for coming this far, but I'm afraid that you're too late… I've just finished downloading the electricity program! Now I control all of the city's power at my fingertips!" ElecMan proclaimed evilly.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Zoey asked confusedly.
"ElecMan! It doesn't seem like they're Official NetBattlers, so go ahead and delete them!" Count Zap ordered.
"Roger! Those who get in our way will be… Zapped!" ElecMan shouted as he fired a thunderbolt at our heroes, but they managed to dodge it.
"Oh yeah?! Then try this on for size! Tambourine Trench!" Kikki shouted as she launched her attack at ElecMan, but as soon as it came into contact, he didn't even flinch! "What the heck!? What's going on?! Why didn't that work?!"
MegaMan fired his MegaBuster at ElecMan, but like with Kikki's attack, it didn't make him flinch. "Our attacks aren't working?! Why aren't our attacks affecting him?" MegaMan shouted in shock.
"Hehehe! That's easy because electricity is my power! For as long as there's power generated, I can't be stopped! Basically, I'm invincible!" ElecMan shouted evilly.
"What?! Then none of our attacks have any effect on him?!" Zoey asked in shock.
"It would seem so. As long as there's power being generated, nothing we do can stop him." BladeMan answers her.
"That's right! Now where were we? Oh, I remember! Zapped!" ElecMan shouted as he zapped our heroes, causing them to scream in agony.
"BladeMan!" Jerry shouted in panic.
"SplashWoman! Hang in there!" Sophie called out to her Navi.
"MegaMan! Girls! …Oh no! They'll be deleted at this rate! What can I do?! What can we do?!" Lan shouted in a panic.
"This doesn't look good. Nothing we do has any effect on that WWW Navi! There has to be a way to stop him!" Jerry said with gritted teeth.
"But what can we do? None of our attacks have any effect on him and as long as there's power generated, he's unstoppable!" Sophie said to him as Lan noticed the switch.
"As long as there's power generated, then he's unstoppable…" Lan muttered to himself before coming to the realization. "That's it! That's what we can do to win!"
"What's it? What do you mean by that, Lan?" Jerry asked him.
"If we can stop the generator, then we'll have a chance to stop ElecMan and save my mom and everyone else! We just have to throw the switch to turn off the generator!" Lan answers as he points to the switch.
"But that switch is bursting with electricity! If you touch it, you'll be zapped like everyone else who are fighting ElecMan! There has to be another way!" Sophie tries to reason with him.
"I know it's risky, but we don't have any choice! If we don't do something right now, then we'll have failed my mom and everyone trapped in the restaurant!" Lan shouted as he was about to grab the switch until Jerry stopped him.
"Hold on, Lan. I'll do it. I'll throw the switch to turn off the generator. You and Sophie will be ready to finish off ElecMan the moment the generator is shut down." Jerry said as he walked over to the switch.
"Jerry, you can't be serious about this! The moment you grab that switch, you'll be electrocuted. Don't do anything so reckless like that!" Sophie pleaded.
"I know I'll be zapped, but like Lan said, if we don't take this chance, then everyone at the restaurant will die! Just trust me on this!" Jerry said as he looked back at his childhood friend as she looked into his eyes brimming with determination.
"Okay, I'll trust you… Just make sure that you're alright…" Sophie nods as Jerry gives her a thumbs up before turning to Lan.
"Make sure everyone is ready to take on ElecMan as soon as the generator is shut off. We won't get another chance like this, so hit him with everything you've got." Jerry said with a heroic smile.
"You got it. We'll be ready as soon as you shut down the generator. Just be careful." Lan nods as Jerry gives him a thumbs up before walking towards the switch.
"Okay… Here goes nothing!" Jerry shouted as he grabbed the switch and as predicted, he was zapped and lets out a scream of pain as his friends watched him. Mustering all his strength, he manages to pull the switch down and is no longer zapped. "And stay down!"
Back in Cyberworld, ElecMan was no longer invincible as the generator had stopped and our heroes were no longer being zapped.
"WHAT?! THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING!" Count Zap yelled in disbelief.
"W-What?! What happened to my powers?! I'm no longer invincible?! What have you done to the generator?!" ElecMan shouted in anger.
"MegaMan! Now's your chance! Jerry's managed to shut down the generator, so ElecMan is no longer invincible! Hit him with everything you've got!" Lan shouted.
"OK! Let's not waste the chance Jerry has given us! Time to end this, ElecMan!" MegaMan nodded as everyone got into battle stance.
MegaMan, BladeMan, SplashWoman and the Mew Mews vs ElecMan
"Take this!" ElecMan yelled as he fired thunderbolts at our heroes, but they dodged it.
"Let's try this again! Tambourine Trench!" Kikki launched her attack at ElecMan, giving him medium damage.
"Now it's my turn!" Jerry yelled as he got out a Battle Chip of a virus that looked like a boomerang. "Boomerang1! Battle Chip! Slot-in!" Jerry inserted the Battle Chip into his PET's slot. BladeMan let out a battle cry as he threw the Boomerang1 at ElecMan, giving him large damage since it's of the wood element.
"Arghhhh!" ElecMan screamed as he clutched his wound. "I hate wood! You'll pay for that!"
"Hold on, ElecMan! ElecSword! Battle Chip! Slot-in!" Count Zap growled as he got out his own ElecSword and inserted it into his PET's chip slot. ElecMan's left arm was replaced with the ElecSword. He charged towards Renee and tried to slash her, but she dodged it and did a backflip away from him.
"Spreader! Battle Chip! Slot-in!" Lan shouted as he inserted one of his favorite Battle Chips. MegaMan aimed his MegaBuster at ElecMan and fired it at him, giving him medium damage as well.
"Heart Arrow!" Corina launched her attack at ElecMan, giving him medium damage again.
"Eat electricity!" ElecMan growled as he slams his right hand into the ground, making an electric pillar appear and hurled it at Bridget who was hit by it. Bridget screamed in pain as her body was hit with electricity.
"Bridget!" SplashWoman gasped as she rushed to her side. "You alright there?"
"Yeah…" Bridget panted. "I'll be okay. We have to stop ElecMan!"
"Leave that to me." Sophie nodded from her screen as she got out a Battle Chip of a virus launching wood pillars. "WoodTower! Battle Chip! Slot-in!" She inserted the Battle Chip.
"Now we're talking!" SplashMan grinned as she launched the attack at ElecMan, giving him even bigger damage.
"Silver Slash!" Renee yelled as she launched her attack at ElecMan, giving him big damage.
"That's it! I'm through messing around!" ElecMan yelled in anger. "Time to say your prayers, kiddies!" ElecMan summoned thunderbolts and flung them at our heroes, but they dodged them.
"Okay, MegaMan! I'm sending you a Cannon, Hi-Cannon and M-Cannon! Cannon! Hi-Cannon! M-Cannon! Battle Chips! Triple Slot-in!" Lan shouted as he inserted the Battle Chips into his PET's chip slot.
"Zeta Cannon! Program Advance!" MegaMan shouted as he turned invisible and fired the Zeta Cannon at ElecMan five times, defeating him.
"N-No way! This… This can't be happening! I've been defeated by a bunch of annoying brats?! No matter, I've already managed to send the program to Count Zap, so it wasn't a total loss. Now we've got all the super programs! Even if I'm deleted now, you're all done for!" ElecMan screamed as he exploded into clusters of data. As the explosion clears up, ProtoMan jacked in and he doesn't look too happy with what he just witnessed.
"Darn… I'm too late… It took far too long to break the jack in protection… To think that someone else would beat me to it…" ProtoMan said coldly.
"ProtoMan?! What are you doing here?" Bridget gasped in surprise.
"I take it that you guys know this Navi?" SplashWoman asked curiously.
"Somewhat we do. That's ProtoMan, he and his operator Chaud are Official NetBattlers. But why are they here right after we've deleted ElecMan?" Corina wonders.
"Humph… Not even a shred of data left, either… Just when I was about to get the WWW server location out of ElecMan's memory data. If you fools hadn't gotten in the way, then our plan to lure in the WWW with fake data would've succeeded. But thanks to you, now we won't be able to find them." PortoMan pointed out coldly.
"Fake data? Then this was all…" Before Lan could figure it out, Chaud interrupts him.
"You idiots have interfered with us for the last time! I warned you that if you get in our way again, then you'll be deleted! Well, it looks like the time for your deletion has come. ProtoMan, start by deleting that blue NetNavi first, then those five girls next." Chaurd ordered.
"As you wish, Lord Chaud." ProtoMan obeyed as he brandished his sword, only to be blocked by BladeMan and SplashWoman. "Out of my way! This doesn't concern you two or do you wish to be deleted along with them?"
"So this is how Official NetBattlers react whenever a trap doesn't go off as planned? You lash out at innocent bystanders and threaten to delete them? You may be an Official NetBattler, but you have no honor." BladeMan glared at the silver haired Navi who gifted his teeth.
"Plus, one of our friends was just trying to save his mother from certain death and he didn't want to lose her. Just because we stopped ElecMan without knowing this was a trap, that shouldn't mean you can just take your anger out on someone who is trying to help. The way I see it, you and your operator are just using your positions as Official NetBattlers to do whatever you want and threaten those who get in your way." SplashWoman called them out as both Navi and operator were getting even angrier.
"That does it! I've heard enough out of you! I'm not going to sit by and let you talk down to me! ProtoMan, delete those two Navis along with the others!" Chaud shouted in anger.
"With pleasure, Lord Chaud!" ProtoMan nods as he gets into his battle stance.
"Wait, we don't have time for this! We have to get back to the generator and get the power up and running!" Zoey tried to protest.
"It's no use, I doubt he'll listen to reason. You guys stand back and let me handle this." MegaMan said with a serious frown as his Zeta Cannon reverted back to his left arm.
"So it's just you and me. Fine, then let's get this battle started. Are you ready?" ProtoMan asked as MegaMan nodded and got into his battle stance. "Then prepare to be deleted!" He charged towards MegaMan.
MegaMan vs ProtoMan (Theme: Mirage Mirror from Kamen Rider Revice)
"Sword! Battle Chip! Slot-in!" Lan yelled as he inserted the Battle Chip, the Sword appeared on MegaMan's right hand as he tried to slash ProtoMan, but he blocked it with his shield.
"Nice try, amateur, you have to do better than that." ProtoMan mocked as he warped behind MegaMan and slashed him two times with his Sword.
'He's right, I need to come up with a strategy to beat this guy! He may be a Official NetNavi, but he's got to have a Achillie's heel!' MegaMan thought to himself as he thought up a way to catch ProtoMan off guard. He waited till ProtoMan made his move and tried to slash him, but MegaMan caught him off guard by firing his MegaBuster at ProtoMan, stunning him for a moment. MegaMan took this chance to slash him three times with his Sword.
"Humph! Wise thinking for an amateur!" ProtoMan frowned as he and MegaMan clashed swords for a few seconds before leaping away.
"WideSword! Battle Chip! Slot-in!" Lan yelled as he inserted the WideSword Battle Chip into his PET's chip slot. The WideSword appeared on MegaMan's left hand as he charged towards ProtoMan.
"WideSword! Battle Chip! Slot-in!" Chaud yelled as he inserted his own WideSword Battle Chip into his PET's chip slot. The WideSword appeared on ProtoMan's right hand. Both Navis clashed swords. ProtoMan clashed wildly on MegaMan who blocked them with his Sword and WideSword, but was getting pushed back by ProtoMan's sheer strength.
After a few minutes, MegaMan managed to push ProtoMan back with his strength and slashed him four times with his swords. ProtoMan weakly stood up but was still standing, both ProtoMan and Chaud frowned as they got ready. "Time to end this! LongSword! Battle Chip! Slot-in!" Lan shouted as he inserted the Battle Chip. MegaMan put his swords together and emitted the Life Sword.
"You're not the only one who can master the Program Advances, kid! LongSword! Battle Chip! Slot-in!" Chaud yelled as he inserted his own LongSword Battle Chip into his PET's chip slot. ProtoMan brought his swords together and emitted the Life Sword as well, but red.
"Life Sword! Program Advance!" Both Navis shouted as they yelled out their battle cries and clashed both Life Swords, it emitted a powerful force that almost blew the Mew Mews, BladeMan and SplashWoman away, but they held their ground.
Zoey managed to look up and screamed out "Megamaaaaaaaannnnn!"
MegaMan closed his eyes and concentrated with all his might as he managed to break through ProtoMan's Life Sword. ProtoMan gritted his teeth as the Life Sword knocked him into an invisible wall, forcing him on his knees. MegaMan was the victor.
Once the battle has ended, MegaMan was panting heavily as he falls back on to the floor while Zoey runs up towards him with tears in her eyes and hugs his tightly. MegaMan blushed at this show of affection from Zoey as she helps him back onto his feet. ProtoMan also got back up on his feet, but was stunned as he couldn't believe that he lost to an amateur. Chaud couldn't believe it either that he was defeated by some random kid from nowhere.
"B-But how can this be?! A civilian NetNavi was able to beat me, an Official NetBattler?! This doesn't make any sense! How could I lose to someone like him?!" ProtoMan shouted in disbelief.
'No! My reputation is in shambles! Now everyone's going to know me as the Official NetBattler who lost to some random kid off the streets! I won't forget this loss!' Chaud thought to himself angrily.
"You don't get it, do you? The reason why you lost? It's because you're an Official Navi, you can carry your own Battle Chips—so you can fight alone." MegaMan said with concern.
"Yes, you're right… And I've always fought alone every time. I've never lost, not even once! But what I don't get is how you were able to beat me? There is no logical explanation for how you won!" ProtoMan shouted,
"That's easy… It's because I'm a civilian Navi, so I can't fight alone. That's the reason why I've got Lan backing me up every step of the way. We've come this far by working together… Because we fight as a team! The better friends you are with your operator… The better you fight." MegaMan told ProtoMan.
"Friends? Is that the reason why you won? That's where your strength comes from?" ProtoMan asked.
"ProtoMan! Don't listen to their nonsense! They don't know what they're talking about! Jack out now!" Chaud ordered.
"Wait, please, Lord Chaud! I need to know this! You're MegaMan… right? Then tell me one thing… How do you see your operator, this "Lan" you speak of? What is he to you?" ProtoMan asked the Blue Bomber.
"Why, that's easy for me to say… He's my best friend! And we're always together through thick and thin." MegaMan smiled.
"A friend… Huh… I never thought of that… If you and your operator can be friends, then perhaps…" ProtoMan mutters in wonder.
"Let's go, ProtoMan! Jack Out!" Chaud ordered for a second time as ProtoMan jacks out.
"Looks like things are starting to settle down. Hopefully those two can reevaluate their attitudes and become far better people in the future." BladeMan said as he crossed his arms.
"Let's hope so because from the looks of it, I think ProtoMan was just starting to realize it. But for now, let's hurry and turn the power back on." Bridget said with a smile.
"OK, I hope my mom's still okay." Lan nodded as he turned the power back on before he jacked out MegaMan, followed by Jerry jacking out BladeMan with Sophie doing the same with SplashWoman and the Mew Mews were the last ones to jack out as well. Once the generator was back up and running, our heroes took the elevator back to the restaurant where Lan's mother notices him and runs over to her son.
"Lan! Where have you been? I…I was so worried about you! I was afraid that I lost you!" Mrs. Hikari cried with tears in her eyes as she hugs Lan.
"Sorry, Mom! I didn't mean to worry you, but we're AOK." Lan said as he returned the hug to his mother.
"Yeah, you got nothing to worry about, Mrs. Hikari. We were with him the entire time." Zoey reassured her with a smile as her friends all nodded.
"I see. I'm so glad to know that you're all keeping my boy safe. I can't thank you kids enough." Mrs. Hikari smiles as Lan gets an email from his father saying is everyone ok.
"That's my dad, as clueless as ever… I'll send him a reply. "Dear Dad, don't worry, MegaMan is looking after me!" And sent." Lan sent the reply.
"Oh well… It would seem that the party's over. And I took all that time to get ready. But I suppose there's always another time, so shall we head for home? Lan? Do you want to stop for something to eat?" Mrs. Hikari asks her son.
"Now that you mentioned it, yeah, I haven't eaten since lunch at school! I'm starving!" Lan answers with a grin.
"And I could go for a good recharge too. All that excitement really drained my battery." MegaMan smiled as well.
"And what about you two? You want to join us for dinner? There's room for two more." Mrs. Hikari asks both Jerry and Sophie.
"Are you sure? We appreciate the offer, but we really don't want to impose on your family time." Jerry tries to protest.
"Don't worry, it's no trouble at all. You two are assistants to my husband, so I feel like we're practically family. It's my treat." Mrs. Hikari offers them.
"If you say it's okay, then we'll gladly take up on your offer. I haven't gotten to eat anything throughout this whole party, so I'm hungry." Sophie nodded as everyone had a good laugh about it. But with the WWW now having all super programs, the Endgame is now starting soon.
To be continued…
Next Chapter: Search for the WWW Server! Enter Rush!
A/n: Sorry for the long wait everyone, but this chapter was worth it. Anyway, expect the next chapter soon. Happy Holidays!