GammaTron: Let's do this thing! Hope you all enjoy!


"I see…So World Three was behind the traffic jams in Den City. Were you able to see who fought the NetNavi?"

A soft humming of a random tune escaped the closed mouth of a little girl around six with long blond hair that nearly reached her ankles. She was dressed up in a large pink dress with black sleeves and a gold trim; she also wore black stockings and white gloves. She laid down on her belly on a nice carpet with a mosaic pattern to it, a tongue sticking out as she drew something with a red crayon. In her unoccupied arm, she hugged a stuffed kitty doll with tiny wings shaped like UV bulbs.

"…Glyde and 'Sir Vent'?" the crayon paused in its movements, nearly hitting a yellow that had already been drawn, "Send me the surveillance footage, alright? I'll look it over. Try to find out the names of their NetOps, too. I…hm? You have a good idea who this 'Sir Vent' belongs to?" large blue eyes looked up towards a man sitting at the kitchen table, his black suit's back facing the little girl, "…Hikari? Like Tadeshi Hikari and Yuichiro Hikari? …Alright. Keep an eye on this 'Lan Hikari' and his mother and his friends. They could very well be targeted now due to their interference with the World Three. …Roger. Good luck with your cover job, Madame Rose."

The man hung up and sighed, shaking his head. Slowly, the girl got onto her feet and picked up her drawing. She smiled before running over to the table.

"Papa!" the girl called.

"Hm? Oh, sweetie, what's up?"

"The ceiling!"

The man chuckled, "Classic."

"Papa, lookie!" the little girl beamed as she held up her drawing, showing a figure in blacks and red jumping in the air, a green sword in one hand and a green shield in the other.

"Oh? This figure again?"

"Uh-huh! Big sis said that she's gonna make me a NetNavi and I wanna have this one!"

"Oh? Well, he looks dependable."

"Uh-huh! He's gonna be so cool!"

"You have a name for this NetNavi you're dreaming of?"

"Uh-huh. His name is…"


"Zero, why~?" Lan whined, sitting at his desk in the afternoon.

[You know the rules, Lan. Homework first and then we can go find a secret NetBattle group] Zero replied.

[I can't believe you're endorsing this, Zero] Leviathan sighed [...Then again, it is you]

[What does that supposed to mean?] Zero asked.

[Yeah! Come on, Lan! Just do the work and we can go~!] Fafnir whined [I wanna beat up idiots~]

[I believe it is my turn, Fafnir]

[Oh go blow it up your rear, Harpuia!]

[Boys, no arguing!] X called.

[Sorry, Pops/Father…]

"Come on, Lan. You got this," Vent encouraged, "I know you're smarter than people think."

"But Vent~! It's so boring!" Lan whined.

[Boring how?] Model P asked.

"They're too easy," Lan complained as he brought up his math assignment, "See?"

[I do…but isn't this the standard for coursework at your current grade level?] P asked [And if they are so easy, why do you not just do them immediately and get it over with so you can spend more time online and not complaining?]

"But it's so boring~"

'It's boring because it's easy? He's been lazy at school…because he's been bored?' Vent pondered, "Tell you what, Lan. If you can get all this homework done, tomorrow I'll try to convince Yai to not have you run the course again."

"Really?!"

"I swear on our BattleChip collection and on Mama's cooking skills."

"YES!" Lan whooped as he quickly went to work.

'Huh…I guess I shouldn't be too surprised Lan's laziness was more out of boredom. Our dad's a genius since he was able to turn DNA into data that made me. And Grandpa made everything that became our current society…' Vent thought.

"Okay, I'm done!" Lan beamed, quickly saving his homework, "Now it's time for f…"

[Hello, Ms. Sakurai]

"I'm not falling for that again, Phantom," Lan glowered.

"Hi, Phantom," Maylu greeted, waving at the screen from her spot on Lan's bed.

"BWAH!" Lan yelped, falling out of his chair, "...Maylu…Are you secretly Batgirl from those old comics from Ameropa?"

Maylu giggled, "No, you just tend to block things out when you're focused or bored."

"No Gow this time?" Lan asked as she helped him get up.

"No. He's recharging," Maylu replied.

"Mom let you in again?"

"Nope. Used the tree to parkour from my balcony to yours," Maylu replied.

"It was fun!" Ashe beamed, "So what's up?"

"Was gonna go do Virus Busting," Lan replied.

"And he wanted to find a Pit," Vent added.

"Vent, why~?" Lan complained.

"Whoo! Sounds great, Lan! Haven't been to one in months!"

"...Huh?" The two looked at her and a blushing Maylu.

"...um…Well…" Maylu looked at her shoes, finding them oh so interesting now.

"What? You think I'm this good naturally? Took a ton of convincing on my end to get her to try them," Ashe huffed.

[And using A-Trans to hide our identity] A added [Ever hear of Buckfire?]

"Buckfire the Brave?! The awesome gazelle-looking Navi that was undefeated for four years straight?!" Lan gawked.

"You're looking at them," Ashe winked.

"...What?!" Lan gawked, his jaw dropping and eyes widening in complete and utter shock, "Why didn't you say anything about this, Maylu?"

"Probably to keep you from asking to NetBattle her with your previous NetNavi," Vent replied, "You used to use a rather basic one before you got me, right?"

"Well…yeah…"

"And need I say you have issues with losing?" Ashe added.

"I…I don't…"

[You do] the Biometals of Vent deadpanned, making Lan slump.

"That and, well…I try to not NetBattle anymore if I can avoid it and let Ashe handle things on her own," Maylu added.

"...Huh?"

"Well…during that last year…I…I started to not feel well after battles," Maylu admitted, "I'd even have bruises on my body when I know that I did nothing to cause them."

"Huh?!" Lan gawked as he looked her over in concern.

"Lan, Lan, it's alright. I haven't had much of that since I quit the Pits," Maylu assured.

[It was really scary. I thought there was an Invisible Man in the house hurting her!]

"This is why we don't have horror movies in the house network anymore," Ashe rolled her eyes.

"Wait…Did anything happen when we fought Elecman?" Lan asked.

"Um…I…I did feel a bit of a sting," Maylu replied as she pointed at her shoulder, "Mainly here. Managed to hide it thanks to you focusing on making the train go over the other train and the sudden 'shower' on us."

"Maylu…" Lan frowned, "Tell me next time this happens, ok?"

"I will," Maylu assured.

"...Though now I'm worried, too," Lan noted.

"Huh?"

"Ever since I got Vent, the few times he's ever been hurt when NetBattling, I've felt small stings right where he got hit," Lan admitted.

"What is even going on?" Maylu pondered.

Vent and Ashe traded looks from their PeTs. Vent gestured to Maylu. 'What is going on here?' Ashe shrugged, unsure what was happening to her 'baby sister.' Vent facepalmed, realizing this was something new that separated their timeline from the original…and he wasn't sure if it was because of Ashe trying to make Maylu more available for helping out with the nonsense that was their lives or something else.


"Not even earplugs work on letting me sleep~!" Lan groaned as he skated alongside Maylu on her scooter to school.

[That's because you have us to deal with that 'speak' directly to you mind] Z chuckled.

[Speaking of our talking, any news about the young lady Yai's project?] X asked.

[Not much. Glyde can barely make out a letter in a five word sentence] A replied with a groan [At least they're trying to use NetNavis before trying human volunteers]

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Ashe demanded, miffed with her little partner.

[...Sorry, Ashe] A apologized.

Maylu giggled, "Maybe one day you'll get to sleep in again."

"Not with me around," Vent stated.

"I swear, it's like a reverse of Roll and I," Maylu sighed, shaking her head.

"Mega…Honey, I love you…but if you ever try to wake me up with your methods for Lan, Imma bash your head with Briofrost's tail!"

"Uht! N-Noted, Roll…" Vent gulped, sweating a little now.

[Hmm…We'll get Vent to stop for a week if you can get all A's for three whole months] Phantom offered.

"Really?!" Lan gasped before picking up speed with his eyes closed in excitement, "Okay! I'm gonna get that week without the horn no matter what!"

"Ah! Lan, watch out! Watch out!" Vent yelped before Lan collided with someone, knocking their briefcase into the air and into Maylu's arms.

Maylu blinked a few times as she looked at the sight before her. Lan groaned as he slowly sat up, opening his eyes to see what he ran into…or, rather, who he ran into. The man was lanky, wearing a simple pair of jeans with a brown belt, brown shoes, messy brown hair with square glasses, a cream button shirt, and a red tie. He ran over to Maylu and she presented the briefcase to him.

"Ah! My collection!" the man exclaimed as he opened it and pulled out BattleChips.

"Huh? BattleChips?" Maylu pondered.

"Phew…Not a single one damaged," he noted in relief, "Thank you very much for catching that, miss."

"Oh! It's not a problem, sir," Maylu assured.

'Higsby…' Vent thought.

'Giver of BattleChips and master of their knowledge!' Ashe grinned.

"We're really sorry. Got Lan motivated too much and he tends to get tunnel vision when that happens," Vent apologized, "Neat collection from what I can tell. M-Cannon BattleChips are pretty rare in this part of Den City."

"I know, right? You'd have to travel to the UnderNet for them!"

"...UnderNet?" Vent whispered, looking to Ashe.

"No clue."

"What's the UnderNet?" Maylu asked.

"A truly horrifying place. It is the Network that lies directly beneath our Network, filled with dangerous viruses where you need a lot of power to handle it all! And not just from viruses, either! SoloNavis and criminals like to use it as their home turf!" Higsby explained, the eyes of the two NetNavis widening, "Never ever go in there unless you truly are strong enough to do so!"

'And yet another change…' Vent thought.

'I really goofed up my six years here…' Ashe mentally groaned as she facepalmed, '...Pictures of adorable baby Mega being an errand boy and getting Maylu stronger for our future CrossFusion and being awesome badasses was worth it.'


"Uh…What are you two doing, guts?" Gutsman asked, he and Glyde looking to see the blue and orange NetNavis sitting together at a large desk with numerous PDFs and text files scattered about it.

"I focused so much on being with Maylu and doing stuff like training with her that I never learned a lot about the Network outside of the usual stuff!" Ashe replied.

"And I'm still a new NetNavi, so I haven't learned much about the world I live in," Vent added, "Ah. Roll, this is new."

"A cyber monorail? Where was that?!" Ashe gawked as they looked it over, "...I have enough to buy the annual pass. You?"

"Same," Vent agreed.

"So many stops…" Ashe observed.

"I wonder if this Beach Area has actual beaches?"

"They better. I think I've got a little special something for you to enjoy seeing me in," Ashe flirted, making Vent blush.

"...You get what they're talkin' 'bout, guts?" Gutsman asked.

"Not a bit, sadly," Glyde sighed as he walked over and held out a hand, "..." he narrowed his eyes as he recalled what Ashe and Vent had been telling him how to do it before, slowly, a chair materialized.

"Oh, not bad!" Gutsman noted.

"No…it is dreadful, to admit," Glyde replied.

"Why?"

"I was going for a chartreuse to compliment the panels of the ground," Glyde replied, "This is maroon."

"Oh…I…I see, guts," Gutsman noted, a drop of sweat going down the back of his head as Glyde sat down to join in the reading, "And why you?"

"There may be information I was unaware of in Den City," Glyde replied.

"Oh come on. Dat ain't…it shouldn't…" Gutsman trailed off before making a stool for himself to sit down and join in on the reading, "...We ain't nerds for doing this, are we, guts?"

"Depends. Do you want to get your head flushed in a toilet?" Vent asked.

"No."

"Then we're not nerds."


'Ohh~I'm so excited! This was such a cool place!' Ashe thought, hopping inside of Maylu's PeT in excitement as Yai led Lan, Maylu, and Dex through her backyard towards a large tree…with a treehouse that looked more like an actual house made of logs on it.

"Huh…Kinda looks like a giant birdhouse," Dex noted, tilting his head.

"Hmph! How rude, Dex! This is a secret fort that my daddy had built for me," Yai huffed.

"Se…Secret base?" the trio repeated in surprise.

"Yep! Right this way!" Yai beamed as she quickly climbed up and went in.

"So glad I came ready for that gauntlet," Maylu sighed in relief as she went up next followed by Lan and then Dex.

The trio followed Yai in and Phantom once more grew annoyed at the limitations of the PeT. The building was fairly modest and looked to be more like a simple house. A magenta couch and recliner were set up in the living room with a small dining table set up in the kitchen complete with fridge and oven.

"So this is a secret base?" Lan asked.

"It seems kinda nice," Maylu complimented, "People wouldn't think someone from Yai's family would stay in a place so simple. Ah…No offense?"

"None taken," Yai assured, "I like it. Plus, this is just the cover."

"Cover?" Dex repeated.

Yai smirked as she held up her thumb. She put it against a small black square by the door and the scanner went off. The wooden walls flipped like blindfolds, revealing intricate machinery and then sleek metal walls and several monitors. The lighting dimmed just a bit to avoid blinding everyone from the brightness of the screens. The trio couldn't help but awe at it all and Phantom only grew annoyed further than before.

[Master Vent, when are we getting holograms for the PeT?] Phantom asked.

[Phantom…are…are you…whining?] Leviathan asked.

"What the heck is this?!" Dex gawked before several lights turned on and aimed at the center of the room to reveal a holographic display.

"You like? It's the latest 3D monitor," Yai grinned as she pointed at the couch and recliner, showing they had Jack In ports on them, "You can Jack In through these. We can even NetBattle without getting into trouble here!"

"You're the best!" Lan and Dex cheered.

With that, all four Jacked In their NetNavis. Before them, the hologram displayed the Network and four flashes of light that formed into their NetNavis. Vent blinked a few times, realizing that the monitor was also acting the same for them, letting them see their NetOps as if they were in the Network.

"Whoa! …Dex is short, guts," Gutsman noted.

"HEY!" Dex snapped.

"This is even cooler than I thought!" Lan awed as he walked up to the display.

"I'll say," Vent chuckled, crouching a little to be of even height with Lan, "It's kinda nice to be using this. A bit sad, too."

"Huh? Sad?" Lan asked.

"Ah…" Ashe sighed as she walked over and rested against Vent's back, "Still can't give Maylu a big ol' hug like I've always wanted to do. But being able to compare our heights is a pretty good start…" she winked at Maylu, "And seeing how things look for three more measurement comparisons."

"Huh?" Lan and Dex tilted their heads as Maylu blushed.

"Roll! N-No! Bad! Very b-b-bad!" Maylu stammered as Ashe cracked up laughing, "I am so sorry for her, Yai!"

"NetBattling will be interesting here, guts," Gutsman noted, "It's like everyone can cheer better at this view, guts!"

"Speaking of NetBattling…" Glyde spoke up before bowing, "I would gladly be your opponent this day if any of you wish to partake in one."

"You sure, Glyde? You're not designed with combat in mind," Vent noted in concern.

"I have Lady Yai's BattleChips…it's not a problem, I assure you," Glyde replied with a smirk, closed eyes, and holding up a finger.


"Ah, he's very confident," Maylu noted.

[I want to wipe that smirk off his face] Z growled.

'That is overkill, Zero,' Vent deadpanned.

[May I be of service then, Master Vent?] P asked.

Vent nodded, "Okay, if you guys don't mind, I'll go first."

"Huh? You want to fight for once, guts?" Gutsman asked…before paling, "Oh shoot…You want to fight, guts…" he turned to Gylde and patted his shoulder, "Nice knowing ya, Gylde."

"I beg your pardon?" Glyde asked, blinking a few times.

"Run away!" Gutsman declared as he ran off and hid behind one of the pillars, peeking out from behind to avoid the explosions that might occur.

"Good luck, boys~!" Ashe waved as she walked over to where Gutsman was, giving a wink to Vent as she went by him.

"Vent's actually taking him on?" Dex asked, "Oh! Is he using FX?"

"Not sure," Lan replied.

"Model X!" Vent declared, catching the blue Biometal before grabbing the purple one, "Model P!" he crossed them above his head, "Let's go! Double MegaMerge!"

[Biolink Established. MEGA Systems online]

Shadows engulfed Vent before his form twisted within. The shadows settled to reveal Megaman in a new attire. This one was purple and like all the others in terms of design. The differences were more obvious to everyone, however. His lower arms had gold teardrop-shaped guards on the backs of them with a red crystal inside. His head was covered in a purple helmet with a bird-shaped white mask over the upper half of his face, exposing his sharp violet eyes. A long red scarf fluttered behind him as he shifted into a calm natural stance.

"The Shadow Megaman…Megaman PX," Megaman stated.

"Whoa~! He's a ninja!" Dex awed.

"So that's what PX looks like," Lan noted, "Ah…I really wanna see ZX and that other one now!"

"You'll get your chance, Lan," Megaman PX assured, "With Model Z and Mo…"

[NEVER!] the Biometals all snapped, minus X, P, and A.

"Aw come on~! I wanna know the Biometal's name, guys~!" Lan whined.

"You'll have to wait until later, Lan," Megaman PX sighed.

[NEVAH!] Fafnir declared.

"Can we start already?" Megaman PX sighed.

"But of course. You may deliver the opening move, Sir Megaman PX," Glyde replied.

"Good," Megaman PX replied before throwing a volley of plasma made bo shuriken at Glyde.

"Download!" Yai declared as a gold aura appeared on Glyde's body, bouncing the bo shuriken off him.

"Ah! They didn't do a thing to Glyde!" Dex gawked.

"Could that be…LifeAura?" Lan pondered.

"Indeed," Glyde replied.

"Hmm…Not too bad," Megaman PX noted.

"And next~HeroSword, download!" Yai declared.

"H-HeroSword?!" Lan stammered, now worried for Megaman PX.

Glyde held up his right arm before the glove part of it glowed and transformed, becoming a guard with two large wide half 'discs' on the sides and a large aquamarine plasma blade ending in a diamond-shaped end sporting a black diamond-shaped gem in it. The coloration of it all was quite consistent with Glyde's looks, being a rich gold, brown, and black in coloring. Glyde swung his blade, unleashing a wave of its plasma towards Megaman PX. The purple Megaman smirked before it hit…and a log sliced in two replaced him. Glyde tensed as he looked around…before something slammed down on the ground and engulfed the area in an explosion.

"AH!" Glyde yelped.

"Ah! Glyde!" Yai exclaimed as the smoke slowly dissipated, revealing Glyde struggling to get out of a bit of steel rope held up by an overhead extension on one of the pillars, his arms tied behind his back with an 'X' band of the ropes across his torso, "What happened?! How did he get caught with LifeAura in effect?!"

"Because this isn't an attack; it's a capture technique," Megaman PX replied, sitting on the extension…upside down, "Furthermore, I've studied LifeAura. The maximum power it can protect from is 100 and can even wear off after a period of time…or if you counter with a NorthWind BattleChip."

"NorthWind? …Oh! We got that yesterday from that BattleChip Trader!" Lan recalled, "NorthWind, Download!"

Megaman PX chuckled as he brought his hands together, "Ninpo: Chou Kitakaze!" he swung his hand out and an intense wind erupted from the palm of his hand, causing Glyde to spin and swing around.

"Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear!" Glyde yelped before it slowed to a halt and revealed his aura to have vanished, "Ohh…"

"Hah?! Y-You…and the…but the…" Yai stammered as Megaman PX let Glyde down.

"While I'm glad you believe in Yai's BattleChips providing great benefits for you, Glyde, it doesn't matter if your opponent is aware of you capabilities," Megaman PX advised, "Plus…I recognize that BattleChip because I was the one who delivered it."

"Huh?" Lan pondered.

"Lan, did you already forget that I said that before I was your NetNavi, Papa had me be his courier for SciLab to help me get used to being your NetNavi?" Megaman PX sighed, dropping Megamerge to look at them.

"O-Oh yeah…I forgot to tell you the truth," Lan sheepishly replied.

"Right. Anyway, that is indeed the LifeAura BattleChip that I delivered to a man about…a year before becoming Lan's NetNavi," Vent replied.

"My daddy got me this," Yai noted, "...Wait! He said the courier was a little blue NetNavi!"

"I updated my looks for a better look for Lan," Vent explained as Ashe walked over and held up a picture of a smaller NetNavi looking a bit like Vent with his hair navy blue and much, much smaller and put into four spikes underneath a blue, light-blue, and silver helmet with two yellow bars in the middle of it, "Not surprised you took pictures."

"You were just so adorable," Ashe replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.

Vent rolled his eyes at that, "Hey, Maylu, any embarrassing pictures of Roll when you first got her?"

"Oh, I have several my mama took of her!"

"Ah! Nononono! It's cool, it's fine! Nothing to see here!" Ashe panicked.

Vent chuckled before looking at Yai and Glyde, "Still, the point to take here is that you two have a very impressive combination. LifeAura to protect and HeroSword to attack. You just need to better fine-tune it with plans in case that combination falters like it did here."

"I…I see…" Glyde noted, a contemplative look on his face.

"Ah! He did this with me, too, guts," Gutsman noted, "He slugged me silly with one blow, then he got to helping me out!"

"What can I say? I like it when I can help people bring the best out of them," Vent shrugged with a small smile.

[!] P spun around to look into the distance [Vent, we're not alone]

"Hm? Yai, Phantom says that he senses an intruder in the system," Vent noted.

"Oh don't worry about that. This is the best security system money can buy," Yai snorted, "No one could get past its systems!"

"...Phantom?" Vent asked.

[They've left] P replied [It seems they could have been intel gathering]

'That must have been Numberman…' Vent thought, 'Impressive that he was able to get past Yai's family's security system.'


"That sure was fun today," Ashe grinned, she and Vent walking along a road in the network, "Can't believe you actually thought of doing that to Glyde to get past his LifeAura."

"It's just something I've never seen others do before. It's like they think an aura can make you invincible to anything," Vent shrugged, "I mean…What's stopping you from destroying the ground under them and let them fall into the abyss? Or just tie them up and wait for it to vanish or use that to prep a strong enough combo to destroy the aura?"

"Yeah…G-Gotta admit, a lot of the stuff our NetOps got into could've been avoided by just, well…not being idiots."

"Sad, but true," Vent sighed, shaking his head, "And a lot of our battles could've been easier if we had thought smarter."

"Guess reliving those events are a real eye opener," Ashe noted.

"Speaking of future events…is Maylu still a part of the newspaper club?" Vent asked.

"Oddly…There isn't a school newspaper," Ashe replied.

"Which means Higsby will strike elsewhere to get Yai's BattleChips," Vent frowned, "Damn…"

"Hey, cheer up! That just means we gotta stay close to them for a bit is all!" Ashe assured, patting his back.

"...True," Vent nodded, "We'll just have to be ready for anything." he walked them around a corner, "And what better way…" they stopped and he pointed down at a hole, squeaks coming from it, "Than a little practice?"

"...Their hideout?" Ashe asked.

"Yep," Vent replied.

"...Best. Boyfriend. Ever!" Ashe beamed.


[...You have got to be kidding me…] Zero deadpanned as Vent let out a snort in his sleep, partly off his bed in the computer, as Lan snored in the same exact position.

[To be fair, Vent was up late with Ashe] X noted.

[...I guess Lan didn't have to wait for three months] Fafnir noted.

[Age Lan up six years and they really would look like twins at the moment] Leviathan giggled.

[Something the matter, Phantom?] Harpuia asked, looking over at Model P as it looked out to the human world.

[...I have a feeling something is going to happen today…something unexpected] Phantom replied.

[Huh?]

[The last time this feeling came…was the day I died]

[?!] all of them tensed at that.


"GYAAAA! Late! Late! I'm so late it's not even funny!" Lan panicked, skating as fast as he could towards school, "Guys, what happened?!"

[You two looked too cute to wake up] L giggled {That and trying to figure out what was going on with Phantom's sense of dread…}

"Huh?! Vent was asleep?!" Lan gawked.

"I…kinda had a long night with Ashe. FInally took her to a den of Ratty viruses I knew about," Vent explained, "She refused to go until every last one was Deleted and their data harvested for Zenny and BattleChips."

"Wow. That must have been a lot of Ratty," Lan noted, closing his eyes in thought while trying to imagine how many there were.

[Lan, watch out!] Z shouted.

*CLANG~!*

[Nevermind…] Z sighed as Lan fell over, red marks on his face in the shape of bars.

"...O-Ow…" Lan groaned as he slowly sat up and looked up at what he hit, revealing the steel sliding gate for the school, "Huh?! Wh-What gives?!" he jumped up with wide eyes, "Class doesn't start for another…um…" he looked at the PeT, "...three minutes! Why's the school gate locked already?!"

[Guess you got fired from school] F chuckled.

"Not funny, Fafnir!" Lan complained.

"Hey, kid…"

"Huh?"

Lan turned to see a pair of men approach. One was a younger-looking man, possibly just out of college, with a pair of glasses while donned in a gray shirt and gray slacks. The other was a taller, older man with most of his face hidden by the shadows of his black fedora. His attire was an all black formal outfit with a white button shirt and black tie. The only things Lan could make out were his cool blue eyes and gray mustache.

"...You attend this school?"

"Um…Yeah," Lan replied.

"Well…You don't have to today. Go on home," the man ordered.

"Really?" Lan blinked twice.

'Who is this man?'

[He appears to be a detective based on attire] X noted.

[Don't get arrested, Lan] L warned [Maylu won't forgive you if you do]

"I…I can just go home? No marks on my record?" Lan asked.

"Yup. Take off and have fun now. You won't get into any trouble for it, I assure you."

"Yes! C'mon, guys! Let's get going!" Lan cheered as he ran off.

"Seriously, Lan?!" Vent gawked.

[Lan, this seems entirely too convenient] Phantom noted.

[Phantom's right, kid! This smells worse than when Levi had to go through sewer systems to look out for Mavericks]

[FAFNIR!] Leviathan snapped.

"Oh relax," Lan replied as he knelt down and slipped on his skates.

[What are you planning, Lan?] Harpuia asked.

"You'll see," Lan grinned as he got up, skated ahead a few more meters…before spinning around and shooting off towards the gate and the two men, "HEADS UP! COMIN' THROUGH! YAHOO!" with a jump, Lan soared over the gate and skated towards the entrance, "Sorry! But people telling me not to go to school…makes me wanna go even more!"

"You are a living contradiction, Lan…" Vent sighed.

"That little brat!" the glasses-wearing man growled.

"Feh…Didn't expect that kind of stunt," the fedora-wearing man chuckled, "Well…he's got spirit, that one."

"Ah! S-Sorry for being late!" a plump man in a suit apologized as he ran up, "Everything's ready, sir! We can Jack In the school's network at any time!"

"Very well! Let's go! And make sure no one leaves the school grounds!" the fedora-wearing man declared, "Madam Rose is onsite inside of them in case of emergency!"


Maylu sighed as she looked at her PeT, "He was doing such a good job, too…"

"That…That's probably my fault, Maylu. I think I exhausted Mega last night with Ratty Genocide," Ashe sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"Hey! The teacher's coming!" a student warned before Higsby entered.

"Weeeeel now, I'd like to begin the first class, huh!" Higsby declared.

'Huh?' Maylu blinked a few times before raising her hand, "Mr. Higsby, where's Ms. Mari?"

"Ms. Mari? She was sick and went to the nurses office, huh. She sent me on ahead to do this for her, huh."

"Wha..!?" Dex gawked as the students started whispering.

"Quiet, everyone! ...First class will be Study Hall, huh."

"All right!" several cheered, Dex included.

"Don't rejoice just yet, huh! I want you all to do math drills. I'll be checking them later!" Higsby ordered, earning whines from most of the students, "Now, Jack In to the blackboard! Huh! All right everyone...Good luck!"

"Wait, he's just leaving us?" Yai asked.

[I've got a bad feeling] A noted before an ERROR screen formed on the blackboard [Called it!]

"Eeek! What's that?" Yai asked.

=We will now announce...The real goal of our plan...to control the net!=

"What the…?"

"Huh?"

"C-Control the net?"

=The WWW's true plan is to start a war...the EndGame! We will take control of the military networks and all other networks! The only cure for this rotten world is deletion!-!-!=

"Noooo!"

"What?!"

"Why? Why would they do that?" Maylu gasped.

=To reach our goals, the WWW is hiring new staff members! We will begin a new instruction program, starting today! Children! Study well and become good slaves to the WWW!=

"Maylu! This is a WWW re-education program!" Ashe realized, 'What the hell?! What in the flying hell?! Higsby…y-you're…'

"What!? No way man, not me!" Dex growled.

"Oh no, I can't turn my terminal off!" a student gasped.

"Heeeeey! The door's locked!" another called, grunting as they tried to open the door to no avail before jumping as something crashed into the door on the other side.

"SONUVA…!"

"LAN XAVIER HIKARI, DO NOT FINISH THAT!"

"?! Lan!" Maylu shouted.


"Ugh…" Lan groaned, rubbing his sore face, "Maylu, is this a new punishment Ms. Mari is doing?"

"No! She went to the nurse's office! Mr. Higsby locked us in here! We're trapped and a WWW re-education program is on the blackboard!" Maylu replied.

"WHAT?!" Lan and Vent shouted.

'He's…He's WWW?' Vent thought, holding a hand to his heart in disbelief.

"EEK!"

"M-Maylu?!" Lan gasped as shouts began to go off from the other classrooms.

"G-Gah! My…My head…" Maylu groaned, barely audible from behind the door.

[Shit! A brainwashing program!] Z realized.

"Gotta get them out…" Lan whispered, looking around before spotting a Jack In port by the door, "Oh! Do you think we can reset the electronic lock?"

"Good thinking," Vent replied.

[...This is why everything shouldn't be digital] H sighed in exasperation.

[Where's the fuse box for the school? Let's just cut off the power and things will be a-ok] F suggested.

[And what if Ashe is in the network when we do that? If the power cuts out, it may delete everything in the network for the school] Z pointed out.

[Hard way it is] L sighed.

"Jack in, Vent! Power Up!" Lan declared.


"Maylu! Maylu, you gotta get me in the system!" Ashe called as Maylu trembled, holding the side of her head as a ringing filled the ears of all the students in the class.

"G-Glyde…G-Get the door open…" Yai whimpered.

"Go get 'em, Gutsman…!" Dex growled as the three managed to Jack In through their desks.

"Jack In! Ashe/Glyde/Gutsman!"

"MEGAMERGE!"


Megaman X appeared in the network and looked around, "No signs of viruses, but that's probably the fault of…"

"Mega!" Megaman X turned to see Glyde, Gutsman, and Roll A run up, the latter jumping and hugging him before whispering, "Mega…H-Higsby's…"

"I know," Megaman X quietly replied, returning the hug before looking at Glyde and Gutsman, "Situation report, you three."

"We are going to try to override the electronic lock on the classroom door," Glyde explained, "We are on a time limit due to this brainwashing program coming from their desks."

"Okay! Let's get going," Megaman X ordered, "We're getting everyone out of there."

"Right!" the trio agreed.

Something clattered down near them just as they were about to head off. They looked down and Roll A and Megaman X tensed on seeing three different dice, one with a '2,' one with a '4,' and one with a '1' face up. They tackled Gutsman and Glyde before the dice glowed and exploded in different sizes.

"What was that, guts?!" Gutsman yelped.

"That would be me," a voice noted.

The four looked in the direction of the voice to see a tall, lanky robot-looking NetNavi with near-stick thin limbs. Its body was mainly cream with lime-green, only broken up by red rings. His bodysuit was black and the only parts visible beneath the armor were his waist/crotch area and neck. On his chest was a calculator's screen with his hands being made of three silver fingers resembling the rings of a binder. His head was the strangest thing about him, resembling a large clear dome with a 'disco ball' inside of it with two yellow 'eyes' glowing underneath the dome.

"I am Numberman," the NetNavi stated, "I have rerouted all the systems into myself. The only way to unlock the door and turn off the program is to defeat me. However, I will only battle those with a rare BattleChip."

"What's stopping us from jumping you all together then?" Roll A growled.

"AreaSteal," Numberman stated before vanishing and appearing behind Glyde, "I will be taking your LifeAura and HeroSword BattleChips."

"?! How did you…" Glyde began before a triple-layered barrier formed, cutting the two off from everyone else, "Ah!"

"Oh great…a Polyvirus barrier," Roll A groaned.

"...You can still hack, can't you?" Megaman X whispered.

"Duh," Roll A rolled her eyes before her helmet glowed and an orange helmet with a magenta heart design on the front with two gold circles in the hearts with a pair of transparent golden plug-shaped antennae emerging from the circles replaced it as her ponytail emerged from the bottom, "Like I'd get rid of this neat little trick."

[It's so girly…] A whined.

"Shaddap, A," Roll A glowered.

[Don't you remember the passwords already?] H whispered.

'We don't know if they've changed or not,' Megaman X replied, 'It's better to do this than guess and end up wrong.' he looked at Numberman, "Why? Why are you working with the WWW anyway? You don't seem like that bad a guy. Neither does Higsby. So why?"

"Why? Being a WWW slave is fun! Isn't it, Mr. Higsby?"

"Yes! With my new WWW salary I can buy lots of rare chips!" Higsby replied, appearing on a screen.

"And you call yourself a teacher!" Lan growled.

"Heh...I did feel a little bad at first, huh."

"Mr. Higsby!"

"Yes! But then I knew I'd do anything for rare chips, huh!"

"Who needs rare chips bought with the WWW's dirty money?!" Maylu demanded.

"Huh!...Silence! Now, your rich friend's Navi will face me and NumberMan!"

"I'll get started on hacking these things for the password," Roll A spoke.

"We'll protect you," Megaman X noted, gesturing to himself and Gutsman.

"From what?" Gutsman asked before viruses began to form, "Oh…Nevermind, guts."


"Okay…Lan, get ready because this is a counting game!" Roll A informed.

"Counting?"

"Yeah. This guy's name is Numberman, afterall. Makes sense he changed the passwords to number ones. First up…how many pigeons are in the school's birdhouse?"

"On it!" Lan replied as he quickly skated off and got out to the pens, "Okay…Let's see…one, two, three, four, five, si…" the birds began to fly around, "Ah! Quit it! Quit it! I'm trying to count you guys, dang it!"


"There's thirty-four pigeons here!" Lan informed.

"Gotcha!" Roll A grinned as the innermost barrier vanished, "Next up…Hoo boy…The number of tennis rackets in each color."

"Aw come on!" Lan complained.

"Keep it going, buster! Everyone's struggling to hold on out there!" Roll A barked, "And I swear if you let Maylu be a member of WWW, Imma gonna find a way out there and kick your…"

"I'm going! I'm going!" Lan replied.

"H-HeroSword, download…" Yai grunted as Glyde formed the blade.

"Utilizing your finisher at the beginning," Numberman noted as Glyde swung and released the shockwave, "Countering with Invis." his body turned transparent, allowing the energy slash to go through him without any damage, "Followed by M-Cannon." a red and orange Cannon formed on his right arm and fired, striking Glyde and slamming him back-first into the barrier.

"Glyde!" Yai panicked.


"Gah…Why are there so many~?!" Lan groaned, "Um…One white…no, no, there's two…one blue…one red…another white…does this even look like the US to anyone?!"


"Any progress, Lan?" Megaman X asked, shooting another virus down as Gutsman crushed several more.

"20 red, 15 blue, and 28 white!" Lan replied.

"Final barrier!" Roll A beamed as the second vanished, "...Aw crap! The number of all the sweet pea flowers in the campus flower bed!"

"I have to count all those?!" Lan gawked, "Ah man…Alright, alright! I'll get right on it!"


"WHY ARE THERE SO MANY?!" Lan snapped, seeing all the potted sweet pea flowers, "..." he shook his head, "I can't give up! I gotta count all of these for that password!"


"Dice Bombs!" Numberman declared, throwing three more dice that landed on '4' each.

"Ah! D-DreamAura…" Yai countered, making the aura formed on Glyde.

The explosion knocked him back and into the barrier once more, "Gah!"

"DreamAura. While powerful, certain things will allow it to be bypassed. NorthWind, activate," Numberman informed.

"?!" Glyde tensed as a powerful wind tore it off him, "Not again!"

"GLYDE!" Megaman X gasped, "You were the one spying on us!"

"The security was rather lackluster in its capabilities."

"Say WHAT?!" Yai screeched.


"Gah! Did I count that one twice?!" Lan panicked, "Shoot! Dang it! No, no…I have to get them all counted or Glyde's gonna get Deleted and everyone will…they'll be…"

"Lan?"

"!" Lan turned to see Sal walk up, "Sal?"

"Everything alright? Why aren't you in class?"

"One of the teachers, Mr. Higsby, is working for WWW! He's got everyone trapped in the classrooms and they're getting hypnotized!" Lan explained.

"W-What?!" Sal gasped.

"And the only way to get to his NetNavi and stop it is the password, but I don't know how many potted sweet pea flowers there are!"

"...665," Sal replied.

"Huh?"

"I just finished this flower bed as part of my job," Sal explained, "There are 665 sweet pea flowers in pots at this flower bed."

"Ah! Thank you! Thank you so much, Sal!" Lan thanked as he skated off to his classroom, "Vent! It's 665! There are 665 flowers!"


"Now to finish you off!" Numberman declared.

"Roll, hurry!" Megaman X called as the three tossed dice landed on all 5.

"GLYDE!" Yai screamed.

"GOT IT! A…" Roll A began before a blur went by, "?!"

"Lady Yai…" Glyde whispered, seeing the dice glow, "...I'm sorry."

"GUTS!"

"?!" Glyde's eyes widened as Gutsman jumped and landed on the dice, "Gutsman, what are…"

"Heh…Go get 'em, Roll, Vent…" Gutsman whispered as the dice shined.

*BOOOOOM!*

"?!" Roll A and Megaman X gasped.

=GUTSMAN…DELETED=

"GUTSMAN~!" Dex screamed.

"N-No…" Roll A gasped.

"He's…deleted…?" Megaman X whispered, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Gutsman…W-Why did you…?" Dex sniffled, "Y-You dummy! You big goof! Y-You coulda smacked them away! Or smashed them before they blew up! W…Why did…Why did ya have to…to…Gh! G-Gutsman~!"

"Gutsman has backup data, right?" Lan asked.

"I think so, but I don't know the last time he backed Gutsman up…" Maylu replied.

'This Numberman and Higsby…they're with WWW…' Roll A thought, her helmet hiding her eyes in the shadows.

'They tried to hypnotize the students for rare BattleChips…' Megaman X thought, his own helmet doing the same.

'They Deleted our friend…' two NetOps and two NetNavis thought in unison.

"Maylu…" Lan softly spoke.

"It's unforgivable," Maylu quietly said.

"Yeah."

"Roll…"

"Vent…"

"Gotcha/Understood," both replied.

"FOR GUTSMAN!" all four roared as Roll A and Megaman X snapped their heads up, their eyes, emblems, and the screw/gem on their helmets glowing as they glared harshly at Numberman.

[What in the world?!] A yelped.

[Vent?!] X asked, startled, before several dice dropped…all of them a '6.'

*KRA-KRA-KABOOM!*

"Hmph. Another pair deleted," Numberman noted before looking at Glyde, "And now for…"

"?!" Glyde gasped, looking past Numberman.

"You think that would work on us?" Roll A's voice growled.

"You made the worst mistake of your life, Maverick," Megaman X's voice snarled.

Numberman spun around to see the smoke dissipating…revealing the two slowly walking out of it. Parts of their bodies were leaking data, mainly from the shattered pieces of armor on Roll A's torso and right arm and on the left side of Megaman X's helmet and the right side of Roll A's helmet. Yet, the damage didn't even seem to phase the two determined fighters. Their focus was purely upon Numberman, the sheer anger in them radiating out and focused upon the lanky NetNavi.

"Im…Impossible!" Numberman squealed in fright, "C…Combat Assessment Scan!"

"Payback time!"

"Yai, I'm borrowing this!"

"Cyber Sword/Hero Sword, Slot In!"

"!-!-? Th…This cannot be…!" Numberman panicked as Megaman X's buster glowed before transforming into a light-blue and navy guard of sorts before producing a light-blue/white plasma blade as Yai's rare BattleChip formed on Roll A's arm/hand, "...A proper result for both?!" he swung a hand out, preparing to throw more dice, "I declare a calculation error! You could not have…" the two vanished from sight, "!?"

The duo appeared behind him, walking slowly to Gylde. The moment they dismissed their blades…Numberman screeched in sheer agony. His body tore itself apart from the myriad of slashes that tore into him. His dome shattered, scattering the pieces of his 'brain' within it, as he lost an arm and the end of his foot.

"Res…Resul…Result is…r-r-r-r-Result is-s-s-s-s im…possi…impossible…" Numberman groaned out before he exploded violently.

=NUMBERMAN: DELETED=

Both held a hand out to the explosion, pulling in the data for later BattleChip creation. A familiar orb of light emerged from the smoke and was soaked up into Model A in its armor state. Model A didn't comment on the new A-Trans data. He was more focused on Ashe's data and what was going on with it. The duo groaned, losing their MegaMerge, and collapsed to their knees and hands, the glow in their eyes and emblems fading.

"Ugh…Wh…What the…?" Vent gasped out.

"I feel…like after…fighting Master Albert…" Ashe groaned.

[WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!] A screamed.

[It felt like there was another presence in our MegaMerge…boosting it to levels I haven't reached in centuries] X noted before the two NetNavis collapsed [Vent!]

[Ashe!]


"What in the world…?" Yai gasped, looking down at the collapsed, unconscious Maylu with blood coming off a nasty wound on the right side of her head and part of her vest and shirt underneath turning red.

"Whe…When did she get hurt?!" one of the other students panicked.

"Ah! Lan!" Dex yelped, causing the others to look at him to see the bigger preteen carry Lan into the room, the brunette in the same condition as Maylu with just a head wound on the left side, "What happened?"

"Ahem," the students looked to see the man outside the gates approach with several officers and Sal, "We'll take care of these two, kids." he glanced down at the two unconscious students, 'Well now…Seems we've hit the jackpot on a two-for-one deal.'


GT: Barely didn't make it in time…Here's to Day 24 of Mega May, folks! As you can see…lots is changing here. Hope to see some reviews on what's going on here.