Mega Man 1. In the year 20XX

MegaMan NT Hunter

Prologue

_It is the year 200X. In this new technological age, there exists a world within our own where a civilization of sentient programs – the people of that world – that are referred as Network Navigators, or NetNavis for short. These NetNavis were given artificial intelligence and at first, that's all it was… I'm not quite sure when, but eventually the intelligence of this civilization became… pure. They developed minds of their own and became equal to humans, superior to us in some respects; but they, for the most part, have peacefully lived with us. Now almost anyone you talk to has a Navi of their own, who they will call… a friend._

"Data structure, good!"

"Power levels, optimal!"

_Sadly, as many activities of Cyberworld affected our world, net crime soon became widespread, and many criminal organizations rose to try to rule both Earth and Cyberworld, including WWW (World Three), Grave, and Nebula, which the latter was, sadly, led by me, Dr. Regal Wily. Yes, it is true; I did terrorize the world on more than one occasion in the name of revenge. And yet… with the great amount of resources and power all three groups had at their disposal, not one of them succeeded. How, you ask? It was by the teamwork of the son of my good friend and colleague, Lan Hikari and his Navi hybrid brother, Hub Hikari; but to his friends and enemies alike – MegaMan EXE._

"Final checks, cleared."

"Beginning test sequence…"

_These two and their many friends were, in fact, responsible for my defeat as well; and according to medical records, I even lost memory of the last ten years. It knew this to be true, but soon I slowly began regaining memory of those forgotten events but… the more I did, the more I regretted what I had done. After being released from the hospital I began work as a SciLab intern for Dr. Yuichiro Hikari, and the more I remembered my crimes, the more I chose to forget so that I could make amends for my sins. Of course, I changed my appearance so that I don't remind MYSELF of the evil leader of Nebula; I shaved my beard and changed my uniform, so that now I look the way I did when I first meet Lan, but now I also have the customary white lab coat of a scientist._

"Do you think this will work?"

"Only one way to find out."

_And so here I am now, a highly respected SciLab scientist with the same level of authority as Yuichiro. I am often accepted as a guest into the Hikari home, I am called on for advice from my colleagues, even the Officials trust me, just as Yuu does; at this point Yuu and I have become the best of friends. It was as if no one even bothered to remember my past as the leader of Nebula. Was this really the inner nature of mankind, to forgive and forget? The more I contemplated that question the more determined I became to work for the benefit of humans and Navis…_

The latest experiment Yuichiro and I had been working on for the past two months was a success. We had transported the first Navi into the real world.

"Congratulations, Dr. Hikari and Dr. Regal," said Yuichiro's Navi, know as Papa.

"Thank you for your assistance," I said, "You may return to your PET to recharge."

"Of course."

NetNavi… logging out. 

"What a night," Yuichiro yawned, "I'm ready to hit the hay."

"Yes, but it was worth it, right Hikari?" Instead of an answer to my question, his response was snoring (he fell asleep right away) as he was sprawled out in his chair. I don't blame him though; staying up until three in the mourning is not ideal sleeping time, so I fell asleep as well.

--------------

The next thing I knew, I am standing back on the streets of Densan City, and so is Yuichiro as he is standing beside me. Neither of us is sure of how we got here, or what's going on. But I do know one thing for sure, and that is something feels different about Densan.

"Why are we HERE?" Yuu began, "I was sure we were back at SciLab just now, and I was really sure I was counting sheep?"

"Well, this might be a shout in the dark," I replied nonchalantly, "but maybe that's because THIS IS A DREAM!"

"Oh." I guess it true what they say: Just because you're a genius doesn't make you a smart guy.

As we explore Densan, we both realized that there were no humans in sight, in fact, everywhere we went, there were only Navis. None of this made any sense. How were there only Navis and no humans? We stumbled across two very young Navis playing in Akihara Park. They were apparently looking at something, but we couldn't see what it was because their backs were turned to us.

"You ready?" said one Navi.

"Yeah! 1… 2… 3!"

The first Navi threw the hidden object into the air, and we gasped as we recognized it. It was a Progress-model PET, but before we could wonder why they had it, it was immediately shot to pieces by the second Navi's buster.

"Yuu, did you see that? What's going on here?" I stammered.

"I…I don't know -"

"HEY!

Our attention was diverted to a group of Navis who appeared to be guard soldiers running towards with their busters armed. I then faced Yuu, "Dr. Hikari, I do not think they are coming over just to say hello."

"Dr. Regal, I agree. We should run away… VERY FAST!" And so we did. We entered alley far away from the guards and hid behind some trashcans. Thankfully, the Navis ran by without spotted us. I then faced Yuichiro, who sighed in relief.

"I don't know what's going on," he stated, "but something is not right about this dream."

"You are correct in that assumption, doctor," said a woman's voice. Yuu and I looked behind us and saw a tall female Navi with white blouse-like armor and a turquoise bodysuit underneath. She had long green hair that reached below her shoulders. Her white helmet, that only partially covered her face and ruby red eyes, had two fins protruding from it. "I'm sorry if this scares you. It has to be done."

"Who exactly are you?" I asked. "My name is Slur," she answered.

"If I had to guess, then I'd say that this no mere dream," said Yuu.

"Then I'd have to say you are right," Slur replied smiling.

"And I'm guessing that both Dr. Hikari and I both are having this dream," I added.

"Correct."

"This 'dream' is actually some sort of glimpse into a bleak future?" said Yuu.

Slur nodded, "Keep going."

"…And I'd say that some sort of new evil is soon to rise up?" I guessed out of the blue.

"You men are smart."

"So I guess the only big question that needs to be answered is 'who sent you, and how can we trust you'."

"Bingo!" she finally said shaking her index in approval, "I was sent by Duo."

"Duo?" Yuu asked.

"My beloved master who resides on the Asteroid Cyberworld that came here over a year ago," the Navi answered facing Yuu, "Your sons, Lan and MegaMan, defeated him and saved your planet from destruction. Please, let me take you to him."

With that a blindingly white doorway opened behind her and she walked in. Yuu and I looked at each other and shrugged and began towards the portal, but as he approached it, he stopped and began to look around him. Come on, Hikari, we're in an alley, in an anti-human future/dream. What is there to look back on? So I did what any sensible grown man would do… I kicked him in the rear end and pushed him in. Now I know where Lan gets his quirkiness (and I just reminded myself of Chaud for a moment; spooky!).

Upon entering, we were standing face-to-face with a giant silver Navi with no legs. I'd guess that was Duo, but that would stating the obvious.

"So you're Duo?" Yuu asked.

"What was your first clue?" I asked sarcastically. He glared at me (like I really cared), "Shut up."

"Yes, and I'm very pleased to see the both of you," said the giant Navi, Duo, "You are wondering why you came to have this dream, have you?"

"The question crossed our minds," said Yuu.

"Well the enough is simple; a very powerful energy source is traveling through your planet's Undernet, and is accidentally heading in the direction of the Data Grave Area, and section of Cyberworld where the data remains of deleted Navis and programs are sent. Three very powerful programs of destruction that were destroyed by Lan and MegaMan are there, one of which was created by you, Dr. Regal."

"Nebula Grey, I presume," I sighed. Yuichiro looked at me with surprise, "You remember?" I nodded.

"That's right and there is more," Slur commented from her standing position on Duo's shoulder, "the Dream Virus, Alpha, and Nebula Gray are in the same vicinity of one another."

"To worst part about this is that that powerful darkness belongs to the Navi that you call… Bass," Duo added, "And he is slowly regaining his vengeful memories, and may absorb their power to become stronger."

"Tell us, what could happen if that happens?" Yuichiro asked in total wonder.

"His entire data structure could mutate, thus changing him into a very dangerous Virus Navi, and I'm that you know of a particular ability a Virus Navi, right Dr. Hikari?"

"Yes, the ability to infect other Navis and control them. How can we stop him?"

"It may be too late to stop him from absorbed the super viruses," Slur said with a little sadness, "but you're holding a great way to stop him afterwards right now."

"What? This?" Dr. Regal inquired holding the chip in his hand, "The Dimensional Chip?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid you will need more than that to win," Duo said as he and Slur were started to glow brightly, "You must strengthen the bond between humans and Navis. You must figure out how to do that on your own…"

-------------

"Whoa!" Yuu shouted as he woke up, "I need to stop eating that spicy curry late at night."

"Hikari, you… are… an… imbecile." I said dully, "We got work to do!"

Dr. Hikari looked at the Dimensional Chip and breathed a heavy sigh, "Oh well, back to the drawing board, I guess."

_As inept as Yuichiro was, I knew he was right this was the beginning of something big._

To be Continued…


	2. Dimensional Walls Broken

I thought it would be a good idea to revise my story for certain reasons. For starters, some readers were confused and thought this story took place in the anime storyline while it really takes place during the game dimension. Therefore, I taken the liberty to change a few things, such as when the Net Battlers are downloading chips, they'll say "_Battle Chip, ...! Slot-in!_", instead of "_...! Battle Chip, in! Download!_" since they do use that terminology in the games.

Also here is the key for when people are speaking:

"Regular" talking out loud in the current scene  
"**Bold**" talking out loud from a PET  
"_Italics_" thinking

With that said, here is the disclaimer:

I do not; I repeat, I DO NOT own MegaMan or any related characters. They belong to Capcom… crap --;

MegaMan Network Transmission Hunter  
Chapter 1: Dimensional Walls Broken

"**Battle Chip, Area Steal! Slot-in**!" said 12-year-old a young brunette boy with a blue bandana. In response, his blue NetNavi disappeared out of the way of a capsule-shaped grenade. "**Battle Chip, Air Shot! Slot-in!**"

"**Oh, no you don't! Battle Chip! Guard, Slot-in!**" a 10-year-old Chinese girl declared as a large yellow shield appeared in front of her white-clad NetNavi and deflected the air bullet back to its sender. The blue Navi dodged it.

"Mega Buster!" the blue Navi known as MegaMan said as his right hand formed an arm-mounted cannon. "Get ready, Medi!"

Medi looked up at her operator, "Jasmine, do you have any Cannons ready?"  
"**Sure do,**" Jasmine answered smiling, "**Battle Chip, Hi-Cannon! Slot-in!**"

The male NetBattler known as Lan Hikari was in a fierce NetBattle with his girlfriend, Jasmine Lao, at the town arcade; and their Navis, MegaMan and Medi, were proving to be almost equally matched. While MegaMan had a clear advantage in the offensive field, Medi was an excellent strategist, and now both Navis were down to their last few hit points. Many young spectators had come to watch their local hero in action, after all, Lan and MegaMan, did save Akihara more than a few times; so it was natural that they would gain a few fans.

"Charge Shot!" "Hi-Cannon!"  
"Fire!"

Their attacks hit at the same time causing them both to log out. The crown of children cheered in satisfaction by the result of the NetBattle, and went to get some autographs from Lan. Lan and Jasmine tried to run away, but they were already surrounded by the mob. The heroes laughed nervously at the crowd.

"How are we going to get out of here?" The Chinese girl asked her boyfriend. He shrugged. Just then Lan's PET went off.  
"**Lan, you've got mail**," said MegaMan.  
"_Good, that gives me an idea!_ Listen guys, I got an E-mail," Lan said to the other kids, "Let me get this right quick, and then I'll sign some autographs.

Heeding his words, the circle of children made an opening for the brunette NetBattler to pass through. He then took Jasmine's hand, and walked by. As soon as they step outside of the arcade, they made a mad dash and the torture of fame, leaving his fans to moan in defeat. After the pair ran through along the streets of Akihara (Lan didn't used his skates this time), they stopped at the corner of a sidewalk.

"Phew! That's was close," Lan sighed in relief.  
"Yeah. I can't stand crowds," Jasmine pouted.  
"**That makes two of us**," said Medi.  
"By the way, MegaMan, what was that E-mail about?"  
"**I'm opening it now. It says:**

Lan,

_Dr. Regal and I have made a very important discovery and we need you to come to SciLab immediately. I've an e-mail to all of your friends, but I know Jasmine is with you, so I know don't need to send her one. You two make quite a couple, just like your mom and myself; and Lan, I better see a wedding ring on you two before you try to go to 'second base'. Anyway, don't be late._

- Dad

"**Dad sure likes to get his point across, doesn't he**?" MegaMan laughed. Lan blushed and remained silent. Medi could that her operator was just as embarrassed as MegaMan's. She simply shook her head, and joined MegaMan in his laughter. The rest of the trip to the Metroline Station was quiet.

------------------------

Almost three months ago…

Deep in an area beyond the Undernet, a lone figure trudged through the cyberspace. That figure was Bass, the Ultimate Program of Darkness, and the sworn enemy of MegaMan. After yet another defeat by MegaMan, Bass was heavily damaged and left to wander once again; but this time, he was so badly injured that he was leaking data pixels and he had no idea of where he was. After feeling that he could go on no longer, the gold-clad Navi fell to his knees. While that was going on, the data that escaped him had formed the virus beast, Gospel.

"What? Where am I?" Bass spoke, "Last thing I remembered, was being absorbed by that creature, Alpha. So what am I doing here?"  
"Grrrr." Gospel growled. Bass looked its way. "I lost to MegaMan again? You're talking about that human-loving blue Navi? ARGH! You mean to tell me even after I gained your power, I'm still losing! You useless virus!"

At that, Bass raised his buster and tried to blast Gospel, but the wolf-like beast jumped away from the attack just in time. Once it landed, it looked at Bass with a mix of shock, sadness, and anger. When the Navi noticed it, he lowered his buster and apologized.

"If it hadn't been for you, I would have been deleted ages ago." Something had caught Bass and Gospel's attention, so they looked and data billions of pixels of data floating around aimlessly in the air. "Data? Here in the Cyberworld? How?" As he and the virus beast walked towards the data, he sensed something about them, "That data appears to be the remains of three different programs, all of it very familiar and very powerful."  
Suddenly, mental images of the data's sources formed in Bass's mind. "The Dream Virus… Alpha… and Nebula Gray…

------------------------

Back in Densan City, present day…

When the young couple exited the train they noticed their friends, Mayl Sakurai, Dex Oyama and his little brother Chisao, and Yai Ayano, talking in front of the steps to SciLab's front lawn. Chisao saw Lan and Jasmine and called them to the others. Inside Dex's PET Cyberworld, MegaMan and Medi logged in to say hello their own friends, Roll, Glyde, GutsMan, and Kicker, Chisao's Navi.

Chisao got kicker roughly a mouth ago, after saving up enough money. Kicker looked almost just like GutsMan, expect he stood erect and was just above half the size of MegaMan. Also Kicker's helmet wasn't square like GutsMan's, but looked just like a Mettaur's helmet. (Basically, think of a pint-size Guts Soul with small fists and a Mettaur head and a mouth). Kicker is a very hyper little Navi, but is actually very polite, but this won't stop him from speaking his mind (which most of the time gets him into trouble with his "brother", GutsMan.)

"Hi, guys!" said Jasmine.  
"Yo, Lan! Jasmine!" Dex greeted.  
"Hey, guys."  
"Hay is for horses, Lan!" little Chisao corrected the older boy, causing him and others to laugh. "I try to remember that."  
"**Knowing Lan, he'll probably forget anyway**," MegaMan joked.  
"Shut up! Anyway, what are you guys doing here?  
"We got an E-mail from your dad saying he and Dr. Regal wanted to show us something," said Yai.

"So I guess you guys got the message as well," a familiar voice uttered. It was, in fact, Eugene Chaud (Chaud, as his friends called him) who just arrived. "Hi Chaud," Mayl greeted him. She looked a little happier to see him than usual.

In the Cyberworld, ProtoMan logged in and met up with the Navi group.

"I guess it must be really important if Dr. Hikari E-mailed you too, ProtoMan," said Roll  
"It must be. But actually, he called Master Chaud himself and wanted him to tell you to wait until he's ready."  
"Really?" Medi asked, "When is that going to…"

The nurse Navi was interrupted by the sound of an explosion that shook the ground our young heroes were standing on.  
"Whoa! That blast came from Dad's lab!" Lan deduced.  
"Duhhhh… you think so?" Dex retorted sarcastically.  
"Come on, let's go!"

-----------------------------

"They are crying out to us, Gospel. They're crying out for revenge. That same Navi, MegaMan, destroyed all of them," said Bass, "Gospel, can you revive them?"

Gospel nodded, and fragments of its body shot from him to three spots in the data field. With an explosion of blinding red light, the fallen Programs of Destruction were reborn. Bass looked at them and grinned, "Well, well, well, it looks like we've got ourselves a little reunion. I know you all wanted to destroy all of the mankind and Navis, don't you?" Then his face expression became filled with anger, "Well as much as I wanted to share in your objective, I think we ALL know why we couldn't, now don't we?"

"MEGAMANNNN!" The programs growled. "Exactly! So if we want to rid the planet of this human filth, I say we should combine our powers. If we do that, then not even MegaMan could stand up to us! Do you agree?"

"We… cannot…" Nebula Grey spoke.  
"Why not?"  
"Light… it resides in you."  
"IMPOSSIBLE! I am the Ultimate Navi of Darkness!" Bass shouted, "There is no way I have any good in me!"

Without saying another word, Nebula Gray raised his hand and it stared to emit a dark aura that soon surrounded Bass, causing him to scream in agony. Once again the area became engulfed in red light. When it dimmed for the second time that day, Bass was on the ground, breathing heavily from the lack of energy at the moment. When he opened his eyes and looked in front of him, he could almost feel his digital skin crawl. In front of him stood ANOTHER BASS, except, where the original Bass's armor was gold and black, this Bass had silver and black armor. He also had the same cloak he had. Suddenly, the gold-clad Navi realized that HIS cloak was gone.

"What do you know…? I guess I did have some good in me," said Bass DS, "Now it is Gospel's turn."

Nebula Gray repeated the process and the same thing happened to Gospel. The virus beast that appeared in front of Gospel looked exactly the same. Bass DS raised his busters and prepare to delete Bass and Gospel, but they teleported out before he could. "Humph. Now my friends, shall we get started?"

The five programs glowed brightly, and the Dream Virus, Copy Gospel, and Alpha pixilated allowing Bass DS to absorb them, while Nebula Grey darkened and formed into a serpent, and flew into the Navi. Bass DS grinned broadly when he felt an abundance of power flow through him, but to his surprise (though not to his displeasure), Bass DS's frame changed completely.

He had become much taller and more muscular than before. He still had black bodysuit with the purple lines. His boots narrowed and became white like snow with purple linear jewels in the front reaching his feet. His gloves appeared the same, except they were longer. The black area was white and its silver lining was purple. White armor covered his upper chest while his stomach area and those shoulder… things enlarged.

Wearing a broad grin, Bass DS opened his blood-red dilated eyes, and let out at loud maniacal laughter.

------------------------

As the young heroes entered SciLab they were greeted by a thick cloud of black smoke that left a heavy blanket of soot all over their faces. Shaking it off, they continued on towards Dr. Hikari's laboratory knowing that while there was no fire burning, the smoke was almost as dangerous. Thankfully, as they entered the lab, the smoke was clearing up, but it was still very difficult to see.

"Dad! Are you alright?" Lan called out to his father.

"…" No response.

"Dad?"

Lan began to worry that the explosion had injured his father, rendered him unconscious, or worse… killed him. The children remained soundless for fear of the scientists' fate. When the silence was so apparent the sound of sweat hitting to hard floor could be clearly heard, an arm quickly raised out the smoke followed by a voice that said "EUREAKA!" startling the kids.

"W-What the…!" Dex stammered  
"Dad! Are you alright?"

"Of course Lan, why wouldn't I be!" Without being told, Dr. Hikari looked around his lab to find that, although his fellow scientists were fine (Amazing, considering that the explosion completely destroyed the wall separating the large room from the outside), the lab was now a complete wreck. "Oh that… sweatdrop appears Never mind."

"Dr. Hikari," Yai began, "what is that Battle Chip you have in your hand?"

Yai looked at the small blue object in his hand. It indeed looked like a Battle Chip, but it was completely blue on both sides and had black lines running from its sides to the Hikari symbol in the front's center.

"It does look kind of weird, doesn't it?" Jasmine agreed.  
"It looks fine to me," Dex complained, "At least it doesn't have another picture of MegaMan on it. What's up with that, Lan?"

"How should I know? Leave me alone! So Dad, Dr. Regal, is that what you guys have been working on for these past five months? That IS the Dimension Chip, isn't it?"  
"Yes and no," Regal answered, "Yes, we were working on the Dimensional Chip and we have finished it, but this isn't it."

"So what is it?" Mayl finally asked.  
"I call it the Synchro Chip!" Dr. Hikari answered proudly.  
"WHAT? You said we were going to call it the Fusion Chip," Regal objected, "YOU TRICKED ME, YOU RAT!"

"But what does it do, Dr. Regal?" Chaud asked, trying to change the subject.  
"With that Synchro Chip Lan can perform Cross Fusion, and gain MegaMan's power and abilities. But in order for it to work Lan and MegaMan have to be in synchronization with each other or else it won't work, and if you are unsynchronized when in Cross Fusion, it will fail and you will lose MegaMan's power."

"Wow! That's amazing!" Just then one of the laboratory doors open and two people walked in. The firstly one was a tall man looked like he was in his mid-50s, and was a bit heavyset too. He was wearing a pale green suit and black shirt. Of course, he had a receding hairline and dark grey hair. Accompanying him was a woman, who looked to be around thirty or so. The woman was shorter than the aforementioned man, but not by much. Her attire consisted simply of a pink jacket, with a white shirt underneath, a pink skirt, and high-heel shoes.

"Ah, I see the young ones have arrive, Dr. Hikari?" the man asked.  
"Yes. This is my son, Lan, and his friends, Jasmine, Mayl, Chaud, Dex, Yai, and Chisao."

"It's nice to meet you all. My name is Kifune, Commander Kifune."  
"And I am his assistant, Manabe," said the woman.

To be continued…

-------------

Navi Profile

Name: Medi.EXE (or Meddy)  
Navi Gender: Female  
Physical Age: 11

Operator: Jasmine Lao  
Element: Healing

Signature Chip: Medi Capsule  
Attacks: Buster, Capsule Bomb (pink), Sting Capsule (Yellow), Haze Capsule (black), Mist Capsule (white), Healing Pulse

-------------

Lan: "We're kicking it into high gear now, MegaMan!"  
MegaMan: "Yeah! And we better, otherwise Chaud and ProtoMan will outclass us!"  
Lan: "There's no way we're letting that happen!"  
MegaMan: "Right. He may be ten times smarter than you, but you certainly have much more heart."  
Lan: "You said it, MegaMan… Wait! What did you say!"  
MegaMan: "Gotcha!"

Lan/MegaMan: "Next time on MegaMan NT Hunter! **Birth of the Net Saviors**! Battle routine, SET!"

Dark Liger: Anyway, if you have any comments or ideas you want to contribute, just send them in. And I'll have part 2 of 'Birth of the Net Saviors' ready. Peace. Oh, and by the way, NO LxM or MxR FLAMES!


	3. Birth of the Net Saviors

Disclaimer: I do not own MegaMan, or any related characters within the story.

Claimer: Kicker.EXE, however, does belong to me; so if you want to use him a fic, you'll have to ask me and I'll let you use him.

MegaMan Network Transmission Hunter

Chapter 2: Birth of the Net Saviors

"C-Commander K-Kifune?" Chaud gasped. "You know him, Chaud?" Lan asked. Chaud snapped at that point, "How could you be an Official, and NOT know who he is?"

Kifune merely laughed heartily and raised his hand, "It's alright, Chaud. I'm very sure you know who Baryl is, right Lan?" Lan nodded.

"**He's the Amerouppan Official Commander, remember?**" MegaMan said. Lan nodded, "Of course, I remember. So that would mean that Kifune is the Commander here?"

"That's correct. I suppose you're wondering why we called you. There are two reasons, and we'll start with the background first. Ms. Manabe?" Kifune gestured to his assistant. "You see, there have been three reports of Navis being seen in the real world," Manabe explained, "Two of them were, according to records, are independent Navis who apparently go by the name of CutMan and BubbleMan."

"CutMan and BubbleMan? I thought they were deleted!" Lan uttered. Jasmine faced him with concern, "Do you know them, Lan?"

"Yeah, CutMan worked for the Net Mafia Gospel, while BubbleMan worked for World Three. CutMan was no problem, but BubbleMan almost got Mayl and Ms. Mari killed." Lan growled, "What THEY doing still alive?"

"The Navis only appear for a few seconds and then vanished; and they haven't attacked anything, so we don't have to worry right now. Now the other one who was spotted in Africa has an Operator and has been around for while now; however, he has been living among the people, so I think it is safe to that he's friendly."

"What does he look like?" Lan asked, and Manabe handed him a picture of the mystery NetNavi, "That's BeastMan!"

"Hmm… According to records, he goes by the name of SavageMan."

"Inukai must have changed his Navi's name," Chaud added, "Usually a human could move to another continent without any problems with his criminal record, but if he or she has a Navi… well, that's another story."

Kifune then explained that they also know what the source of the Navis' unexplained entry to the human world is, and that it came from a reliable source who had come into Official Police network recently.

------------

Meanwhile, in the Official Homepage…

"Gutsu-kun, what are we doing here?" Kicker asked the larger gold Navi. "Beats me," was GutsMan's simple reply.

"Commander Kifune said a Navi was able to witness first-hand a powerful force come into existence," ProtoMan answered.

"I wonder who it is?" Roll asked.

"Perhaps _I_ could answer that question," said a voice from behind the group. Everyone turned around and saw Bass standing there.

"It's Bass!" "What are YOU doing here?" MegaMan inquired.

Bass chuckled, "That human did mention a Navi had seen a powerful being, right? So I-"

"You destroyed him, didn't you!"

"WHAT? NO! I-"

"You liar," Medi interrupted, "I bet you forced that poor Navi to tell where it was so you could fight it yourself, and then you deleted him, right? Well let's see how you like it! CAPSULE BOMB!"

The nurse Navi tossed a few Medi Capsule at the red-eyed one. He raised his arms and put a barrier to protect him, but MegaMan quickly broke it with a well-aimed Charge Shot, leaving Bass open for an incoming Guts Punch. Feeling the full effect of the attack, he was sent back a few yards, which left MegaMan a tad dumbfounded. As Bass got up, Roll made her move and teleported in front of him. "Heart Flash!" Bass didn't have any time to evade it and was struck down with it.

The black Navi kicked her away and jumped to his feet only to get slashed by ProtoMan's Hawk Cutter attack. The next to attack was Glyde his Glider Wing attack, yet surprised MegaMan even more with the damage he made. GutsMan came in again and this time used his Guts Hammer attack. Bass managed to dodge it directly, but was still hit by the shockwave. The tiny Navi Kicker who was watching the battle, looked on in admiration, for GutsMan.

"_Wow! If Big Brother could beat that bad Navi, then maybe I can too!"_ the little Navi thought to himself, and then rushed in to attack.

"Kicker! STOP!" MegaMan, Roll, Medi, and GutsMan shouted, but the eager Navi ignored it and kept on. When he was close enough, Kicker made his move. "Swift Kick!"

MegaMan and the others feared the worst…

But the only who needed to fear the worst was BASS! Kicker's kick sent him at least ten feet into the air before he crashed into the ground. The other Navis were left speechless. GutsMan, being the loose cannon he was, thought little of the BIG picture and rushed in to deliver the final blow. MegaMan, who finally realized what was going on, intercepted him by catching the big Navi's fist before he could do any more harm.

"Whoa there, big guy!" said MegaMan.

"MegaMan? Why'd you stop him?" ProtoMan asked.

"Oww… What is WRONG with you people?" Bass grunted as he got up, "I didn't delete the informant!"

"You didn't?" asked GutsMan.

"NO, you degenerate ape! I AM THE INFORMANT!"

------------------

"WHAT?"

See, Bass had yelled so loud that even the humans heard him, so this naturally startled everyone except the adults. "Wait. I'm confused." Dex said exasperatedly, "What exactly is going on here?"

"Isn't Bass usually the bad guy?" Yai deducted.

"**He is… well, usually,**" Lan's Navi answered, "**That's how I figured out that he didn't cause any trouble this time.**"

------------------

"You could have figured it out sooner and saved me a big headache, Sherlock," said Bass. Over a few yards from the others, ProtoMan leaned on a wall with his arm crossed, not knowing how to make heads or tails of the situation. Roll casually walked over to him, "Hey ProtoMan," she began, "Does Bass seem a little more… I don't know… livelier than usually." She was as confused as the red raider Navi (or everyone else, for that matter).

"Yep."

"…So when Kicker actually got a hit off, it was then that I knew that Bass couldn't have done wrong this time, MegaMan continued his explanation, "There was no way he could have made even a scratch on him otherwise. No offense, little guy." Kicker, who was perched on GutsMan's shoulders, simply gave him a raspberry.

Bass thus begin his detailed explanation from when he entered the Data Grave Area, to his defusing with Gospel (who he had told to stay hidden until now), to his encounter with the Dream Virus, Alpha, and Nebula Grey, to his escape from Bass DS; without leaving out any important details.

"So now that that's out the way, what do we plan on doing about Dark Soul Bass, Commander?" Lan asked.

"We need as many talented Officials as possible to deal with this new threat," Kifune answered, "and I'd like for all of you to apply for the Net Saviors."

"That's great in all," said Lan, "but I'm already an Official."

Lan showed the older man his PET, to which the police chief rubber his chin, "It appears that you license had expired four months ago."

"What?"

Chaud laughed at his rival's carelessness, "You should have been on top of things, Lan. I renewed my license ahead of time."

The two-tone haired boy then took out his PET and put it in Lan's face, but the brunette boy only grinned in response, "Yours is expired too."

"WHAT? Let me see! Yesterday!" Chaud shouted in shock, "ProtoMan. Weren't you supposed to handle that?"

"**Um… yeah…**" ProtoMan said, as he scratched his helmet, "**I ran into a little problem and well… Sorry, Master Chaud.**"

"… ProtoMan, I'm going to close my eyes. When I open them, you had better not be in that PET… (He hid in another PET behind another Navi, but not I'm saying who, but here's a hint: _llor_)… Good."

Mayl, Jasmine, and Yai sighed, looked at each other, and shrugged their shoulders.

----------------

An hour has passed, and Lan and his friends had already earned their Class-B licenses, and were awaiting their next assignment for Commander Kifune. (A/N: I didn't feel like going through the other ones. They aren't important.) Meanwhile in the Internet, their Navis were speaking with his own Navi, a Navi that strongly resembled Colonel, except he had no cape; Colonel's gray lines were yellow on him; he had a blue 'multi-arm' on his left arm; his facial marks were blue; and his beard… goatee… thing was black.

"Good mourning, cadets," said the Navi, "I believe this is the first time we have meet, so I'll introduce myself. My name is Signas. I will be instructing you for the next portions of the exam. You have now qualified to take the high-level tests. There are four higher ranks: Class A, AA (Double A), AAA (Triple A), and Class-S.

"Each exam will test the bond between you and your operators," Kifune continued, "The Class-A exam is a series of Net Battles that will see how your operator handles heavy pressure; and because these battles will be harder, unlike the previous battles, you will be allowed to recover HP. The first three battles will be normal; but the last two will be timed, like Liberation operations, where you will have 30 seconds to delete the viruses. With that said report to you designated areas immediately."

"Yes sir," the teams chorused. Just then Jasmine's PET rang. As she picked it up, her grandfather's face appeared on the screen.

"**Ah Jasmine, good to see you,**" he greeted her, "**I hope I didn't interrupt any important, but I need your help at the pharmacy.**"

"Well, you did, kind of," she replied.

Kifune chuckled, "Don't worry Jasmine, you can continue anytime you can. Family comes first."

"Okay Grandpa, I'll be over there in a little bit," she said and then Lan faced her, "I'll see you later, Jasmine."

"Bye, Lan. I know you'll ace the exam." She kissed him on the cheek, and said goodbye to everyone before she left.

------------------

"Well, wish me luck, Medi," said MegaMan. In return, the nurse Navi playfully hugged him, "You don't need luck, silly."

"I think I'm gonna puke," Kicked retorted, with GutsMan nodded in agreement.

Mayl and Roll were having their share of doubts that they could succeed; but Chaud had seen the red-haired girl's worried expression, he decided to comfort her, "Don't worry, Mayl. You'll do fine." While Roll was looking down at the ground, a gentle hand had touched her shoulder. When she looked up she saw ProtoMan, and he smiled at her, silently assuring her that she will make through the exam. Both girls smiled in return and went to their assigned jack-in room.

"Let's give it all we got, MegaMan," Lan said to his Navi brother.

"**Roger that, Lan!**"

"Jack in, MegaMan! Execute!"

"Jack in, Roll! Execute!" said Mayl, "Are you ready?"

"**You bet I am!**" Roll replied.

"Jack in, ProtoMan! Execute!" said Chaud, "You ready to slice and dice?"

"**Oh yeah! I got this one,**" ProtoMan added.

"Jack in, GutsMan! Execute!" said Dex, "Time to pound some viruses!"

"**I'll smash them good! Guts! Guts!**" GutsMan said beating his chest.

"Jack in, Glyde! Execute!" said Yai, "Let's put our strategy to work!"

"**As you wish, Miss Yai.**"

"Here's a stool for to sit on so you to see, little guy," said a female attendant.

"Thank you, ma'am. Jack in, Kicker! Execute!" Chisao shouted, "We'll make Dex and GutsMan proud!"

"**I'm ready to kick some virus butt!**" said Kicker.

Kifune's voice came in a speaker in each room. "Battle routine! Set!"

"EXECUTE!"

------------------

(A/N: We'll focus on Chisao and Kicker for this one. On another note, the story format changes to RPG-style when an important battle is going on)

At least a dozen Mettaur EX 3's appeared in front of Kicker with their pickaxes ready. The ones in the front made their moves first and struck the ground creating multiple shockwaves. "This is easy!" said Chisao, "Battle Chip, Area Steal! Slot-in!"

Kicker warped and appeared behind the viruses and kicked a few with his Swift Kick attack deleting them. Noticing him behind them, the others turned around and were ready to strike again. But Chisao thought ahead and downloaded an Air Shoes Battle Chip, propelling his Navi into the air where he dropped a Quake 3 on a few more Mettaurs. For Chisao and Kicker's last trick, the little operator downloaded a Step Cross sword chip. Kicker, using his gained speed, sliced the remaining Mettaurs.

Chisao: "**All right!**"

Kicker quickly called his attention back to the battle. Three Champies EX 3s entered the fray, and one of them quickly nailed the little Navi with a one-two punch.

Chisao: "**Are you okay, Kicker?**"

Kicker: "I'm okay, Chisao! We can't get caught off guard again!"

Chisao: "**I got an idea! Battle Chip, Wide Shot! Double Slot-in!**"

The same Champy that attacked before had tried again, but this time its attack was halted when Kicker countered with the first Wide Shot blast, and then kicked it to finish it off. Since Champies don't have peripheral vision, they have to see someone directly ahead of them in order to fight them. This gave Kicker the advantage; with the viruses unable to see him, he could hit both of them with a powered-up Wide Shot. He launched the attack, and sent the viruses into oblivion.

This time, Chisao remained alert on the battle, as he should have, because a Big Brute appeared already moving around the battlefield, not allowing Kicker to focus his Swift Kick! By the time he could, however, the beast virus had done his attack, burning the little Navi. Chisao was concerned for his partner, but vowed not to lose his cool. That's when he saw Recover 120, two Cannons, a Hi-Cannon, and a Mega Cannon! Seeing a golden opportunity, he downloaded them all. The latter three cannons combined to form a Zeta Cannon Program Advance.

First, he healed his Navi; then he waited till the right moment to blast the Big Brute, paralyzing it; finally Kicker fired the Zeta Cannon, destroying the virus completely.

Chisao: "**The next battles are timed, so we have to be faster!**"

A Tin Hawk appeared in front of Kicker and immediately swooped down at him. He narrowly dodged the assault, but didn't time to strike back.

Chisao: "**We don't have any chips that work right now, but I got an idea. Charge up for a Shockwave, and wait 'til it swoops down again.**"

Kicker: "Gotcha!"

As the Tin Hawk readied its talons for the next strike, Kicker built up energy for his own attack. The bird virus had come down, but the little gold Navi dodged it, causing the Tin Hawk to strike the ground instead; then Kicker summoned his pickax and drove it into the ground, creating the shockwave that struck the bird virus.

Chisao: "**Yeah! Ten seconds have gone by! Battle Chip time!**"

Kicker: "What have you got?"

Chisao: "**Just what we need! Battle Chip! Gold Fist, Mega Cannon, Long Blade! Triple Slot-in!**"

The Tin Hawk swoop down again, but Kicker evaded it and countered with the hardened punch attack. While the virus was paralyzed, Kicker shot it with the Mega Cannon and sliced it with the Long Blade, deleting the virus.

Kicker: "Four down, one to go!" Just then, GutsMan appeared. This surprised the little Navi. "Gutsu-kun? Are you my opponent?"

(A/N: Oh, I should tell you all that everyone's battles until now were the same, except they used different strategies, MegaMan's opponent is VideoMan, ProtoMan's opponent is BurnerMan, GutsMan's opponent is FlashMan, Roll's opponent is MegaMan, and Glyde's opponent is SparkMan.)

Chisao: "**Kicker, I don't think that's big brudder's GutsMan.**" He was right. It was just a data copy of him.

Kicker: "So I have to be better than Gutsu-kun, to be like him?"

Chisao: "**I think so.**"

Kicker: "Hey Chisao! Remember when, the other day, when you asked me what 'irony' meant, and I said…"

Chisao: "**KICKER! LOOK OUT!**"

Kicker: "No I didn't! I said – AAHHHHHHH!" He failed to notice GutsMan come down at him with his Guts Hammer, and was blown back by the force of the attack.

Chisao: "**Now who needs to pay attention? I'm sending you a couple of Battle Chips!**"

Kicker's left hand became a Katana, while his right hand became a Wide Blade. He looked up at his operator with confusion.

Chisao: "**We need to counter more. Use the Katana first.**"

Kicker waited until GutsMan was close enough, then he hit the larger Navi with the double sword attack while he tried to use Guts Punch. While GutsMan was stunned, Kicker sliced him again with the Wide Blade's doubled attack power. Chisao then told him to keep using Shockwave until he could use more chips. When the time came, Chisao download three Spreader Guns that formed a Program Advance.

Chisao/Kicker: "Hyper Burst!"

With a mighty blast, the Program Advance shot right through the GutsMan copy, deleting him.

Chisao: "**We did it!**"

Kicker: "Yahoo!"

------------------

When Chisao stepped out of his NetBattle room, he saw the others already sitting down. Apparently, they were waiting for him. Dex, of course was the first to greet him. "Hey, little bro. How'd it go?" (A/N: hey that rhymed)

"Awesome! I beat you and those viruses good," Chisao said joyfully.

"What do you mean ME?" he asked.

"He meant he fought a copy of GutsMan," Yai answered as-a-matter-of-factly, "Goodness, don't get so bent out of shape, Dex."

"Well done, all of you," said Kifune, "I'm especially impressed by little Chisao's techniques."

"Yeah, he's chip off the old Oyama block!" said Dex.

"And as reward for your efforts, I present to you all the Z Saber Battle Chip and the Class-A license. Consider yourselves Net Officials."

"Thank you, sir!" the Net Battlers chorused.

"Now for the next part, each of you will be sent into a building where you have to navigate your way out, but your Navi can't help find the exit," Manabe explained, "however, you will be given a special sensor that will guide you to a special door. Once you reach that door, you will need you Navi to delete viruses in order to unlock it. The sensor will beep giving you the doors' general locations. The closer you are to each door, the more it will beep, but the farther you are, the less it will beep. In other words: it's a maze. Each maze will differ according to your individual skills.

"Oh! And one more thing; you only have ten minutes to make it through the building maze. But after watching your previous battle, I believe you all will make it through. Now, if you will just follow, I take you to the helicopter."

"Are as excited about this as I am," Lan asked the others.

"You bet!" (Mayl) "Yep." (Yai) "You know it!" (Dex) "As I'll ever be." (Chaud) "Yeah!" (Chisao)

To be Continued…

--------------

**Navi Profile**

Name: Kicker.EXE

Navi Gender: Male

Physical Age: 6

Operator: Chisao Oyama

Element: Ground

Signature Chip: Gold Fist

Attacks: Buster, Swift Kick, Shockwave, Guard, Headbutt

--------------

MegaMan: "Lan and the other continue the exam and find that it nowhere near as easy as they may have thought."

Lan: "Navigating mazes, running from viruses! It's crazy!"

Yai: "I shouldn't have to deal with this!"

Chaud: "You signed up for it."

Mayl: "Who came up this idea anyway?"

Chisao: "The author did."

Dex: "I say we beat him up for that."

"Yeah!"

Lan/MegaMan: "Next time on MegaMan NT Hunter! **Field Training**! Battle routine, SET!"


	4. Field Training

Disclaimer: "I do not own MegaMan. Capcom owns him.

MegaMan Network Transmission Hunter

Chapter 3: Field Training

Over the skies of Akihara, two helicopters were transporting our young heroes to their designated buildings. Inside one of them, Lan and Chisao were enjoying the view, and they had put their PETs to the window so that MegaMan and Kicker could see as well. Dex was sitting across from them, discussing a strategy for getting through his test. In the other copter, Chaud was quietly anticipating his own test. Mayl and Yai were busy chatting and talking about various topics.

"So Yai," Mayl began with excitement, "Do you think this next task is going to be easy or what?"

"Definitely," the shorter girl replied in a slightly cocky tone, "Net Battling won't be any problem, and all I have to do is move around the maze. After all the time I've spent with you, Lan, and the others, I'm a little used to… Mayl? What's wrong?"

Chaud opened his eyes just then. Mayl was finding the helicopter's floor very interesting. She was very sad for some reason; and it didn't take long for either Yai, or Chaud, to figure out why, "Oh, I know… it's Lan, isn't it?"

Mayl nodded, "We were the best of friends… ever since we were in preschool. I was really sure he cared about me… the same way I about him. So why… why didn't he?

"Simple. He's a dimwit," Yai said trying to help, "He wouldn't know love if it bit him in the butt."

"Then _why_ did have to fall in love with _Jasmine_?" the red haired girl shouted with tears in her eyes.

The last question left Yai speechless. For once in her lifetime, she felt like she couldn't help the situation with her brains. Chaud, however, wasn't affected in such a way.

"I may not have known Lan nearly as long as you did," he began, "but I do think that he really does care about you, Mayl"

"How so?"

"When Lan's twin brother, Hub, died, I bet he was alone with no one to play with. Then you came along, Mayl. How did you two become friends anyway?"

Mayl thought for second, "Well, when Lan and I were in kindergarten, a bully had taken his backpack, and I had managed to get it back for him. Ever since then we were friends." (A/N: I know that this scenario happened in the anime, but since I couldn't think of anything else, I'm using this.)

Chaud nodded, "I see. Without knowing it, you filled the void that Lan had without Hub. I think Lan thinks of you as a sister who he wants to look after; and believe me, I know of some guys who care a lot about their sister. Either way, Mayl, you two have a very strong friendship, and I think he doesn't want to ruin it."

"…a sister? ...So you think Lan cares about me the same way he does for MegaMan?" she asks.

Chaud nods again, "Exactly. He loves you, but he's not _in love_ with you. _Unlike me_," he says, thinking the last part to himself."

"Thanks a lot, Chaud," Mayl said smiling brightly, "I feel a whole lot better now!"

"Wow! I didn't know you had a caring side," said Yai. She was clearly impressed.

"Humph. Well… don't get too used to it. It takes a lot to bring that side of me out."

"sniff…sniff… That was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard," said a girl's voice. The three looked around for the source and looked at the pilot. "Heh? It wasn't me," he said. Why did they ask _him_ anyway?

"**Oh, I'm sorry. I'm in Yai's PET.**" The trio then glances at the PET's screen and sees a female Navi. She had a white bodysuit; with a red, and mostly blue, dress that consisted of a red and blue top and a blue skirt with red fringes that went to her knees. Her gloves and boots were thin like Roll's and were red with blue trim. She had no helmet, which let her long brown hair flow down to her knees where it was tied by a green ribbon.

"Who are you?" Yai asked bluntly.

"**My name is Iris.exe, Manabe's Navi,**" said the Navi, "**I will be guiding you throughout the rest of the exam. I hope I will be a great to you all.**"

"So will you be watching us during our missions?" Chaud asked. Iris nodded, "**For the most part. If you any need, just ask me… Ms. Ayanokouji, we are about the reach your test area. Please prepare for landing.**"

--------------------

Once Yai was dropped off at the empty building, she goodbye to her friends and enter the roof door. Inside, the rich girl entered a room with three doors in front of her. "Let's see. According to the map, each door would take me to a different route; so which route do I take?" She asked herself.

"**Well, I won't tell you which door to take, but…**" Iris chimed in, "**I will tell you that one of the route is the easiest to take, while one is the hardest.**"

"Then I hope I make the right choice," Yai gulped and picked the door in the middle. She closed her as she went in and shut the door behind her. While her eyes were still closed, Yai felt a little weird, as if she was lighter than air. When she opened them, she knew why…

There was no floor underneath her. "AAAHHHHHHH!"

"**Miss Yai,**" Glyde spoke up, "**grab on to something!**"

"Why?"

"**There an electric net below us!**"

"WHAT?"

Sure enough a brightly glowing net was less than a mile below Yai's feet. To her left a metal ledge was sticking out. Thinking quickly, the girl grabbed the ledge and held on for dear life.

"Hey, Iris! Are you trying to kill me?"

"**No, of course not. This is part of the test.**"

"Well you could have fooled me!"

Glyde then told her there was a jack-in control port right above the electrified net.

"**Miss Yai, jack me in!**"

"Got it! Jack in, Glyde! Execute!"

Almost immediately, the butler Navi spotted a Mettaur in front of him, and it was carrying some kind of data. Thinking that it was the deactivation program, Glyde immediately chased after the virus to grab the data, only to be stopped by three Spikeys who shot fireballs at him. The Navi evade the fire and struck back using his Glyde Cannon and deleted them all.

He then spotted the data-carrying Mettaur running far away from him.

"Miss Yai, I need a Battle Chip."

"**Sorry, Glyde; I can't hold on to the ledge and download a chip at the same time. Try firing from where you are right now.**"

Heeding his mistress's advice, he took aim and fired, scoring a direct hit and deleted the virus.

"**Great job, Glyde! Is that the data to turn off this net?**"

"Let me see… I do believe it is."

"**Great! Jack out, now.**"

_Glyde, logging out._

---------------

Outside, in the shaft, the electric net shut off appearing to be harmless. At the same time a door behind Yai opened.

"**I believe that that passage will take us further.**"

"That's very nice in all," said Yai, "but how am I suppose to get to it."

"**The net is strong enough to support your weight**," her Navi replied, "**Just let go of the ledge**."

"…I think my arm fell asleep." But after a few seconds, she let go and fell onto the net and it did support her weight. Yai then crawled through the doorway and entered into another room.

The room was just a long, well-lit hallway with a door at the end of it the walls were all white, and the floors were made with odd rectangular marble tiles. There was a jack in port next to it. Yai scratched her head in confusion, "This has to be the strangest building I have ever been in," she said. Glyde shrugged his shoulders. They soon felt rumbling coming from the floor. When Yai looked behind her, she saw the floor tiles open up. She knew that she would fall through if she didn't make it to the door, so she the only smart thing to do…

Glyde: "**RUN LIKE THE DICKENS!"**

Yai: "…Jack in, Glyde! Execute! Disable that lock!"

Once he entered the system, there were five Malmocos (the sheep virus) and one of them was carrying some data, apparently the door's key code spotted him and started to run away. Glyde shot out one of them with his Glyde Cannon, but the other were too far away and Glyde didn't have time to aim like before.

Glyde: "Miss Yai, I need some fast Battle Chips!"

Yai: "I've got it! Battle Chip! Step Cross, Area Steal, Gaia Blade! Triple Slot-in!"

Using the boost of speed from the Step Cross sword-chip, Glyde caught up to two more Malmocos and deleted them a single swipe. The two remaining viruses keep on running and, from the panic Glyde could hear in his operator's voice, she was running out of time. Activating the Area Steal chip, he dashed past the sheep viruses and slashed them with the Gaia Blade. He quickly packed up the data and opened the door in the real world, allowing Yai to call him out of Cyberworld, and jumped through the door.

This time the room was small, with a console in front of the door.

"Hey! There is something written on the screen…" Yai noted, "It looks like a riddle."

"**What does it say**?"

"It says: _I am never dark, and I am never cold. I am always warm and soothing, and I bring happiness to many people who are sad. I also stand for truth and I stand for hope. Though some disguise themselves as me, I always find a way to guide others. I have many names. Some call me 'Luz', some call me 'Lumière', while others call me 'Hikari'; but I have one true name. What am I?_"

"**Hmm… Never dark, or cold… Always warm, and bring happiness…**"

"Stands for truth and hope… and has many names… I know!"

Yai typed in 'light' on the console and then more words appeared on the screen, "_Now that you know what I am, it is time to share with my light with you…_ Hmm, I wonder what that means?" she asked herself before she opened the door.

It took her outside where the helicopter was, and Manabe was standing in front of it, "I see you figured out the riddle, Yai."

"Ms. Manabe…" she said in slight disbelief, but then became angry, "Your Navi is a psycho! You know that?"

"Sorry about that," she giggled, "Iris does get a little eccentric about stuff like this?"

"Really? You think so?"

"Well anyway, the important thing is that you passed the test; and therefore have earned the Class-AA License and the Dimensional Chip. You are hereby promoted to Net Officer."

"Thank you, Ms. Manabe."

As they entered the helicopter, Yai reminded herself that she was going to kill Iris eventually. Once they returned to the Official Headquarters, Yai noticed Mayl, Dex, and Chisao were in the lobby lying on the couch, half-sleep. They were a mess, but they still passed their tests. Yai crossed her arms and shook her head, "Did any of you guys get the 'easy' path too?"

"No! Dex and I got the… medium level path," Mayl panted, "while poor Chisao got the hardest route; he barely made it." Chisao was knocked out.

"Say, where are Lan and Chaud?"

"They haven't gotten back yet," said Dex. Just then the two mentioned Net Battlers walked… well trudged in, followed by Yuichiro and Regal who couldn't help but look at Manabe funnily. Poor Lan could barely walk as he had to be helped up by Chaud; and as the two guys made their way in, they collapsed onto the floor.

"Well, seeing as all you are too tired to continue right now," Kifune noted as he stepped in, "I'll let you get some rest, and some therapy, before proceeding to the Class-AAA test. But I'm afraid Chisao is too young to qualify for this next one."

"Hooray," They all said in a low monotone voice.

"I should really have Iris's head examined," Manabe said to Regal and Yuichiro. They both nodded.

"**Oh give me a break!**" Iris protested.

-------------------

Four hours later…

A Net policeman had brought Dex into an empty portion of Densan City.

"**Dr. Regal,**" Manabe said, "**will you please activate the Dimensional Area Generator?**_"_

"**_Right away._**" he replied, "**Initiate the Dimensional Area now!**"

In the block around where Dex stood, a large energy dome formed. Dex was perplexed by the force field's changing colors and touched its side, only to be electrocuted.

"Yeee-ouch!" Dex yelped in pain, "Hey what gives?"

"**Be careful Dex,**" Dr. Regal said, "**That Dimensional Area, or DA, is very powerful. It is designed to keep any attack, virus, or Navi from getting out into the open and harming any innocent people, but it also keeps anyone from getting in as well.**"

"So that means you're going to use this whenever DS Bass or any other Navi attacks?"

"**Well, not necessarily. You see the DA Generator uses a high amount of energy, and so using it will be too risky. Therefore, the DA Generator will have to be used only for an emergency.**"

"**With that said, here is your next mission**," said Iris, "**There are numerous viruses spread around inside the Dimensional Area. You're job is to delete them all and reach the goal inside the building at the other end of the area, without getting hit more than once. Your Navi will be the one who has to protect you and delete the viruses.**"

"**Dex is a big coward,**" Lan laughed in Dex's PET, "**so he'll have no problem running from the viruses.**"

"CAN IT, Hikari!" Dex shouted back before closing the communication link, "Grr… Dimensional Chip! Slot in!"

"I'm ready, Dex! Guts," said GutsMan.

"We'll show Lan who's the coward! We're ready, Iris!"

Iris: "Okay. Battle routine, set!

Dex/GutsMan: "EXECUTE!"

Dex: "A group of Beetanks are straight ahead of us.

GutsMan: "Any ideas?"

Dex: "Yeah! Let's hit them with their own power! Battle Chip! Cross Bomb! Triple Slot-in!"

Three Cross Bombs appeared in GutsMan's hands as he threw them into the herd of Beetanks, deleting them. They then spotted three Lavagons coming straight for them. Dex downloaded an Aqua Shot, a Wide Shot, and an Aqua Tower. GutsMan quickly shot one of them with the Aqua Shot, hit a charging one with the Wide Shot, and sent the last one sky high with Aqua Tower.

Before Dex and GutsMan could go any further, two Flamies – side by side - destroyed the ground in front of them, so they took a detour through an alley, behind a building, where four KillerEyes waiting for them.

Dex: "Battle Chip, Bamboo Sword! Double Slot-in!"

With just two slashes, GutsMan deleted them all, and the duo went on. Once they went around the structure and reached the open, Dex and GutsMan saw dozens of Shrimpies.

Guts: "Dex, I can't take all of them at once!"

Dex: "Not a problem. Battle Chip! Anti Aqua! Slot- Whoa!"

Before the overweight Net Battler could download the chip, one of the shrimp viruses blow out a bubble aimed for him. But GutsMan moved in front of him and took the hit.

Dex: "GutsMan, are you alright?"

Guts: "I'm fine. How about you?"

Dex: "Never better, but why did you take that attack?"

Guts: "I had to. That's the mission: the protect you and get to the goal."

Dex: "Oh yeah, that's right. Then I guess we should start looking out for each better, huh?"

GutsMan nodded and got up. He then aimed his Guts Machine Gun at one of the Shrimpies, and blasted it with a couple of rounds. Ironically, it was the same one who hit him before. In response, some more fired Aqua Shots.

Dex: "We're ready this time! Battle Chip, Barrier 100! Slot in!" The shield withstood the attacks. "Now, let's try this again! Battle Chip, Anti Aqua! Slot-in!"

Just as another virus fired, the Anti attack took effect and made the bubble explode and delete every single Shrimpy. As they proceeded five Moles appeared and tried to attack GutsMan, but surprisingly they didn't leave a scratch. The large Navi simply smiled and smashed them all with his Guts Hammer.

Dex: "Not bad."

Dex suddenly recognized the building he and GutsMan were heading for when they reached the steps to its grounds.

Dex: "Hey! I remember this place. This is the Densan Dome, where the Akihara Tournament was held."

They decided to go in the front door first, and even though there viruses guard the door to the seating area, the door itself was locked. As the Operator and Navi were going outside to get inside from the contestants' entrance, they encountered a BigBrute. GutsMan struck first with his Guts Punch, then followed up with his Guts Machine Guns, and finished the offensive with his Guts Hammer.

When they went inside and ran up the stairs, a TinHawk incepted them.

GutsMan: "At least we're heading the right way."

Dex: "Yeah! Battle Chip, Z-Saber! Slot in!"

The large gold Navi cut the TinHawk to pieces before its data dispersed. Finally they reached the arena and, where the NetBattle machine would be, a control panel was in its place; but before they could get to it, they had to get rid of a Bladian that stood in front of it.

Guts: "We need a guard-breaker for this one!"

Dex: "I've got you covered! Battle Chip, Air Hockey 3! Slot in!"

The metal disc ricocheted off the sides of the platform and repeatedly hit the virus, weakening it enough so that GutsMan could finish it off with his Rocket Guts Punch. With the last virus gone, Dex was free to push the large button on the panel; and with it, the Dimensional Area disappeared.

--------------

"DEX!" Chisao shouted gaining the other's attention, "Did you make it too? Huh? Did you?"

"Sure did. We kicked those viruses' butts clear to next week!" Dex said raising his fist in triumph, "So how'd you guys do?"

"My mission with MegaMan was sort of a déjà vu of what happened in Endo City five months ago," Lan said scratched his head, "There was one point where we had to delete 100 viruses and make to that Buddha statue. I was using a kendo stick and MegaMan had to use a Sword."

"Wow, that pretty cool! Roll and I had to get through Ameurope Castle and we had to make it up to the watchtower."

"It sounds simple enough! ProtoMan and I were sent to Hades Isle," said Chaud, "We had to activate four control panels

"I didn't make it," Yai pouted, "Glyde and I were in Akihara Town Square and we had to reach Miyuki's shop… but got lost, so we ended up fighting virus after virus and running out of Battle Chips, then I ended up getting hit a couple of times."

The four adults, Kifune, Manabe, Yuichiro, and Regal, had walked in, with Commander Kifune at the front. "I must say - Lan, Chaud, Mayl, and Dex – you all did very well out there. You depended on your Navis, and they depended on you; and in the end your trust wasn't misplaced. Sorry about what happened out their, Yai. If it's any consolation, I've gotten lost out there quite a few times myself."

"It's okay Commander," Yai said cheerfully, "Maybe next time."

Kifune nodded, "To you who passed, I present to the Class-AAA licenses and the Battle Chip Gate. With it you can use Battle Chips without the use of a Net Navi. You will be known from this day on as the Net Saviors. Now for the final test… It will be very difficult. It may even be dangerous. With that in mind, do you all wish to proceed?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Very good. That will be all," Kifune sighed and then left.

"**Lan, are you sure you want to continue on?**" MegaMan asked from the PET, "**You don't even know what you have to do**"

"Don't worry, MegaMan," the boy said with confidence, "I've been in tough spots before, and those were aimed at taking my life, so this one shouldn't be a real problem."

"**I hope you're right.**"

What final test lies ahead for Lan and his friends? And will they be able to succeed? Find out in the chapter of MegaMan Network Transmission Hunter.

To be continued…

--------------

**Navi Profile**

Name: Iris.EXE

Navi Gender: Female

Physical Age: 20

Operator: Manabe

Element: None

Signature Chip: Iris Blade

Attacks: Buster, Iris Cut, Variable Cannon

--------------

Lan: "MegaMan and I now have to battle with an Operator, who seems to be related to Baryl, and his Navi in a tag-team match."

MegaMan: "Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

Lan: "Quit worrying, bro. I'll be fine."

MegaMan: "Alright, it's your funeral."

Lan: "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lan/MegaMan: "Next time on MegaMan NT Hunter! **_Final Exam_**! Battle routine, SET!"

What do you all think? Sorry if it took my so long to update my fanfic, and if it was a little too long, but tell me what you think. Remember, I accept constructive criticism, but not flames.


	5. Final Exam

MegaMan Network Transmission Hunter

Chapter 4: Final Exam

"Wow! I can't believe we made it this far, you guys!" Lan shouted cheerily.

"I have to admit," Chaud agreed, "We had were some close calls."

"That's true," Mayl added, "But we still got through by trusting our Navis ever more than ever.

"For the final exam, you and your Navi will face another team in a _tag-team battle_," Iris with a slight smirk.

"Tag-team?" Lan almost shouted, "As in _I_ fight _with_ MegaMan?"

Iris' grin widened as she nodded, "Of course, this also means that you will be required to use the Battle Chip Gate as well. The rules are fairly simple. You and your Navi must work as a team to defeat your opponents. While you use the Battle Chip Gate, you Navi must use only his default attacks. You will have five minutes to beat your opponents, or else you fail."

"That's sounds easy enough, don't you think, MegaMan?"

"It sure does! I'm looking forward to this battle!" MegaMan replied happily, "Hey Lan, I just thought about this, wouldn't this be a _Dimensional_ Battle?"

"A Dimensional Battle?"

"Yeah, it's like a Net Battle, but the other Navi and I will be in the real world arena."

When Lan walked into the arena, he saw that it was well-lit and very spacious. There were various obstacles scattered around, raging from boulders, to stone cubes, to pit holes. All of them were reminiscent of Battle Chips. Even the dome's walls and ceiling looked like a standard area in Cyberworld.

"Hey MegaMan, this place really makes you feel at home, doesn't it?" Lan said holding up his PET so his Navi could see.

"Yeah, it does!"

Lan's attention was diverted to the door at the other end of the arena as it opened and a young man stepped in. The young man was just as tall as Raika, but was a little older; he looked like he was about seventeen years old. His complexion was certainly familiar; he was Caucasian, but his skin was well-tanned and he had scruffy looking black hair. He definitely looked familiar, but the brunette haired boy couldn't put his finger on it.

His attire consisted of a white T-shirt, a Khaki jacket, black jeans, and black army boots. It should have occurred to the young hero by now who the mysterious youth looked like, but this is Lan we're talking about. The young man had green eyes; his mouth wore a calm frown, and his expression always said that he meant business. That's when realization finally hit Lan…

"Barrel!" he shouted startling the other boy, "You look like Barrel!"

"Well, that _could_ be because I'm his nephew," said the young man, "I thought you would have at least figured out the resemblance by my clothes, but I guess you're not very bright, are you?"

"Hey! Who do you think are?"

"Sorry. That's was rude," he said before he smiled and continued, "My name is Patrick Harris."

Lan huffed before he calmed down, "I'm Lan, Lan Hikari."

"What? You're THE Lan Hikari? The same Lan Hikari who stopped WWW twice, eliminated Gospel, AND stomped Nebula?"

"Um… yeah," Lan said a little shocked that he got that kind of reaction.

"You look like you're barely 11 years old!"

"Hey, I'm almost 13!"

"Well, this should make this battle a lot more interesting. I'm about to fight a legend," Patrick said with a grin as he held up his dark green PET, "I guess you want to see my Navi, don't you? Dimensional Chip! Slot-in!"

A bright light had shone from the floor in front of Patrick, and a tall Navi came out. He had a grayish-white bodysuit and he had green gloves with gold wristbands. His green boots reached his knees and had gold kneecaps. The Navi's upper armor consisted of a tunic that covered everything except his most of his stomach area and covered most of top portion of his legs except for the front (similar to Colonel's kilt). His helmet was white and shaped like an eagle's head, complete with a yellow beak-shape visor, and had green wing-shaped fins running along the side. Finally, the Navi had large wings on his back that looked almost identical to LarkMan's, except this Navi's wings were mostly white and green on the top.

"My name is Harpuia," the Navi said in a low-tone voice, "You will remember my name after Patrick and I defeat you."

"We'll see," said Lan as his pulled out his PET and Dimensional Chip, "Dimensional Chip! Slot-in!"

In front of Lan, his blue Navi appeared in front of him. Unable to contain the joy of seeing his brother in the real, he immediately hugged MegaMan. Patrick and Harpuia looked at each other and looked back at the Hikari brothers and shook their heads.

Elsewhere, in another room, Chaud and ProtoMan were already facing their opponents. The operator was a man in his early 30s who wore a simple black Air Force jumpsuit and black boots. The man had reddish-brown in a short haircut.

"How's it going?" said the man, "Nice to meet you guys. The name's Stover, Captain Aren Stover of the Ameurope Air Force."

"And I'm JetMan," said his Navi, "the fastest flying Navi in the world!"

JetMan was tall Navi with a black bodysuit whose other features resembled a fighter jet. Judging by the way his features were set up, Chaud figured that JetMan could transform into vehicle mode like GyroMan. JetMan didn't have any hands, so the wing-like blades on his gauntlets were razor sharp.

"Let me guess," Chaud said with a smirk, "JetMan is a Transformer model Navi, right?"

"Yeah," Aren said in shock, "How'd you know?"

"I worked with another operator whose Navi could transform."

"Charlie Airster?"

"That's right. Do you know him?

"We were in the same piloting school," Aren replied, "I took the Jet class, while Airster took the Copter class."

"If that's the case," ProtoMan began, "then this match should be easy."

"See that's where you're wrong, ProtoMan," JetMan objected, "I'm much faster and more agile than Gyro. And Aren is a much better operator. So don't count on winning, period!"

"So, I guess you have something to prove too, huh?" Mayl said to a girl who stood across from her.

"Yeah! People tend to underestimate me since I'm a girl Net-Op with a female Navi," the girl answered.

She was around Mayl's age, and was at least a couple of inches taller. She had brown eyes and long sky-blue hair that was tied into two ponytails by strands of purple ribbons; and her ponytails reached down to her waist. The girl wore a grayish-blue blouse, a blue denim jeans-skirt, and blue sock and pink sneakers.

"So what's your name anyway?" Mayl asked, "I'm Mayl Sakurai."

"Oh, my name's Salosa Okiyama. It's great to meet you, Mayl."

"Likewise. So how about we introduce our Navis?" Salosa nodded.

"Dimensional Chip! Slot-in!"

First, Roll appeared, and then another female Navi came. The Navi had a black bodysuit with blue and purple gloves and boots. Her body armor was lavender with a yellow dot the middle surrounded by two half-circles. Her helmet was violet around the top and purple around the side. She also had short brown hair that extended from her helmet. Her most notable features were her brown cat ears, golden-yellow eyes, a long thin tail, and a small bell that she wore around her neck.

"Hi! I'm Roll. I always look forward to meeting a new friend."

"Me too. My name is Neko."

"_Oh I almost forgot,_" Iris said over loudspeaker, "_You operators need to wear a special type of armor. It'll dramatically reduce damage to you from the attacks._"

As she said this, doors on one side of each room opened and long metal arms came out, holding a bodysuit. Each of the six bodysuits looked different and each had the very basic features of the operators' Navis. In other words, Lan's armor looked almost exactly like MegaMan's except for the gold shoulder pads and the blue backpack (whatever that thing is called. --;), and Chaud's armor was like ProtoMan's without the chest armor.

"Cool!" Lan shouted. MegaMan nodded.

"I guess now we're on an even playing field."

"…_Preparations are complete. Team Mega vs. Team Harpuia. Team ProtoMan vs. Team Jet. Team Roll vs. Team Neko. Battle Routine, set!_"

"Execute!"

**BATTLE START**

Lan/Chaud/Mayl: "Let's do it!"

MegaMan: "Charge Shot!"

Harpuia: "Sonic Wind!"

ProtoMan: "Wide Sword!"

JetMan: "Jet Gauntlet!"

Roll: "Heart Slash!"

Neko: "Neo Blast!"

All of the attacks canceled out.

Harpuia activated another sword to use with the one he used Sonic Wind, and tried to slash MegaMan, while Patrick activated a Sword Battle Chip. It looked like the type of sword that a Swordy virus held. Patrick launched himself at Lan.

Lan: "Uh-oh. It's time to see what this Battle Chip Gate can do. Battle Chip, Cannon! Slot-in!"

A green Cannon formed above Lan and he instinctively caught it. It looked the same, except it had a handle on its back of better grip (All projectile Battle Chips weapon are in that form when using the BCG). "Here we go… CANNON, FIRE!

Responding to the brunette's voice, the Cannon fired and its blast hit the blade of the sword, causing him to be knocked back and drop the sword.

True to his boast, JetMan dashed at Chaud and ProtoMan with supersonic speeds, leaving them little time to react. They managed to dodge his direct attack, but the red duo was still affected by the shockwave. In response, both Chaud and ProtoMan armed a Wide Sword. Chaud's Wide Sword looked the same as ProtoMan's, but had a handle added to it.

Chaud: "ProtoMan! Let's double team them!"

ProtoMan: "Right!"

Aren: "JetMan, let's stop 'em in their tracks! Battle Chip, Super Vulcan! Slot-in!"

Jet: "You got it! Jet Vulcan!"

The silver aerial Navi converted into jet-mode and, along with his operator, fired a barrage of laser bullets at the Red Raider team. Aiming to protect his master, ProtoMan jumped in front of Chaud and activated his Proto Shield.

Chaud: "Thanks, ProtoMan! I got an idea; we'll rush towards them, then when they try again, you put the shield up again, and then I'll use a sneak attack."

Proto: "Roger that!"

The Raider rearmed their Wide Swords and ran towards Aren and JetMan again, and like Chaud suspected, they fired the Vulcan barrage again. ProtoMan rearmed the Proto Shield, but this time they kept running; and once they came within good distance, Chaud ran from behind his Navi and slashed the attackers.

Meanwhile, Mayl and Salosa's match appeared to be even.

Roll: "Roll Arrow!"

Neko: "Neko Arrow!"

Once again, their attacks canceled out. Mayl throw three Mega Energy Bombs while Salosa threw three Cannonballs.

Mayl: "Battle Chip, Aqua Tower! Slot-in!"

Salosa: "Battle Chip, Fire Tower! Slot-in!"

Their attacks rushed past each other and hit their targets with full force. Roll quickly recovered and rushed in with another Heart Flash and proceeded to repeatedly slash Neko. Pushing the pink Navi away, she sharpened her claws and began slashing Roll with her Razor Claw attack.

Mayl: "Roll, we're not causing enough damage to get the upper hand. At this rate, we and Salosa and Neko will either knock each other out, or run out of time."

Roll: "So what do you think we should do? I don't exactly have a lot of options myself."

Mayl (smiling): "Don't worry, we figure something out."

Neko: "You better think quicker that that! Neo Blast!"

The feline/human hybrid Navi formed a ball of energy in her hands and threw it at the pink duo, who narrowly avoided it.

Lan and Patrick: "Battle Chip, Vulcan 3! Slot-in!"

Both battlers strafed to avoid a stalemate and their shots hit each other's Navi.

Lan: "Are you alright, MegaMan?"

MegaMan: "Yeah. Do you think I'm allowed to use Soul Unison?"

Lan: "…Probably not. You would need a Battle Chip for it."

Iris: "_Actually, he can, as long as Patrick thinks it's fair._"

Patrick (grinning): "That's fine with me!"

Harpuia (smirking): "If it makes the battle more interesting, then go right ahead!"

Lan: "Okay then. Soul Unison, Fire Soul! Slot-in!"

MegaMan: "Thanks, Lan! FIRE ARM!"

Harpuia: "Whoa!"

The green, winged Navi barely avoided the assault. "Nice… Elemental Kick!"

To MegaMan's misfortune, the kick executed with Aqua-type force making the attack twice as painful.

Lan: "What was that?"

Harpuia: "My Elemental Kick's power depends on the element type that is chosen at random. Sometimes it is normal power, or others it'ss fire, and sometimes… well, you get the idea."

MegaMan: "Yeah… I got it alright."

Jet: "Jet Gauntlet!"

The flying Navi, JetMan, punched Chaud square in the face. Chaud put up a barrier and rammed JetMan.

Aren: "You're not getting off that easily! Battle Chip! North Wind, Air Sword, Wind Racket! Triple Slot-in!"

A heavy sword and a Wind Racket-shaped fan appeared in front the older Battler, before a strong wind occurred and blew away Chaud's barrier. Aren then struck Chaud with the Air Sword and Wind Racket at the same time causing the white-haired boy to be blown back with twice the normal wind power and crash into the wall.

Proto: "That's it! Delta Ray Edge!"

Mayl and Salosa: "Battle Chip, Vulcan 3! Slot-in!"

Salosa: "Give it up, Sakurai! You won't win! Vulcan!"

Mayl: "That's what you think! Area Steal!"

Salosa: "What? She's gone!"

Mayl: "No! I'm right behind you! Vulcan!

Salosa: "Owowowowowow!" She was knocked out cold.

Neko: "Sally! You'll pay for that! Razor Claw!"

Neko's eyes dilated as she sharpened her claws and lunged at Mayl. The red haired girl gasped as the Navi pounced on her and then clawed away at her, but then turned into a Kawarimi plush doll of herself. Neko gulped knowing what that meant. Mayl then appeared next to Roll.

Roll: "Are you ready to finish this, Mayl?"

Mayl: "I'm ready when you are, Roll."

Mayl and Roll: "ROLL… ARROW!"

Neko looked behind her only to saw two pink arrows already fired at her, and was hit by both arrows.

_Neko, logging out._

Mayl: "We did it!"

Roll: "I hope the boys did as well."

ProtoMan tried to slash Aren with a slash from behind, followed by a slash from the front, and then another rear attack; but Aren proved to be more agile than both the Navi and his operator thought, the red raider missed all three times.

Aren: "Is that all you got!"

ProtoMan: "Humph… look down."

Aren did just that, and he saw a glowing red triangle below him. Aren looked back up and gulped.

ProtoMan: "See ya. Delta Ray!

ProtoMan thrust his sword into the ground causing the energy triangle to shoot out and send Aren into the ceiling, and crash into the floor. JetMan checked to see if he was alright.

Aren: "I-I'm…a little teapot… short and stout…" (faints)

Jet: --; "All righty then. I guess it's for the best that that you knocked out Capt. Stover, because now won't have to worry about hurting him with… MY ULTIMATE ATTACK!

Chaud and ProtoMan gasped as JetMan transformed into flight mode and launched dozens of missiles at them. They able to narrowly avoid some of the missiles, but Chaud took the most damage and was knocked into the wall.

Chaud: "kuh… Don't… worry about me, ProtoMan. (smiling) Just finish the job."

Proto: "Will do, Master Chaud."

The red raider rushed towards JetMan as the airborne Navi kept firing missile, but ProtoMan move from side to side to avoid getting hit and jumped onto JetMan's back.

Jet (still in flight mode): "Hey! I don't take hitchhikers! Get off of my back!"

Proto: "Sorry! Not yet! Proto Blade!"

Jet: "I said… (accelerates) GET OFF!"

The jet type Navi tried shaking off ProtoMan, but the more he tried the more the swordsman held on. Finally, ProtoMan struck his opponent in the back causing JetMan to lose control and crash into the wall.

_JetMan, logging out._

Chaud: "Excellent job out there, ProtoMan."

Proto: "Thank you, sir."

Lan: "I got him, MegaMan! Battle Chip! Area Steal, Air Shoes, Gold Fist! Triple Slot-in!"

A Gold Fist glove formed in front of the young Net Battler and he wasted no time in putting it on in the place of his blue glove. As Lan jumped into air, felt a rush of speed and height overtake him (obviously from the effects of the Air Shoes and Area Steal). Without warning, he punched Patrick straight in the stomach. Following up his operator, MegaMan blasted Harpuia with a Charge Shot attack. Patrick and Harpuia were fed up with the Hikari brothers' persistence.

Patrick: "I've had it with you two. Harpuia, finish them off!"

Harpuia: "Gladly! Variant Crusader!"

Electricity surged around the winged Navi as he raised his sword arms into the air.

MegaMan: "That must his most powerful attack, Lan! If he hits us with it, we'll be cold cuts in no time!"

Lan: "Don't worry, bro, I've got an idea!"

Harp: "You're mine, Lan Hikari! Hyaa!"

Lan: "Oh yeah? Battle Chip, Anti Sword! Slot-in!"

Right when Harpuia's sword neared Lan, the boy caught it and absorbed its energy, then Lan used its power to kick the green Navi right back to Patrick. The two were immobilized.

Lan: "MegaMan, I'm going to try a Program Advance!"

MegaMan: "?... Are you sure?" Lan nodded. "Okay… Go for it."

Lan: "Battle Chip, Spreader Gun! Triple Slot-in!"

The Program Advance weapon formed over Lan's hands and he aimed it at the downed Patrick and Harpuia.

Lan: "HYPER BURST!"

MegaMan: "CHARGE SHOT!"

Both: "FIRE!"

Pat and Harp: "AAAAHHHHHHH!"

_Harpuia, logging out._

When the smoke from the blast cleared, Harpuia was gone and Patrick was unconscious. Lan and MegaMan were the victors.

Lan, Mayl, Chaud, and Dex stepped out of the Coliseum Room

"What's wrong, Big Brother?" Chisao asked, "Didn't you win?"

"No Chisao, I lost," the large boy said dejectedly.

"Oh… sorry, Dex," Mayl said

"B-but you should have seen him! He was huge. He had muscles bigger than one of those bodybuilders on TV, and his Navi was a huge metallic armor-like monster with red eyes (Think of Alex L. Armstrong and Al from FMA ). Me and GutsMan didn't stand a chance; they took us down in one shot!"

"Aw man, that's sound brutal," said Lan, "But you gave it your best shot, right?"

"heh heh. Yeah."

Just then Patrick, Salosa, and Aren stepped out from a door. But there was a someone else with them. It was a small girl probably a little older than Chisao. She had short brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a two-piece yellow dress that had a pink flower sewed on the top. Lan, of course, was the first to greet them.

"Hey Patrick," he began, "Sorry about what happened back there. I know how much you guys wanted to win… wait, who's she?" he said pointing the little girl.

"Hi there. I'm Kasumi Minami," said the little girl, "Circuit and I were Dex and GutsMan's opponents."

"Circuit?" Yai inquired. Kasumi held up her silver PET and a female Navi appeared on the screen. Circuit wore a gray bodysuit with black tights. She had gray gauntlets and boots with gold trim and little black lines similar to the lines on a circuit board (hence her name) running on them (as well as on her bodysuit. Unlike most Navis, Circuit didn't have a helmet, which allowed her short violet hair to flow freely; instead she had a green visor that looked similar to Medi's.

"Hello," said Circuit. Lan and co. looked back at Dex.

"This is the big, bad, operator who beat you?" Yai said in an annoyed tone of voice, then turned back to Kasumi, "Exactly how _did_ you defeat this big fat liar?"

"Oh, it was very easy," she answered with a little embarrassment, "You see he said that was going to beat us with one attack, so he used a Lightning Battle Chip. But you see, Circuit is an Electric-type Navi and, unlike most Elec-types, she can absorb any electric attack and send it back with double the power. So… that's what happened and Mr. Dex and GutsMan were knocked out instantly."

Lan and Chaud were ready to bust out laughing, Mayl glared daggers at Dex, Yai was not all that surprised that he would make up that story, and Chisao was ready to cry.

"Wah! My big brother's a wussie! Wah!"

"H-HEY! Watch your mouth, Chisao!" the "wussie" shouted.

"Ahem," Commander Kifune said as he, Manabe, Yuichiro, and Regal walked in, "I must admit I was rather disappointed by Dex and GutsMan's rather… embarrassing defeat, but you can make up for it anytime. I was, however, more than pleased with Lan, Mayl, and Chaud's performance. You three worked very well with your Navis, and I believe you will make very good use of your Class S licenses… and your Synchro Chips. Congradulations!"

"Thank you, sir!" the three said in unison.

"As of now, the three of you are now the elite members of the Net Savior Core: the Hunter Division."

"Wow! MegaMan, this Synchro Chip in my hand means that were ready to take on anything that comes our way…"

"Yeah! As long as we stick together, we're invincible."

Now that Lan, Chaud, and Mayl are Net Saviors, what new challenges will be revealed to them? Find out in the next chapter of "MegaMan Network Transmission Hunter."

End of chapter 4…

-------------

**Navi Profile**

Name: Neko.EXE

Navi Gender: Female

Physical Age: 12

Operator: Salosa Okiyama

Element: None

Signature Chip: Fire Tower

Attacks: Buster, Neko Arrow, Neo Blast, Razor Claw

Likes: her friends, sharpening her claws

Dislikes: Water

-------------

Lan: "In the next episode, Mayl, Chaud, and I are sent into Afrikku to investigate the stranger appearance of old Navis… Ahh! Jasmine? What are you doing here?

Jasmine: "I'm here to help, silly."

Chaud: "But it looks like Takeo Inukai is on the level, but where did he get that Dimensional Chip?

Mayl: "And why is SavageMan attacking us AND his operator?

Lan/Mega: Don't miss MegaMan N.T. Hunter, episode 5: Savage Beast!"

Chaud: "I know I'm going to get a headache after this."

Lan/MegaMan: "Next time on MegaMan NT Hunter! **Savage Beast**! Battle routine, SET!"

Sorry about the long delay. I needed serious help from fellow MegaMan fans. I would like to thank mbbal-railracer for his/her OCs Aren Stover and JetMan; NO-2 Night for Kasumi and Circuit; Neko-Salosa for her characters, Salosa and Net Navi Neko; and LgacyDX for his OC, Patrick Harris (All of which will return later on in the story.)


	6. Savage Beast, part 1

Dark Liger: "Hey MegaMan! ProtoMan! Roll! Medi!"

MegaMan: "Hey DL. We haven't seen you for a while."

DL: "Yeah, I know! Oh, a few days ago, I realized that I may have missed something very important about being a good fan fiction author."

Medi: "Really? What's that?"

DL: "Acknowledging hits and reviews!"

ProtoMan: "You can't miss something like that!"

Roll: "Yeah! Readers like it when the author acknowledges their comments! You know that, don't you?"

DL: "I do now. So I want take this time to greatly express my appreciation.

Thank you all who viewed and/or reviewed my story. I definitely want you reviews for your positive comments regarding this fic. I really thought I would get fan flames regarding certain pairings; but this shows me that you all are very mature (and I mean that in the best possible way). So I would like the following people:

Ri2 – Thanks for all the reviews throughout the entire story.

Mbbal-railracer – I really appreciate your help and support.

Erckie – Thank you so much! As you can see! This story had not died, and neither has the either one; I'm just waiting until I finish the next couple of chapters after this one, if that's what you're worried about.

X – Thanks for the comment.

ClampLover – I hope you're enjoying this story so far. If not, I would like to hear your suggestions.

And thanks to all of the readers who read this story.

ProtoMan: "I think that takes care of the reviews for now."

MegaMan: "Don't you feel better, now that you got that off your chest?"

DL: "Much Better."

Roll: "I got an idea. Since you're at the next chapter, why don't respond to the reviews from the previous?"

Medi: "Hey, that's a good idea, Roll."

**Mbbal-railracer** – **Thanks! Actually, in Dex's case, he wanted to start out strong and other electric-types Navi can take the same damage from electric attack as if it was a normal attack. The problem was Circuit is a special electric Navi; she's the only one who can absorb attacks without a special technique. I will keep on writing! Believe it!**

**Ri2 **– **Yeah, I hated to do that to Dex, but don't worry… he'll still get a big role.**

DL: So now that that's out of the way, on to the next chapter! Navis, take your places!

Navis: "Right!"

Disclaimer: You know the deal – I don't own Megaman… blahblahblah… belongs to Capcom… yatta yatta yatta – Let's just get on with it. --

MegaMan Network Transmission Hunter

Chapter 5: Savage Beast, part 1

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After Lan and his friends earned their Net Savior licenses, the Hikari's invited Kifune, Manabe, and Regal to dinner. Most of the time, they talked about certain things, like some of the other experiments that Yuichiro and Regal were working on, and what inspired Kifune to establish the Net Savior Core; while Lan was talking toMegaMan as the navi was right now in the real world. Afterwards, Kifune began looking through files of the Net Saviors…

"Lieutenant Eugene Chaud Blaze, Agent Lan Hikari, Agent Mayl Sakurai, Officer Dekao 'Dex' Oyama, Officer Yaito 'Yai' Ayanokouji, and Officer Chisao Oyama; the best Net Battlers of their generation," Kifune noted, "Do you really believe they can stop Dark Soul Bass alone? Dr. Regal?"

Regal rubbed his chin for a moment, "Honestly, I don't know. Wish I could say they could. Believe me, I've seen first-hand what they can do when they work together, especially Lan, but… for some reason, I can tell that DS Bass is very different from any other Dark Soul Navi I've seen… or commanded. What do you think, Manabe?"

"I believe that Lan, Chaud, and Mayl have the potential to defeat DS Bass, considering that they earned their Class-S licenses on their first try," Manabe said sternly, "All they need to do is refine their skills and adapt to Cross Fusion."

Kifune nodded, "And what about Jasmine Lao and Medi? They haven't taken the qualification exam yet."

Yuichiro smiled and spoke up, "They have a very close relationship with Lan and MegaMan. If anything their desire to help the boys will fuel them beat even the Class-S challenge. Who knows, she may even surprise herself? Well, it's good to know that we can depend on the kids so much. It makes me that I was out there."

"I know how you feel, Dr. Hikari," Dr. Regal added, "I know I'm doing the best I can to atone for my errors, but I feel that there's more that I could do."

"Don't worry, Dr. Regal," said Haruka, Yuichiro's wife, "If there's something that you know you can do later on, then don't let anything stop you, but right now we're all grateful that you've done as much as you and Dad have done."

Regal then smiled, "Thank you all. I appreciate it."

Kifune at that point remembered something that was on his mind for while, "Dr. Hikari, Dr. Regal, exactly how did you know that the incident that happened in Undernet was going to occur in the first place, as well as create the Synchro Chip?"

Regal and Yuichiro had to glance at each other for a second before looking back at the police chief who had an eyebrow raised. Lan, who was done eating his fifth helping of curry, finally decided to listen in on the conversation.

"Well you see, after Regal joined SciLab," Yuichiro began, "we began working on the Dimensional Chip as a means to build the bond between humans and Navis as the Soul Net project was first intended to be used… until a certain darkness-obsessed moron ruined it."

"Oh shut up," Regal growled then added, "Anyway, afterwards Four Eyes and I were then given a dream vision by an intergalactic Navi named Duo."

"Who?" Haruka asked.

"My master," said a voice familiar only to the two scientists. Everyone else who saw Slur gasped in surprise. She was sitting at the dinner table as if she were there the whole time. The strangest part was… she was even eating some the curry too, "Duo is the OS Navi of the asteroid that nearly hit Earth a year ago. And I, Slur, have been his assistant for a long time. By the way, this is some delicious curry, Mrs. Hikari!"

"Why thank you."

MegaMan asked, "So, if you were Duo's assistant for all this time, how come you weren't there when I fought him?"

"Fortunately for you, Master Duo had sent me to another planet."

"What do you mean by that?" Lan asked in suspicious tone.

Slur smirked and closed her eyes, "I mean I would have annihilated him."

"You want to prove it," the Blue Bomber raised his fist as asked. Slur sighed.

-------------

Outside…

smack "AAHHHHHH!"

MegaMan crashed through the window and landed on the front lawn of the Hikari house.

"MegaMan!" Lan shouted.

"I tried to warn him," Slur said from inside.

"Are you going to pay for that window?" Haruka asked.

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After Lan finished his twelfth plate dinner, he and MegaMan went upstairs to Lan's room and the brunette boy jumped onto his bed, while MegaMan sat down in the chair in front of Lan's computer desk. Afterwards he took out his Synchro Chip and looked it at for a moment.

"Hey Lan!" MegaMan spoke up rubbing his cheek, "a penny for your thoughts?"

"I was just thinking about how you got slapped by Slur. Hahaha!"

"Hey! I didn't see you helping me out."

"Sorry, Hub," Lan stopped laughing, "I was kidding anyway. I was really thinking about what this Synchro Chip could really do."

"That's a good question," MegaMan replied thoughtfully, "Dad did said we could initiate Cross Fusion.

"But what is it?"

"Maybe it's related to Full Synchro, but I guess we'll have to find out… Wait! Did you just call me 'Hub'?"

"Yeah, and why not? Now that you can come outside the PET, we get the chance to be the brothers we always wanted to be."

"Wow! I never thought about it that way!"

"**Agent Hikari.**"

"Huh?" he took out his PET, "Commander Kifune? What's up?"

"**I almost forget to tell you that you will have your first mission first thing tomorrow mourning,**" he said.

"Really, you're joking?"

"**I never joke. You will be sent to investigate the mysterious Navi appearances in Afrikku with Lieutenant Chaud and Agent Sakurai. We need to know how Takeo Inukai acquired his Dimensional Chip and, if possible, gather more information of his intentions.**"

"No problem, sir."

"**Thank you, Lan,**" Kifune smiled, "**You will need to be out of bed and at Okuden by 7:30 a.m. That will be all.**"

After Lan turned off his PET and placed it on its charger, he then reminded MegaMan to wake him up in the mourning and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

"You really need to wake up on time," said the blue Navi, "So I better stay out here to make sure you do."

"How? You don't have an internal clock. That's the PET job."

"When I'm in the PET I don't, but when I'm out here I do. It was part of the transfer programming Dad and Dr. Regal made."

"Ah, whatever."

Five minutes later, Lan stepped out of the bathroom wearing his blue pajamas and got in his bed.

"So Hub," he wondered out loud, "Where you going to sleep?"

The Navi thought about it for a second and then answered, "I'll sleep on the couch. I might as well until Mom and Dad decide to get a bunk bed, or something. Good night, Lan." He said and waved as he went out the door. "Good night, Hub."

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The next mourning…

"…! Wake up, Lan! This isn't working…" MegaMan shouted to his brother but then thought of a way to awaken the boy, so went downstairs for a brief moment, and then reentered the room with a cold glass of water, and… (I let you guess what happens next. )

From downstairs, Mrs. Hikari is making breakfast, while her husband is reading the newspaper. All of a sudden they hear a loud scream followed by sound of laughter, which comes from MegaMan as he comes running down the stairs and out the door followed by a dripping wet, yet extremely angry Lan, who sprints after him, ready to strangle him. When the parents the look on their brunette haired son's face, they could see a hint of happiness in his eyes.

Yuichiro and Haruka look at each other for a moment after their sons leave, and then start laughing as well. "It's good to see Lan so happy now," Haruka commented, "I know that seeing MegaMan face-to-face is something he's always dreamed of." Yuu nodded.

"It feels like our family's complete now," he replied, "MegaMan may be a Navi, but he's still Hub, our son."

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Fifteen minutes later…

After Lan caught MegaMan and paid him back for the earlier stunt, he had changed his clothes and called the blue Navi back into his PET. And so after catching up with Mayl, the two are on the way to the bus stop.

"**I said I was sorry, Lan,**" said the Navi trying contain his laughter, "**I had to wake you up somehow.**"

"For crying out loud, MegaMan; you could have use a drier method," said Lan.

"You splashed him with a glass of cold water, didn't you, MegaMan," Mayl asked. The Navi in response said yes. To this Roll laughed, "**Works every time!**"

"Lan!" a familiar girl's voice was heard. When Lan and Mayl turned around, they saw Jasmine running towards them.

"I'll go ahead to the bus stop, Lan," Mayl said, "I'll wait for you wait for you there."

"Alright." Afterwards he turned around, and the little Chionese girl greeted Lan with a affectionate hug, to which he hugged her back, "Hey Jasmine."

"Hi Lan," Jasmine began, "How did it go?"

"How did what go?" he asked unwittingly.

"You know, the Net Savior Entrance Exam." Lan give her a cheerful thumbs-up and grinned broadly, and instantly realizing what he meant, she clapped her hands together and smiled as well, "You did it! That's wonderful! I knew you could do it!"

Jasmine was very proud of him, so much that she almost forgot about why she came in the first place, and when she remembered she had a bashful look on her face, "…Um…Lan?"

Lan suddenly sprung a look of slight concern, "Huh? What is it?"

"Well… I was wondering if maybe tonight we could go see a movie…" she was blushing, "just the two of us."

The boy smiled right away, "Sure, no problem."

"**Big problem!**" MegaMan interrupted with his arms crossed, "**I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Lan; but don't forget, we have a mission to take care of.**"

"What mission?" Jasmine asked. Lan frowned and then sadly explained to her that the night after he became a Net Savior, he was assigned to a mission, and that he had to go to Afrikku. He didn't know whether or not he would be back on time for the date, and sincerely apologized for not telling her sooner.

"It's okay, Lan. I'm glad you told me anyway. Are you going alone?"

"No," he said, "Chaud and Mayl are helping me as well… What's wrong, Jasmine?"

"You're going to look for those Navis, CutMan and BubbleMan, aren't you?" she asked, and Lan nodded. "Can I help you? Please?"

"**Sorry Jasmine, but it might be too dangerous for you,**" said Medi, although she didn't want to be left out either,"**You don't have a Dimensional Chip or Synchro Chip yet – MegaMan told me about those. We may end up getting in the way.**"

Lan tried to reason with the Navis so that Jasmine could come along anyway, but to no avail, "Don't worry Jasmine, I'll be fine. I've been in tough spots before; you know that, and I've always come out okay in the end because I had MegaMan with me. This is no different…

Jasmine sadly looked down, "I… I know."

"I promise I'll make it up to you when I get back, okay?"

"You promise?"

"I promise. The bus is here. I have to go. Bye."

"Bye, Lan," she said softly as he went into the bus.

-------------------

As the bus arrived at Okuden, Lan and Mayl stepped off the bus and proceeded to the front entrance of Okuden Park where Commander Kifune and Chaud were waiting for them. Chaud seemed to have a very pleased look on his face at his friends' arrival; maybe because he was happy to see the red haired girl, or that his rival - for once - came on time for something important.

"Good mourning Mayl," he said while looking at her and then faced Lan, "Humph. Hikari, you actually came on time. I'm impressed."

"Put a sock in it, _Eugene_," Lan grunted, "I've been on time for plenty of things."

His response didn't seem to go over well with his white haired rival, as Chaud grinded his fists and glared at him, "I told you… don't call me by that name!"

"That's quite enough, you two," Kifune stepped in between the boys, "We have more important matters to discuss. Now, I suppose you're wondering why I asked you all to come here. You see the Afrikkan authorities in your mission area don't take too well to other officials coming uninvited into their territory. Therefore I've arranged for a civilian pilot to take you," he looked to his right, "You may step out now."

The young Net Battlers didn't know who would be taking them to their mission area, so they were very surprised that the pilot was none other than Mr. Match.

"You didn't to see me here, did ya?" he said with a grin. The kids just stood with there their mouths open. "Ha. I guess not."

"…Since when were you a pilot?" Lan asked out of the blue.

"I have a plane ever since I was a former JAF fighter pilot."

"I'll never understand you, Mr. Match."

Mr. Match took the kids to the plane that he would take them in, but… well… Let's just say they were a little disappointed.

"Are you kidding me?" Lan, Mayl, and Chaud said in unison. (Did I say 'a little disappointed?')

"How do you expect to get us anywhere in this old P.O.S.?" Chuad yelled. (Okay! So they hated the idea! Sue me!)

The plane was an old gray biplane, probably used in one of the old world wars. Its outside was dented in some place, rusted in others. The only things that looked like they withstood time were the windows and the engine; but it still didn't quite fly over well with Chaud and Mayl. Lan was too busy gawking at it.

"Watch what you call a 'P.O.S.', you punk!" Match said in outrage, "This baby's been in the Match family for generations! Besides, I fully restored her. Sure, the outside doesn't look like much, but she flies like a dream."

"sigh… I guess we have no other choice…" said Mayl, "but to get on the plane."

After the trio was seated aboard, Mr. Match started the engine, drove the plane on the runway, and finally took off into the blue sky. Kifune and Manabe looked on and waved goodbye.

"Do you think they'll find out who's sending those Navis into the real world?" Manabe asked her superior.

"I'm sure they will," Kifune replied.

Just then, as the plane was over a mile away, engine stalled and the plane started fall.

"AHHHHH!" Lan, Mayl, and Chaud screamed, "WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

Then the plane started back up, and Match pulled up just in time. "Sorry about it!" he shouted.

"I just hope they make it there at all," Kifune continued as he and Manabe sweatdropped.

------------------

"Well, here we are, Tiena, Nigeria," said Mr. Match.

"Oh thank God!" Mayl said in relief.

"And it seems the welcome wagon is here!"

On the ground were two dozen heavily-armed guards were standing behind a tall African man in a gray suit and a mean complexion. Once the plane landed its passengers stepped out and went up to the man.

"Welcome to Afrikku. I am the Kiyuna, the mayor of Tiena," the man said to Mr. Match with the same cold voice, "Who are you and why are you here?"

"I'm Hinoken Match, and these are my students," Match said gesturing to the kids, "Chaud Blaze, Mayl Sakurai, and…"

The man suddenly smiled, "Lan Hikari!"

"Huh?" Lan gasped, "How do you know me?"

The mayor smiled and then laughed, "Haha! Everyone knows who you are! After all, you _are_ the World NetBattle Champion from Japan. Why are you suddenly visiting this land?"

Mr. Match stepped forward and began to explain, "My students here are working on a project, and so I decided to bring them here to experience Afrikku firsthand, so that they can be better equipped for the assignment."

"We are?" Lan asked, but Chaud elbowed him to keep him from messing up. "Ow… I mean, I thought you said we were only coming here to tour, Mr. Match."

"Come on Lan," Mayl added as she played along, "We all know you wouldn't come if work was involved."

"Oh yeah."

Kiyuna nodded and proceed to walk back to his town, but then stopped and looked behind him at the Net Saviors and spoke once again, "Enjoy your visit, and when you are finished, feel free to visit Tiena City."

"Thank you sir," said Mayl and Kiyuna left. Lan was scratching his head, "Hey guys, why didn't we tell him that we came to investigate."

"He was hiding something," Hinoken replied.

"You think so?"

"Aye. I could tell by the look on his face…," Hinoken sighed and closed his eyes for a second, "Well, anyway, Chaud, I could use your help checking the plane's engine."

"Okay."

"Maylu, I need you and Roll to get a map of the area."

"Sure."

"And Lan, you check the outside of the plane and make sure there's nothing wrong."

"Right."

A couple of minutes later, the others were done with their tasks, and Lan was finishing up his own task too. "Well MegaMan, seems like the plane's in good shape."

"**Yep. All you need to do is check the right wing, and you're all done.**"

"It shouldn't take a few seconds-"

"_NIHAO_!"

"AAAHHHHH!"

Responding to Lan's yell, the others came from around from the other side of the plane to see what was wrong, only to stop and stare in bewilderment. Hanging from the wing of the plane like a chimpanzee was none other than… "Jasmine!"

"Hi guys!" the girl waved while still up-side-down.

"_I'm almost afraid to ask_," Mayl thought to herself before speaking up, "Jasmine, what are doing here?"

"I'm here to help."

Chaud replied, "What I want to know is, how you got here?"

"Hmm…" she hummed as she put her finger on her chin, "I rode on the plane."

Lan, Mayl, and Match's mouths hung open, while Chaud was sure that he would get a headache after today.

-----------------

Meanwhile, in the Cyberworld, MegaMan, Roll, ProtoMan, and FireMan overheard what was going on, and needless to say, they couldn't believe their ears either. MegaMan thought he was going to have a serious talk with Medi, but the thought was scratch as the nurse Navi logged in, shaking like a frightened puppy. She immediately ran to him and hugged him.

"Judging by the way you're acting now," MegaMan began, "I'd say this wasn't your idea."

"Good guess," said Medi, "I tried to talk Jasmine out of it, but she put the PET on mute!"

Roll couldn't help but chuckle, "This is what happens when your operator's boyfriend is Lan Hikari."

ProtoMan nodded, "I think some of his weirdness rubbed off on her."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, guys."

"**YYYOU IDIOT!**"

"Uh-oh, I don't think Chaud took it so well."

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"I can't believe you would do something so insane!" Chaud literally screamed, "What were you thinking?"

"_duìbuq__i_, _xiōng_," Jasmine said sadly, "I really wanted to help you and Lan, that's all…"

"That's all?" Chaud's expression softened, but not by much, "Putting yourself in danger would hardly be helping us."

"Did you think about what would happen if you fell off?" Mayl asked with almost the same intensity as Chaud. Jasmine shook her head.

Chaud sighed, "Get in the plane."

"Huh?"

"I said get in the plane. Mr. Match, take Jasmine home, please."

"Sorry, laddie. I can't," said the haired man.

"Why not?"

"My plane doesn't have enough fuel for two round trips."

"Now hold on a second," Lan objected, "How do you know Jasmine's just going to get in the way? She's a strong Net Battler. She helped us defeat Nebula, remember?"

"Lan, I know that; but this is something completely different. The reason why Commander Kifune chose you, me, and Mayl for this mission is because he feared we may be attack in the real world, and we're the only ones capable of handling it."

"If that's all, then she can use my Dimensional Chip or Battlechip Gate."

"I'm sorry Lan, but the answer is no."

"Chaud…" Mayl spoke up getting his attention, "Why don't we contact Commander Kifune and ask him whether Jasmine could stay or not."

The white haired boy sighed for the second time and finally nodded and took out his PET, "Come in, Commander Kifune. This is Lieutenant Blaze reporting."

"**Yes Lieutenant Blaze,**" the elder man said,"**What is it?**"

"We have arrived at our mission area; however Jasmine has also shown up as well."

"**Is that so? …Hmm, I see.**"

"I want to know if she may have permission to accompany us."

"**She and Medi have been very helpful in eliminating Nebula, haven't they?**"

"Yeah," said Lan, "and with all the Net Battles I've had with them, they're almost as strong as me and MegaMan."

"**Then I see no reason as to why Jasmine shouldn't aid you on your mission,**" Kifune conclude, "**however, Lan, she would have to be properly equipped, so she will need to use your Battle Chip Gate.**"

"No problem. Thanks Commander Kifune!"

"**Anytime. Be careful, Net Saviors.**"

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In his office, Mayor Kiyuna sat down in front of his PC and typed in some words on his keyboard, which opened a link to a video screen. On the screen, a person was shown; however, a dark shadow covered most of his face, leaving only his mouth and a white beard to be seen.

"Is everything going according to plan?" said the old man.

"Yes, there has not been any trouble from the Afrikkan government yet," Kiyuna replied, "But there is _one_ problem."

"Oh, and what is that?"

"It seems that the Japanese government has sent their police force to investigate your experiments."

"Then kick them out," the mysterious man grunted, "It shouldn't be too hard."

"Nonsense," Kiyuna argued, "They don't know I'm involved, and they claimed to be a class attending a field trip. Kicking them would only make the situation even more complicated."

"You mean there are kids? How many are there?"

"Three. One girl with red hair, a boy with white and black hair, and the third one was Lan Hikari."

"What? White hair? Lan Hikari and Eugene Blaze are there? You better have some _good_ news."

"Actually, I do," Kiyuna grinned, "Do you remember Inukai, and his Navi that can enter the real world?"

"You mean the man that is trying to keep you from tearing down the local rainforest?"

"That's right. It seems he uses a Dimensional Chip to substantiate his Navi. A week ago, he dropped his chip in a stream, so I gave him a little replacement gift with some… _voluntary_ help."

"Huh? Oh really. Then if that's true then I think both our problems can be solved very soon. But make sure those brats don't come anywhere near my laboratory!"

"Understood," said Kiyuna before he closed the link, "Hahahahahahahahaha!"

To be continued…

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Navi Profile

Name: ProtoMan.EXE  
Navi Gender: Male  
Physical Age: 15

Operator: Eugene Chaud Blaze  
Element: Sword

Signature Chip: Step Sword  
Attacks: Proto Sword, Proto Shield, Sonic Boom, Fighter Sword, Delta Ray Edge

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_duìbuqi_ - I'm sorry/forgive me (Chinese)

The Navis and there Net-Ops are in the lounge talking drinking sodas. Dark Liger steps in.

Dark Liger: "HEY! What are you guys doing!"

Lan: "What are you talking about?"

DL: "You shouldbe going over the preview for the next chapter!"

Chaud: "Why bother? Savage Beast isn't over yet."

Roll: "Yeah, you kind of had us go over it back in the last chapter."

Jasmine: "So it's really your own fault."

Dark Liger starts pouting: "Hey… That's just mean, Jazz."

Jasmine shrugs it off: "Sorry, but you should be more careful next time."

Mayl: "Isn't there else something else you wanted to tell the readers, DL?"

Dark Liger: OO?

Chaud: "Jeez… he's an even bigger idiot than you, Lan!"

Lan: "Yeah… (sips on drink, then spits it out) HEY!"

Since you all have been so helpful, I thought I could continue on the story by accepting reader requests! How does this work, you ask? Simple; just tell me what evil Navi from the EXE series or Maverick boss from the X series you want to appear in the next chapter… of course the character you choose will appear after 'Savage Beast' is finished.

It might be a good idea to activate the 'Review Alert' option for this. I'll post part 2 on Friday.

So until then, see ya!


	7. Savage Beast, part 2

Dark Liger: "I'm back, everyone!"

MegaMan: "Hey! I was wondering when you'd update the story."

DL: "Yeah, I know! School's been a real pain in the rear, you know?

Lan: "Believe me, I can relate…"

Bass: "Hey, human!"

Lan and MegaMan: --; "Here we go…"

Bass: "I know you've been hiding from me ever since that chapter you had me beat up in!"

DL: "No I haven't. It's just that I haven't been able to put you properly in the story just yet."

Bass: "Well hurry up and include me!"

DL: "I don't like that tone of

Bass: "So? Do something about it!"

DL: --… blows whistle

Suddenly the ground rumbles violently and Lan, MegaMan, and Bass look to their right while Dark Liger merely has his arms crossed. Bass stares at the stampede and his eyes widen when recognizes what they are… his worst nightmare…

Bass: "AAAAHHHHHH! FANGIRLS!" he runs away from the stampede

Fangirls: "WE LOVE YOU BASS!"

Mega: ; "Man, he'll never get a break."

Lan: pouts I wish I had millions of girls flocking to me - CLANK OUCH!"

Jasmine (holding a frying pan): "What was that?"

Lan: "Nothing."

Jasmine (smiling sweetly): "That's what I thought."

Me: Oookay… anyway, sorry for the wait. Thanks again to the viewers and reviewers for your support.

Ri2 – Thanks. And yes, Jasmine hung on all the way from Japan! Oh, and she grabbed on when the plane recovered from the stall. Incredible, isn't she? And that thing about Mr. Match flying a plane was a little something I made up.

BTW, if you're wondering what Jasmine said to Chaud when he was scolding her, she said 'I'm sorry, big brother' in Chinese. So, on with the story!

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MegaMan Network Transmission Hunter

Chapter 6: Savage Beast, part 2

"I guess the first thing we should do is look for Takeo Inukai, right?" Mayl asked. Chaud nodded.

"That won't be necessary" said a deep, yet familiar male's voice. When Hinoken and the Net Saviors turned around they found who they were looking for. "I'm right here."

"Inukai, long time no see," Hinoken said pleased to see his old colleague again.

"Same to you, Match. Lan Hikari, I never thought I'd you again; and on friendly terms, I might add."

"Yeah, no kidding. I'm sure you know Chaud, but this is my best friend, Mayl Sakurai, and my girlfriend Jasmine Lao" Lan said gesturing at the girls, "So what have you been up to, Inukai?"

"Just call me Takeo, alright?"

"That's fine with me."

"Anyways," Takeo began, "I've been working trying to protect the rainforest near here."

"From who?" Jasmine asked. Takeo's face turned sour as he was about to reveal the identity, "Mayor Kiyuna."

"Kiyuna is trying to tear the forest in order build a business district in its place," he said, "Three thousand square miles of forest will be gone, and many people will be without homes; unless we keep on fighting to protect it."

"That's terrible," said Mayl.

"It's hard to keep world's weather under control using the stabilizing systems as it is," Chaud added, "No one needs the situation to become even more difficult."

"Exactly."

"Now, when you said 'we'," Hinoken noted, "Who else are you talking about?

"SavageMan, of course."

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"This struggle of ours has been going on for about a month now," said SavageMan, "It the way it's going now it doesn't look like it'll end soon, unless either Kiyuna is killed or arrested; too bad destruction of nature isn't a criminal offense."

"Um, yeah…right," MegaMan said nervously.

"What's wrong, Mega?" Medi asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that I'm not exactly used to the fact that SavageMan is on our side."

"Hey," FireMan objected, "Hinoken and I have been on your side too."

"Yeah right!" said ProtoMan, "The last two times your operator claimed to be good, he double-crossing Lan. Mind you, the first he almost had Dr. Hikari killed; and the second time, _you_ were helping him."

"Humph. That's just like you to bring up the past, isn't it?"

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"Lan! How about we have a Net Battle for old time's sake?" Takeo asked with a grin.

"Sure, why not?" Lan agreed, "Where will we have it?"

"Out here!"

Takeo took out, from his pocket, a Dimensional Chip. Seeing it made the Net Saviors freeze in complete shock. "That's a Dimensional Chip alright!" Chaud exclaimed, "Where did you find it?"

"I got it from a man who goes by the name of Famous after I told him about my situation," Inukai explained, "He had an extra one, so he gave it to me."

"Hmm… Hey Dad," Lan said taking out his PET.

"**What is it Lan?**"

"Did you give Mr. Famous a couple of Dimension Chips?"

"**Yes I did… and it's just Famous.**"

"Oh, okay. Thanks, Dad." He put away his PET, "Well, it's like we solved that case."

"So, are we going to have that Net Battle or not?" Takeo asked again. Lan nodded and brought out his own D. Chip. ProtoMan suddenly felt a strong aura emitting from Inukai's. As the long haired Navi unfolded his arms, Roll and Medi noticed and the former mentioned Navi asked him, "What's wrong?"

"I've got a bad feeling about that chip."

MegaMan felt the aura too.

"Dimensional Chip…"

"**Wait, Tekao!**" he shouted,"**Don't use that chip!**"

"Slot-In!... Huh?"

Normally, when someone uses a Dimensional Chip, a green orb appears in the middle followed by little windows, and then the Navi appears. This time a red orb appeared with purple windows followed by a red flash of light. After SavageMan appeared in front of his operator, the dreaded Dark Aura engulfed him causing the wild Navi to scream in pain. After a moment, he stopped and just stood there.

"SavageMan, are you alright?" Inukai asked only to have his Navi give him a sharp glare.

"Listen, and listen good, human," he said, "My name is BeastMan! REMEMBER IT! Jumping Claw!"

Savage – err, I mean BeastMan, launched himself at Inukai with his claw extended forward. Inukai in turn stood his ground, ready to fight if necessary. Before BeastMan could reach him, a Mettaur's helmet appeared in front of him and blocked his former Navi's attack. Lan looked back and saw that Jasmine had downloaded it.

Lan: "Way to go, Jasmine!"

Jasmine (to Chaud): "I told you I could help." She then sticks out her tongue at him.

Chaud: "If you want to keep that tongue, I suggest you keep in your mouth." She quickly put it back in.

Takeo: "That was… a Dark Chip?"

Lan: "Yeah; and I'm pretty sure you know what it does. We have to stop him right now!"

Takeo: "……Right. Chaud, hand me your Battlechip Gate. I'll help."

Match: "Mayl, let me use yours, okay?"

Mayl: "Alright."

Chaud: "Okay. Lan! Mayl! Are you ready?"

Lan/Mayl: "Ready!"

Lan/Chaud/Mayl: "Dimensional Chip! Slot-In!"

As MegaMan, ProtoMan, and Roll appeared in the real world, Chaud and Mayl handed Mr. Match and Inukai their Battlechip Gates. BeastMan started off by rushing towards MegaMan, who armed his Mega Buster in response.

MegaMan: "Mega Buster!"

ProtoMan: "Sonic Boom!"

Roll: "Roll Arrow!"

BeastMan took the Buster Shots without damage, cut away the Sonic Boom wave, and parried away from the arrow.

BeastMan: "My turn! Beast Ray!"

The wild Navi rushed at MegaMan who just barely avoided him. He turned and charged at Roll but was knocked back by an aqua Wide Shot attack. Roll looked and saw that she was saved Takeo. She thanked him at resumed with the battle. At that point, BeastMan wanted to try something and when he saw that his three Navi opponents were now standing right next to each other, he knew what to do.

BeastMan: "You really shouldn't stand so close to each other."

Roll: "Why not?"

BeastMan: "Because…" He jumps up, lands right in front of them, and strikes them all with his Jumping Claw attack. "It makes it better to hit you all! Hahahaha!"

MegaMan: "Okay, it's Battle Chip time! You got anything in mind, Lan!"

Lan: "As a matter of fact, I do! Chaud! Mayl! Follow along! Battle Chip! Aqua Sword, Aqua Blade! Double Slot-In!"

Chaud: "I got ya. Fire Sword, Fire Blade! Double Slot-In!"

Mayl: "I'm ready too! Elec Sword, Elec Blade! Double Slot-In!"

As soon as the Navis' hands transformed into the respective swords, they charged at their opponent and swung their swords furiously. Unbelievably, BeastMan dodged every single swing as if he could read their minds. ProtoMan and Roll were astonished by his speed, but MegaMan was no fool. He knew that the Dark Aura was giving him so much power; after all, some of that dark power still resides within him.

Finally, MegaMan and his teammates brought their sword in for a combined attack. The blue bomber swung from BeastMan's left, the pink angel swung from his right, and the red raider brought his swords down from above. Once again, the wild Navi surprised them all by block all of their attacks simply by using his claws.

Mega: "What?"

Proto: "Impossible!"

Roll: "No way!"

Beast: "I've got you now."

He raised his leg, readying himself to swiftly kick his foes into submission. Small explosions at his back, however, kept him from pulling off the attack. As MegaMan, ProtoMan, and Roll took the opportunity to get away, a wave of fire hit BeastMan from the side knocking him down. Then, when he got up three thunderbolts struck him from behind and paralyzed him for a moment. As soon as he recoverd, he looked behind him with eyes blood red from anger and saw Jasmine with a couple of Mini Bombs in hand, and Takeo with an arm-mounted Electric Reel gun. Then the Navi looked to his side and saw Hinoken with a Volgear beside him.

Hinoken: "Did you forget about us?"

BeastMan: "Why you no good humans! You'll pay for that!"

Roll: "Hey! Tall, dark, and hairy! Over here!"

BeastMan: "Huh?"

Before he knew it he was slashed multiple times by the blades of the Net Savior Navis.

MegaMan: "Your fight is still with us, BeastMan!"

BeastMan: "_It's about time I find out with this Dark Aura can REALLY do! _GGRRRRRROOOOOWWWWLLLLLLLL!"

The Dark Aura that consumed BeastMan now swelled and surrounded his body. He knew that if he was going to win, he would have to use the Dark Chip's full power. He started off by sweeping the area, creating a wind blast that knocked back Jasmine, Inukai, and Hinoken; the Net Saviors and their Navis were able withstand it. BeastMan now checked his remaining opponents, and figured it would be wiser to attack the Navis first; so his first target was ProtoMan.

Using incredible speed, the Dark Chip-infected Navi dashed at the red raider with his right claw aglow. Once he was close enough, he smacked ProtoMan in the head before he could even move, causing him to fly into, and ricochet off, a few trees and boulders and finally crashing into another tree; where he fell to the ground unconscious.

**ProtoMan, logging out.**

As he reappeared in his PET, ProtoMan was holding his head.

Chaud: "ProtoMan!"

Proto: "Oww… Not so loud, Master Chaud. My ears are still ringing."

Chaud: "?"

Proto: "D-don't ask."

BeastMan's next target: Roll. This time he put his whole body into the attack. He rushed in at the unsuspecting Navi and slashed her with a few strong-armed slashes, followed up with a series of rapid jabs, and then finally finished off with a powerful slash, causing her to roll into the same tree ProtoMan crashed into.

**Roll, logging out.**

When Roll went back into her PET, her bodysuit was torn in many places, she had a number of cut and bruises, and one of her antennas was broken in half.

Mayl: "Roll! Are you okay?"

Roll: "Do I look okay to you?"

That left only one target left: MegaMan. And BeastMan wanted to make sure he was out for good. Thinking that he used his right arm enough, he chose to use the left arm.

BeastMan: "Say goodbye, MegaMan! Wild Dark Rush Attack!"  
MegaMan: "!"

Like I said, BeastMan wanted to make sure he deleted the blue bomber, so he aimed directly at MegaMan's crest, but before the attack was able to hit its mark…

**MegaMan, logging out.**

So instead, the attack hit and shattered a boulder in the path.

BeastMan: "What?

MegaMan: "**That was too close. Thanks Lan.**"

Lan: "Anytime, but there's still our little problem over there. Any ideas?  
MegaMan: "**Just one… The Synchro Chip, Lan.**"

The brunette haired boy pulled out his Synchro Chip and looked at it.

Lan: "MegaMan, we'll do it."

MegaMan: "Okay, Lan"

Lan: "Synchro Chip! Slot-in!"

On the screen of Lan's PET, two halves of a green hexagon appeared and connected, just before the screen flashed and lit up the area.

Lan/MegaMan: "CROSS FUSION!"

BeastMan: "Huh…?"

A brilliant light shone from the spot where Lan stood and almost blinded the others. Inside the dome, the bandana haired boy stood ready as his transformation began. First, MegaMan's boots formed over his feet and lower legs. Then, the gloves shaped and covered his hands and wrists. Next, gold shoulder pads appeared on Lan's shoulders, followed by the blue bomber's backpack on his back. Then, the Hikari symbol attached itself to Lan's chest and made the blue bodysuit. Finally, Lan lowered his head allowing the helmet to cover his head with the light blue lines following it. As the mouth guard formed over his mouth, Lan struck a battle-ready pose.

Jasmine: "Lan… became MegaMan!"

Mayl: "Yeah… but he looks… different!"

She was right. Lan's CF armor was different from MegaMan's. His gloves were the same, except that the small blue triangles on his wrists were golden-yellow. His boots had a similar change but a blue border was found around the gold triangles. Lines on the leg area his bodysuit circled around his upper leg area; and the lines at his sides had diverged and ran across his chest and circled around the Hikari crest. The lines on his helmet had become fins with a yellow trim at the ends.

Lan: "Amazing! I became MegaMan!"

MegaMan: "**Cross Fusion was a success, Lan!**"

Lan: "We… did the Cross Fusion!"

BeastMan: "What a surprise! I didn't know you could do that. But… do you _really_ think you defeat ME?"

He charged at the Cross Fused MegaMan, who readied himself and grabbed the attacker's mouth, pushing the fusion warrior back and made him crash into a boulder.

Jasmine and Mayl: "Lan!"

The crash created a cloud of smoke, keeping Lan's friends along with Inukai and Match. Just then, two figures jumped from the cloud and landed far away from the others. MegaMan landed first, followed by BeastMan who immediately leap in for another attack. He tried to slash R-MegaMan and kick him, but the quick warrior dodged them both, and leaped away. BeastMan quickly follow suit and tried to stab his opponent, but dawning quick reflexes, R-MegaMan grabbed the tips of the wild Navi's claws; and with even greater strength, shattered his claws and kicked him back.

BeastMan: "What the…?"

R-MegaMan: "My turn! Battlechip-"

MegaMan: "Wait Lan, that won't work! We have to have the PET!" Lan: "That's right… How about this… Mega Buster!"

R-MegaMan's right hand transformed into the powerful Mega Buster with ease, and Lan aimed it straight at BeastMan. BeastMan went on guard for a moment, but quickly relaxed.

BeastMan: "Ha! Did you forget?… That little pop gun won't even scratch me now!"

R-MegaMan: "Big words coming from a Navi whose eyes are inside his mouth!"

BeastMan: "What did you say, punk!"

R-MegaMan: "Try this on for size! Charge Shot! FIRE!

R-MegaMan released a mighty blast from the Mega Buster so big that it engulfed him and sent him careening into a boulder that exploded from the blast.

BeastMan: "I-impossible!"

Lan: "Awesome! I didn't know the Charge Shot was so powerful!"

MegaMan: "**When we're in Cross Fusion mode, our physical and attack abilities increase tenfold.**"

BeastMan: "You punk! I'll remember this!"

**BeastMan, logging out.**

Lan: "We… won… Thank goodness…"

Lan sighed in relief as his Cross Fusion form fell and reverted back into the PET, and he himself fainted. Jasmine, Mayl, and Chaud ran to him to see if he was okay.

"Lan! Lan!" Jasmine yelled as tears welled up, "Answer me, Lan!"

"He's still breathing," Chaud noted, "I think he'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

At that Lan stirred awake. He looked at the Choinese girl and smiled, "Chaud's right. I'll be fine. I'm just a little wiped out, that's all."

After hearing these words, Jasmine wiped away her tears and hugged him tightly.

"What a relief," said Mayl.

----------------------

Deep in the Internet, a certain defeated Navi trudges along hopelessly. Without an arm and without his pride, BeastMan is left almost out of his wits. Of course, another reason he is like this is cause of the effects of the Dark Chip.

"I… can't go on… any longer," he said, "I need another Dark Chip!"

"I have just what you need," says a mysterious voice. Looking behind him, BeastMan sees a strange Navi log in, "Who are you?"

"Your new master," said Bass's Dark Soul, "As I said before, I can help you."

"H-how?"

"In your current state, you would need a Dark Chip just to survive. However, with my help, you will no longer be in such a condition. Instead, you will be able to thrive off Dark Chips. You can become even more powerful than you were before!"

The Navi's words no doubt caught BeastMan's ears, "What will I have to do?"

"Sever your loyalty with your operator,"he replied, "and you must serve only me."

"As you wish."

The smilingevil Navi raised his hand in front of BeastMan and sent a surge of dark power throughout his body. Almost instantly, BeastMan's missing right arm was restored and the claws on his left arm regenerated. BeastMan felt stronger then ever. Showing his gratitude, he kneeled in front of his new master, "Your wish is my command, Master."

"… Your mission is not over with. Destroy the Net Saviors along with their friends and your operator! Also, there is a human that has Dark Chips in his possession. Destroy the Dark Chips, as we don't need them, and find and recruit the Navis he has been experimenting with."

"Yes, my master!"

As he said this he teleported out.The Navilooked up into the skies of the Internet and chuckled to himself, "Well MegaMan and Bass, it looks like the games have begun."

To be continued…

---------------------

Navi Profile

Name: BeastMan (a.k.a. SavageMan)

Navi Gender: Male  
Physical Age: unknown

(former) Operator: Takeo Inukai  
Element: None

Signature Chip: None  
Attacks: Beast Ray, Jumping Claw, Wild Rush, Beast Claw (used on ProtoMan), Wild Assault (used on Roll)

---------------------

Lan: "Wow! Cross Fusion is so cool! We kicked BeastMan's butt, didn't we MegaMan?"

MegaMan: "I'll say, but we still have work to do in Afrikku."

Chaud: "And it looks like BeastMan isn't finished with us yet."

Lan: "Then I think it's time for R-MegaMan to step up once again."

Mayl: "Hey, you're not going to be hogging all the fun this time, Lan!"

Lan/MegaMan: "Next time on MegaMan Network Transmission Hunter! **Savage Beast**, part 3!"

Bass: "It all starts here."

Lan/MegaMan: "Battle routine, SET!"


	8. Savage Beast, part 3

Roll: Hello, everyone.

Medi: Hi.

Roll: Before we get into the next chapter, the author wants us to start off by saying thank you for the many hits and the positive reviews this story has gotten.

Medi: Now that he has your support, he would also appreciate your assistance. You see, this story is going to be big, and very difficult for one writer to handle alone.

Roll: Therefore, he would like for us to point out two crucial areas in the Forum area for the Mega Man series under MegaMan Network Transmission. First, there is the Story FAQ Thread. I suppose so far, this story has some of you readers confused, especially with the plot… so if you have in questions or concerns, please fell free to let him know there.

Medi: The next area is the Enemy/Ally Request Thread. This one is very simple; all you have to do is say who you want the heroes' next enemy to be. It can be a Navi that already exists, based off the original series, a Maverick from the X series, or even your own fan-made Maverick or Navi. Now, your choice's fate will rest in the hands of the author, so expect anything.

Roll: But most importantly…

Medi: …and we can't stress this enough…

Both: …**Don't hesitate to say anything! **...Thank you, and enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: I don't know MegaMan.EXE or any EXE character in this story. They all belong to CAPCOM, except for Kicker.EXE and Mayor Kiyuna… so BACK, you lawyers! BACK, I say!

----------------

MegaMan Network Transmission Hunter

Chapter 7: Savage Beast, part 3

It had been a day since Lan and MegaMan Cross Fused and defeated BeastMan. Inukai took the Net Saviors to his home in a small village in the forest, called Toevlugsoord, so that Lan could rest. The battle didn't affect MegaMan at all; however, Lan had been seriously drained of energy and needed to recover – Jasmine made sure of it.

The natives of the village were very hospitable towards the new comers, most like from the fact that they were friends of Inukai, who was the 'village guardian' – their hero. The people were all but defenseless in the past; they felt fearful that they would soon lose their home perhaps even their lives; but when Inukai and BeastMan showed up with the intention of preserving their forest and their home, the people were in total jubilee.

Of course, it didn't take long for the word to get out that BeastMan had turned rogue on his own operator, and the people of Toevlugsoord were once again in terror. Ikukai, however, told them that the visitors, the Net Saviors, had brought warriors of their own to help protect the village. Of course, Lan wanting to help, went with the idea; and the others didn't object. So now the people were now hopeful once again. In the meantime, there were more immediate matters to attend to.

"So Inukai," Hinoken started, "How did you manage to get that Dark Chip?"

Inukai, however, was staring out the window and didn't seem to hear the other man at all.

"Hey! Inukai! Snap out of it!"

"Huh?" Takeo finally said, "Sorry, did you say something?"

"-sigh- I was asking how did you manage to get that Dark Chip?"

"…While BeastMan and I were going on some training rounds in the forest, I happened to drop the Dimensional Chip and it fell into the river. Naturally I followed it and, eventually, I found it stuck between a few rocks. When I found it, the chip was broken – probably from the pressure of the river and the impact with the rocks.

(**Flashback**)

Inukai picked up the broken Dimensional Chip, and out of frustration he punched a nearby tree.

"Great, just great!" Inukai groaned, "Of all the times for this to happen, SavageMan – five days before Kiyuna starts the demolition."

"This makes us all but defenseless," SavageMan added, apparently stressed by the situation. The forest gave him a great place to roam about and train, outside of his PET; so naturally he considered it his home as well. "Now what do we do?"

"I don't know." the heavyset man looked up. In front of him, a man was sitting at the foot of a tree. One would think he was sleeping; but he always wore sunglasses, so at the moment you couldn't tell. "Famous? What are you doing here?"

"I was passing by when happened to notice you Dimensional Chip floating by," said the man.

"Well, you wouldn't happen to have another one on you, would you?"

"Sure I do," Famous said as he took out a chip from his pocket, "This one works better than the one you had before; it will make SavageMan stronger than before."

Inukai looked skeptically at the chip after he took it and asked, "Why is that important?"

"You want to protect this forest, don't you?" Famous argued, "Of course you do! So this will help!

Inukai shrugged, "Okay.

(**End Flashback**)

Lan couldn't believe what he heard. If what Inukai said was true, then Mr. Famous was responsible for BeastMan's infection. It didn't make sense.

"Hey Lan, I know this is hard to swallow," Mayl said taking him out of his momentary trance, "but I think this does, merit an investigation."

"I guess you're right," he sighed, "Let's go guys."

The brown-haired boy tried to stand, but he started to fall forward; fortunately, Mayl and Jasmine were near him and caught him.

"Easy, Lan, you're not at full strength yet," Jasmine warned. Chaud nodded, "She's right. You need your rest."

"Okay. I guess it'll be a good idea to practice using Cross Fusion."

-----------------

Mayor Kiyuna entered his office and started up his PC. Afterwards he reopened the link with the mysterious old man from yesterday.

"**Is everything now going according to plan?**" said the old man.

"Everything should go back on schedule very shortly and you'll have the new laboratory that I promised," Kiyuna assures with a grin. The old man returns it with one of his own. "Inukai took the bait just as I planned. His Navi, SavageMan, was infected by a Dark Chip and then defeated by Lan Hikari and MegaMan. By now, SavageMan is somewhere wasting away."

That's what he thought… "I'll only say this one more time: MY NAME IS BEASTMAN!"

Taken completely by surprise, Kiyuna jump out of his chair and faced BeastMan with a mix of anger and fear, "YOU? What are doing still alive? That Dark Chip was supposed to cause your data to erode!"

To say the least, the Navi didn't take that comment lightly; and in response he raised one of his clawed arms in front of the dark-skinned man, "Oh… that chip DID do what it was supposed to, and I would have been finished too… if it weren't for some help. Enough talk! I'm here to destroy the Dark Chips you have, and confiscate some Navis. Now hand them over!"

The wicked mayor simply grinned at BeastMan's threat, "Heh, you are wasting your time. I don't have any Dark Chip or Navis."

The look on his face told his assailant that he wasn't lying. Refusing to be denied, BeastMan turned his attention to the PC behind the human, "I noticed that you were talking to someone about a deal. Maybe he's the one who has what I seek."

Kiyuna's face became paled with horror, "_Oh no. He may ruin everything now!_" Although the wild Navi didn't hear his thoughts, the man's face once again proved to say enough, "Ah hah! I knew it!" he said as he raised his other claw.

"**Kiyuna, you fool**!" the old man shouted, "**I'm closing the link NOW!**"

With that, the window closed. This action did very little to deter BeastMan, "Humph, there's more than one way to get a job done."

BeastMan's eyes glowed red for second and then fired two small red laser beams at Kiyuna. At first the man thought they were aimed at him, but when he noticed them go past him and into the lens on the PC terminal, he figured out that BeastMan had other plans. BeastMan himself began to glow a bright red and followed the beams into the computer's network, thereby jacking himself in. Kiyuna watched as the Navi slipped away back into Cyberworld; and suddenly felt a little sick, "I've got a bad feeling in the back of my wallet."

-------------

Once BeastMan entered the computer's Cyberworld, he followed the link which led him to the homepage of Kiyuna's client. The homepage itself looked like a laboratory; complete with console systems with Mr. Progs with white lab coats operating them, operating beds, etc. But that wasn't important to BeastMan right now; it was the two containment capsules, at the end of the Lab HP, which housed the two Navis he was searching for: CutMan and BubbleMan.

"Okay, ya green beans, BEAT IT!" he shouted to the Mr. Progs, who immediately ran away. BeastMan walked up to the consoles and looked for the capsule controls. Then, he thought for a moment – a really _brief_ moment. "Screw it!" he uttered as he smash the controls. Fortunately for him, this caused the capsules to open and release BubbleMan and CutMan. A moment, the two Navis awoke and the first thing they saw BeastMan standing before them. CutMan raised his guard and prepared for a fight, but BubbleMan did no such thing. He recognized the Navi right away, "BeastMan! Haven't seen you in a while! Blub Blub!"

"Huh? You know him?" Cutman asked. BubbleMan nodded, "Blub. I used to work with him, under Dr. Wily, before I was deleted by MegaMan. So what brings you here, Beast?"

"I'm here to give you two a new job offer," the brutish Navi answered, "Of course you'll have to leave your current master behind."

"No problem," the scissor-headed Navi remarked with a smirk, "This old guy might have reconstructed us, but that doesn't mean he's the boss of us."

"That's fine with me," the scuba diver Navi added, "as long as we don't have to run into you-know-who."

"That's _exactly_ what it means!"

CutMan and Bubble looked at each other, then looked at BeastMan, then back at each other, then back at BeastMan before they finally said, "Forget about it!"

"WHAT?"

"Sorry buddy, but there's no way I'm going back to get beat up by that blue dweeb again," CutMan argued.

"Yeah! When I thought I would be able to get away, ProtoMan came and turned me into cold cuts! Blub…" BubbleMan added, "And I bet those two are looking for us _now_! Blub Blub…"

"They are, and you two are going to face them too! I'm going to make killing machines out of you even if it kills me!"

"Do you want to be buried or cremated," the aquatic Navi said, timidly trying to wisecrack.

BeastMan glared at him, "What did you just say?"

"Uh… n-nothing. Blub…"

"That's what I thought… Hmm… perhaps you two need a little more persuasion. Come with me," BeastMan declared as he escorted the two out of the computer Cyberworld, and into the Undernet.

When they arrived, CutMan and were anxious as to why BeastMan brought them there, but decided not to ask. Silently, the wild Navi led them into even deeper reaches of the Undernet and then to the dreaded Chaos Area (). BubbleMan tried to remain as fearless as possible with little success. Finally, they reached a strange mountain-like fortress. Then had never seen this before – then again, a lot of time had passed since they were alive.

"My master has been making himself a place to run things with," BeastMan finally spoke up.

"What kind of _things_?" CutMan bluntly asked.

"You will be the first of my new army of Navis that will finally exterminate the human race and the human-loving Navis," said a dark voice. It was Dark Soul Bass, "Welcome… my Shadow Army!"

"B-B-BA-Ba-BASS?" CutMan and BubbleMan stammered in unison.

"That's right; although the Bass as you know me isn't here. The Bass you see before is the embodiment of darkness, death, and destruction." He turned his face towards BeastMan who was kneeling before him, "You have done well in bringing me these Navis."

"Thank you, my lord."

"Now, there is a matter concerning a warehouse of Dark Chips in the possession of you former master. I wish for you to destroy them."

"_That_ we can do," said CutMan, "but if MegaMan's in that area, then we'll have some major trouble."

"You let me worry about him," Bass DS replied, "I know how to deal with him and his friends."

----------------

Lan had regained his strength, and had set out with Chaud, Mayl, and Jasmine to search the area for any signs of the Navis they were looking for. Chaud, of course, lead the small group and Lan took up the rear. Mayl spoke up, "Hey Chaud, how will we know where to find CutMan and BubbleMan? I mean, we really don't have any leads."

"Well, to be honest Mayl, I don't know," Chaud said, as if the thought just came to him, "With our luck, they'll probably come to us looking for a fight."

"I don't know, Chaud," said Lan, "CutMan might be another story, but BubbleMan doesn't seem like the type to look for a fight – in fact, he's more of the type to run away from one; especially with both MegaMan and ProtoMan here."

"We won't know that for sure. I do know that if by some twist of fate, they do come after us, we'll be away from any innocent people."

"GET DOWN!" Lan shouted pulling his friends down. As he did this a spinning pair of scissor blades flew over them and circled around, returning to its owner: CutMan. The orange Navi smirked at the team and ran away, as if he wanted them to follow him.

"I see what you mean, Chaud," Jasmine said as she got up, "Should we follow him?"

"**I would recommend it**," ProtoMan spoke from his PET, and getting the NetOps' attention. His operator nodded and motioned for his friends/teammates to follow him as they chased after the rogue Navi. "**In his current path, Cutman is heading towards Tiena City! We need to stop him before he gets there!**"

"How?" Mayl asked. The Red Raider didn't know the answer at the time. Someone needed to say something, or else they will be too late.

"The Dimensional Area!" Lan shouted causing the others to look at him, "Dr. Regal said that the Dimensional Area can keep anyone from getting out and causing damage!"

"But he also said that it uses a lot of energy and should only be used in an emergency," Chaud warned.

"Don't you think this would counts as an emergency?" He asked, although it was more like a command that a question. Chaud nodded again and activated the communication link on his PET, "Dr. Hikari! Dr. Regal! Do you read me?"

"**Yes, Chaud, I read you,**" Yuichiro responded, "**What is it?**"

"We are in pursuit of CutMan, who is heading towards Tiena City!" the two-tone haired teen responded, "We need the Dimensional Area in order to stop him!"

----

"Understood, Chaud!" said Yuu, "Regal, did you get that?"

"I got it!" the monocle-eyed scientist. "…Initiating DA activation sequence!"

"All systems are at 100 percent power!"

"All four energy dishes are in working order!"

"The space satellite is ready!"

"Locating the Net Saviors' coordinates now…" said Regal, "Chaud, you kids are too far away from CutMan! You have to go faster! There's also an enemy on your tail! ...It's BubbleMan! He's two meters behind you!"

Chaud and Lan, who overheard the conversation, listened for any noises other than the girls that might be coming from behind. Indeed, the scuba diver Navi was hot on their trail as he leapt from tree to tree as if he were ShadowMan or some sort of shinobi. Lan wondered how CutMan could get so fast, and how BubbleMan could become so agile. In the end, it didn't matter. What mattered right now was keeping the Navis away from the city.

"Lan!" Chaud's voice snapped the brunette out his thoughts, "We're not going to make it at this rate!"

"What?" The scissor-headed Navi had already reached Tiena City. If they do something right then and there, countless people might get hurt. Seeing no other option, Lan took out his Battlechip Gate and motioned for Chaud to do same, "Chaud! We might not be able to stop them from reaching the city, but we might still have a chance to keep them from hurting any innocent people!"

Chaud nodded and took out his own Battlechip Gate and the needed Battlechip.

"Battlechip!" the boys shouted in unison, "Dash Condor, Slot in!"

Two Fishy viruses appeared beside the boys and they jumped on, telling the girls to get on as well – Jasmine jumped on with Lan, and Mayl jumped on with Chaud. As they sped up, the Net Saviors noticed the scissor-topped Navi looking behind as they closed in on him. They reached an open field a few miles away from Tiena City. That was when CutMan looked ahead, as if he sensed something; then he smiled and let the Net Saviors into the city where he turned and skidded to a halt.

Lan and Chaud were a bit startled by this action, so they tried a last-minute maneuver and jumped off the Fishy viruses with the girls. CutMan, however, was more then ready; so he threw a couple of Rolling Cutters at the Fishies and destroyed them. The people who saw this happening immediately ran away in fear. It was just what the Nat Saviors hoped for.

"CutMan, leave this city and its people alone!" Chaud yelled.

"Oh yeah! Why should I?" CutMan smirked, "You're only children."

"We're not children," Lan replied holding up his PET. On the screen a multihued hexagon appeared with the letters 'N.S' engraved. "We're Net Saviors, and we have what it takes to stop you! …But there's one thing I want to know… How did you become so fast? And how did BubbleMan get so agile? By the way," Lan looked behind him and shouted, "We know you're back there, BubbleMan!"

On cue, the scuba diver Navi arrived on the scene meters behind the Net Saviors.

"…Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag, isn't?" the said scissor-wielding CutMan, "Well, not quite… You still want to know where we got out new abilities from; right? Well, I'd tell you, but it looks like I don't need to…" he added, pointing behind the heroes, "Look behind you."

It was at that moment that Lan felt a powerful force radiating from behind him. When he and the others turned around, they nearly turned white with fear as the saw the figure.

"Dark Soul Bass!" They shouted in unison. DS Bass grinned, "That's right, although I would prefer to go different name. From now on, until I decide to kill you, you will know me only as…" he raised his arm revealing some of his white and violet armor.

"Forte… _Shadow_ _Forte_, leader of the Shadow Army!"

There was no doubt that the Net Saviors were now afraid; but they still had a mission to complete, so they had to pull it together. Chaud, since he was in charge of the small group, appeared to be the calmest of the four. Lan has now starting to regret letting Jasmine come along with them. Of course, Jasmine herself was scared stiff by the Dark Shadow and so was Mayl, but they both knew that the boys couldn't handle all four Navis on their own.

"_Forte… so he's the one responsible for their new powers,"_ Chaud thought, _"And now we have to deal with him and his…Shadow Army?"_

Just as the white haired Official was thinking this, Lan pulled out his PET, "Dad, are you getting all of this? Is the Dimensional Area ready?"

"**Yes, I heard all of it, and the Dimensional Area _is_ ready,**" Yuichiro replied, "**but I can't activate it just yet.**"

"What! Why not!" The conversation was interrupted by an explosion that startled the kids.

"Where did that come?" Mayl yelled.

Forte simply grinned showing his teeth, "That would be my recruit finishing his first assignment," he said, then he looked up, "and here he comes now."

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, the culprit made his way to the group and landed between Forte and the Net Saviors. It was BeastMan.

"You!" Jasmine gasped, "But Lan and MegaMan got rid of you!"

"I don't die so easily!" BeastMan replied. "Thanks to Master Forte, I have been reborn as a Shadow Navi; and now I can harness the power of the Dark Aura without suffering the consequences!" Above them the Dimensional Area started to form around them.

"Well, I'd love to stay and watch my soldiers destroy you," Forte said as he swept his acquired cape and turned around, "but I must take my leave. Farewell."

Forte logged out before the Dimensional Area could trap him.

The Shadow Navis now stared down at the Net Saviors. Mayl glared daggers at BubbleMan – she wanted payback for the washing machine incident. Chaud was focusing on CutMan since he knew sword attacks could counter the Navi's scissors. Lan and Jasmine were facing BeastMan, and during the staring match MegaMan informed his brother that the wild Navi had gotten even stronger since their last encounter and that he wouldn't be strong enough to defeat him. Lan figured that they would have to Cross-fuse to beat him, so Jasmine asked to use his Dimensional Chip so that Medi could fight.

A vulture had landed atop the cliff of one of the city's building and had glanced down to see the contenders getting for an intense battle. While the bird was up there, no one made a sound nor moved an inch; but moment the vulture had left its spot, they wasted no time in beginning the battle. BeastMan rushed towards the group with his claws arched, CutMan threw a Rolling Boomerang, and BubbleMan fired an Aqua Harpoon, but Mayl downloaded a Life Aura and negated the first two attacks and knocked BeastMan back a few meters.

Chaud: "Thanks Mayl! Here's what Mayl, you provide back-up with the Battlechip Gate; Jasmine and I will bring out ProtoMan and Medi; Lan, you know what to do!"

Even though they were in the city, there was still enough space for the Net Saviors to move freely in; so Chaud ran to one building up to the rooftop, Jasmine and Mayl went to another one and did the same thing, while Lan stayed out in the streets.

Lan: "Are you ready, MegaMan?"

MegaMan: "I'm ready, Lan! But you better slot-in some Battlechips first!"

Lan: "Gotcha. (He downloaded some Battlechips into the PET) Synchro Chip, slot in!"

Lan/MegaMan: "CROSS FUSION!"

Chaud and Jasmine: "Dimensional Chip, slot in!"

Two circles of light appeared beside R-MegaMan, and ProtoMan and Medi appeared in the real world.

Medi: "Wow! This is so cool! I'm in the real world!"

ProtoMan: "Calm down, Med. We've got work to do."

R-MegaMan: "So has everyone picked a partner?"

ProtoMan and Medi smiled and nodded.

R-MegaMan: "Then let's dance."

R-MegaMan armed himself with a Sword Battlechip and rushed towards BeastMan. He tried to slash the wild Navi, but the Shadow Navi simply blocked the attack with his sharp claw. R-MegaMan tried again… and again… and again, but no matter how hard the Blue Fusion tried, he couldn't gain the upper hand. BeastMan decided that it was now his turn to strike; and he did by shattering his opponent's blade with a single slash.

BeastMan: "What a pity. I broke your sword, didn't I?"

R-MegaMan jumped back.

Lan: (Uh-oh… Now what do I do?)

MegaMan: (Try using the Mega Buster!)

Lan: (Right!)

R-MegaMan: "Mega Buster!"

BeastMan: "Humph. Can't you try anything more original?"

R-MegaMan: "Shut it…"

R-MegaMan went back on the offensive fired multiple shots. BeastMan ran towards his opponent, strafing to dodge the shots, and tried to slash him, but the cross-fused Net Savior jumped out of the way. R-MegaMan might have to change his strategy this time around.

----

Meanwhile, Medi was busy trying to avoid getting hit by the arrows fired from a group of Arrow Fish viruses that were summoned by BubbleMan. She decided that enough was enough; it was time to put an end to this. Jasmine felt the same way and slotted in a Vulcan 3 Battlechip. Medi fired the Gatling gun and deleted the viruses leaving BubbleMan by himself; but the Shadow Navi merely grinned, and the nurse Navi scowled in return.

Medi: "I'm going to wipe that smirk off your face, lard-boy! Medi Capsule: Sting Capsule!"

She tossed the yellow and white pill at the Shadow Navi who stood in place. Medi heard BubbleMan grunt when the attack hit him and exploded, so she expected him to become paralyzed… no such luck – he stepped out unscratched. Medi gaped out surprise and confusion.

BubbleMan: "Good old Bubble Wrap. Blub blub… it always helps me in a pinch."

Medi: "Why that little-"

Mayl: "**Be careful, Medi. BubbleMan likes to rely on cheap attacks to gain an advantage.**"

Medi: "Thanks for the tip.

BubbleMan: "Aqua Harpoon!" His shots made direct contact.

Medi "AAHHHH!"

BubbleMan: "Hahaha! It's no use, no use at all! Blub, blub… You can't beat me now that I've been powered up by the Dark Aura! Bubble Lead!"

As he called out the attack, he spread his arms out and a bubble formed around him. The bubble hardened into a sphere and it started to roll towards Medi. She tried throwing a Capsule Bomb to stop it, but the attack came too fast and the pill merely scratched the surface of the light-blue metal sphere.

Medi: "_Way to use your time, Medi. I don't have time to move out of the way now! This is going to hurt!_"

The rolling sphere was now barely a yard away from her…

----

ProtoMan was having trouble holding his own against CutMan. The Red Raider leapt for the Shadow Navi with a Neo Variable Sword armed and ready to slice him in half. CutMan took out two Rolling Cutters and used them to block the blade. They quickly entered into a struggled for control, and it seemed like CutMan was gaining the upper hand; he begin pushing the red Navi hoping to make him drop his guard or trip over himself, but ProtoMan keep his resolve to keep his balance.

Chaud: "_He's not letting up. I got to think of something… Let's see, ProtoMan still has one free hand; I might as well help him make good use of it._ Battlechip, Z-Saber! Slot in!"

A short hilt appeared at the Red Raider's side, and he wasted no time in grabbing it and using it to slash CutMan across his chest three. Afterwards, ProtoMan somersaulted back landed on the street, yards away from the Shadow Navi. He looked up at his operator who simply nodded and slotted in another Battlechip. ProtoMan felt the Battlechip's power enter him. He knelt down and got into ready position. Before the scissor-wielding could attempt a counterattack, his opponent activated the Battlechip and dashed forward in lightning speed and slashed him with both the Neo Variable Sword and Z-Saber.

What happened next came as a blur to ProtoMan…

While CutMan was still flying back in the air from the assault, he recovered and quickly delivered the two mouth-like scissors onto ProtoMan's backside while his back was turned.

Chaud: "ProtoMan, are you alright?"

ProtoMan: "Kuh…that attack took a lot out of me. Sir, I don't think I'll be able to beat him at this rate."

CutMan: "It'll take more than that to take _me_ out now, Red."

The white haired Net-Op frowned and thought for a moment as he looked at R-MegaMan during his fight to see that the fusion Navi was holding his own despite BeastMan's increase in power. Chaud made his decision.

Chaud: "_I don't know how this is going to affect my body, but… worrying about it isn't worth losing ProtoMan over._ Dimensional Chip, eject."

**_ProtoMan, logging out._**

He took out a certain chip from his pack and stared at it for a moment before looking at his PET.

ProtoMan: "**I know what you have in mind, Master Chaud. Are you sure you're ready?**"

Chaud: "Yeah."

------------

Meanwhile, in the heart of Tiena City, Mayor Kiyuna was fuming over the events that had occurred earlier; and he wasn't going to let the rogue BeastMan get away with ruining his deal with his mysterious client, and completely humiliating him. Kiyuna had now assembled his own army, and is now giving them their new orders.

"Troops, a great catastrophe has now befalling our great city. A Navi has entered the real world. Many of you may have heard of this Navi, as he resided in the forest in the city's outskirts. Many of you known him by the name of SavageMan; however, his true name is BeastMan, the Navi of a criminal from Japan! This Navi seeks to harm our people without mercy or remorse! Will we let this menace harm our people?

"No, sir!"

"Will we administer swift force on this threat and rid him from the city and protect the people?"

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers shouted in unison.

"I can't hear you!"

"SIR YES, SIR!"

"Sir," a soldier spoke, "Sources inform us that there are currently other Navis fighting BeastMan as we speak! What about them?"

"They are not allowed on Afrikkan soil and are just as much of a threat to the peace as the rogue Navi. They must be exterminated as well. Now, move out!"

"Yes, sir!"

------------

R-MegaMan: "Battlechip! Long Blade!"

BeastMan: "You just don't learn! Jumping Claw!"

R-MegaMan charged towards BeastMan, while the wild Navi in turn jumped prepped his claws. BeastMan expected his claw to shatter the sword like before; and when the attacks met, a blind flash erupted…

BeastMan: What?

R-MegaMan: "Oh, I do learn! If you knew about Battlechips, then you would've known that Long Blade is stronger than Long Sword…"

BeastMan growled at his foe. The Blue Bomber's sword managed to stop the claws and still remain intact, and now the two were struggling for control of the battle; but Lan was already two steps ahead…

R-MegaMan: "…but I guess you didn't know that, so my free hand can do this! Charge Shot! FIRE!"

BeastMan's eyes widen in shock as his opponent unleashed his signature attack, and sent him crashing into a building. But the Cross Fuser wasn't done yet. He continued firing his Mega Buster on the Shadow Navi while he was still down, and caused smoke to form from the shots small booms. When the smoke cleared, BeastMan was holding his stomach area in pain while he was laughing.

BeastMan: "Well, I gotta hand it to you, kid. Even with my increased strength, you still manage to hurt me. Heh heh heh. But your winning streak won't last for long…"

R-MegaMan lowered his buster.

R-MegaMan: "?"

------------

BubbleMan's Bubble Lead attack rolled on towards Medi with tremendous force. Medi couldn't move out of the way in time, so Jasmine improvised, "Battlechip! Anti-Aqua, Slot in!"

Just as the attack reached Medi, she raised her feet to catch the sphere and stopped it effortlessly. Then, she got up and swiftly kicked it away where it rolled a bit before it dispersed, causing BubbleMan to tumble along the ground and knocking him unconscious. She looked up towards her operator and Roll's, and gave them a peace sign. Jasmine smiled as did Mayl who turned towards CutMan who was looking around for his opponent.

CutMan: "Where is that red-headed guy!"

: "Don't worry about him!"

CutMan: "What?"

Mayl: "Battlechip! Spreader, Slot in!"

A barrage of energy blasts hit him from above.

CutMan: "Oh! So the girl wants a piece, huh?"

Mayl: "Yeah, I do! Battlechip! Boomerang! Double Slot in!"

Two metal boomerangs appeared in the air, and Mayl and Jasmine grabbed them and threw them at CutMan, but the scissor-wielding Shadow Navi threw his own Rolling Cutters and negated the Boomerangs. The Rolling Cutters continued on their path towards the girls, until a lightning fast red streak cut through them.

CutMan was left confused since he didn't see who did it, and Mayl and Jasmine were shocked as well.

Jasmine: "D-Did you see that?"

Mayl: "N-No I didn't!"

CutMan: "Who did that?"

: "_I_ did that!"

The Shadow Navi looked to his left to see ProtoMan crouched down and his back to the battlefield. But this one looked slightly different from before. This version of ProtoMan had the original purple and black bodysuit and the gloves and boots as well, except red from his boots are now above his knees up to his thighs. Golden triangles with black trim ran across the frontal sections of his gloves and boots. He had gold and white trim running across the top of his chest armor. His helmet visor was more transparent allowing someone to see his eyes, and a gold jewel (?) was on the forehead along the white area of the helmet. Finally his hair was long and white, but was black along the bottom.

Mayl: "Is that…_Chaud_?

Jasmine: "Yeah, I think so. He's Cross-fused with ProtoMan!"

Mayl: "…_Be careful, Chaud._"

R-ProtoMan stood and turned towards CutMan, and slowed walked towards him. CutMan had a blank expression on his face, mainly because he wondered why R-ProtoMan was walking to him. The Red Raider stopped when he was about three yards away.

CutMan: "?'

R-ProtoMan: "I'm not the kind of person who easily loses his temper…" he started walking again "…but I won't stand and watch you harm the girls…" stops right in front of CutMan (whispers) …especially Mayl."

CutMan: "Humph. And what would you do if I did harm her?"

R-ProtoMan: "This… Battlechip! Fire Hit!"

R-ProtoMan's right glove became engulfed in flames, and he punched CutMan in the gut, sending him flying back. R-ProtoMan wasn't going to let him recover this time, and he activated a Neo Variable Sword. He then jumped after the Shadow Navi and stabbed him in the chest before the Navi could hit the ground and finished him off with a Sonicboom attack.

CutMan: "AAAAHHHHHHH!" CutMan exploded.

Jasmine: "Way to go, Chaud!"

Mayl: "He's amazing…"

----------

R-MegaMan had entered a staring contest with BeastMan after the Navi told him he will lose. R-MegaMan had his Mega Buster ready just in case his opponent was trying to make him drop his guard.

R-MegaMan: "What did you mean by that?"

BeastMan: "By what?"

R-MegaMan: "When you said my winning streak won't last long."

BeastMan chucked inwardly and raised his claws. Lan's eyes widened.

BeastMan: "What I mean is… I haven't used my full power yet!"

MegaMan: "**No way!**"

Lan: "You're bluffing!"

The glint is BeastMan's bloodshot eyes told the Net Savior otherwise. It was at that moment that Lan and MegaMan felt a dark power rise from within the Shadow Navi. Chaud, ProtoMan, and Medi felt it as well, and Mayl and Jasmine could literally see a black power emulating from him.

BeastMan: "DARK AURA! RRRAAAAAARRRRRR!"

The ground on the battlefield shook violently as the wild Navi was powering up, and some of the buildings' windows shattered from the intense pressure. BeastMan glowing in a white light. The process itself had gone on for about half a minute.

MegaMan: "**Lan, get back!**"

When he was finished, he exploded in a wave of black energy, destroying much of the area around him. When the smoke around him cleared, he had changed. Many of his features grew bigger; such as the claws on both his hand and feet, the horn on his head, his fangs, and the hair on his back. His eyes had an eerie dullness to them. This was his Dark Soul's full power.

BeastMan DS: "Do you like what you see?"

Medi: "Uh, let me think about that… NO!"

BOOM! 

The blast came from the Dimensional Area's outer wall behind BeastMan DS. Outside the energy dome, an army of at least a hundred soldiers armed with high-power machine guns and missile launchers had assemed. A large tank was also seen with the army – it was apparently the source of the blast, as it fired another shell from its barrel, and hit the same spot as before.

Lan: "Who are those guys?"

Medi: "The cavalry?"

Chaud: "I don't know, but they don't need to be here."

------------

"Sir, the barrier is not receiving any damage!" said one soldier.

"At this rate, a section of the city will be completely demolished!" said another

Kiyuna growled as he thought to himself, "Isn't there some way to break that dome?"

His cell phone rings and he answers it, "Hello...Yes…I see…Okay. Tank driver, open fire!"

He objected, "Sir, it doesn't have any effect."

"It will. Do it."

The driver of the tank fired shell after shell at the wall of the Dimension Area, and it looked like it didn't even phase it… that is, until the dome started sparking from where it was hit.

Lan: "Wha…What's going on?"

: "**Lan, come in!**"

Lan: "Dr. Regal!"

Dr. Regal: "**Lan, the DA Generator's power is malfunctioning because the outside attacks! We have to shut it down now or else it will overload!**"

Lan: "…alright."

The Dimension Area disappeared from around the Net Saviors and Shadow Navis. R-MegaMan, R-ProtoMan, and Medi prepped themselves for anything else that could happen. The soldiers opened fire on the entire battlefield, not aiming for anyone in particular.

Medi: "Whoa-ho-ho! They're shooting at us!"

Lan: "HEY! We're on your side!"

Chaud: "They must think we're a threat too!"

The soldier carrying missile launchers fired their weapons, which were aimed for all of the fighting Net Saviors and Shadow Navis - except for Mayl and Jasmine who they didn't see.

MegaMan: "**Medi! Get behind Lan!**"

Lan: "Battlechip! Met Guard!"

Medi ran behind R-MegaMan as a Mettaur shield appeared in front of them, and R-ProtoMan followed suit by activating his Proto Shield, thereby protecting all of them. BubbleMan woke up just as some of the missiles came for him and, in a quick reaction, jumped out of the way. BeastMan simply took them without moving.

Lan: "Why would they think we're a threat?"

Chaud: "I don't know."

: "Yoo-hoo!"

Lan/Medi/Chaud: "Huh?"

The Net Saviors looked behind to see BubbleMan who had formed a field of bubbles station above him. Lan was confused as to why he's letting them stay there and not sending them as his team, but when he heard the sound of guns cocking, he gasped and knew why.

Lan: "Wait! Don't shoot!"

Kiyuna: "Prepare to fire! Shoot out those bubbles before he can use them!"

Lan: "I've fought him before! I know what there capable of!"

Kiyuna: "Ignore him, men! Fire!"

The soldier obediently and brashly opened fire on the bubbles, and not letting the bullets miss. BubbleMan grinned at this… the Shadow Navi was daring the army to shoot. As each and every bubble was popped, they reveal hidden piranha-shaped missile. The soldiers had realized too late that they were led into a trap, and the missiles fired hitting the ground they were standing on. Every last soldier in the area received injury from the explosions and were disabled.

R-MegaMan (to BubbleMan): "You MONSTER!"

BubbleMan: "You warned them. Blub Blub."

R-MegaMan/Mayl/Jasmine: "Program advance!"

R-MegaMan: "Hi-Cannon! Triple slot in!"

Mayl: "Cannon, Hi-Cannon, Mega Cannon! Triple slot in!"

Jasmine: "Spreader! Triple slot in!"

R-MegaMan: "GIGA CANNON!"

Mayl: "ZETA CANNON!"

Medi: "HYPER BURST!"

All: "FIRE!"

R-MegaMan and Medi let loose their Program Advance attacks from BubbleMan's front while Mayl fired from his left above him. The cowardly Navi back up just in time to avoid getting hit by the direct attack, but was still knocked high into the air by the resulting explosion.

BubbleMan: "Whooaa! He, who blubs and runs away, lives to blub another day!"

BubbleMan logged out of the battle, leaving only BeastMan to deal with.

Medi: "What'd he say?"

R-MegaMan: "I don't know…"

The only ones left standing after BubbleMan's attack trap were Kiyuna and the tank he was standing on. In a heated rage, he commanded the tank operator to fire at will. Since BeastMan was the closing and most stationary target, he was fired on the most. Like before, he remained still and took the blasts without even flinching, but the tank kept up the assault hoping to eventually take him down. 'Eventually' never came.

BeastMan: "Look at the little humans playing with their little toys…"

Building up energy, he drove his claw into the ground, creating a powerful shockwave.

BeastMan: "THIS IS A GROWN-UP'S GAME!"

The impact of the attack combined with the force of the shockwave knocked the Net Saviors onto the ground, and caused the ground in front of the remaining Shadow Navi to virtually cave in, thereby disabling the tank.

BeastMan: "So, MegaMan, are you and your friends ready to play some more?"

R-MegaMan: "No. I'm done 'playing', so I'll just end this! Chaud, Medi, Mayl! Are you guys ready?"

Chaud: "I'm ready."

Medi: "Me too."

Mayl: "**So am I.**"

R-MegaMan: "Mega Buster!"

R-MegaMan charged at the Shadow Navi, stopped right in front of him and fired his buster at his face, knocking him down. Medi followed up with a Capsule Bomb and hit while he was down. R-ProtoMan went while BeastMan's guard was down and slashed him three times in a triangular formation. His lightning fast movements left behind a red triangle on the ground.

R-ProtoMan: "Delta Ray Edge!"

At his call, an energy pillar arose from the ground, inflicting great damage to BeastMan; and to the Navi's greater misfortune, he was standing over the hole that his claw made from the attack on the tank. Mayl saw that as an opportunity.

Mayl: "Battlechip, Aqua Tower! Slot in!"

A towering pillar shot up from the hole and blasted the Shadow Navi with a powerful torrent of water. The series of attacks left him too weak to return the assault. R-MegaMan faced his red ally who nodded.

R-ProtoMan (grinning): "You know, BeastMan, I _am_ the only who hasn't used a Program Advance yet."

BeastMan: "What!"

R-ProtoMan: "Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Triple slot in!"

A glowing blue energy sword formed in his hands. He grabbed the hilt of it, and glanced at his opponent.

R-ProtoMan: "Dream Sword!" The energy sword wave made a direct hit.

BeastMan: "You lousy humans have only felt the tip of the Shadow Army's power; and you have _not_ seen the last of me! I'll be back!"

With that, BeastMan logged out. Mayl and Jasmine came from the building they were on and ran up to their friends to congratulate them. The Net Saviors' victory was cut short by Kiyuna's soldiers who armed their guns.

"You people have caused nothing but trouble by being here," Kiyuna began, "You will be executed here today!"

"I think not," said another male's voice. The man was wearing a white lab coat and sunglasses.

"Mr. Famous!" Lan gasped, "Hey, why did you give Inukai a Dark Chip!"

"I didn't, Lan," Famous begin, "I was knocked out cold. Apparently, someone tried to trick me into using one as well by switching out my Dimensional Chip for a Dark Chip… and that someone is Kiyuna."

"You have no prove," Kiyuna chuckled.

"Oh, but I do. I've been working undercover for the Net Saviors for a long time now. I've been sent to investigate the source of the Navi's appearances into the real world."

"Then how come we were sent here?" Chaud asked, "We were sent to investigate the same thing."

"Probably because that Bass look-a-like is trying to make an army, and wanted to used Navi's that were already evil," Famous explained, "I tried to pinpoint the exact source of CutMan and BubbleMan's transition into the real world, but every time I would get different results. The results I did get all were around Tiena City's general area, and since to attempts were made to deal with the Navi appearances, I came to the conclusion that Kiyuna was somehow involved… but this was when I was starting out here and it only a hunch."

Famous' deduction was not generally accepted by the soldiers, as they pointed their guns at him instead. "LIES!" said a soldier, "Kiyuna is a great leader! He only wants what's best for the people!"

"I feel sorry for you guys," the enigmatic Net Battler said shaking his head, "He wants you to believe that. But I've learn of his true intentions. In a stroke of good fortune, I manage to sneak into you good-for-nothing mayor's office and taped his video-phone line. You wouldn't believe what he said to his frequent client."

The soldiers slowly lowered their guns and one of them said, "Try us." Mr. Famous pressed the play button on his tape recorder.

(On the tape)

**Kiyuna: "Well, my good man, you certain have some good persuasion methods. If I build a laboratory for, you can guarantee me worldwide power?"**

**Mysterious Man: "Why yes, but… my technology is far from cheap, and according to you bank account, you don't have anywhere near enough money to pay for my services."**

**Kiyuna: "Not a problem. I'll just gouge every penny from the people as long as it takes."**

**Mysterious Man: "That's good to know. I don't want any Officials getting in the way, and if anyone else tries to be a hero. Use the Dark Chips I gave."**

**Kiyuna: "Will do."**

(End tape)

Before Kiyuna could run or make a defense, the soldier pointed their rifles at him.

"Mayor Am'mir Kiyuna, you are under arrest for extortion and the possession and distribution or Dark Chip."

Kiyuna raised his hands in defeat, "Crap…"

------------

The scene was quiet inside the Net Savior HQ's mainframe. Bass was standing in the middle of the network with his eyes closed as he appeared to be focused on something. His period of solitude was interrupted when Slur entered the network.

"Bass, do you feel it?" she asked. He nodded, "Yes, my evil darkness has made himself known…… Shadow Forte…"

"The fate of mankind rests in the hands of Lan Hikari and MegaMan, as well as their friends. What will you do?"

"I'll help them, of course – but in due time. Right now, I won't be of any use to them, Slur. Plus, there are some things I want to take care of before I help them."

Slur logged out.

"… MegaMan… I never thought the day would come when we would help each other."

------------

"Thank you for your help, Lan," said Inukai, "If there is anything I can do to help, let me know."

"I'm glad we could help," the boy replied, "And don't worry about BeastMan; I'm sure we can get him back somehow."

After Kiyuna was taken to prison, Mr. Famous arranged for a helicopter to pick up Lan and his friends. Kiyuna's former army give the Net Saviors a unified salute as the heroes took off into sunset sky with Japan as the destination. Mr. Match rode behind them in his own plane, of course.

On the plane, Lan and Jasmine had sat across from Chaud and Mayl. Jasmine was exhausted from the days on the continent and had fallen asleep on her boyfriend's lap. Chaud was tired as well, but his fatigue was from using Cross Fusion. That left Lan and Mayl still awake, and the latter was looking out the window.

"You know Lan," Mayl began, "At first I thought Jasmine was just going to slow us down, but she really surprised me! She really helped us out, huh?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "I'm not surprised though. I mean, I always knew she was a strong Net Battler."

"…She's really lucky to have someone like you by her side."

"Thanks, Mayl," the brunette smile genuinely at his best friend, "That means a lot."

To be continued…

------------

**Navi Profile**

Name: Roll.EXE

Navi Gender: Female

Physical Age:

Operator: Mayl Sakurai

Element: Healing

Signature Chip: Heart Flash

Attacks: Roll Buster, Roll Whip, Heart Slash, Roll Arrow

------------

Bass: "WHAT! That's all I get!"

Lan: "Whoo-hoo! Look at me everybody! I'm flying!"

Bass: "Less than a minute of monologue?"

Mayl: "I see it, but I don't believe it."

Bass: "I don't believe _this_!"

Jasmine: "How is he able to do that?"

Bass: "This is really ticking me off!"

Chaud: "I don't know, but I'm feeling kind of light-headed."

ProtoMan: "Master Chaud, someone's messing with the Earth's gravitation."

MegaMan: "I figured as much."

Bass: "Is anyone listening to me?"

Everyone else: "SHUT UP!"

Lan/MegaMan: "Next time on MegaMan Network Transmission Hunter! **To the Moon or Bust!**"

Lan: "OWW!"

Jasmine: "Gravity really hurts doesn't it?"

Lan/MegaMan: "Battle routine, SET!"


End file.

Mega Man, Adventure