"Program" of Uncertainty: MMBN (Chapter 3 Added)

[NewtonAH]

An idea I had floating around, four years after BN6. It starts with Lan, but I'm following a new character later.

 

Comments, quips, "Stop now before you embarass yourself"'s welcome.

 

I: Spy vs Spy + Indian = Win

Lan Hikari fell on his bed, and dropped his stuff. Being a Freshman was killer, in the bad way. Four years devoid of world-saving and netbattle had been replaced by the school time needed to keep up the family business. But he had had enough anyway. Between school, work, and a demanding Mayl, Cybernetic combat had dropped on his priorities. Megaman decided his operator needed a break from that different kind of action, and had a call to prove it.

 

“Hey.” It was Dex and Shun. They had found the antique store. “You found it! Dang, where? Okay, I’m going!”

 

“The workload is certainly easy enough tonight.” Megaman commented.

 

“Mom, I’m going to Den city!” Lan walked to the door past his mother, to whom the four years were kind. “Dex found that weird store I was telling you about.”

 

“If it’s all you say it is, then you can go. Back by six, got it?”

 

“Six? Ok wait… actually, more than enough, thanks.”

 

Lan, having ditched his skates for the most part, jogged to the station and grabbed a ticket. He took a seat and downloaded the paper. Nothing seemed to come up. Rebooting the mail proved fruitless as well. Paper dispensers stop transmitting after ten, so the next issue could be downloaded. You could jack in to them, but hacking a paper machine was little more than a prank, anyway, no need to look into it.

 

“So what’s in this place again?” Megaman asked.

 

“It’s not a true antique shop, really. It’s supposed to have weird things, like an apothecary five-hundred years ago would. … I got the word from the description, by the by.”

 

“Starting to think you got a vocabulary there.”

 

Lan got off the train and ran through the streets to find the back street to the shop. Not wholly a back street, it would not be noticed otherwise, but close. It makes sense that it took so long for the other guys to find it, if it was that close to the edge of town. They knew not to risk it out there, like some of their peers insisted. He saw Shun waving through the store window.

 

“The shopkeeper will be back in ten minutes tops, left a sign.” Shun opened the door for him.

 

“You do know folks don’t do that anymore, right?” A recently reconstructed Freezeman asked skeptically.

 

“Yes, but it hasn’t been ten minutes, so we don’t what he’s doing, do we? Oh Lan, this guy sells chips, too.”

 

“Score,” Lan had continued collecting, but mostly reorganized (Pointlessly) battle chips. His usual line-up of chips constantly changed, seeing how many he had collected over the years. He browsed through the selection, seeing they consisted mostly of level 2 attacks, with a couple rarities like Poltergeist and Double Point. Lan decided this guy hadn’t collected enough data. Chips nowadays were never displayed physically; you had the salesperson scan the data into an empty one. A recent ruling also made it an international law to allow the customer to test the new chip before paying. To work the process in reverse order was a misdemeanor. “Holy Albert…!”

 

“…Wily?!” The man who Lan guessed was the storeowner came back in. His complexion was Indian, and tied his hair into a ponytail. “Oh… you noticed the life aura chip.”

 

“I’m sorry; I’m trying to remember…”

 

“LIFE…MAGIC…!” The man’s navi projected himself from the PET on his arm.

 

“Yahoot!” Lan remembered. “Why the heck do you have a chip rack in a novelty shop?”

 

“Because I could, the life aura really sparked it.”

 

“I was suspicious that someone would sell an aura with the Life Virus’s portrait, regardless of price,” Lan looked at the chip again. The Virus god’s face, blazing with the simple love of destruction found in many viruses, and intensified by his impressive power, stared back at him. “I actually still remember the battle, the first of many.”

 

“Speaking of which,” Magicman asked, fumbling with his hat, reminding everyone of his “spy vs spy” look as his op walked back to the counter. “Is the blue bomber up for a rematch?”

 

“I’ll say!” Megaman was eager to go. “I mean geez, Lan, you organize you chips twice a week and use them… what, once a month now?”

 

“You know what, let’s do it.” Lan gave a tone like he wouldn’t argue. He figured he could trust Yahoot, it had been five years in the first WWW, and he had been out of prison for years. He just felt tired, was all.

 

Both navis jacked into the cash register. To access netcash, you needed a password entered before jacking in; there was no risk of simple theft.

 

“Go!” Magicman summoned half a dozen Condor viruses who charged Megaman, who dodged skillfully. Knowing that he had likely deleted hundreds of these in Lan’s lifetime, Yahoot sent a heat cross chip, which he combined with his green flame. “Fire line, sucker!”

 

He threw the flame into the ground and it shot toward Megaman like a one-way geyser, only of fire. Lan sent a steal, then a gold fist, the combo sending MM rolling along the floor. He iced the cake with tank cannon, whose impact stopped him short. Yahoot downloaded a recovery and a fighter sword, which was barely long enough to hit Mega in the side of the head.

 

“Quad needle, fool!” Megaman flipped and fired both the chip and his mouth. MM stole, Megaman changed direction. “Cyclone!”

 

Magicman summoned a hardhead to take the hit, and then dismissed the Condors.

 

“Time for my finish! Yahoot, cubes, now!” Rock cubes surrounded Magicman. They broke down and started a tremor. “Mother Quake!”

 

Megaman tried to move, but the Advance’s shaking seemed to multiply gravity. Several of the large rocks landed on Megaman’s back, then broke down as they hit the ground. Magic finished his punishment with an Old Wood chip. The jabbing logs propped their target up, trapping him and making movement painful.

 

“Enough! Enough. Jacking out now!” Lan recalled his navi. Nothing happened.

 

“Not me! I can’t jack out either!” Yahoot pressed the button several times.

 

“Oh, irony.” A navi jacked in. He was super tall, almost bony. In fact he was a humanoid pile of bones. His head was circular like a man’s, at least. “Alright, sir, I take it you know where the life aura data is?”

 

“You lock my navi in a cash register and expect me to give you “officially non-existent” chip data? My bare foot!” Yahoo slotted a boomerang, which the invader dodged simply. He loaded a magnum with the same result.

 

Guts and Freezeman were jacked in. The navi made several copies of himself and attempted the beat the tired Megaman, only to be met with rocket Gutspunchs. Freezeman called Magicman over and ran to Gutsman. He then surrounded everyone in an ice tomb.

 

“Magicman, we need viruses for cover, a lot of them, now.” Freezeman turned to him. “See if you can wear him out.”

 

“It’s time to try this again, GO!” The Scuttlest family tree, auras and all, digitized around the tomb.

 

You could hear the fire and lighting attacks, and many a reflected, bouncy-sounding blow from the navi. He had not come expecting so many auras; he likely could not break them. Then a north wind chip blew, and punishment rained down like usual. Magicman found that he could not generate any more viruses for the moment, the last battle, coupled with the cost of making Scuttles, had drained him.

 

“Shun, I have an idea, I’m going to need Yahoot’s life aura, 2 magnet bolts and either a hammer or a punching chip, in that order!”

 

Yahoot unlocked a drawer containing life auras and slotted it into Shun’s PET. Dex supplied the Magbolt chips. The navi broke down the ice tomb, and Freeze used his chips. The navi and clones tried to hit Megaman again, but Freezeman began spinning himself around; the magnet in his left hand eventually caught the real navi. Gutsman hit him upside the head, and then hammered him in the back. Freeze encased him in ice.

 

“You can at least tell us your name.” The two victorious navis, not bothering to ask what he was doing, walked to the captive’s side, as they left his head free.

 

“Banditman.” He turned his human, but bony face to Freeze and made a spitting motion. “It was three on one; you got lucky, that-is-all.”

 

He jacked out, despite being frozen over. The cash register was unlocked.

 

“Well, that was, um…” Lan was going to be direct. “Does anyone think we have WWW all over again…again?”

 

“Lan, you’re jumping the gun. This could just be a band of hackers or thieves. One custom navi doesn’t make them an illegal syndication.” Yahoot stated definitively. “Now, you three, since you likely just saved my store… why not put everything… 10% off.”

 

“Better than nothing.” Dex walked back to the chip rack.

 

Lan looked around the shop in more detail. There were shrunken heads, bonsai trees, everything the rumors had characterized the place for. Of course, nor was it truly weird to the degree those same rumors dictated. What he didn’t know is how the guy made money on this stuff. Perhaps the tribal macabre was making a comeback?

 

The three boys purchased their chips, and took the metroline home. Dex bought the most chips, most notably auras. Lan came home to dinner and homework. The food was good, as usual, and the workload was light. He was done by seven. The phone rang, and he knew who it was.

[Weather Report - Stand]

An idea I had floating around' date=' four years after BN6. It starts with Lan, but I'm following a new character later.

 

[b']Hm... since I know about this type of fan fic, why don't I do a review on it? So we have a story set after the chronological timeline. Not terribly original, but hey, it's just the description. Let's look!![/b]

 

Comments, quips, "Stop now before you embarass yourself"'s welcome.

 

I: Spy vs Spy + Indian = Win

Cool title!

Lan Hikari fell on his bed, and dropped his stuff. Being a Freshman was killer, in the bad way. Four years devoid of world-saving and netbattle had been replaced by the school time needed to keep up the family business. But he had had enough anyway. Between school, work, and a demanding Mayl, Cybernetic combat had dropped on his priorities. Megaman decided his operator needed a break from that different kind of action, and had a call to prove it.

 

Holy crap! I never imagined him EVER going to High School. Do you capitalize freshman all the time, and you put 'was killer', instead of 'was A killer', maybe. But I like how you talk about how things have gotten since he stopped the hero stuff. I always thought that he'd be an official after he grew out of BN6. Oh, and it's MEGA MAN, not MEGAMAN.

 

“Hey.” It was Dex and Shun. They had found the antique store. “You found it! Dang, where? Okay, I’m going!”

 

Who's Shun? Shaun in Japan? From BN2? You got it wrong... but who cares?

 

“The workload is certainly easy enough tonight.” Megaman commented.

 

“Mom, I’m going to Den city!” Lan walked to the door past his mother, to whom the four years were kind. “Dex found that weird store I was telling you about.”

 

“If it’s all you say it is, then you can go. Back by six, got it?”

 

“Six? Ok wait… actually, more than enough, thanks.”

 

Around here I started wondering how have the guys changed in appearance? And why is Shaun here? Wasn't he thrown away from the MM universe in BN3?

 

Lan, having ditched his skates for the most part, jogged to the station and grabbed a ticket. He took a seat and downloaded the paper. Nothing seemed to come up. Rebooting the mail proved fruitless as well. Paper dispensers stop transmitting after ten, so the next issue could be downloaded. You could jack in to them, but hacking a paper machine was little more than a prank, anyway, no need to look into it.

 

I'll miss those skates...

I like how you made the ticket thing so life-like.

 

“So what’s in this place again?” Megaman asked.

 

“It’s not a true antique shop, really. It’s supposed to have weird things, like an apothecary five-hundred years ago would. … I got the word from the description, by the by.”

 

“Starting to think you got a vocabulary there.”

 

Darn straight.

 

Lan got off the train and ran through the streets to find the back street to the shop. Not wholly a back street, it would not be noticed otherwise, but close. It makes sense that it took so long for the other guys to find it, if it was that close to the edge of town. They knew not to risk it out there, like some of their peers insisted. He saw Shun waving through the store window.

 

Is this the one from BN1? It has to be, since it had Den Town in it.

 

“The shopkeeper will be back in ten minutes tops, left a sign.” Shun opened the door for him.

 

“You do know folks don’t do that anymore, right?” A recently reconstructed Freezeman asked skeptically.

 

WOAH!! FREEZE MAN!! I MISSED YOU!! I actually wondered why Shaun never cared about Freeze Man's death, so I'm glad he was 'sad' enough to bring'm back to life! But really, thanks for using him.

 

“Yes, but it hasn’t been ten minutes, so we don’t what he’s doing, do we? Oh, Lan, this guy sells chips, too.”

 

You forgot the comma.

 

“Score,” Lan had continued collecting, but mostly reorganized (Pointlessly) battle chips. His usual line-up of chips constantly changed, seeing how many he had collected over the years. He browsed through the selection, seeing they consisted mostly of level 2 attacks, with a couple rarities like Poltergeist and Double Point. Lan decided this guy hadn’t collected enough data. Chips nowadays were never displayed physically; you had the salesperson scan the data into an empty one. A recent ruling also made it an international law to allow the customer to test the new chip before paying. To work the process in reverse order was a misdemeanor. “Holy Albert…!”

 

Hm. You've made chip stores a thing of art.

 

“…Wily?!” The man who Lan guessed was the storeowner came back in. His complexion was Indian, and tied his hair into a ponytail. “Oh… you noticed the life aura chip.”

 

Wait, doesn't Miyu own the shop? The Skull Man lady? WHo never did ANYTHING? Well, now that I mention that, I don't blame you for bringing back the grossly under-used Yahoot.

 

“I’m sorry; I’m trying to remember…”

 

“LIFE…MAGIC…!” The man’s navi projected himself from the PET on his arm.

 

So they can do that now. Is he a hologram?

 

“Yahoot!” Lan remembered. “Why the heck do you have a chip rack in a novelty shop?”

 

“Because I could, the life aura really sparked it.”

 

That's a valid reason.

 

“I was suspicious that someone would sell an aura with the Life Virus’s portrait, regardless of price,” Lan looked at the chip again. The Virus god’s face, blazing with the simple love of destruction found in many viruses, and intensified by his impressive power, stared back at him. “I actually still remember the battle, the first of many.”

 

You know, the Life Virus was a big wimp. I don't see him as a 'virus god'. But that's just me.

 

“Speaking of which,” Magicman asked, fumbling with his hat, reminding everyone of his “spy vs spy” look as his op walked back to the counter. “Is the blue bomber up for a rematch?”

 

Now that you mention it, he DOES look like the spy man! Thank you, Mad Magazine company!!

 

“I’ll say!” Megaman was eager to go. “I mean geez, Lan, you organize you chips twice a week and use them… what, once a month now?”

 

“You know what, let’s do it.” Lan gave a tone like he wouldn’t argue. He figured he could trust Yahoot, it had been five years in the first WWW, and he had been out of prison for years. He just felt tired, was all.

 

Both navis jacked into the cash register. To access netcash, you needed a password entered before jacking in; there was no risk of simple theft.

 

Neat! Anti-theft stuffs!

 

“Go!” Magicman summoned half a dozen Condor viruses who charged Megaman, who dodged skillfully. Knowing that he had likely deleted hundreds of these in Lan’s lifetime, Yahoot sent a heat cross chip, which he combined with his green flame. “Fire line, sucker!”

 

Magic Man wouldn't say 'sucker'... You've just ruined my childhood.

 

He threw the flame into the ground and it shot toward Megaman like a one-way geyser, only of fire. Lan sent a steal, then a gold fist, the combo sending MM rolling along the floor. He iced the cake with tank cannon, whose impact stopped him short. Yahoot downloaded a recovery and a fighter sword, which was barely long enough to hit Mega in the side of the head.

 

Ouch. But wait, how does Area Grab work here? Does it restrict their leg movement?

 

“Quad needle, fool!” Megaman flipped and fired both the chip and his mouth. MM stole, Megaman changed direction. “Cyclone!”

 

Which one said fool? I'd expect an old man(Magic Man)to say something like 'fool!', but a kid would say 'idiot!', at least.

 

Magicman summoned a hardhead to take the hit, and then dismissed the Condors.

 

“Time for my finish! Yahoot, cubes, now!” Rock cubes surrounded Magicman. They broke down and started a tremor. “Mother Quake!”

 

Classic P.A.

 

Megaman tried to move, but the Advance’s shaking seemed to multiply gravity. Several of the large rocks landed on Megaman’s back, then broke down as they hit the ground. Magic finished his punishment with an Old Wood chip. The jabbing logs propped their target up, trapping him and making movement painful.

 

I never really imagined the chip being that cruel. Wow.

 

“Enough! Enough. Jacking out now!” Lan recalled his navi. Nothing happened.

 

“Not me! I can’t jack out either!” Yahoot pressed the button several times.

 

“Oh, irony.” A navi jacked in. He was super tall, almost bony. In fact he was a humanoid pile of bones. His head was circular like a man’s, at least. “Alright, sir, I take it you know where the life aura data is?

 

First you TAKE OUT Miyu, then you PUT IN her navi? What's up with this?

 

“You lock my navi in a cash register and expect me to give you “officially non-existent” chip data? My bare foot!” Yahoo slotted a boomerang, which the invader dodged simply. He loaded a magnum with the same result.

 

Yahoo!! You forgot the 't'.

 

Guts and Freezeman were jacked in. The navi made several copies of himself and attempted the beat the tired Megaman, only to be met with rocket Gutspunchs. Freezeman called Magicman over and ran to Gutsman. He then surrounded everyone in an ice tomb.

 

Why haven't Shaun or Dex gotten many speaking parts?

 

“Magicman, we need viruses for cover, a lot of them, now.” Freezeman turned to him. “See if you can wear him out.”

 

“It’s time to try this again, GO!” The Scuttlest family tree, auras and all, digitized around the tomb.

 

You could hear the fire and lighting attacks, and many a reflected, bouncy-sounding blow from the navi. He had not come expecting so many auras; he likely could not break them. Then a north wind chip blew, and punishment rained down like usual. Magicman found that he could not generate any more viruses for the moment, the last battle, coupled with the cost of making Scuttles, had drained him.

 

I expected a few images, since you can kinda see through ice unless it's too ultra-thick.

 

“Shun, I have an idea, I’m going to need Yahoot’s life aura, 2 magnet bolts and either a hammer or a punching chip, in that order!”

 

Who said that? Yeah, it's Freeze Man, but I'd have liked you to write:

"Shaun, I have an idea." Freeze Man gasped.

Or something like that.

 

Yahoot unlocked a drawer containing life auras and slotted it into Shun’s PET. Dex supplied the Magbolt chips. The navi broke down the ice tomb, and Freeze used his chips. The navi and clones tried to hit Megaman again, but Freezeman began spinning himself around; the magnet in his left hand eventually caught the real navi. Gutsman hit him upside the head, and then hammered him in the back. Freeze encased him in ice.

 

I admit, Freeze is an exceptional nickname. But seriously, DEX AND GUTS MAN ARE FILLER CHARACTERS OR ROBOTS! They say and almost do nothing! WHY?!

 

“You can at least tell us your name.” The two victorious navis, not bothering to ask what he was doing, walked to the captive’s side, as they left his head free.

 

“Banditman.” He turned his human, but bony face to Freeze and made a spitting motion. “It was three on one; you got lucky, that-is-all.”

 

OH, Bandit Man. I just thought that with all the boniness and all that he'd be Skull Man. You said that he was a pile of bones, so I thought 'Skeleton?! SKULL MAN!!

 

He jacked out, despite being frozen over. The cash register was unlocked.

 

“Well, that was, um…” Lan was going to be direct. “Does anyone think we have WWW all over again…again?”

 

“Lan, you’re jumping the gun. This could just be a band of hackers or thieves. One custom navi doesn’t make them an illegal syndication.” Yahoot stated definitively. “Now, you three, since you likely just saved my store… why not put everything… 10% off.”

 

“Better than nothing.” Dex walked back to the chip rack.

 

HE SPEAKS!!

 

Lan looked around the shop in more detail. There were shrunken heads, bonsai trees, everything the rumors had characterized the place for. Of course, nor was it truly weird to the degree those same rumors dictated. What he didn’t know is how the guy made money on this stuff. Perhaps the tribal macabre was making a comeback?

 

Could be. But why do we go right from a crisis to a shopping spree? I'd expect more discussion to make it more life-like.

 

The three boys purchased their chips, and took the metroline home. Dex bought the most chips, most notably auras. Lan came home to dinner and homework. The food was good, as usual, and the workload was light. He was done by seven. The phone rang, and he knew who it was.

 

*GASP* WHO IS IT?! *CLIFFHANGER!!*

 

Hm, it's OKAY. Not bad, not too good, just okay. At first glance it seems so basic for a BN fan fic. A criminal organization and kids out to stop it for justice!! But I just can't get over how Dex and Guts Man seem to be cardboard cut-outs, and that they all apparently look exactly the same except taller.

I give it... a 7/10, an average score. I was thinking of a 6, but that's a little harsh. And remember: I grade as I read.

 

But by all means, this doesn't mean I want you to quit or be discouraged, you just need to maybe have the 'life-like' thing in mind while going over dialogue and such. Please make a chapter two, and I'll enjoy it!

[NewtonAH]

Wow, Wheather Report, was expecting to be honored with a review so soon!

 

Anyways,

 

Hm... since I know about this type of fan fic, why don't I do a review on it? So we have a story set after the chronological timeline. Not terribly original, but hey, it's just the description. Let's look!!

 

I know, I know... :?

 

Around here I started wondering how have the guys changed in appearance? And why is Shaun here? Wasn't he thrown away from the MM universe in BN3?

 

I've been wondering what to do about that. As for Shun/Shaun (Shaun in Japan? I'll have to change it, didn't know that.), I knew he disappeared from the face of the Earth in BN3, but that's why I'm using him.

 

WOAH!! FREEZE MAN!! I MISSED YOU!! I actually wondered why Shaun never cared about Freeze Man's death, so I'm glad he was 'sad' enough to bring'm back to life! But really, thanks for using him.

 

With Pleasure... Since the the games with the "final, operator-less navi" seem to go with the mastermind, and Freezeman is underused, I thought... score!

 

I'll miss those skates...

I like how you made the ticket thing so life-like.

 

Save em' for hero time? :lol:

 

Wait, doesn't Miyu own the shop? The Skull Man lady? WHo never did ANYTHING? Well, now that I mention that, I don't blame you for bringing back the grossly under-used Yahoot

 

Forgot-about-Miyu. Oh wow, ouch. But Yahoot is way underused, that's what I was going for.

 

So they can do that now. Is he a hologram?

 

Ouch. But wait, how does Area Grab work here? Does it restrict their leg movement?

 

Based both of these on the anime (*gasp*). It screwed some things up, to be sure, but it was more... real than the panel fighting we all love. Later on, Navi's could project little holograms of themselves, so yes.

 

I expected a few images, since you can kinda see through ice unless it's too ultra-thick.

 

I was writing it as if it was ultra-thick, so yeah, should have made that clearer.

 

But seriously, DEX AND GUTS MAN ARE FILLER CHARACTERS OR ROBOTS! They say and almost do nothing! WHY?!

 

Agreed, working on that too...

 

Could be. But why do we go right from a crisis to a shopping spree? I'd expect more discussion to make it more life-like.

 

I actually made it abrupt this time as an inside joke on how quickly mega man (Will remeber the space, was always confused about that) universes go back to normal after disaster. But I hear you.

 

OH, Bandit Man. I just thought that with all the boniness and all that he'd be Skull Man. You said that he was a pile of bones, so I thought 'Skeleton?! SKULL MAN!!

 

Seems in my forgetting of Miyu, I forgot comparisons to Skullman! I'll differentiate them.

 

I know it's too typical, I'm bringing in the new characters later. Now I've got to polish to a sheen if I'm gettin' reviewed!

[NewtonAH]

II. Purpose with a side of Mario Brothers

 

“So I heard Magicman’s op runs the freak shop now.” Mayl asked half-heartedly.

 

“Yep. He actually beat Megaman today!” Lan’s face froze up as the implication of defeat hit him.

 

“You’re getting sloppy, Lan!” Mayl joked.

 

“Yeah… every since I got my priorities straight for once in my life… If I’m going to be the third Hikari programming god, I can’t just dump my homework anymore! If another disaster were to strike, again, I not the one to save the world!”

 

“Lan, you don’t have to be the hero again if you can’t help it! I just thought it was funny! ...Don’t take a joke so personally, geez, I’m just watching your back like always.”

 

“Mothering me, you mean. Like five years ago? You don’t have the right-!”

 

“Mothering?” Mayl got defensive. “It’s called helping each other, you know, what friends do?”

 

Both their navis cut them off.

 

“Megaman! What’d you do that for?”

 

“It’s a useless fight, Lan! You overreacted and she is just doing what she’s been doing since you met! You know better than anyone you can’t change the latter!”

 

“Strange, how my 10-year old brother knows so much about my relationships…” Lan looked down at the program on the PET screen. While Megaman physically remained ten, he had quickly proven smarter than he was at that age. Now, Lan was more thankful than ever that his navi had wisdom beyond his years. “Thanks. I hope Roll will be as civil as you just were.”

 

“She’s a navi, not an angsty teenage girl. She will be... I hope.” Megaman continued.

 

Lan jacked his now-recovered navi into the net. Megaman headed to the ACDC square, a virus free trip, thanks to the Colonel program. The usual crowd had gathered, townsfolk navis. A familiar standard model approached.

 

“Mr. Mega, how thing’s been?”

 

“Homer, Homer, Homer. Why are you still talking to me?” Mega remembered the guy; he had scammed Lan into an audio book pre-order.

 

“I know, I know, but I’ve got an idea here-”

 

“Which is?”

 

“Movie piracy!”

 

Mega man sat there for a second. Should he walk away, chastise the guy, or what? He decided on walking away.

 

The promised background change had already gone into effect. The message boards were empty. Leaving for the net again, a new data stream had began to flow; it had attracted a crowd. He walked over and stuck his hand in the torrent. The new data flowed across his arm into the yellow stripe on his right hand, and it was emailed to Lan.

 

“I’ve done this, and that, and now I’m bored.” He pondered.

 

A reoccurring thought returned to the navi- albeit an obvious one. Purpose. Navi’s were meant to serve humans, but even in this network age, they never needed 24-hour stimulus. What do navi’s do then? Sleep mode? He had never sympathized with Bass, he had a problem with the human service thing- Mega’s was with the in between. Without viruses to bust, things only got even more dull. Finding the latest news and gossip, the new PET apps, and other stuff was not entertaining to a navi unless they made it a point to like it.

 

“If a navi can sacrifice himself, to go against the wish of their operator in a life and death situation, what makes them anything less than little humans? …If navis are give a soul, then there isn’t a difference. What I did to Hub was a mistake.”

 

Lan had told him at some point after his reprogramming about Dad’s little treatise there. Whilst he knew the disavowing of his existence was just said in grief, his line about “little humans” had haunted him for years, especially with his own human DNA, somehow encoded. They had asked Dad about the theory, but even for networking student Lan, it was just too much.

 

“We have the minds of humans, yet we’re more like butlers… and I don’t want to be like Glide!” Mega continued to mouth to himself.

 

Why was all this coming to him now? Well, because he was bored and realizing the relatively few things he could do with himself, but more generally. It could not be that other navis do not think. The message boards too often had topics that melted into wordy, philosophical, occasionally nihilistic exchanges, from human and navi, not fit for them; that made everyone who posted depressed for the rest of the day. Then it came to him- virus busting. It had kept him spirited, busy, given him something to eventually look forward to. His saving the world six times only amplified his love of a good epic battle. He remembered conversations he had had on the subject of boredom:

 

Yugoslavian_Rhino- “All we do is slave away, there’s nothing made just for us. What do we have to look forward to?”

 

Blue Bomber- “If we were just like humans, we’d have all their problems, just read history.”

 

Yugoslavian_Rhino- “Even so, life is boring for us; humans have all these opportunities, whilst we just get fancy servers! That’s all the Squares are! We aren’t treated as a race, we’re treated as tools! I don’t care if we technically are, why did they make us like this?”

 

He could not remember his response, but it was naïve, it was wary. It wanted to avoid the taboo of saying humans were not just fallible, but a problem. Perhaps THE problem. There was line in his thinking, that he had drawn so well in countering Bass’ power-hungriness, that to cross would lead to depression, that he would not cross. He had seen that for years, and still had not crossed that line, but he realized that even though he was more fulfilled world-saving, it put him in a bubble of sorts.

 

A lighting bolt came down on him.

 

“Ahh! Wait, what?” A Remobit-rod hovered over him. The fake virus that accompanied it stared blankly back at him.

 

“You were thinking too heavy again, thought I’d snap you out of it.” Lan’s voice came in through his helmet. “I just got the update that Gut’s is online, go see him.”

 

“You don’t have to tell me, I’d do it anyway!”

 

He ran across the di-colored main street, up the crystalline stairs, through the network arrow, and looked around. Gutsman was running a game in one hand and uploading from a data stream in another. The guy had made a point to prove he was not “Neanderthal-man” lately, and he was doing a pretty good job of it.

 

“Guts, whatcha running?” Mega bolted down to data stream.

 

“Super Mario Brothers. It’s easier than I remember.” He smiled. He was not actually touching anything, a screen was projecting out of his palm.

 

“Are you sure you’re not on world 1-1- World 6-3 and you’re having no problems, what-are-you-on-and-where-can-I-get-it?”

 

“Don’t have a cow, (Mega) Man! Dex has no life, remember?”

 

“Oh yeah.”

 

“All the great politicians are C students” he always says. It’s a load a Mettaur crap, but I’m not the one whose gonna change him.” Guts paused and stopped the game. “So, about that fight with Yahoot-”

 

“You got new chips, are concerned about my psyche, and want see if I can still kick your butt with four chips? You’re on.”

 

“I was going to comment on the shrunken heads, but that works too!” The bulky navi gave him nudge.

 

Gutsman redirected them to Dex’s homepage. The background was currently a kaleidoscopic chain of nachos and cheese. Lan had always wondered why Dex had chosen to pursue politics when he was such an original graphic designer.

 

“Lan, what happened there?” Dex’s face came on a monitor next to Gutsman. His Mohawk remained, but as he had become taller in middle school, his face had lost its infantile pudginess. His enormous lips looked almost respectable now.

 

“A couple bad moves and a year of rustiness, can we just netbattle?”

 

“Oww. Yeah.”

 

Dex began with an electric aura chip. Lan loaded a condor, sending his navi rushing into the brute, breaking the aura and throwing them both into a heap. Gutsman crushed Mega, Dex promptly loading an Iron Body chip to squeeze the bytes out of him. Lan countered with Hot Body, which loosened Guts’ grip long enough to slip out. His enemy appearing frozen, Lan loaded a hammer chip, intending to let his navi swing the poor guy around like a baseball, when Guts suddenly recovered and brought Guts Hammer, coupled with Rock Arm, down on him.

 

“Geez!!! One hit wonder, much!”

 

“I’m loading a Full Energy; we’re not falling for that again.”

 

The teen’s apartment window glistened with the city lights, and with weak lights on the deck revealing the grim on the edge of the window. He typed feverishly, his fingers had long-since started straining. A large man opened his door and peered in.

 

“Stu, get to sleep, it’s 10! I already told you we would have Haze look for Mega Man tomorrow!”

 

“Thanks, Mickey.”

 

“Do you really think we’re going to need their help?”

 

“Oh,” Stu moaned as he got up. “It makes sense to have those two know about it, right? They would do something about it anyway.”

 

Mickey left him alone.

[Weather Report - Stand]

Hm. I like it! You took a lot of things I suggested to heart.

 

You used Dex!

You made him talk!

And Guts Man!

You spaced out the names!

It's funny!

Mega Man gets bored!

 

It's a lot better than the first chapter even if it didn't use Freeze Man. And you added a bunch of hilarious details in the chapter!

 

But you mentioned 'mettaur crap'. CAN they MAKE crap?

[NewtonAH]

I know I don't have to respond to every post in these things (Unless it's thank yous), but... I don't know about the mettaur crap.

[NewtonAH]

The Sun did not greet Stewart, it had risen before him. It usually did. Stretching out, intentionally falling onto the floor, he mused his gratitude that his school week had ended early. Despite his not having to clean himself up for the first half of the first day of the weekend, he showered, shaved, and moved his prematurely-receding blonde hair into line anyway. He saw the emblem of his navi on the task bar of his enormous monitor, signifying he had already gotten to work. He sat down in his spinning chair.

 

“You have that history project to do, I believe?” The navi asked.

 

“Yes, yes.” He kept stretching, moving into a strange position where his head nearly fell off the chair and his legs kept haphazardly straight. “What are you doing?”

 

“Playing Megaman.”

 

“The game where Wily actually built robots and Megaman was upgraded to stop him?”

 

“Yup. It’s hard.”

 

Stu began typing. He opened the menu and opened the paper portion of his project. He had his information and his thesis, now he just had to write it all down. If only it were the easy part!

 

Saint kept playing Megaman. He was a humanoid navi, with a history of revision. When Stu was first given the gift of a custom navi, he wanted an angel; but was immediately put off by how generic a path he could take there. Despite having it, he did not like blonde hair, and wings of any kind would be overkill. He decided instead on a “saint”, humble and pious, yet with the flair of the secret societies of old, like the Templars… without the actual conspiracy-laden duty. Saint wore a small hood, his face shown through it, and a monk’s robe ironed into his body (skintight, in other words). He scowled as the bottomless pits of Gutsman’s stage took another life.

 

An e-mail icon appeared, Stu clicked it:

 

“It seems Banditman tried to steal chip data, most notably the Life Aura, from a shop in Den City. Lan Hikari just happened to be there. They drove him off empty-handed.”

 

“Well at least he knows now, that’ll save a lot of discussion time.” Stu muttered. “Now this could become another WWW panic.”

 

“But there’s no WWW-”

 

“I mean with the disaster!!” Stu pouted. “The “Oh, there’s nowhere to hide, the world is doomed!” I hate it! I thought after Alpha disappeared we would see some peace! But then Duo had to come, and I started timing when we’d have another apocalypse, and I was right! What kind of existence is that, that you can predict the “End of the world” every time?!”

 

“Whoa, Stu-”

 

“This won’t get out. I can’t let it get out, I’m not going to start another incident! I will find that damned virus’ source and burn the server that houses it!”

 

He saved and closed his document.

 

“Great, now I can’t work on History.”

 

“Stu- STU!” His operator motioned to leave, so Saint demanded. “We’ll find him, okay?”

 

“Okay.” Stu left.

 

Banditman’s data recompressed itself as he settled into the network. His colleagues all turned to stare. He raised his three-fingered hands into the air, stared back with his yellow dots for eyes, and turned around on his three-toed feet.

 

“League of Villains Protocol #1:” Trap, a flytrap virus-turned-navi with spider legs, asked cynically. “We have to ask if you succeeded.”

 

“We didn’t exactly choose to be a league of villains, Trap.”

 

“It’s still cliché. If we’re going be a league of villains, we have to act like a league of villains. Answer the question.” Trap was enjoying himself and wanted everyone to know it.

 

“Megaman and some friends just happened to be there, and I was thwarted.”

 

“Protocol #2: I must chastise you.” You sir, fail. Protocol #3: We must devise a punishment for failure.” Trap looked behind him to the space navi Depthman.

 

“Already told you we aren’t doing punishments for failure.” Depthman, with a black jumpsuit (comparable to Laser Man) and a compact, light-repelling space helmet, answered.

 

“You’re no fun anymore. “Protocol #4: Find out what went wrong.” Trap looked behind him again, looking for any takers of Protocol #4.

 

“Megaman- nuff said.” Answered virus-turned-navi Voltman.

 

“Protocol #5: We decide who will be the next villain of the day.”

 

“I’ll do the next job (Albeit I don’t know what the next job is)… but now we need to move.” The obligatory lady navi, Toxis, with a young woman’s face, a flowing gown, and a total purple coloring answered. “Are you getting better?”

 

“Yes… Let’s go now…” The Program responded. Voltman jacked him out.

 

“It’s begging the question, but we can’t have Megaman get involved-” Depthman told Banditman. “I think I’ll send Revivalman after him. We’d better start hacking the directory and find Lan’s Homepage.

 

Banditman grabbed the flaming pyre that Revivalman usually reverted to.