Upgrade- AA[G{K+9} very small X8, BN5 & Stream spoilers]

[Mega Man.EXE]

This chapter was fantastic! I laughed at the Shopro and pyre quips. The viral fusion system is a very interesting one and I hope it developes well as the story progresses. This was one of your best and most action packed chapters yet! Keep up the great work^_^
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[TheWebbuilder]

Zodiac, I see now, it was a reference to Mega. Harry is the hardest of all the viruses to fuse because he has an actual personality (Yes, I know Treble has one, but its the personality of a loyal dog so it doesn't count). Just needed to vent. But yes, he should keep the arrow.

Mega Man.EXE, I shall seriously attempt. And I think this is a much better rendition of the whole Wily-being-a-robot concept than the last version was.

Begin Chapter.

Eugene smiled.

Flexing his muscles, he working his arm about in a circular motion. It felt so good to be out of that blasted cast!

The raven-haired Netbattler continued to work his arm about, getting used to having full range of motion again. As he did so, his mind wandered back over the events of the past few months. After they had freed Hub’s parents, it had taken both Mr. Hikari and Dr. Hikari to keep his dad from grounding them for a month. Not only had he helped Hub and May go to the Under Net; he’d done so behind his father’s back. But thanks to the two adults, he had got off fairly lightly, punishment-wise.

But that had been a little over a month ago, and since then, this Com organization had been quiet- way too quiet.

It was almost like they were waiting for something…

Eugene shoved those thoughts away as he scooped up his Sub-P.E.T. He didn’t want to dwell on such matters on a Saturday like this. Today the first item of business was to get down to the Net Arcade with Yani and reclaim his status as one of the best Netbattlers on the circuit.

10101010101010101010101

“So, what do you have?” Lan walked over to Chaud’s desk and peered over the Official’s shoulder.

“Not a whole lot, but what I do have is interesting to say the least.” The double-haired man replied as he keyed in a few commands on his keyboard. “Look at this.”

Lan’s eyes followed Chaud’s instructions to land on a picture of a portrait resting on the computer screen.

What he saw in that portrait rocked him to his very core.

“No… way.” The brunette desperately wished that his eyes were deceiving him. “You mean to tell me that… I’d never dreamed… where did you find this?”

“To be honest, we lucked out.” Chaud explained, “One of the guys at the lab was at an auction, happened to see this, thought you’d be interested, and bought it.”

“Talk about an unlucky break.” Lan raked his fingers through his brown hair. “I just never imagined… I mean, I knew from the start, but…”

“I know,” The Official nodded his understanding, “We never dreamed that Regal had a child-.”

“Before we jump into that, do we even know that this is real?” The Netbattler raised his point. “For all we know it could be somebody’s idea of a hoax.”

“Lan, look at the picture. It matches in each and every detail.”

“But that’s just circumstantial evidence.”

“Fairly good sized evidence.” Chaud shot back; “I can see your point. We do need to verify this before we proceed, so, whom do we know that would know?”

“Somebody from the old Nebula Syndicate.” Lan sighed in defeat. “And then there’s Wily himself, but he’s dead as a doorknob right now.”

“Wait a moment…” The Official held up his hand to keep Lan from making any more comments.

The Netbattler knew that look on Chaud’s face very well, and past experience told him to keep his mouth shut while Chaud’s mind went to work.

“Maybe Wily still can tell us.” The double-haired man muttered, “Or Regal can…”

Lan couldn’t help himself. “Chaud, Wily’s dead; Regal’s dead. Sheesh, half of the WWW’s gone; and the few that are left barely have any of their wits about them. Yahoot died during the Red Alert Incident. Match is MIA, Zap’s currently a resident of the assisted living facility in Netopia, and Maddy’s just plain loco. Don’t even bring up the Neo-WWW.”

“I wasn’t thinking about them.” Satisfied with his idea, Chaud finally shared it. “I was thinking about all of Regal’s computers. He put everything on those hard drives, who’s to say that he didn’t list his children.”

“Now you’re just grasping at straws.” The brunette sighed. “The tech boys have been all over those hard drives a million times. And you’re just going to sit down there and find something that they’ve missed all these years?”

“That, my friend, is your problem.” Chaud stood and headed towards the doorway. “You tend to write things off to fast. Trust me, I wouldn’t be proposing this if I weren’t certain that it would work.”

10101010101010101010101010

“I’ve got you now!” The massive Net Navigator leveled his cannon and fired. His shot ripped away and slammed into the ground, inches away from a familiar red and white Net Navigator.

“Humph, you’ll have to do better than that, CannonMan.” BreakMan smiled confidently at his opponent.

“Oh sure, like your Sword Deck will defeat me.” CannonMan leveled his Buster and shot back, verbally and physically. “Everyone knows that Sword Decks are powerful, but have short range, my long range cannons will clobber you!”

BreakMan didn’t reply, he merely leapt away from the energy flying towards him. If this guy knew the various available decks half as well as he claimed he did, then the Raider would be worried.

But since CannonMan didn’t, BreakMan wasn’t even breaking a sweat.

“Let’s take him out.”

“You got it,” Yani slapped a Card through her P.E.T., “Prism Blade, Battle Card Scan, Activate!”

“Now this will help you see the light!” The Raider couldn’t resist the quip as a gold hilt holding a white blade burst into existence about his wrist.

“I’m not worried,” CannonMan muttered, “My Dream Aura will protect me!”

As the cannoned Navigator spoke, a clear, transparent misty appeared about him. CannonMan smirked from behind his protective barrier, daring his opponent to just try and get him.

“If you insist!” The Raider’s arm snapped about, his sword cutting an arc in the air before him. Out of his blade, five colored rays of light exploded and raced across the Network towards his opponent.

CannonMan’s smirk vanished with a whimper, as the light easily passed through his defense and slammed into him. As his barrier vanished, the force of the blow sent the cannoned Navigator flying backward through the air.

“Next time, know your cards better!” BreakMan snorted, “The Prism Blade dspecializes in bypassing barriers."

“Now, Chain Sword, Area Steal, Battle Cards Scan, Activate!”

BreakMan took a running leap through the air, as his Prism Blade vanished. In its place, a brown horned hilt materialized with a gray blade locking into place, the next second, a green chain had appeared about the blade, and began spinning similar to a chainsaw.

The Raider lifted the sword as his other chip took effect. Using the Area Steal, he ‘blinked’ away, teleporting to any spot on the field that he chose.

And the spot he had picked was right behind the flying CannonMan.

“Time to saw this shotgun!” BreakMan’s arm lashed out; hitting his target as the cannoned Navigator flew past him.

With a moan, CannonMan logged out. His frame transformed into the words: Log Out, and then he vanished from sight.

“No doubt about it.” The red Navigator smiled to his Op, “We’ve still got it. Who’s next?”

10101010101010101010101010

Lan watched Chaud’s fingers fly over the keyboard. He still didn’t understand what they were doing here. The tech boys had been over this computer system a million times, and they hadn’t found a thing; so what did Chaud hope to accomplish?

Couldn’t the Official just leave the past alone?

“I’ve always wondered about this…” The double-haired man commented as he continued to pour commands into his PC. “All over Regal’s computers, there are lines of code that don’t pertain to any program of document at all. They’re just there.”

“And that helps us how?”

“Up to now, we’ve always assumed that it was just data fragments of overwritten files.” Chaud punched in another key. “But now I’m starting to wonder if it really is…”

“You’re putting all that data together in one file?”

“And then running it.” The Official pushed one final key. “And let’s see what we’ve got…”

Lan looked over his companion’s shoulder, as the codes came together and merged into a new file. It took him a split second to what it was. “Data files? You mean that Regal really did hide something on these systems that we overlooked?”

“Apparently.” Examining the files, Chaud gave his prognosis, “I think I can put the file to use, I just have to figure out how to run it… done.”

“That was fast.”

“Years of practice.”

“Oh.”

Chaud hastily reassembled the data, putting it into a form that they could use. Minutes passed, and finally they were able to read the new file.

“120 989?” Lan stared at the numbers on the screen, what under the sun did that mess mean? “343210, 903?”

“We solved one puzzle.” Chaud muttered in frustration, “But created another.”

“Yeah, what’s that mean?” The brunette agreed. And more importantly, did he really want to know?

End Chapter.

Yeah, my computer knowledge is limited. I specialize in HTML, not data coding, so I hope that's acceptable.
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[TheWebbuilder]

O.K., so I got ahead of myself in the last A. N.'s...

Begin Chapter!

“About time!”

“Cool it, Sparks.” Ace shot his companion a look, as he continued to rest his back against the wall. “Getting heated won’t help matters at all.”

“I’m just tired of spinning my wheels.” The fiery battler grumbled, “Com’s left us hanging for months; and now they suddenly need our help again. Why should we stick with this sorry organization?”

“I could care less about the organization.” Misty shot one of bored glances around the room. “Just so long as the action’s good.”

“Look, we’re lucky that Wily even let us come back here.” Voicing his opinion, Terry Watt silenced his friends. “After our failures, we don’t even deserve to be a member of this syndicate. So put a sock in it!”

Their voices fell silent as the doors on the opposite side of the room parted, to reveal their leader, the intrepid Mr. Wily.

“Mr. Wily!” The four Com agents hastily snapped to attention.

Without a single word, the aged scientist took a hesitant step forward…

And a loud crash echoed through the air as Wily crashed to the floor in a heap.

Immediately, Terry shot across the room towards his employer. “Wily! Are you all right?”

A new voice shot through the air, bringing the electrical Op to a screeching stop.

“Oh, he’s quite fine.” The voice flooded the area, “Never been better.”

“What the-!” His head snapping about in an effort to find the speaker, Sparks’s temper flared. “Show yourself!”

“Very well…” The owner of the voice stepped through the doorway, causing everyone to look in shocked awe.

The speaker was a female, about twenty-one years of age. She was dressed conservatively, with black shoes and blue jeans. A dark pink sweater completed her outfit, and offset her black hair and ice blue eyes.

“You- you’re a kid- a girl!” Sparks voiced the obvious.

“Brilliant, Einstein.” The girl strode into the room and plunked herself down on Wily’s vacant throne. “Of course I’m female. And I’m also the head of this organization, Com.”

“Wait a moment.” His bravado returning, Terry stood up to this newcomer. “You’re not just waltzing in and taking over, I’ll defend Wily to my last breath!”

“Even if Wily never existed?” The girl snapped, causing everyone to take a good look at the old leader. “Face the facts, or has your mind blown a circuit? That doohickey is nothing more than a robot. I created that thing to impersonate Wily and gather you together. It is time to reveal the true purpose behind Com.”

“And what’s that?” Sparks exploded, “I don’t appreciate being lied to!”

“Simmer down.” Restraining the hothead with his voice, Ace calmed the renegade. “Let the lady finish.”

“As I was saying, I needed to gather a following to assist me in my goals.” The girl continued, “And you four are that following. Long ago, my grandfather tried to set the world right, but he failed. I am going to continue his work, we must seize control of the world to put things correct, and to do so we shall rule the Internet.”

“World domination, eh?” The hothead calmed himself, “I could get into that, but one thing bugs me. Who are you?”

“My name,” The raven-haired woman’s piercing gaze landed on the redhead. “Is Royelle Regal …”

1010101010101010101010101010101010

Hub glanced at his tray as he headed down the rows of tables. Today was Friday, that meant that the school cafeteria was serving chilidogs…

Lost in thought, the redhead threaded his way between the tables. Today hadn’t been that bad, of course, since this was the last week of school, it couldn’t be that bad. Thanks to May’s help, he had pulled his struggling History and Science grades up to a sparkling 87; and his Programming and Net Surfing grades were always in the triple digit range. So this had turned out to be a very good year for him.

With a sigh of relief, the redhead plunked himself down on his seat at the table, directly across from his sister.

“What a day.” May commented, “If they cram any more last-minute information down our throats, I’m going to scream.”

“If you said what I think you said,” Hub called over the perpetual noise of the cafeteria, “Then I agree.”

The brunette girl paused and glanced at her brother.

“How’s your hearing?”

“…” Hub’s reply didn’t come immediately; instead he concentrated for several seconds before replying. “Bad… It’s plunged a lot over the past few months, right now I’m reading your lips more than I’m hearing you.”

“You are?” May unconsciously exaggerated her mouth motions. “I… suspected but wasn’t sure. Its hard to believe how fast you learned to do that; you picked up in months what takes most people a year to learn.”

“Yeah, guess I’m lucky. But don’t overdo it, it makes it hard on me.” Hub picked at his plate. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this a secret; Eugene, Tony, and Lana are already starting to suspect something…”

“Hub, you really should tell them. They have a right to know, and keeping this a secret is hurting our friendship.”

“I know…” The hearing-impaired boy glanced around… “I’ll tell them as soon as school’s out.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room.

“See? He walked right by us.” Lana stared at the Hikari boy across the room. “Its like he didn’t even hear us.

“It is a little loud in here.” Tony shot a look at his red-haired friend. “I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t. And don’t worry, Lana, he likes you, I can tell.”

“What? No, I didn’t mean-” The blonde sighed and placed her head in her hands. “What gave that away?”

“The fact that you glomp him whenever you meet in the ‘Net.” Tony rolled his eyes. “You swoon whenever you hear his name, the way you stare at him in Net History. Need I continue?”

“Tony!” Lana glared daggers at her friend. “Enough, O.K.?”

“Yeah sure, just don’t get your emotions in a twist.”

Deciding that he had pushed it far enough, the blue-eyed kid decided to change the subject. “Hey, it’s been a while since you were down at Chat Central. Why don’t I let you have the P.E.T. tonight, that way you can go catch up with your friends.”

“I don’t know, you’ve got that practice tonight.” Lana turned the idea over in her mind. “And I don’t know how I feel about being in the Net without an Op. I just wish that there were a way you could get into the Net as well. Haven’t you ever wondered what it was like?”

“At times,” Tony shrugged, “But I prefer the real world to be honest, I went to the digital world a few times back in Netopia, never really got into it. So I’m pretty content. About tonight, what’s the worst that can happen?”

“Well… I guess. I haven’t been down there in the past month, so I’ll take the P.E.T. tonight.”

101010101010101010101010101010101

“So, what is this that you wanted to tell us?” Eugene’s eyes swept over his companions, Yani, Lana, Tony, May, and Hub. The redheaded kid had called them all together at the schoolyard saying that he had something important to tell them.

“Guys, this is hard for me.” Hub seated himself on the stone wall running around the school. As he spoke, his eyes dropped to the ground in shame. “But… I’ve been keeping a secret from you. And I’ve been keeping it too long, you guys have a right to know this…”

Everyone remained silent as they waited for him to continue.

“But the truth is,” Hub kept his gaze pointed downward, “I’ve lost most of my hearing, in other words, I’m almost completely deaf.”

A collective gasp shot from his friends.

“So, that explains it.” Eugene thought aloud, “I wondered why your voice kept going monotone at times.”

“And that’s why you never responded when we called to you.” Lana stared at her friend, why hadn’t he told them? Didn't he want them to be there for him? "Hub, I-"

Before she could finish his statement, Yani snapped; her disgust and temper flared to life. Her reason drowned out by her more self-centered side, she lashed out at the redhead. “You mean to tell me that you’re a weirdo?”

“Yani!” Eugene shot an angry look at his sister; sometimes she could be such a jerk.

“Yani, calm down-” Tony’s response died in his throat as the rich girl continued her tirade.

“He’s turning into a disabled kid and he didn’t tell us?” Yani shrieked, “I can’t take this! I can’t be known as someone who hangs around with retards. Which is where he’s headed! Hub, as of now, it’s over. Sorry, but good bye!”

Hub’s spirit shattered as he watched the blond storm away in anger. This was exactly what he’d been afraid of.

An awkward silence fell on the group; no one was really quite sure what to say after that little bit of drama.

Finally, the raven-haired Netbattler broke the silence.

“Hub, I- She didn’t mean it.”

“I know…” The redhead continued to stare at the ground. “But I don’t blame her, it’s just her nature.”

“Listen- I’m going to talk to her; maybe I can get her to see the light.” Eugene stepped forward and took Hub’s hand, forcing the Hikari boy to look him in the face. “Hub, good luck.”

“Thanks.”

With that, the raven-haired youth turned to storm off after his sister, it was way past time for them to have a little chat.

“Hub, I’m sorry that this is happening to you.” Lana stepped forward and placed her arm around her friend’s shoulder, not as a sign of affection, but compassion. “I’m sorry that you can’t hear.”

“I still can.” Hub slowly looked up, “At least a little. The problem is that I’ve lost my ability to distinguish between one sound and another. If there’s a lot of noise in the area, I can’t tell the sounds apart; but if it’s pretty quiet, like right now, then I can hear you.”

“I see, but don’t worry, the rest of us won’t leave you over this. You’re Hub, and we like you because you are Hub.”

EDIT: Section removed. :D

End Chapter!

Next: Hidden motives...
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[Hikari Angel]

yours story is going great, it just i think you put the same section in twice.

keep it up!
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"To give ourselves, and never count the cost of other's greater needs."

[Megawoman.EXE]

Yeah I think Hikari Angel is right. You did post a section twice. Good chapter though. I really liked the fact that you had Hub tell his friends finally. Keep up the good work.
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"NetAngel Style Change Activate"
Megawoman (Lyne)

Avatar made by Serenade.exe

And feel free to post here too artists if inspired
Lan and Lyne Art Thread

[Lido Azn Girl]

Yes! I finally caught up! :D

[TheWebbuilder]

Lido Azn Girl, I see your point. I'll fix that later when I have more time.

Begin Chapter!!

Eugene rushed down the streets of Den Tech City. His annoyance was already turning into low-level anger, how could Yani, his sister, just dump Hub when he needed them most? It was about the lowest thing that she could do.

Well, maybe not the lowest, but it was certainly in the top ten.

The raven-haired youth flew up the driveway towards his house. He knew exactly where his pain of a sister was hiding.

The door rammed into the adjoining wall as Eugene’s hand crashed into.

It was then that he realized how tense he was, and that he had to calm down if he was going to have any chance of talking some sense into his little sister. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he proceeded to head to the stairs and begin climbing them. His sister’s room was on the second floor, and that was exactly where he needed to go.

When he reached the doorway, he paused to collect his thoughts and self-control. Then he reached out and pounded his fist on the doorway. “Yani! It’s me, open up!”

The raven-haired kid paused, his ears detecting footfalls coming from the other side of the door. After a second, he heard the lock click, and then the door swung open a crack.

“Yes?” Yani looked out.

“You know why I’m here. Why did you stab Hub in the back like that?”

“Eugene, you wouldn’t understand, let’s just leave that issue alone? O.K.?”

Yani tried to swing the door shut, only to have it stop short by about three inches. Sensing that something was blocking the door at the base, she looked down- to see Eugene’s foot lodged firmly in the doorway.

“Not O.K.,” The raven-haired Netbattler disagreed, “Yani, the last thing that Hub needed right now was for you to drop him like he’s an out-of-date CD player. He needs his friends, and you slapped him in the face over that.”

“I told you, you wouldn’t understand why I did that.”

“Try me.”

For a long moment, Yani stared at her brother in a contest to see who would crack first. Eugene stared back, his gray eyes locking against her blue ones.

The two glared at each other, each waiting to see who would give up first- until Yani cracked.

“All right,” The blonde sighed in defeat; “I’ve been trying to get into Marcia’s ring of friends for some time now-”

“You mean, ring of gossips and back stabbers.”

“And yesterday she invited me to this bash she’s throwing at Mystique’s. It’s my chance to get in with the popular girls! This could be my chance, Eugene, but I won’t get into their circle if I’m friends with some retard.”

“First off, Marcie and her lot are not friends, they’re stuck up gossips and spoiled brats.” Eugene lashed out, demolishing his sister’s logic. “Second, Hub’s been a true friend to you all these years, and then when he needs you, you dump him and insult him. Third, Hub is not a retard just because he’s loosing his hearing!”

“I know that…” Yani danced away from her brother’s objections, “But they don’t, maybe if I go I can change their minds. So, I’ll be seeing you, good night!”

The blonde’s foot lashed out, connecting solidly with her brother’s shin. As Eugene reflexively drew his leg back, out of the doorway, Yani slammed it shut in his face.

“Brat.” The raven-haired boy hurled one last insult at the doorway. “I’m ashamed to have any relation to you.”

101010101010101010101010101

Lan sat at his office, staring at that list of numbers that has been recovered from Regal’s computer systems. The team had been working on those numbers for the past month in an effort to crack the code, but so far they’d had no luck.

Sighing, he turned back to his P.E.T. “Any luck MegaMan?”

The Bomber glanced up from his work. “See previous answer.”

“Didn’t think so.”

“Lan,” The Blue Navi turned away from the code-breaking program and faced his companion. “You knew that this was a possibility.”

“I know, I’d always suspected that Regal had offspring.” The brunette shook his head, “But I don’t think we have any right to go dredging that up. Odds are that she doesn’t even know that she’s related to that nutcase, so why should we track her down and make her life miserable just because she’s related to some guy she’s never met?”

101010101010101010101010101

“So, we about ready?” Terry looked over his companion’s shoulder.

“Yup, that bug Royelle placed in the system is making this a breeze.” Sparks sneered as his fingers flew over his P.E.T.’s screen, “In just a few moments we’ll be in the mainframe and ready to carry this out. I wonder what all-them lofty upper-class people will think when we show up at their party… By the way, how’s our little surprise for the blue boy coming along? And it will stand up to his little Fusion trick right?”

“Relax, he when he fuses, it gives him an Ice Attribute.” The electrical Com agent replied, “My little pet project will rip him to shreds, and if he even tries to fuse, he’ll just be hanging himself on his own rope.”

“Don’t diss that Viral Fusion thing he uses, it’s a lot more powerful than it looks.”

“You would know.”

101010101010101010101010101

As the elevator came to a stop, Yani hastily checked herself over one last time. Her dress was straight, her hair in perfect condition…

The doors slid open, revealing an elegant dining room that had been styled to resemble a ballroom. Hesitantly, the blonde stepped out of the elevator and entered the room.

Almost immediately, a tall, rail-thin girl with black hair and hazel eyes appeared before her.

“Yani! You made it, I was beginning to think that you weren’t coming.” The girl commented.

“I’m sorry, Marcia,” Yani addressed the newcomer, “But my brother held me up, you know how annoying they can be.”

“So true, come. I want to introduce you to the others, by the way, did you know that George has an attraction to May Hikari?”

“No…” Her eyes widening as she followed Marcia across the ballroom, Yani expressed her surprise at this ‘news’. “I’d never dreamed that he’d have a thing for her!”

“Its true, Janet caught him staring at her in Science yesterday. He’s practically gaga over her, imagine a track star like him falling for a plain-Jane like May! It’s unheard of! And…”

101010101010101010100101010

FlareMan’s flame-throwers died down as he looked at his work in satisfaction. Before him sealing off the Data Stream, a massive steel barrier had been set to keep intruders from going any farther.

They hadn’t counted on him, with a nod of approval he snapped his fist forward. His hand connected solidly with the weakened steel, causing a decent-sized piece to snap off and leave a hole behind.

“Not bad, huh?” The pyromaniac muttered. “Maybe I should have called myself WeldMan instead of FlareMan.”

“Just go.” ShockMan snapped, “We’re already running late as it is.”

“Right…” Grumbling incoherently, FlareMan slipped through his new entrance and rocketed on down the data stream.

A few seconds later, they reached the end of the trail, and found themselves inside of Mystique’s computer Network.

ShockMan glanced about in satisfaction. Aside from their tardiness, everything was going as planned, CryoGirl should have the E-mail well on its way by now. And Royelle should have the Net Police properly occupied with DeckMan.

In other words, it was time to put their plan into action.

Silently, the two outlaws made their way through the Network, over to a glowing purple portal. With silent determination, the two looked through it into the physical world beyond.

On the other side of the link, they could see four society girls, all of them dressed up in their selfish glory.

“Ready?”

“I’m ready.” Grinning, FlareMan made his reply. “Let’s do this!”

With that, the two thugs leapt through the portal, into the human world beyond.

101010101010101010101010101

“There we are.” Hub grinned in satisfaction as he keyed the final command into his Sub-P.E.T., “Finished! How ya feeling Swordie?”

The sword-type virus residing in his P.E.T. glanced around once or twice and then made a low rumble of a response.

“Glad to hear it. Now that you’re done, I’ve got all four of my projects done, Elebee, Treble, Harry and you. Speaking of which, you’re going to need a name aren’t you?”

The Swordie nodded in response.

“Hmm… let’s see…” Hub pondered his options. “How about Blade? It’s simple; trite but descriptive.”

“Rrrrrrr…” Nodding his approval, Blade rumbled his answer.

“M-hmm.” The redhead nodded. “AUGH!”

Something small and firm latched onto his shoulder, causing him to jump in his seat in fright. A split second later, he slumped back into his chair, his heart pounding a mile a minute.

“What are you trying to do?” Hub clutched his chest as he turned to find his sister giggling over him. “Give me a heart attack?”

After a few moments, May’s laughter subsided enough for her to answer. She signed her reply as she spoke her words. “I’m sorry, but you didn’t hear me when I called, so I just walked over and grabbed you.”

“There are better ways to get my attention.” The redhead signed back, his heartbeat beginning to slow, “A simple wave of your hand would have done.”

“Yeah, but that wouldn’t have been as fun.”

“So, you’d send me to an early grave just for a laugh,” Hub shook his head, “What kind of sister are you?”

“A caring, loving, considerate one.”

“I just had to ask.” Shaking his head, the redhead admitted defeat. “So, what’s up?”

“Well, Mom ran down to take care of some errands, Dad got called into SciLab.” May brought her brother up to speed, “And then there’s bad news and good news; bad news: Dad’s going to have to head out of town next week, he’s going to BrightLand.”

“Oh great,” Hub spoke sarcastically, “Well, I guess it was too good to last. I hate it that he has to leave over summer break though.”

“But that’s the good news.”

“That he’s leaving over summer break?”

“No, that because its summer break, he’s taking us with him!”

“He is?” Hub checked to make sure that he was reading his sister’s lips right.

“Yep, we leave next Tuesday.” May nodded back, “So you’d better get pack-”

Blinking and beeping wildly, their P.E.T. cut off the last of her sentence.

The brunette girl quickly unholstered the device. Her eyes registered shock as she read the incoming message. “Hub, we’ve got trouble, Eugene needs us to meet him across from Mystique ASAP. Uh oh, it’s about Yani-”

Her sentence died in her throat, as she realized that Hub already had his coat on and was racing out the door.
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[Hatsuya Kanzaki]

Who are those two creatures? May I use them? All of my MMBN-ish villans are a bunch of Anti-life dudes!
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Rockman.EXE Level-Up! coming soon! Work in progress to be exact!

[TheWebbuilder]

[Hatsuya Kanzaki]

I may share my characters to you...I'll let you have Gupta and Garolous. Garolous looks like Tyreal in Diablo II. He's one big hell of a SuperNet Navi.
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Rockman.EXE Level-Up! coming soon! Work in progress to be exact!

[TheWebbuilder]

I didn't intend to have any spoilers in this fic, but I'm running out of characters so I'll have to resort to it. So there will be a character featured from Stream, and X8. BUT the X8 character will have nothing in common with its counterpart except for its name. As towards the Stream character, I'll use her, but I'll try not to give any information away. Sorry, but I don't see any other choice.

Begin Chapter.

“So, what’s the big emergency?”

Eugene turned around as he heard Hub’s voice call out to him. He didn’t feel right about asking Hub for his help after the way Yani had turned on him, but he didn’t have any choice. He couldn’t get a hold of Tony or Lana, and he definitely wasn’t going to go at this alone. Since his dad was out at SciLab and couldn’t be reached, in short, it was either Hub or no one.

“Hub, May, I’m glad you came.” The raven-haired kid dropped his eyes to the sidewalk. “I was afraid you wouldn’t when you found out about this was about Yani…”

“Why wouldn’t we?” May shrugged, “She’s our friend, just like you are.”

“I don’t know what you said.” Hub shrugged in slight annoyance, “Could you look up by any chance? My hearings shot tonight, so I’m reading lips and I can’t see them if you’re looking at the sidewalk.”

“Sorry,” Eugene lifted his head, “This better?”

“Much.”

“So, why did you call us here?” May turned the topic back to its original purpose.

“I need your help.” The raven-haired kid admitted, “Yani’s inside with Marcia and her so-called friends, but I’m getting worried. She didn’t respond when I called on the Sub-P.E.T., and then I got this fragment of an E-mail saying ‘help’.”

Hub and May processed this information, each one drawing it to its logical conclusion.

“Have you tried calling her again?” The brunette of the bunch inquired.

“Yeah,” Eugene shrugged, “No answer.”

“So, I guess its time to crash the party.” Hub quipped, “I’ve always wondered what these rich girls talk about in their gossip sessions.”

“Thanks, guys, I really appreciate this.” Eugene expressed his thanks.

“Don’t mention it,” The redhead replied, “Let’s just go get her back.”

101010101010101010101010101010

Eugene knelt in front of the bookshelf, tracing it with his eyes… Something about this didn’t feel right.

After a long drawn out battle with the management, they had succeeded in gaining entrance into Maurice’s reserved ballroom. And when they had found it empty, they knew that something was wrong. So know they were scurrying about the room, frantically trying to find a clue as to why Yani had vanished off the face of the earth.

The raven-haired boy called over his shoulder, checking up on his companion’s progress. “Find anything?”

Hub’s faint hearing detected a garble of sounds. Not quite sure if he was hearing things, or if someone had called to him, he swallowed his pride, looked over his shoulder, and said: “Huh?”

Eugene turned slightly.

“Rd to go in the?”

Slightly surer of himself, Hub called back. “What? I can’t see your lips!”

The black-haired boy sat up and faced his friend. “For the third time, ‘did you find anything’?”

“Eugene, I can’t understand you if I can’t see your lips.” Hub reminded his friend, “I’m not trying to be a pain, but I need a little bit of cooperation here.”

“Sorry, I’ll try harder.”

“I’m trying too.” The redhead’s voice dropped slightly, although it still maintained its traces of monotone. Hub turned back around, concentrating on examining the walls for any clues. “But it’s not easy. And no, I didn’t find anything.”

“The windows are locked, and no one remembers seeing a fleet of party-girls leaving this room.” May called out, as she returned from interrogating the staff. “The management is pretty sure that someone’s playing a joke on us, and I’m beginning to think that he’s right.”

Eugene shook his head in disagreement. “Yani may be annoying, but she’d deliberately pull a hoax like this. At least, I don’t think that she would.”

The black-haired boy took a sharp breath, and then plunged into the notion that had been bugging him. “Hey, guys, come look at this.”

May nodded, then tapped her deaf brother on the back as she walked by him. Hub started and looked over his shoulder, to catch Eugene signaling to him. Realizing that he was needed, the redheaded boy stood and moved over to his friend.

Together, they looked over the bookcase.

“Wait a moment…” Hub traced the outline of the shelf with his eyes. Was it his imagination, or was there a faint purple outline around the piece of furniture? “I think I see what you’re getting at!”

“Hmm… I wonder… Hub, give me a hand.”

Nodding, the redheaded Hikari followed the raven-haired boy across the room to the bookcase. Each boy took one end of the shelf, and after nodding in unison; they picked it up and shoved the bookcase to one side, revealing the wall behind that shelf.

And in that wall rested the glowing purple doorway of an Internet Terminal.

“Bingo!” Eugene pumped his fist. “I thought so! Somehow, they put this bookcase here to cover their tracks.”

“Two questions,” May spoke up, “Who are ‘they’, and what did they do?”

Eugene and Hub looked at each other, each one waiting for the other to offer an explanation.

Finally, Hub broke the ice. “I guess there’s only one way to find out. Wherever Yani went, it wasn’t out through the hallway, and she definitely didn’t go out through the windows, so it had to be through this portal. We’ll have to go through it as well.”

“But Yani doesn’t have any Net Armor,” May pointed out the minor problem with Hub’s logic, “Surely she wouldn’t be stupid enough to go into the Net without it?”

“Maybe she used a generic Net Man- uh, Woman.” Eugene shrugged, “But Hub’s right, this is the only way she could have left the room. So we’ll have to go after her. May, you’ll have to Op for me, since I don’t have Yani around.”

“I suppose that I could,” The brunette pondered the suggestion, “I’ve never Op-ed for two at once before, so it might be a little tricky.”

Surrendering his P.E.T. Eugene nodded his thanks and then prepared for the next step. “Let’s go.”

“Two P.E.T.s in!”

“Engage Transmission Now!”

“MegaMan Trigger; BreakMan, Activate!”

MegaMan Trigger blinked as his eyes began to focus. Once he had adjusted, he glanced around taking in his new surroundings.

Almost immediately, he wished that he hadn’t. He and BreakMan were standing on a narrow platform, out in the midst of the Network. From that platform, four different walkways ran off from each of the four corners in different directions, and there was no way to tell which route Yani and her friends had taken.

Well, almost no way…

“This is great.” BreakMan glanced about in confusion, “How do we tell which way they went?”

“Its simple,” Trigger glanced skyward, signaling to May with his eyes. “We call out the bloodhound.”

“You mean Treble?”

“No, I mean the Easter Bunny.” Grinning sarcastically, the Bomber glanced at his companion. “May, send in Treble and Blade, I think we need to give him a workout.”

“You got it,” The brunette girl hastily connected the Sub-P.E.T., “Treble the Spikey; Blade the Swordie! Download!”

Two bursts of light, one blue and one green, exploded out of the sky, and slammed into the ground next to MegaMan Trigger and BreakMan. As the twin light streaks hit the floor, they dissolved away, revealing Treble and a Bamboo Swordie known as Blade.

“Great to see you, Treble!” Trigger rubbed his hand over the viral canine’s head. “O.K., I need your help, Yani’s in trouble, but we don’t know where she’s at. Think you can find her?”

The Spikey barked an affirmative, and then put his nose to work. With careful precision he started sniffing about the platform, trying to pick up the digital scent of Yani.

“Forget Yani,” BreakMan winced as a strong smell assaulted his nose, “We could follow the trail just by the massive amount of perfume in the air.”

“This is true.” Keeping his eyes on Trigger, MegaMan Trigger shrugged.

The Raider started, as he realized that Trigger had his back turned to him. If Hub were as deaf as he’d been acting lately, how did he know what was said?

“It’s the Internet.” The Bomber answered his companion’s unspoken query. “We don’t really know why, but as long as I’m in the ‘Net, I can hear normally.”

“Oh.”

Further discussion was cut off as Treble suddenly snapped upright and let off a long howl.

“Does that mean what I think it does?”

“If you’re thinking that he’s picked up the scent, then you’re right!” The Blue Bomber nodded, “Track them down, boy!”

The Spikey growled his understanding, and then rushed off down the left pathway. Right on his heels, Trigger and BreakMan were running after him with Blade bringing up the rear end.

As a group, they raced on down the walkway, each step taking them closer to what they hoped was Yani and her missing friends. They continued on in silence for several seconds, following Treble across the Internet.

As he ran, Trigger noted that they were heading in the general direction of Net City. If they didn’t change course soon, then they would soon find themselves on the city’s outer borders.

A fact that didn’t escape BreakMan’s attention.

“You noticed where we’re heading?” The Red Navigator called over to his companion.

“Yeah, Net City.” MegaMan Trigger shouted back. “But that doesn’t make sense. If the girls wanted to go to Net City, why all the secrecy? Why the note asking for help? And none of them would be foolish enough to try and enter the ‘Net without Net Armor, would they?”

“I don’t know, Trigger.” The swordsman pondered those questions; “It doesn’t make that much sense, does it?”

Before the Bomber could respond, he noticed that Blade was trying to get his attention. But since the Swordie could only talk in grumbles and grunts, that wasn’t an easy task. The Netbattler made a point to overhaul the virus’s speech programs in the very near future. But, for the moment, he wanted to know what the Swordie wanted. “What is it?”

A loud and long rumble came from the virus. And it only took a split second for Trigger to match that sound with its meaning.

Blade was sensing danger, lots of it.

“BreakMan!” Without breaking his stride, MegaMan Trigger formed his Buster and snatched his ally’s attention. “Get ready, something’s coming, I just don’t know what.”

“I’m ready for anything.” The Red Raider announced, as his default buster appeared.

Of course, by now the duo had reached the outskirts of Net City. And they were forced to slow to a stop as they came up to the walls of the Internet City.

Trigger paused for a moment and just gazed at the citadel, drinking in its raw beauty. Net City was huge, the place where all the Navigators could hang out and relax. Its pure white walls spanned the entire perimeter, sheltering the municipality and announcing its presence. Tall buildings poked over the walls, extending miles into the sky and giving the metropolis its own kind of asymmetrical beauty.

“Quite a sight isn’t it?” BreakMan stared at the citadel in awe.

“You’re telling me.” The Bomber agreed; a split second later he sobered. They had work to do. “Treble, where’s the trail go next?”

The viral canine whined, and then paced about in a small circle. As he whined again, Treble bounded over to the wall of Net City. The virus placed his large paws on the smooth surface and barked in confusion.

“The trail goes right through the wall?” MegaMan Trigger decoded the Spikey’s barks and whines, “How’s that possible?”

“Are you sure that he’s tracking her right?” Voicing his doubt, BreakMan folded his arms across his chest. “How do we know that he hasn’t messed up?”

“Hey, don’t doubt Treble, he’s always right.” The Bomber replied, “If he says that they walked through a solid firewall that’s fifty units thick, then they walked through a firewall that’s fifty units thick. The only question is, how?”

“Beats me.”

Throughout this exchange, Blade had hovered in to examine the firewall. The virus’s eyes flicked over the structure, examining each line, crevice and detail with minute precision.

Treble continued to whine in confusion, he couldn’t figure out why the trail ran into the wall. It just didn’t make any sense.

Trigger noticed Blade scanning the wall. “Hey, Blade, I almost forgot about you, what do you see?”

A beep and a buzz came from the Swordie’s throat, as it spoke in a language that only Trigger could understand.

“Really?” MegaMan Trigger’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’d never expected that.”

“O.K., you ready to clue me in here?” Puzzlement filling his voice, BreakMan rolled his eyes. “What’s Blade’s special ability?”

“I built Blade with the ability to analyze his opponents and discover weak spots.” The Bomber explained as he examined Net City’s firewall. “And according to Blade, part of this wall has been removed. Then it was loosely tacked back into place.”

“So they did come this way.” The Raided stared at the wall. “But why go to all this trouble?”

“Beats me but there’s only one way to find out.” Trigger’s eyes picked out the faint outline of a circle in the firewall; he was willing to bet that that was where the hole had been. “Let me have it May!”

“Laser Blast, Battle Card Scan, Activate!”

Instantly, a powered up cannon appeared about MegaMan Trigger’s right wrist. With a grunt, he fired. His shot exploded out of the gun, and ripped into the firewall.

BreakMan watched as a decent sized chunk of the barrier exploded into flying fragments.

The two allies nodded to each other, and then stepped through the hole. Treble and Blade followed their owner, entering Net City as well.

“Hey, May?” Trigger called back to his Op. “I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this, you’d probably better send Elebee as well.”

“Why don’t I just send Harry too?” May teased her brother. “Then you’ll have all four!”

“That’s not a bad idea, but right now I think we’ll just need Elebee.”

“If you say so, Elebee Download!”

MegaMan Trigger and BreakMan watched as a gray, black and yellow wasp-like virus appeared in the air before them. The Elebee buzzed and ‘zzzt-ed’ a few times, evidently getting used to its new surroundings.

“All right, Treble.” The Bomber turned to the viral canine. “Track her down!”

Treble’s reply never came.

In its place, a deafening explosion split the air. The noise instantly caught everyone’s attention, heads turned towards its source, and others immediately rushed towards the explosion in an effort to find out what had happened.

Trying to locate the interruption’s origins, Trigger’s head snapped around. His eyes flicked about, and then came to a stop on a massive plume of smoke rising into the air a few miles to the east.

“You see that?” The Raider pointed to the dark cloud tainting the air. “How much you want to bet that that’s where Yani is?”

“I don’t gamble,” MegaMan Trigger agreed, “But I think you might be right. Let’s go!”

Together, the two Navigators and trio of viruses set off down the streets of Net City, heading off towards the chaos.

End Chapter!

Next: A 'shocking' discovery.
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[TheWebbuilder]

Hmm... these chapters do look short on a 1024x768 monitor, I'll have to lengthen them.

Begin Chapter!


“Not bad, Elipso.” Royelle Regal leaned back on her throne, as she watched the devastation of Net City unfold on a nearby monitor. “Your upgrades are working perfectly.”

“Thank you, milady.”

“You can omit the chivalrous speech.” The raven-haired lady glared at the blond-haired, gray-eyed man standing beside her. “I brought you in on this to give our operators new power, not to be a knight in shining armor.”

“Yes, milady.” Although he didn’t make any effort to cease, Elipso nodded his agreement. “I would dare to say that Terry Watt’s upgraded armor is quite effective. However, I have just one question about this operation, why did you kidnap those girls from Mystique?”

“Two reasons.” Royelle’s eyes flicked back to the screen. “One, I wanted Hub and his friend to be in on this. And the second you’ll just have to wait to find out about.”

10101010101010101010101010101

Trigger slowed to a stop, his eyes taking in the horror before them. Wounded automated Net Police littered the area; a large hole had been blown in a building on the right side of the street. Smoke billowed out of the crater. Here and there, a random virus could be seen picking off injured Net Navigators…

“What caused this?” BreakMan glanced about in evident confusion. “In Net City no less?”

Treble whined as he looked at the destruction around him, Blade’s eyes steeled themselves, and Elebee’s entire body language revealed his despair.

“I don’t know.” His eyes landing on a virus deleting a Net Navi, Trigger summoned his Mega Buster. “But we can’t just stand here, the first order of business is to get these viruses out of here. The second is to find out what caused it!”

“Right behind you!” BreakMan’s right hand became encased in his Buster weapon.

The trio of friendly viruses agreed, showing no remorse over deleting the other programs like them.

“Let’s move!” The Bomber launched himself at a nearby Shrimpy. “Mega Buster!”

“Break Cannon!” The Raider attacked a hostile Swordie.

“BZZZZZ!” Elebee and Blade struck out, taking down a renegade Spikey.

“GROWL!” Treble’s jaw snapped open, firing off a beam of ice energy at a Scutlest.

Fortunately, there weren’t that many viruses lurking about. As a result, the five of them were able to take out the remaining ones without much of a hassle.

“Now then.” BreakMan dispatched the last virus. “What caused this in the first place?”

“Your guess is as good as mine is…” The Bomber replied as he deactivated his Buster. As he did so, his eyes flicked about, trying to determine the source of this devastation. He didn’t have to look for long before he spotted it. Across the street from the damaged building, the Net City Central Bank stood, and on the second floor, a window rested.

And in that window, stood the horribly familiar figure of ShockMan.

“You…” Trigger’s mind immediately registered the Com Agent’s presence. His voice became bolder and louder as his mind pieced the puzzle together. “You did this!”

“I was wondering when you’d show up.” Maintaining his perch on the window, ShockMan smirked at the Blue Bomber. “You’re quite the troublemaker.”

“You call us the troublemakers?” BreakMan’s Buster exploded into existence. “You’re the one who just blew up that building, and I doubt that you’re in that bank to make a deposit!”

“My, you are the perceptive one.” The electrical Navigator smirked, “As a matter of fact, me and FlareMan aren’t. We’re making a withdrawal, a large withdrawal.”

“And how much of that money actually belongs to you?” MegaMan Trigger shot back.

A grin appeared on ShockMan’s lips. “Now you’ve got the idea, but don’t worry. We of Com have much more use for it than you do.”

“We’ve got something to say about that!” The Raider’s Buster snapped up, discharging its load. A burst of energy exploded out of the red cannon and whipped through the air towards the electrical Navigator.

ShockMan just smirked, and reached back through the window…

From behind his visor, terrified horror appeared in Eugene’s eyes.

ShockMan pulled a bound Yani in front of him, creating a human barrier between him and the laser burst. What was worse was that Yani was still in her party clothes and without armor. That meant that she’d take the full effects of BreakMan’s attack…

“NO!” BreakMan’s fists clenched as he watched the laser approach his sister. The very idea that he would be the one to… “YOU COWARD! I’LL-”

Trigger tore his eyes off of Yani and shot a hurried look at his viruses, since they couldn’t use any Battle Cards in Net City, there was only one way out of this mess.

“EleBee!” The Bomber’s voice brought the virus to attention. “Begin Routine 312! Electric Blaze defense! Target: Break Shot!”

The EleBee buzzed its agreement, and then burst into motion as it shot through the air to intercept BreakMan’s attack before it could hit its unintended target. With a loud ‘buzz’ of annoyance, the electrical virus exploded into a streak of electrical energy that arched through the air.

Trigger watched as his virus raced through the air; this was a long shot, but the only one that they had…

Terrified, Yani winced and closed her eyes.

“BZZT!”

A crackle split the air; EleBee skidded to a mid-air stop as his electrical charge died off.

Beneath his armor, Eugene breathed a sigh of relief. EleBee had whipped past Yani’s nose, and just barely destroyed his attack before it could hit her.

“I didn’t expect that one.” Not bothering to hide his surprise at the move, ShockMan called down to his opponents. “But it’s that much easier on me anyway. This gal isn’t the only one I’ve got in here, I’ve got at least fifteen hostages; so stay out of this, or else…”

BreakMan, MegaMan Trigger, and Treble growled in anger; these guys were certifiable cowards. But what was worse the fact that those cowards were right, they couldn’t do anything without putting Yani and the other gossip-girls in danger.

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“Most ingenious, milady.”

“Thank you, Elipso.” Royelle stood up. “I did think it was a spark of ingenuity to take some hostages from the real world to the Internet for hostages. Without any of them wearing armor, the police and the others will not dare try and stop us, and the fact that the are society girls also helps. But enough of that, tell me, have you succeeded in creating my own armor?”

“Yes, milady.” Elipso bowed quickly, “the Tron armor is ready for you. I am certain that you will find it satisfactory, and very suitable as well.”

“Thank you, now that this Trigger has arrived, I believe that the time has come to put it to use.” Royelle began to descend the steps surrounding her throne.

Of course, Elipso immediately offered his hand in assistance, which the raven-haired girl reluctantly took.

Together, the two Com Agents left the room, leaving someone else behind.

Still leaning against the back wall, Ace watched them go. His eyes didn’t seem to register the fact that he was alone as his mind processed the events that he had witnessed. For several minutes all was still as he pondered various subjects…

His eyes strayed to the screen showing the defenseless girl hostages.

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“We can’t just stand here.” BreakMan paced in a small circle from their location a few blocks down the street from the Bank. “I’m not leaving Yani in those coward’s clutches any longer than I can help it.”

“But whatever you do.” May broke into the conversation, “You have to be sure that it will work, because launching a rescue won’t be any good if it backfires.”

“I know.” Studying the Bank in an effort to formulate a plan; MegaMan Trigger nodded his reply. “I’m thinking, there’s got to be some way to slip in their unnoticed, and if we’re going to do anything it has to be before more police show up. Once they do, we’ll be told to leave the area.”

“Right, and I can’t just sit on the sidelines from this one.” The Raider folded his arms, and slowed to a stop. “Not with Yani’s life on the line.”

Sensing the Red Navigator’s distress, Treble trotted over to BreakMan. In an effort to show his sympathy, the Spikey whined softly and bowed its head.

MegaMan Trigger kept studying the bank, even as he heard the sirens announcing the arrival of more Net Cops. He’d solved lots of problems before and he had no doubt that he could solve this one, it was just a matter of thinking outside of the box. Or in this case, building.

Outside the Building…

The idea hit the Bomber full throttle. He jerked as the plan began to take shape, and with the Auto Cops around, it just might work.

As he watched the Net Police begin to encircle the Bank, Trigger put the last few pieces of the plan together. It was so crazy that it just might work.

“O.K…” The Bomber turned to BreakMan, “Here’s the plan.”

End Chapter!

Next: Don't diss the swordie!
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[TheWebbuilder]

Updated early because I felt like it.

Begin Chapter!

MegaMan Trigger pushed himself harder, pouring every ounce of speed possible out of his legs. This was a long jump, but one that was possible. Of course, it would be so much easier if they could activate a Double Jump Card, but since Battle Cards were banned in Net City, that wasn’t in the cards.

Beside him, BreakMan also shot forward. This was the best idea that they had come up with, and it just had to work…

The Raider’s eyes strayed off course, to rest on the police surrounding the Bank. Since their arrival, they had been trying to negotiate with ShockMan for the hostages’ release. But so far they hadn’t succeeded, that was why they were currently taking matters into their own hands.

BreakMan looked back up, astonished at how close he was to the edge. He had been moving faster than he thought, since the edge of the roof was only about ten feet away from him.

“This is it!” Trigger pushed himself even harder, his armored legs pounded in steady repetition. “Do or die!”

“I can do without the ‘die’ part!” BreakMan quipped as his foot touched the ledge of the roof; with a scream of determination, he leapt.

The Bomber was right behind him; he too took a running jump and went sailing through the air…

He groaned, as it became apparent that they weren’t going to make it. The ledge on the adjoining building was tantalizingly close, but they were loosing speed much too fast to reach it in a few more moments, they would be plunging to the ground below. Their plan had failed before it had begun.

But then, what else were backup plans for?

“Now!” The Blue Bomber spun around in mid-air, so that his back was to the building. Signaling for BreakMan to follow his lead, MegaMan Trigger summoned his Buster.

The Raider nodded, and duplicated the motion.

“Charged Shot!”

The two cannon’s flared to life, expelling twin bursts of white-hot energy. The force of the Buster’s recoil gave BreakMan and MegaMan Trigger the momentum that they needed to reach their goal. Due to the added boost, they were sent flying towards the roof.

Trigger’s metal boots crashed into the roof, as his right hand shot forward to keep himself from toppling over.

Right behind him, BreakMan crashed to a stop; he too had made it safely.

“Whew.” The Raider panted, “what a rush… too bad that we had to leave the viruses behind.”

“Not all, just some.” Trigger glanced over his shoulder to make certain that EleBee was following them. “We’ll need Treble and Blade on the outside for this to work.”

“I just hope it does.”

“Hey, we’re now standing on the roof of the Bank,” Trigger shrugged, “That’s a lot closer than we were a few minutes ago.”

“Good point.” Sighing in defeat, BreakMan shrugged as he searched the roof for a way down. Unfortunately, none presented itself. “Now, Sparky was on the second floor, and we’re on the third, that means that we have to go down a level.

“Right,” The Bomber scanned the roof for a stairwell or something. “Which is easier said than done…”

“I wouldn’t op for the stairs anyway.” The Red Raider muttered, “Odds are that those are being watched. I think we’d better rappel down.”

“Except that we don’t have and climbing gear.” Rolling his eyes, Trigger conceded the point. “I guess we go freehand…”

BreakMan didn’t respond; he just stepped over to the edge of the building and peered down the side, trying to find the best route down.

Trigger and EleBee joined him, staring over the side.

“You know, we might not have to climb down.” The Bomber muttered, “EleBee can carry us.”

“No offense,” BreakMan glanced at his companion, before turning his attention back to the matter at hand. “I’ve seen you do some amazing things with viruses, but I’ll never believe that an EleBee can support my weight.”

With a smirk, Trigger nodded to his virus. In response the EleBee ‘Buzzed’; and surrounded itself with a white glowing light. A few seconds passed before the glow shattered and the transformed EleBee became visible. The bee’s body had flattened out and lengthened into a long skateboard-like shape, its stinger had retracted up into the board, and its wings had attached themselves to the side of its body to form what resembled a winged hover-board.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Staring at the EleBee turned hover-board; BreakMan voiced his amazement. “EleBee can transform into a winged skateboard?”

“That and so much more.” Grinning, MegaMan Trigger vaulted up onto the EleBee board. “Now, I’ll go down first and then send it back up to you, then you can come down.”

With that comment, the Bomber rode his board over the ledge, and hovered down the building’s wall. The Raider waited until the EleBee returned from dropping Trigger off, and then he too flew over the side.

Controlling EleBee was actually easy, even though BreakMan had never done so before. The bee seemed to understand his every desire, and changed course in obedience. A few seconds passed as the Red Raider descended, until he finally arrived next to his companion, Trigger was standing on a narrow ledge projecting from the building’s wall.

1010101010101010101010101010101010101

“ShockMan!”

“Oh, now what?” The electrical Navigator turned away from his important task of siphoning funds over to Com’s hidden accounts. He should have been done long before now, but those blasted Auto Cops kept interrupting his work to negotiate- as if there was anything to negotiate.

ShockMan had fifteen society girl hostages, not one of which was wearing any Net Armor. He knew that the police wouldn’t dare try and interfere, because just about any attack of medium strength could kill a person in the Internet. And ShockMan wouldn’t hesitate to use his full power.

But, he had to keep up appearances, so he left his work and headed over to his hostages, who were huddling, bound and gagged, against the far wall.

Annoyed at the delay, the electrical Navi marched over to his captives and seized the first one that came in range. She was the blond one, Yani, but that didn’t matter to him, all he needed at this stage of the game was an example.

Holding her roughly in front of him, as a shield, ShockMan stepped over to the window and demanded an explanation. “What?”

“You can’t stay in there forever.” The Auto Cop negotiator called up to him.

“Brilliant deduction,” ShockMan rolled his eyes, keeping Yani between himself and the cops. “Did you come up with it yourself?”

“We’ve got a deal for you.” The Negotiator called back. “You let the hostages go, and we’ll guarantee you safe conduct out of the City.”

“And once I step outside of it’s boundaries, you’ll arrest me.” The electrical Navigator shot back, “I’ve heard that one before, and I won’t fall for it again… You know, I’m starting to think that you aren’t taking me seriously… you’ve disregarded my instructions to stay away, and to stay quiet until I’m ready to barter. I think its time that I showed you just how serious I am!”

Her breath stopped; a mask of pure terror appeared on Yani’s face. ShockMan’s hand, which was just inches away from her head, had burst into electrical power. A sparking sphere of energy was now just inches away from her gagged face. She desperately wanted to scream, to release her fear, but the gag forced her to remain mute.

“Don’t do this, ShockMan!” The Cop shouted hurriedly, “If you do, you’ll never receive any leniency!”

“Do you think that I want to do this?” The electrical Navigator’s hand inched towards Yani’s face. “But you’ve left me no choice…”

As her horrible fate closed in Yani tried to scream. It came out as a muffled moan.

“ShockMan! You get your hands off of my sister!”

The electrical Navi refused to believe his ears as that voice broke through the air. The voice had come from behind him! But that meant…

Forgetting about Yani, the ShockMan whipped about to find BreakMan and MegaMan Trigger pointing their fully charged Busters at him- he had left himself wide open.

“Charged Shot!”

Two twin bursts of plasma energy exploded out of the allies’ Busters and ripped through the air.

Yani screamed mutely as the attacks whipped past her bound body, missing her by a hair’s breadth.

ShockMan hadn’t been so lucky.

He took the full force of the attacks; the impact caused him to loose his balance. As a result, he was teetered on the edge of the window ledge, just barely maintaining his footing.

BreakMan exploded into action. His body became a blur as he shot through the air towards the captor; his fist hauled back and prepared to strike. It was time for some payback.

Yani felt ShockMan’s grip fade away as her captor tried to regain his footing. But the Red Raider made certain that that didn’t happen. BreakMan rushed in an arranged a meeting between ShockMan and his flying fist.

The Raider’s attack proved too much for ShockMan to handle. He lost his balance and went tumbling out the window, with BreakMan right on his flailing heels.

Gasping in horror, Yani felt her own footing giving away. In a matter of seconds, she would be dropping to her doom…

“Got you!”

A strong hand grabbed onto her arm, preventing the blonde from falling to the unforgiving ground below. Her rescuer pulled, hauling her back into the window and the safe ground as well.

“I know you like exciting parties.” Unable to resist, Trigger pulled a quip as he rapidly untied Yani. “But you really need to learn when to quit.”

Once her hands were free, Yani hastily ripped the gag out of her mouth. “Hub… thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” Satisfied that she was all right, the Bomber rushed towards the window. “Just free the others and get out of here!”

“Will do.” Yani watched Trigger leap out of the window.

101010101010101010101010101010

“Charged Shot!” BreakMan’s cannon spat out a burst of energy on his opponent.

“You’ll have to do better than that!” ShockMan leapt upwards, evading the attack. As he reached the apex of his jump, the sparking steel rods on his back flared to life, passing an electrical charge between the two electrodes. “Rolling Thunder!”

BreakMan watched in amazement as a fairly large yellow orb of electrical energy materialized between the electrical Navi’s electrodes. Before his eyes, the Com Agent plucked the sphere and threw it with all his might- right into the approaching Auto Cops.

The Raider closed his eyes as the cops vanished into deletion.

“I have power that you cannot begin to comprehend.” ShockMan turned his attention back to his previous opponent. “You had best quit now while you still can, without Battle Cards, you won’t stand a chance.”

“I won’t give up.” The Raider announced, determination filling his voice. “You’ve picked your last battle, let’s do this!”

“With pleasure!” ShockMan raised his hands as another Rolling Thunder began to form between his electrodes. With a sinister smile, he targeted his opponent…

And then gasped in shock, his attack vanished, and he pitched forward towards the ground. With a groan, the electrical Navi collapsed to the ground.

Puzzled by these events, BreakMan looked up to see Trigger standing behind the downed Com agent. And his Buster was still smoking.

“Nice one.” The Raider grinned, “Sneaking up on him from behind, I like that.”

“Yeah.” The Bomber trotted over to join his companion, as EleBee and Blade materialized as well. “Whatever works, we do.”

“You two are a laugh riot.” The electrical Navigator muttered as he picked himself up. “Do you really believe that you can stop the power of Com? Even if you destroy me, which is highly unlikely, there will be others, and others, we will achieve our goals, and save the world from destruction.”

“How many times have we heard that logic?” Raising his Buster; BreakMan grumbled. “I don’t know what you’ve been downloading, but its really messing with your head.”

“Enough talk!” ShockMan’s arms lashed out; causing a multitude of tiny electrical sparks to go flying from his palms. “Electro Daggers!”

“Mega Buster!” Trigger’s cannon snapped up and went to work picking off the attacks one at a time.

“Break Cannon!” The Raider joined his comrade, blowing the sparks away.

Blade’s blade flashed about, deflecting the attacks.

“Buzz!” EleBee rocketed back and forth, demolishing anything in his path.

In no time at all, they had the attack stopped in its tracks. Unfortunately, that was exactly what their opponent had been counting on.

“Rolling Thunder!” ShockMan reached up as another sparking sphere formed between his electrodes. However, there was one major difference between this one and the others, this one was at least twice the size of his previous Rolling Thunder attacks. “Double Charge!”

“Oh boy,” BreakMan stared at the giant Electro-sphere flying at them. “What I wouldn’t give for a Step Sword right now…”

“Less talking, more firing!” MegaMan Trigger’s Buster flared to life, filling the sky with its power. To his dismay, his shots merely bounced off of the Rolling Thunder.

“It’s not working!” The Raider gasped as his own plasma bursts rebounded off the attack.

The two never stood a chance; the Rolling Thunder slammed into them, trapping the two allies within its electrical power. They were held in its agonizing grip for several long moments, before being expelled. Ejected from the sphere, they were hurled through the air and sent crashing to the ground.

MegaMan Trigger groaned as he slammed into the floor; that had not gone well. A few feet away, BreakMan also crashed into the ground, his body making a sick ‘thump’ as it made contact with the city street.

“I told you that you couldn’t stop me.” A grin appeared on ShockMan’s face; abruptly his arms flew forward, expelling more electrical charges. “Electro Daggers!”

The Bomber had just gotten to his feet when the daggers struck. Again he was sent hurling through the air and sent plummeting to the ground. He knew that his ally was sharing the same fate.

Blade crashed to the ground beside him, his sword shattered and way beyond useless.

“And just in case you think there’s still a chance you can defeat me.” The electrical Navigator watched his opponents try to get to their feet. “I’ll show you my supreme power.”

Trigger’s eyes slid over, causing him to gasp at what he saw. BreakMan was lying on the ground, apparently unconscious. If he didn’t do something soon, then this next round of attacks would clobber the Raider.

And the Bomber wasn’t sure if his ally could survive that.

“Triple Charge!” ShockMan screamed, as two events took place simultaneously. First, he began to levitate and hover up into the air above his opponents. His intent was clear, to strike from the perfect angle and obliterate them. Then, another sparking sphere began to form on his back between the electrodes.

“NO! EUGENE!”

Trigger wasn’t sure where Yani’s voice came from, but it gave him the resolve he needed. Without any Battle Cards to use, and his only ally lying battered and unconscious, there was only one way out of this mess…

“Blade!” The Bomber’s voice grabbed the virus’s attention. “Let’s do it!”

“Rolling Thunder!” Rage fueling his actions, the electrical Navi seized his attack and sent it racing downwards towards his opponents.

“What the-!” ShockMan stared in complete, stupefied, disbelief. His Rolling Thunder had slammed down onto that wretched Bomber and then shattered into a thousand pieces, leaving his opponent unharmed! But how?

He received his answer when Trigger’s voice split the air.

“Viral Fusion: Sword Fusion!”

The Com Agent descended to the ground, studying the changes in his opponent.

MegaMan Trigger’s bodysuit was a dark, almost black, gray. His boots were now composed of a polished silver and trimmed with green lines outlining his armored toes, heels, and kneepads. A silver chest-plate encased his torso with two verdant straps running horizontally across his chest to secure two sword holsters to his back. Gleaming shoulder-pads decorated his armor, as did his green and silver gloves. His polished helmet reflected every scrap of light, and was decorated with two more green lines running around it at an angle.

But what scared the life out of ShockMan most, were the two wood-attribute Muramasas in the Bomber’s hands.

“Now then,” The transformed Bomber raised his twin blades as he placed himself in front of his wounded ally. “Let’s party!”

The electrical Navigator’s self-confidence returned, as he unleashed another round of Rolling Thunder on his pipsqueak of an opponent.

Trigger watched the sparking sphere descend towards him; he wasn’t even worried about this one anymore. With a grunt, he crossed his swords over his chest, and instantly, a shimmering green aura surrounded him. “Wood Shield!”

ShockMan gaped as his attack rammed into the shielded Navigator- and shattered into a million pieces.

“Aw, too bad, now it’s broken!” The Bomber quipped as he charged his opponent, his twin swords gleaming in the light.

“Shut up!” The electrical Navigator screamed in annoyance. His arm snapped around, sending a flood of Electro Daggers flying at his adversary.

Trigger didn’t reply; he just continued to run towards the Com Agent, despite the electrical blades rushing towards him. When he was inches away from becoming a sparking pincushion, he screamed a battle cry and struck out with his swords. His Muramasas swept through the air and the Electro Daggers, easily destroying them.

“No!” In complete desperation, ShockMan summoned another Rolling Thunder, even as MegaMan Trigger closed in on him. His hands closed about the sparking sphere…

And then Trigger flew past. A split second later, his feet slammed into the ground and brought him to a halt, his blades were extended to arm’s length.

The Com Agent gaped at the two gashes in his armor, and then he vanished in a burst of data. He had lost the fight, and been forced to Log Out.

“Not so tough, are you?” MegaMan Trigger couldn’t help himself; he had to make one last remark as he sheathed his twin Muramasas.

“You succeeded, I expected no less of you.”

Trigger whipped about, his hand instinctively flying towards his Muramasa, in preparation for any attack.

A new Internet Navigator stared back at him. She wore a dark purple bodysuit with brown boots with extra think soles reminding Trigger of platform shoes, her gloves were beaded and white, and contrasted her purple chest armor. She didn’t have shoulder-pads, allowing her arm full range of movement. Her helmet was a solid black with an aerodynamic fin sweeping across the back. She appeared to be about six to ten years older than he was.

“Its good to finally meet you face to face.” The new Navigator studied MegaMan Trigger. “I’ve been watching you carefully.”

“The pleasure’s not mine.” Trigger snapped, “Who are you?”

“On-line, you may call me Tron.” The Navigator replied, “Off-line, I am the head of Com.”

“You’re the one causing this random hacking?” The Bomber went ahead and drew his blade; he didn’t trust this new arrival any farther than he could throw Brawn with one hand. “Why? What’s your purpose?”

“Humanity must be cleansed.” Tron replied. “And-”

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re about to pull a Regal on me?”

“Perhaps because I am his daughter.” The purple Navigator replied, “And as such, I share some of his ideals...”

“Whoa- slow down here a moment.” Trigger tried to process the flood of information assaulting his mind. “You mean to tell me that you are Regal’s daughter?”

“Yes.”

“And that you share his idea of a dark world ruled by chaos?”

“No, the ideal of the noble savage. Technology has destroyed mankind; it has corrupted our very existence. Our savage ancestors were much happier and satisfied with their lives because they were not corrupted like we were. It humans are to continue to survive, then all technological advancements must be wiped out.”

Sensing that he was about to debate the ideals of scientific advancement, Trigger rose to the challenge. “But those people suffered from horrible diseases, like smallpox, cholera, diphtheria, that modern medicine has allowed us to control and in some cases eradicate. We’ve preserved entire species of endangered animals and in some cases, recreated them. We’re learning new things about the world and our universe. None of this world have been possible without technological advancement.”

“But those are meaningless, if mankind cannot enjoy them.” Tron’s voice took on a tone of disapproval; “I came here to make you an offer. Join our cause. With you on our side, we will be unstoppable. Help us save mankind before it is too late.”

For a long moment, all was still as MegaMan Trigger studied the proposition.

“No.”

“What?”

“You just kidnapped fifteen innocent girls, almost killed one, and then attacked my friend, and you expect me to believe that you’re doing this for the good of mankind?” Trigger’s voice took on a new quality- one of rage. “I’d never work for you! Let’s end this here and now, let’s battle!”

“Now is not the time.” Tron shrugged, “A pity, I had hoped that there was still some light in you. But you are as dark as the rest of your friends. But do not worry, I haven’t given up on you yet. Farewell.”

“Oh, no you don’t!” Trigger launched himself at Tron, intent on stopping her escape.

He failed miserably.

“Oh, by the way.” The purple Navigator’s arm snapped about. A package of some kind flew through the air and slammed into Trigger’s chest. “Hold this for me.”

The parcel was amazingly heavy, and the force of impact knocked the Bomber over onto the ground. Instantly, Trigger looked up, to see Tron logging out of the Network.

Mystified, he examined the package that had delayed him.

“A dummy file?”

End Chapter!

Next: Stream of consciousness...
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[gameman]

good chapter Webbuilder but shouldn't regal's daughter be older Regal did die when Lan was around 12
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i am the game master

[TheWebbuilder]

Old villians never die, they slowly fade away... or something like that. First its fairly certain that [spoil:bf262665b5]Regal shows up in the movie so obviously, the guy ain't dead yet. [/spoil:bf262665b5]

And even if that's false, I can easily work it out so that Regal escaped somehow. That's the beauty of fan fics, history can be rewritten as need be.

Besides, I think its a little bit more dramatic having Royelle, Hub, and May the same age.

EDIT: O.K., after thinking about it some more, you've got a point. I did run some numbers before I did this, and came up with a feasible scenerio where they could all be the same age. But since I can't remember what the ages were, I'll just age Royelle a couple of years. DONE! (Writer's magic) But I will work Regal's survival into this.
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[Elizabeth]

Erm ... you might want to edit it a little bit more - somehow, I just can't picture a 21-year old as a "girl." "Young lady" would probably work better.

Of course, this is just my opinion - If no one else complains, then don't mind me.

[TheWebbuilder]

Nope, I don't mind at all. -waves magic wand- There, I think I changed things around enough. Although I did leave Sparks' comment since that's just his character.
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[TheWebbuilder]

O.K., this is where the Stream spoilers start coming into play.

Den Tech International Airport.

“Now, then, you two be careful out there.” Maylu Hikari admonished her children. “Don’t go getting into any international affairs while you’re up there.”

“What?” Hub feigned ignorance. “Do you really think we’d get involved in a Net War between BrightLand and DarkLand?”

“Knowing you two, that is a distinct possibility.” The redhead mother shrugged. “I’m only sorry that I can’t go with you; but you know that my mother needs some help while she’s recovering from her surgery. I’ll join you up there as soon as I can.”

“We understand Mom.” May embraced her mother. “We’ll miss you.”

“I will too.” Hub nodded.

As Lan exchanged his good-byes with his wife, Hub and May turned to their friends.

“I can’t believe that you’re going to be gone all summer.” Eugene started off awkwardly, “this place isn’t going to be the same without you.”

“Hey, I need a break, man.” Hub quipped as he pumped his friend’s hand. “Stopping every plot of Com’s is not an easy task.”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll keep things straight around here for you.” The raven-haired youth smiled back.

“By the way,” Noticing that one member of their party was missing, May glanced around. “Where’s Yani?”

“I don’t know.” Eugene admitted, “I haven’t seen her around lately. She’s been acting sort of moody ever since that incident in Net City; to be honest, I think she’s embarrassed to have been rescued by you, Hub.”

“Hmm…” The redheaded kid turned to face Tony and Lana. “I guess we won’t have to say good-bye will we? You’re coming along with us.”

“True, I’m kind of glad that it worked out this way.” Lana smiled at Hub. “Every year my parents and I go up to BrightLand to spend some time with my grandparents. And this year they said that I could take Tony with me.”

“And my mom’s coming along too.” Tony shrugged, “She’s never been up there in BrightLand and was curious. But Dad couldn’t make it, his job at the realty firm keeps him tied down.”

“So I guess I’m the only one sitting out this adventure.” Eugene shrugged. “Ah well, I suppose I’ll find something to do around here.”

“Oh, we’ll be back before you know it.” May smiled at the raven-haired kid, “I know I will.”

Meanwhile, a few feet away, The parents of the group were observing them with interest.

“History repeats itself.” Chaud studied the scene before him.

“Tell me about it.” Lan shrugged, “I can see this coming, Eugene and May are starting to develop their friendship, Lana’s already smitten with Hub, although not one of them realizes it yet.”

“I just hope that they handle it as well as we did.” Maylu commented, “But we’ve had enough reverie, you guys are going to miss your flight if you don’t hurry.”

That remark sent Lan rushing over to collect Hub and May and then get them into the plane. Jasmine was right on his heels, efficiently ushering Tony onto the boarding ramp. Lana hurriedly joined her parents, Roy Cossack and Amelia Cossack, and together they boarded their flight to BrightLand.

Not a moment too soon, as five minutes later the aircraft was taking off and winging through the air towards the homeland of Princess Pride.

Inside of the passenger area, everyone was busy de-stressing after their mad dash to board their flight.

Hub was seated on the aisle seat in the fourth row from the front. Beside him sat May, with their Dad holding the window seat. Across from him, Lana was sitting in the aisle seat with her parents holding the two inside ones. Directly behind him, Tony was parked in the far inside seat, while his mother, Jasmine, was sitting in the middle, the aisle chair was empty.

While everyone else caught their breath, Hub pulled out his Sub-P.E.T. and began checking the news and weather. Not a whole lot was happening in the world; about the most newsworthy items of interest were the World Series, and the opening of the new greenhouse botanical gardens in BrightLand.

Not that he was interested in gardening of course, but because they were heading for BrightLand, Hub pulled up the news article and quickly skimmed over it. Queen Pride had allotted a fair-sized amount of money for the development of large greenhouses on a secluded part of land. Since BrightLand was so isolated, the price of importing grain was quite high, so it was the hope of the government that these greenhouses would supply grain at cheaper prices than currently available. And the planthouses would not only provide food, but also medical herbs and provide a place for endangered plants to grow. The herb and floral sections would be open to the public, but the grain was understandably off-limits.

Once he had finished that article, he closed down the Internet and began checking up on his viruses. Treble was doing just dandy. Blade wasn’t showing any bad effects from their fusion. EleBee had been very drained after all of his transformations, but it was recuperating steadily. And there wasn’t anything going on with Harry since he had been on the sidelines of that last fight.

A hand slammed down on his shoulder.

“HUB!”

The redheaded boy jumped in fright, his heart sped up. As he slumped back in his seat, he unconsciously clamped his hand over his chest. Hub turned his head to see everyone laughing at him.

Slightly ashamed and embarrassed, Hub grinned uneasily. “I tell you, someday I’m going to have a heart attack when you do that.”

May waved to attract Hub’s attention before replying.

“I doubt that, Hub.” The raven-haired girl grinned as she removed her hand from his shoulder. “You’re too tough.”

“O.K., so what did you want my attention about?”

“Mrs. Jasmine saw you looking at the news article on the BrightLand gardens. She wanted to know if you were interested.”

“Sure.” Hub nodded back, “I’m interested; I hope we find time to get over there while we’re here.”

10101010101010101010101010101010101

“I hope this thing gets there soon.” Misty muttered as she thumbed through her magazine. “I want to get this party started. But why does Royelle have to send us halfway across the globe to cause mayhem? What’s wrong with Den Tech?”

“She has her reasons.” Ace replied as he continued to stare straight ahead. “And they revolve around that Trigger. Last we heard, he was heading this way.”

“Trigger,” Misty’s voice went sour as she remembered her experience with that Navigator. “That pest… I hope we meet him again.”

“Royelle seems fascinated with him.” The gambler thumbed through his deck of cards. “I wonder why.”

“Maybe because he keeps handing defeats on silver platters.” The raven-haired girl grumbled. “With him out of the way, we’d own this town.”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

Misty glared at her companion. Did the guy have to be such a great conversationalist?

With a sigh, she slumped back in her seat. This flight was taking forever! And in the meantime she had nothing to do…

“Bored?”

“How’d you know?”

“I’ve been around.” Ace stopped thumbing through his deck. “You play cards?”

“Uh, a couple times when I was a kid.” Misty glared at him. “What are you implying?”

“You look like you need something to do.”

“Fine. I’ll play your stupid game.” The black-haired girl rolled her eyes. “But I’m not very good, so take it easy.”

“Deal. Crazy Eights it is.”
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[Elizabeth]

Nice chapter, but shouldn't Princess Pride have become a Queen by now?

[Lido Azn Girl]

There needs to be a comma here: