L&L:S.2: Misadventures of Lyne and Bass: Episode 26

[Megawoman.EXE]

Author's note:

Okay! Here we go again. This time this fict is going to be much better then it's original version. First change is it is now 23 eps or chaptys long instead of the 33 that were on the old forum. Well I guess this is kind of a blessing in disguise. Second change I'm going to post the genre stuff after the opening credit section. Third there are now previews for all chapters, and lastly at the end I will have a bigger credits section for the people that helped the fict out when it was first written. Such as who created what character what kind of character they were so on so forth. You get the general idea. Now for the disclaimer.

Disclaimer

Megaman and other Capcom characters featured in this fiction are not mine but copyright of Capcom. There are some original characters those are mine and other members characters from here on REO. (PM me your new names so I can place them in the credit section). Events take place as in a what if senario after the events of MMBN 4 and Mega defeating Duo. Ideas, concepts, and facts come from the MMBN games, MMNT Warrior Manga, and some various other animes. Plus there are some also made up facts as well. There is now also a timeline, and the names I used in this fict is a mix of manga, reality, and game. This fict is meant to be both serious at some points and also funny. Well mostly funny. A Megaman Martini as it were. Shaken or Stired.

-_-; :stonecube:*bricked*
Protoman: Get on with it Author. We don't have all day.

Oww! OK I'll stop. So enjoy the fict.

Sincerely,
Megawoman.EXE

Temporary Section for Where Credit is due
Author: Megawoman.EXE
Editor/Support Author: Zodiac
Editor Backup: Serenade.exe/hotshot, sandman.exe
Charactor Donations: Megawoman.EXE, Serenade.exe/hotshot, sandman.exe, Zodiac, sandman.exe's girlfriend, goten8905, neogamer1234, Iceman.EXE, Angel
Character Requests: neogamer1234, Serenade.exe/hotshot

Edit #2 Revamp with Japanese School Year, Time and Continuity Cleanup

And now without further adu...The New and Improved: Lan and Lyne
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Episode 1: Return to Origins

~DenTech City, Japan in the year 200X~The Hikari Household~

It was early in the morning, and Lan was sleeping peacefully. Megaman.EXE was in sleep mode on Lan's computer desk until a loud thump in the hallway woke him. Alarmed, he called out "Who’s out there?"

"Oh, sorry Megaman I didn't mean to wake you," Mr. Hikari apologized as he opened the door of Lan's room, "But I've got important business to attend to at the airport, and I won't be home until about noon. Can you tell Lan our shopping trip will be pushed back for me please?"

"Yes, Dad. I'll tell him first thing when he wakes up,” the deceptively average-looking, blue-armored netnavi agreed. He frowned a little when he noticed that it was still pitch-black outside the window and checked his internal clock. “Four A.M.? Uhm, if you don't mind me asking, why do you have to go to the airport this early in the morning?" Mega asked.

"It's for me to know and Lan to find out, and I'll leave it at that, OK?" Mr. Hikari said with a stern look on his face.

"Yes, Dad, I understand. We'll see you around noon. Have a safe trip."

"I will. Now rest while Lan's still asleep," he said as he closed Lan's bedroom door behind him.

Megaman sat down in his little PET window, wondering what his father meant by ‘me to know and Lan to find out.’ The phrase seemed strange to him. Their father never really kept any secrets from Lan, unless they were surprises. The more he pondered on the phrase, the more confused he got. Never mind I'm going back to sleep, he thought and went back into sleep mode again to await a beautiful Saturday morning.
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~Long Beach, CA, United States~ July 13 200X~ Early Evening

A girl wearing blue jeans, a white long bell sleeved shirt, wearing brown tenni boots, was packing for a long, one-way trip. She had medium length brown hair and nice brown eyes that matched her hair. She sighed as she packed.

"Are you ready yet?” a man’s voice called from downstairs, “We have to be there in an hour. You’d better have everything ready. I'm not sending any of your things in the mail you leave behind." The loud voice paused for a moment and then continued, “I’m coming up there, and if you’re not ready, we’re leaving with everything that you’ve packed up already."

"I'm almost ready. I just need help closing my suitcase. Can you come help me Mrs. Smith? Please?" the girl called back down the staircase.

"Seriously hunny you don't have to be so mean. I'll be right up there. Hang on," Mrs. Smith replied as she climbed the stairs to the girl's room. When she got there, she saw how badly the girl was struggling with her last bag.

"Lemme’ get that dearie. You’ve been working all night on this, and you look bushed," Mrs. Smith said with a kind smile as she took over zipping up the final suitcase.

After she was done, both she and the girl took all the bags down to the family station wagon where Mr. Smith was waiting for them both. "About time. Let's get our goodbyes done before we’re late."

"Yes, dear. I'm going to miss you Lyne. You do a good job in school this year, and still keep practicing your net skills. We didn't raise you four years for nothing," Mrs. Smith said as she hugged Lyne for the last time. "Take care, and be safe. You turn 16 tomorrow, so we want you to have this." She gave Lyne a pair of ruby earrings. "When you wear them, think of us and the time you had here in the US."

"Mrs. Smith you shouldn’t have,” the girl, Lyne, replied gratefully, “And thank you. I will think of you when I wear these. I'll miss you too, but I have to go. Thank you for hosting me as a foreign exchange student. I might come back for a year of college, so I’ll be sure to visit again. Bye." Then she entered the car, just a little reluctantly, to go to the airport. But, she thought with a smile, It’ll be great to be home again.

"Drive safe!" Mrs. Smith called out as the car pulled away from the home of the Smith's. Mr. Smith waved back to his wife as he drove off towards the airport.

"You must be excited to be going home after all these years. I wonder if your father will recognize you after all this time. You’ve grown up to be a good looking girl for your age," Mr. Smith said.

"Don't worry about that. My father gets a picture every month from my navi, Combit. I just wonder if my brother, Lan, will recognize me after all these years. We look nothing alike," Lyne said with her head hung over her P.E.T.

"Don't worry about your brother. He'll recognize you when you arrive at Hikari House for sure. Speaking of navi's: how’s Combit? You said she wasn't her usual self lately. Do you think that your dad can fix her?"

"I hope so. Combit, how are you feeling today?" Lyne asked her NetNavi.

"Could be better. I'm going to sleep mode now. Is that alright Lyne?" Combit said.

"Yes I have my Gameboy QS with me. I'll be fine while you rest."

"Don’t forget about your homework too,” Combit scolded making her operator glare at her. “I understand. Sleep mode initiate," Combit said as she went into sleep mode.

"Man, she doesn't sound good at all. Definitely have your dad take a look at her when you get back….We’re almost to the terminal. Are you ready?" Mr. Smith asked as they pulled into the airport.

"Really? Wow! Does time fly? Do you know what my dad does now Mr. Smith?" Lyne asked.

"Why, yes Lyne. We do the same thing for different countries. I work for the United States Net Developers, and your dad works for Japan’s Net Developers. We’re supposed to help the NetAgents, NetSaviors, and their NetNavis improve protection and information flow on the Net. Your dad and I were partners once,” he mentioned, glancing back at her, and then said, trying to sound casual, “I also heard from your dad that your brother, Lan, is one of the premiere NetSaviors in Japan."

Lyne looked surprised. My brother, a NetSavior. Cool. "That’s so neat! I hope I can help my brother, and my country, as a NetSavior in the future."

"You might get that chance. If you fight as good as you did in the US Net Cup last month, they might consider you a prime candidate for becoming a NetSavior," he said as he pulled the car to the curb in front of the Japan Air terminal, “Well, and we’re here. Do you need help with your bags Lyne?"

"Yes, please," Lyne said as she exited the car.

With great effort, they both checked Lyne's bags in at the curbside terminal. Oof! I sure did have a lot of stuff, Lyne thought to herself. Mr. Smith accompanied Lyne as she got her tickets and receipt. Now that she was all set, she actually felt a little nervous about going home, despite her earlier excitement. She was even frightened that she might not remember her native language as well as she should.

"You take care, Lyne. Tell your father konichiwa from us, OK? Be safe on this trip. I'll miss you. You know, you’re like the daughter I never had," Mr. Smith said with a tear in his eye.

"I'll miss you too Mr. Smith. Take care of the Mrs. and those rambunctious boys of yours. I’ll think of you all when I wear those earrings you gave me."

"Ah, yes! You just reminded me of something.” Lyne looked at him curiously at this as he reached into his sport jacket. “Before you go, take this with you." He handed her a battle chip. It had a picture of a barely visible navi on it. “It’s called Stealth Armor. It might come in handy. Keep it as a gift from your American father."

“Oh, but the earrings-“ she began, but Mr. Smith cut her off.

“Now, that’s what Mrs. Smith picked out, but, well, you can think of this as my own personal prize to you for your performance at the Net Cup. Just let me know how it works out for you.”

Lyne’s eyes misted a little, but she didn’t let herself cry again. "Thank you, I will! I promise to try it out when Combit is feeling better. I have to go now or I'll be late for my flight. Bye," she said as left the outer terminal for her flight back to Japan, and home.

When she entered the terminal, she went into the bathrooms for a pit stop. After she was done, she went up to the mirror and put in the earrings that the Smith's had given her. She tried to force it back, but a tear snuck out of her eye anyway. Man, I miss them more than I thought I would, but I'm also really excited to go back home. Hmm… she thought while looking in the mirror from side to side to examine her new jewelry. They do look good. Well, I’d better get on the plane.

She left the bathroom and went through the first security check point. It seemed to take forever to make sure that nobody was a terrorist. She was feeling relieved and hungry after making her way through the security line, so she stopped to get something to eat. Her favorite was sushi, but they only had California Rolls at the Oriental Food Stand. A little disappointed, she bought some anyway. It’s better than nothing to eat at all. Dinner time! She then sat down at her departure gate, waiting for the announcer to call for the first boarders. Lyne didn't have to wait long.

When she was finished with her California Rolls, the announcement went off:

/Now boarding for Flight 5434, flying nonstop to Dentech City, Japan. Will seats in sections 1-3 please board the plane at this time? Also, any first class and frequent flier miles passengers can board at this time./

She threw away her tray as she got in line to board. Finally I'm coming home. After four years I'm coming home.

As Lyne approached the gate for her flight, her heart was pounding really fast from all the excitement she was experiencing. A chance to finally go home after many tough school years in the States. She handed the attendant her boarding pass and her ID card. The attendant took them and looked them over. Satisfied, he scanned the pass, and then frowned slightly at the screen as it beeped at him and handed the items back to Lyne.

"Miss Hikari, I'm sorry to inform you, but you are not on this flight. You’re on AT Flight 2 going to DenTech City, Japan," the attendant informed her. Lyne blinked in surprise once she comprehended what she’d just been told.

"But… but my itinerary says I'm on this flight to DenTech City, see," she said, “And the boarding pass sent me to this gate too.” She was starting to panic a little as she handed him the itinerary. He looked it over and nodded.

"Yes it does say you are on this flight, but the system has you on a different flight, and that one’s getting ready to leave. It has special status on it. Do you want directions to this flight?"

Lyne was now fuming with anger at the attendant, but was willing to comply so she could go home. What's the difference? They’re both going home. There shouldn’t be any problems. She sighed and said "Yes, please."

"Follow me then. Right this way," he said as he left the attendant’s desk, saying, “Just a moment please,” to the people waiting to board, and walked towards the service stairway to the right of the gate. She followed him down the stairs, and at the bottom were two men dressed in very nice business suits and shades standing by a door.

"OK, I have to get back now. This is the gate you want, so just give them your boarding pass and ID card, and you are good to go," the attendant said as he went back up the stairs.

Man this is getting very weird. That flight I had has been reserved for a whole month. Oh, never mind. This is too confusing to think about.

"Are you Lyne Hikari?" one of the men asked in a very gruff voice.

"Yes," she managed to squeak out, a little afraid of how serious these guys looked.

"Then please go through. Ms. Ayano-Kouji is waiting for you to board. You should arrive in Japan at about 10 A.M. Japan time," the man said as he opened the door for Lyne.

On the other side was a small (you guessed it) hot-pink jet plane with the words ‘Ayano Jet’ on the side. Curious as to what was really going on now, Lyne stopped and asked the man, "How did my ticket get changed? My original was booked a month ahead of time."

"Ms. Ayano-Kouji knew you were coming and arranged this flight for you instead. Now please board the jet Ms. Hikari," the man answered while he ushered her out of the door and onto the runway.

"OK, OK! You didn't have to shove me through the door. I can walk," Lyne said angrily.

"My apologies, Ms. Hikari. I didn't intend to be so rough on you. Have a nice flight," he said as he shut the door behind Lyne.

Lyne realized that Ms. Ayano-Kouji must be very, very rich and well mannered. She walked out onto the runway, towards the jet. Very unusual color for a jet, but if you’re rich, it shouldn't really matter what color your private jet is. Man, this thing looks really fast. I wonder how fast it can go? she thought as she walked closer to the strange, pink jet. Just then, a little blonde haired girl in a little red dress hopped out of the jet. She must not be any older than 10 at the most, 9 at the least. She's so Kawaii!

"You must be Lyne. I'm Yai, one of Lan's friends," Yai said, "And this is Glyde,” she continued as she showed Lyne her P.E.T. "He's my NetNavi."

"Yes, I’m Lyne, and you must be Ms. Ayano-Kouji. My navi is in sleep mode right now, so I'll introduce her later."

"Your navi's name is Combit. US Net Cup Champion, if I'm not mistaken," Glyde interrupted in a matter-of-fact tone, "Ms. Yai, the pilot is requesting that we board immediately."

"Ok, Glyde. We'll get on right now. Follow me Lyne," Yai said as she climbed up the ladder and into the jet.

Why not? That’s what I've been doing all day. What's one more lead-and-follow game going to do, kill me? Lyne thought in resignation as she followed Yai up the ladder and into the jet.

"Buckle up ladies, we're about to take off," the pilot called back to them. They both buckled up their seatbelts. After they were done, the engines of the jet fired up and it started to taxi onto the main runway.

Once they were in position to take off, a voice on the radio said:

/ Flight AT 2 you have been cleared for takeoff./

"Roger, Control Tower. Flight AT 2 is ready for takeoff." The jet suddenly sped forward down the runway with a tremendous burst of speed. Lyne was hanging on for dear life as they took off into the night. For the next few minutes, she breathed though clenched teeth with her eyes frozen open in terror. Finally, they reached cruising speed and she calmed down.

Whew that was pretty intense! Still, it was kind of neat. So my brother knows someone who’s really rich. I hope he's not dating her. She's way too young. Lyne thought to herself, looking at the little blond out of the corner of her eyes. "So, um, Yai was it? How did your navi know about mine? I don't remember meeting Glyde before," Lyne asked curious about what Glyde had said earlier.

"We watched the US Net Cup last month with my friends. You performed awesomely. Lan is still trying to figure out how Combit does that charge kick that you used to win the championship round" Yai answered.

"Lan watched too. Cool. So, did he know it was me on the T.V.?"

"Don't know really. He was interested in all of the battles. We all were actually, but your battles were the best of them all."

"Thank you Yai." Lyne said, with a modest blush.

"Why is your navi in sleep mode?" Yai asked

"Oh, Combit hasn't been feeling well lately, so I'm going to have my dad see if he can fix her."

"Do you think it’s a virus?"

"Maybe, that's why I didn't wake her. Just in case she has one, I didn't want it infecting your navi," Lyne said.

"That's very nice of you Lyne," Yai said thankfully.

"One more question: how did you know that I was coming back to Japan?"

"Your dad told me. He wanted me to pick you up because it would be faster."

"Ohh, OK,” Faster, huh? she thought, looking out the window and seeing that they were already over the ocean with land well out of sight, but it was a lot brighter outside. Well, I can’t argue with that. I wonder… “How far away are we from Japan now?"

"Pilot how much farther?" Yai asked the pilot.

"We are on our final approach for DenTech City now Ms. Yai, and it’s about 9:45 A.M."

"Good, we'll drop you off at the airport, and maybe see you later on today.” She turned and looked at her flying companion. “You OK?”

Lyne had a blank look on her face, then shook her head a little when she registered that Yai had asked a question. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine. But… well, didn’t we just take off?”

Yai smiled and laughed a little. “It’s OK. Everyone goes through a little shock the first time they fly with me. Like I said, I might see you later on. I’m going to ElecTown with Lan and the others. We’re going shopping with your dad."

"Probably for more computer components. That's what we went to ElecTown for when I was Lan's age. I hope I get to go with them today. Dad might make me unpack instead."

"That would be a major bummer if he did that. You have 4 really big bags."

"I know," Lyne said as she hung her head. "I spent the entire day packing them. I’m getting pretty tired since I didn’t get to take a nap. Kinda’ hard since I’m still excited to be almost home. *Yawn*"

Yai nodded in agreement as the jet landed at the DenTech City Airport. They taxied in from the runway to one of the many low-level arrival gates. "Your bags will be sent to baggage claim where your dad is waiting. I really hope I see you at the shopping trip," Yai said.

"Yai, I have something to ask of you," Lyne said as she left the jet.

"Yes, Lyne."

"Don't tell my brother you saw me please. This return trip is supposed to be a secret. Promise?"

"I promise. Cross my heart and hope to lose all of my rare battle chips for telling. Get going, your dad is waiting for you. See ya."

"Bye Yai, it was nice meeting you," Lyne said as she left the runway for the lower terminal entrance. Once inside the door, she went up the stairs to the main terminal. She went on from there to baggage claim. The walk seemed to take forever, but she finally got there. Man I'm tired. Never pack all afternoon before a trip ever again. She vowed to herself as she squatted to catch her breath. Never, ever again. OK, let’s find those bags and wait for dad.

She stood up and waited by baggage claim for what seemed like hours until she heard someone call, "Lyne." She turned around and saw her father (Dr. Yuuichiro Hikari) with her bags on a transport cart. "Let’s go home and wake your brother up" he said. Lyne ran up to him and gave him a big hug and cried as she did so. "No need for those. You are too beautiful to cry, and yes, I know you’re happy to see me. Now let’s wipe those tears away and go home."

"Ok, Dad," she replied, wiping her eyes. They went to the van and, once they’d loaded all her bags inside, Lyne asked, "Um, Dad, before we leave, can you fix Combit? I think she has a virus."

"Let me see your PET." Lyne handed the device to her dad. He examined it as he walked around to her door and unlocked it for her. “Well Lyne, she does have a virus and can be fixed at home, so let’s go." He went back around to the driver’s door and they both got in to drive home.

I'm home at last.
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~Hikari House~

Lan was still lying in bed, sound asleep. Megaman had been out of his sleep mode for about a half hour trying to wake up Lan. “Lan!” he yelled, louder than he had yet, “Its 11:30. Get out of bed!” Megaman saw an arm appear from under the blanket and its hand started slapping around on top of the bedside table as if it were searching for something. Once he realized what Lan was doing, Megaman laughed and said, “Lan, you don’t have an alarm clock anymore.” However, his NetOp, one of Japan’s premier NetSaviors, just responded by reaching out father until he tumbled right out of his bed. Megaman winced, but then sighed and thought, Well, at least he’s up now.

“Mmmnn, th’ chocl’t one” came a groan from the boy lying on the floor, then a mutter of, “Extr’ frost’ng ‘n mine,” as Lan pulled the blankets off of his bed and curled up into them.

Megaman looked at this spectacle in quiet wonder. My brother sure is one dedicated sleeper, he thought. He then narrowed his eyes in concentration. OK. I’ve tried ‘Your underpants are on fire, and that didn’t work. I’ve tried ‘There’s a virus in your bed.’ That one usually gets him up, but didn’t work this time. Hum, I wonder how I’m going to wake him up. I know!

“Mayl is looking in your underwear drawer.” Megaman shouted at the top of his digital lungs. 3…2…1…, then there was a loud *bang!* as Lan sat up quickly and his head hit the bottom of the table he’d rolled up under.

“Oww,” Lan said as he grabbed the blankets around him and stood up, looking over at his dresser and around his room in confusion. “That's not funny Megaman,” Lan said when he figured out what had happened and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, ”I was having a nice dream,” he said sleepily.

“It was about food again. You always talk in your sleep. Uh, what’s a donut any way? That doesn’t sound Japanese.”

“It’s not. Our sister learned to make them for me before going to America for school. Man, I miss her donuts. Especially the chocolate dipped ones,” Lan said rubbing his stomach. “It’s sure been a long time.”

“Oh. Hey, Lan. Our Dad said he wouldn’t be home until around noon, so the shopping trip planned for today will be pushed back.”

“Man, that’s not fair. I was hoping to go to Jomen Electronics to try to get more free stuff, but the mini tourney ends at noon,” Lan said as he sat at his desk and hung his head in disappointment.

“Well, you just about slept through it anyway. It’s almost noon now, so Dad’ll be here soon. You’d better change clothes.”

“Right,” Lan said as he ran for his bathroom. He took a shower, brushed his hair and teeth, and then changed into his clothes.

*Whurrrr* his stomach called out. “Ooo, I’ll see if Mom made anything for breakfast. Let’s go Megaman,” Lan said as he grabbed his PET from the top of his desk and clipped it to his side. He opened the door from his room to the main upstairs hallway. Lan sniffed appreciatively at the smell of breakfast in the air as he walked down the stairs.

Alright! Food time before shopping, Lan thought to himself as he sat down at the table in the dining area. Mrs. Hikari walked over to the table and placed a plate of food in front of Lan and then went back to the kitchen, asking, ”Do you know what today is Lan?”

“Umm,” he said with a blank look on his face, ”Well, it’s shopping day,” Lan answered with confidence, and then started to eat his breakfast.

“For who?” Mrs. Hikari pressed in a stern tone.

“I don’t know. Can’t really remember, but it’s probably for one of my friends,” he answered and then shoveled in some more food.

“Go look at the calendar, and tell me tell me what day it is” Mrs. Hikari said with an edge of anger in her voice.

Lan quickly finished his meal, and then walked up to the calendar, "Megaman what day is it?

"The 14th of July, 200X."

"Thanks, now let’s see. Here it is: 14th of July, *Gulp* Uh-Oh," he said as he read the words Lyne's Birthday written in the space for the 14th of July.

"What's wrong Lan?" Megaman asked in concern when he saw Lan’s worried look.

"How could I forget my sister's birthday?" Lan grabbed his head in frustration.

"Our sister's birthday. You forget a lot of things Lan. It's normal for you," Megaman said with a smile on his face.

"What am I going to get her? ... I don't know. This really sucks," Lan said, totally ignoring Megaman's insult, “Argh! And how could I even get anything to her in time?”

"Express delivery?” Megaman suggested offhandedly, and then said, “Why don't you get her some jewelry? Roll likes cyber gems."

"Megaman, she’s my sister, not Mayl."

"She might want her brother to give her a great big hug," a voice came from behind him. Lan stood up and turned around to see Lyne and his father standing in the doorway. Lyne grinned and walked towards Lan, who ran towards her, tripping over his feet and knocking her down to the floor.

"Ouch, hah, hah. It's good to see you too Lan. Please let me get up to give you a proper hug. I also got you something from America. Wanna’ see it?"

"Sure." Lan said as her got off her and helped her stand up. Lyne took off her mini backpack and pulled out a Dunkin’ Donuts t-shirt in Lan's size.

"What do you think?” she asked, holding it up and then handing it to him, “I thought, since you like donuts a lot, I'd get you that shirt. They sell good ones. Go ahead and try it on."

Lan didn't need to be told twice. He left the living room and disappeared upstairs into his room to change his shirt.

"While he puts it on, I'm taking these up stairs to your room Lyne," Yuuichiro Hikari said.

"Dad, that one’s really heavy. Let me help you," Lyne said as she grabbed a handle on the bag and helped her dad carry it upstairs. Once they were done putting away all of Lyne's bags, Lan came down with his new shirt on.

"That shirt looks very nice on you. Why don't you wear it all day so I can wash that orange vest of yours," Mrs. Hikari said.

"Okay, Mom. Thank you, Lyne. I really like it. Do you think you could make some donuts later?" he asked, not bothering to hide his excitement at the thought.

"Maybe, Lan. Don't we have a navi to fix before we go shopping. Right, Dad?" Lyne asked.

"That's right. Let me see her again." Lyne handed her PET to her father. "Time to wake up Combit. I need to run a virus scan on you."

"Yes, Dr. Hikari," Combit answered waking up from her sleep mode. Yuu pointed Lyne’s PET at the family computer.

"Combit, Jack in.” A beam of inferred light shot towards the home computer. “Run virus scan," Dr. Hikari commanded and the virus scanner popped up. The scan didn't take long before the virus was found. She had a little Mettaur damaging her system. A window to remove the Virus came up. Yuu clicked on the remove button, and waited a little while before saying, "Combit, Jack out," he said and the little beam of light returned to Lyne's PET. "Here you go. Good as new," he said as he handed Lyne back her PET.

"Thank you, dad. Are you feeling better Combit? I was really worried," Lyne asked in a concerned tone.

"I'm fine. Just a little embarrassed that it was something as simple as a Mettaur. I see you made it home without me. Did you need your Gameboy QS to keep awake, and do your homework?"

"No, actually, the flight was really short. Hey, Combit. Check how much Lan has grown.” She faced the PET out at her brother.

There was a short silence from the navi, and then she said, “He still doesn’t look all that tall to me.”

“Hey, that’s not nice,” Lan complained, then crossed his arms and pouted, “You two always had to gang up on me.” Both his sister and her navi giggled at him. “Oh, wait,” Lan said, suddenly perking up, “I have a NetNavi too Lyne. Check it out.” He held up his PET, “His name’s Megaman.”

"Wait a minute. Did you say Megaman, Lan?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Dad, I thought you said he was still in development. Lan can I see your PET?"

"Sure," he said, handing the device to Lyne.

"Wow," she exclaimed, “I remember you when you were in development. You look amazing.”

"Thank you Lyne. I usually don't get comments about my looks," Megaman answered rubbing the back of his helmet and smiling.

"And you’re modest. Here Lan," she handed Megaman back to her brother, "Take good care of him. And Megaman, take care of Lan."

"Yes, ma’am," they both said in unison.

"Stop that. Want a quick NetBattle before we go shopping Lan?"

"Yes, maybe I can learn that Charge Kick from you."

He did know it was me. Cool, Lyne thought to herself proudly as they walked over to the family computer.

“Megaman, Jack in. Power up."

"Combit, Jack in. Power up. OK, we'll set the match on Practice Mode so no damage occurs, but techniques can be still demonstrated," Lyne said as she opened up a program on the family computer.

"I didn't know that you could do that. Alright, what's first?" he said as the area around Megaman and Combit changed into a smaller, square fighting arena with a dome over the top of it.

"First we'll do the Charge Kick. Is Megaman any good at unarmed combat?" Lyne asked Lan.

“Oh, sure,” Lan replied, then made a quick, well practiced move from his chip pouch back to the PET, “Cybersword Battlechip in. Download.”

Lyne looked at her brother with a sweat drop appearing on her head, “Um, Lan? Unarmed means not using any weapons at all other than hands or feet.”

Lan looked at her sister for a moment, then laughed nervously, “Ah, hah, hah, hah. Yeah, I knew that. I was just joking a little bit. Well, um, so how are you at unarmed combat buddy?" Lan asked Megaman.

"I never had an unarmed match. What are the rules Lyne?"

"No battle chips at all, and you can’t use your buster to directly attack your opponent. You can still use your buster, but only to power up punches and kicks, and can't make physical contact with your buster either. Which means you can't bash your opponent over the head with your buster. That's all."

"Sounds challenging. Let’s do it," Megaman said excitedly.

"Alright. Begin match," Lyne said.

Combit charged at Megaman with a fast, fake punch. Megaman jumped off to the side to avoid it as Combit dropped low to the ground and did a sweeping backwards kick, knocking Megaman flat on his back. Oh, so that’s how it’s done, Mega thought as he did a handspring into a standing position, ready to fight this time around. He charged at Combit as she was standing up. Bending his elbow, he charged up his buster and shot it off for an elbow hit to Combit's back and made contact, knocking her to the ground face first.

"Go Mega. That was awesome," Lan said.

"Good job Megaman. You're a fast learner," Combit said as she got up.

"Thanks” Megaman said, rubbing the back of his helmet again, “I’m ready for more." he said as he jumped back and got into a fighting stance. Combit did the same thing.

"Combit go."

"Megaman go."

They both charged at each other very quickly. When they were close to each other Lyne called out, “Do it now. Charge Kick!" Combit tucked and rolled forward charging her buster at the same time. As she came out of the roll, her feet were aimed squarely at Megaman's chest. She then fired buster and flew upwards into Mega's chest, knocking him flat on his back with her standing on top of his chest. She stepped off his chest and helped him up.

"Are you alright Megaman?" Combit asked him with concern in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm alright. That was really neat. We should practice like this more often. It's fun."

"Yes, we should. Maybe we can beat Dex without having to use battle chips this way," Lan said.

"Maybe with some more practice. How about we go shopping now? We can practice more later on," Lyne said as she unjacked Combit from the family computer. Lan copied her action and followed his sister out the front door along with their parents. Once outside, they walked over to the garage.

"Mr. Smith sent me this to give you for your birthday," Mr. Hikari said as he uncovered a brand new, metallic blue Suzuki Shadow X model 200X with two helmets placed on top of the seat. It also came with a built-in PET hookup.

Lyne's jaw dropped and she swallowed. “It’s mine? Wow this is great, but my license is American."

"Here, take this," her father said and handed her an envelope. Lyne opened it to reveal a Japanese driver’s license.

"Oooh. Can I drive it to ElecTown? Please dad, I'll be careful and drive on the left side of the road. I promise," Lyne started to beg.

"Sure, but on one condition. Lan goes with you, and you take this with you as well." He handed Lyne a strange looking device. Not questioning what it was she put it in her bag.

"Ready Lan?" Lyne asked as she put on her protective gear and one of the helmets. She then mounted the bike.

"Sure," Lan said as he ran up, put on the second helmet, and hopped on the back of Lyne's bike, grabbing onto her waist.

"Where are we meeting you again, Dad?" Lyne asked from her bike.

"At Jomen Electronics in ElecTown," he answered as he and Mrs. Hikari got inside of the family car, "Your friends are waiting for you there already Lan. Have fun."

"Lyne, drive safe. You have you brother with you. And don't speed," Mrs. Hikari called out from the car.

"Yes, Mom. I'll be careful," Lyne said as she placed Combit into the PET slot on her bike and then linked her helmet to Combit.

"Radio check. Lan can you hear me?"

"Yes. Let’s go."

"Combit, find directions to Jomen Electronics," Lyne said as she started up the engine, kicked up the kick stand, and started to roll out of the driveway.

"At the end of the driveway, take a right," Combit said as they approached the end of the driveway.

"Right. Got it. Hang on Lan, we're going to have a fun trip," Lyne said as she sped out of the driveway towards the Jomen Electronics Store.
_____________________
Next Episode Preview

~Riding on the highway~

Lan: *Hanging on tight.* Is this slow!?
Lyne: *Drifts to the side and races past another car.* Don’t worry bro. I’m just testing what it can do. It wouldn’t be safe to drive on if I didn’t know its capabilities.
Lan: Well, OK. As long as you’re sure.
Lyne: I don’t really remember Jomen Electronics. Has ElecTown changed that much?
Lan: Well, that’s the newest store, but there was some rebuilding that had to be done.
Lyne: Really? Why’d they have to rebuild stuff?
Lan: Well, there were the Darkloids. Then there was that one big Mettaur…
Lyne: Huh? *Turns her head to look at her brother.* How would navis or viruses force them to rebuild?
Lan: *Hides his head behind Lyne’s back as she slips past a car with barely a hair’s width to spare.* Yeek! I’ll tell you about it later. Just please watch the road!
Lyne: *Casually.* Oh, alright. Next time on Lan and Lyne, Episode 2: A Shopping Trip Gone Wrong. *Eyes suddenly widen.* Hey wait, what’s that supposed to mean ma’am?
Author: *Following on a sleek-looking Vespa scooter with Editor behind her, hiding his head on her back.* Just worry about driving Lyne! And slow down! I swear I’m never doing another preview like this.
_________________
"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

[Zodiac]

Well, a whole 'nother month just about until we continue with Season Two. Well, that gives us some catch-up time anyway. Ahh, it sure is nice to see the Revised Season One posted on this site finally. Having the crash will be more bearable now. I just had to use one of the spiffy emoticons.
_________________
Church: Are you following any of this?
Caboose: I think so. That guy Tex is a robot, and you're his boyfriend. So that makes you... a gay robot.
Church: ... That's right... I'm a gay robot.

Red Vs. Blue

[Kakashi]

Yay, I'm glad that you didn't lose the fic. Now we can have more and more fans coming. :shadow:

[Wackoguy]

Well, I know that I like this revised version, (even though the original kind of grew on me).

I like what you've done to revise this. It seems a bit easier to follow. I'm just wondering what the strange object Yuu gave Lyne was...? Meh, I guess that's for the author to know. :stonecube:
_________________
"When it rains,it pours. When it pours,get out of the rain." -quoth me!

Megaman Melee! HUTTAH and HUZZAH!


"I ate your siggy..."

[Zodiac]

Yeah, to ensure quality, we write the fict on the computer and edit before posting. That way, we never have to worry about losing it. Unless every computer on Earth is destroyed :O Which would be a bad thing. We're glad you're having an easier time following it. Hopefully, no unexpected confusion has found its way in. Be sure to check every day if you can so you can keep up with the daily postings. With added scenes and Previews, the fict is longer than it used to be, although condensing the chapters (this chapter 1 used to be chapters 1, 2, and 3) makes it look shorter.
_________________
Church: Are you following any of this?
Caboose: I think so. That guy Tex is a robot, and you're his boyfriend. So that makes you... a gay robot.
Church: ... That's right... I'm a gay robot.

Red Vs. Blue

[Serenade.exe/HotShot]

Oh darn...I was waiting forever for the next chapter of season2 to come out... Oh well, it now gives me a chance to read over the revised Season1! YEA! :D Er...Meg....you did get the bio before the forum got hacked right? :puku: If not, I'll resend it to you.
_________________

Sig by Hikari Angel

[Megawoman.EXE]

I think so. It was the one with Lee and Pharaohman right. Thinks hard.......Yeah I got that one. So don't worry about it. I'm still trying to figure out where to place these two in the fict.
_________________
"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

[Angel.EXE]

well, im glad you decided to post the new version!... but i really cant wait to see the season 2 next chapt ;__; but aside from my whining... ^__^; it written well like always! keep up the good work

[sandman exe]

Nice to see you guys came back. Good chap lyne.

[Megawoman.EXE]

Episode 2: A Shopping Trip Gone Wrong

~Jomen Electronics~

"What's taking him so long?" Chaud asked aloud, tapping his foot out of frustration and impatience.

"What do you expect of him? His sister just got back from America. Of course he's going to be late. Anyway, it's Lan were talking about," Yai answered.

"Yeah, besides maybe we can battle her later. Yai said that she's the US Net Cup Champion. We might learn a thing or two," Tory said as he looked at his PET, "Isn't that right Iceman?"

"You bet," his small, parka-wearing navi replied.

"I hope he gets here soon. I'm getting bored," Chaud said as he slumped down on the bench in front of the store.

"We don't have to wait much longer Chaud," Mayl said, "’Cause he just e-mailed me. It says /Just crossed the bridge entering ElecTown. We'll be there soon. Bye. Lan./"

As Mayl was just finishing reading the e-mail, a loud motorcycle came around the corner with Lan on the back, waving to them.

"There he is!" Mayl exclaimed. The whole group followed the bike until it parked in the ElecTown Square. As Lan got off the bike and took off his helmet, his friends gathered up around him.

"When did your dad get a motorcycle?" Mayl asked in a half curious, half jealous tone.

"Yeah," everyone said in unison as they crowded him.

"Take it easy guys. The bike’s my sister's, not my dad's. It's a birthday present from her host family in America," Lan said as Lyne was taking her bike gear off and stowing it inside the bike, "Everybody, meet Lyne, my sister."

"Hello, Lyne," they all said, again in unison.

"Lyne, this is Mayl, Chaud, Yai, and Tory. Hey, where's Dex?"

"Dex went to the Ice Cream Parlor across the street. I just e-mailed him, so he should be here soon," Mayl answered. Just moments later, Dex came running across the street. Once he’d crossed and got up to the group, he squatted to catch his breath.

"And this is Dex,” Lan said as Lyne walked over to the group.

"Nice to meet you guys, and it's nice to see you again Yai."

Shocked to hear this, Lan asked, "What? You know Yai already?"

"It's simple Lan. I picked her up in the Ayano Jet," Yai explained.

"So that's why the flight was short. Cool."

Just then, Mr. and Mrs. Hikari drove up and parked behind Lyne's bike. They both got out of the car and walked up the group.

"What are we doing first, Dad?" Lan asked.

"Well, we're going to go shopping in groups if you guys want to buy Lyne a present for her birthday. If not, you can hang out with Lyne until we're done. Coming Lan?"

"Yes, Dad," Lan answered, following his parents into Jomen Electronics. Mayl, Yai, and Tory followed them while Chaud and Dex stayed behind.

"So, you won the US Net Cup," Chaud said in a mellow, matter-of-fact tone.

"Yes I did. It was a very tough competition. Americans sometimes fight without mercy. I think I had the advantage though. One simple rule," she said, and held up her index finger as she explained, "Use your enemies’ strength against them."

"Hey Lyne, wanna’ NetBattle Gutsman and I?" Dex asked Lyne excitedly.

"Sure, I see no harm in battling. We'll use my bike as a jack in point," Lyne said, accepting his challenge.

This should be interesting. I give Dex 10 seconds to lose, Chaud thought to himself as they walked towards Lyne's bike.

"Gutsman, Jack in, Power up."

"Combit, Jack in, Power up. Ready Dex?” Lyne asked.

"I was born ready. Let's do it. GutsHammer Battlechip in, download."

"Angel Wings and Atom Blade battle chips in download."

In the battle arena the GutsHammer tore down the arena towards Combit. She jumped out of the way and streaked straight at Gutsman in a gliding charge. Gutsman was still recovering after his own attack when Combit made a precise slash with the Atom Blade, slicing the GutsHammer cleanly off.

/Gutsman, Logging Out/ the computer announcer said.

Wow! The battle only took 5 seconds. Impressive, Chaud thought in mild shock.

"Man, she's fast. Guts, are you ok?"

Gutsman had tears in his eyes, “Girl navi deal big owie to Guts."

“Dr. Hikari must have made that one too. She’s about as fast as Megaman is,” Dex said to Lyne.

“Actually, Mr. Smith made it, back when he and Dad worked together. You fought well Dex,” Lyne said, shaking his hand, "Chaud, want to have a go?" she asked the dual-color-haired boy.

"I don't really have a navi any more. I lost him," Chaud said, turning down her invite, “Maybe when I find him again. What kind of battle chips are those anyway?"

Lost? That sounds odd, Lyne thought, but didn’t press for an explanation. "Oh, these. They're the only ones in the world right now. The Angel Wings battle chip doesn't really allow a navi to fly as it might suggest, but rather increase its jumping abilities, increase its dash attack, plus it has an added benefit of correcting balance. Kind of like how a cat will land on its feet after a fall. After the fall it's ready to walk again. Same thing applies to the navi that uses this chip."

"What about the other chip? Atom whatever. It sure did a lot of damage to my poor Gutsman,” Dex asked.

"Don't worry, Gutsman will be fine. The Atom Blade can cut through any material in the cyber world, but the downside is that it’s the size of a medium dagger, so it has to be used in very close combat."

"How come you didn't use those in the US Net Cup?" Chaud asked.

"Oh, you watched that too. Well to tell you the truth, these were the chips I won at the tournament. It was a promotional tournament for Chip Net Industries, the company Mr. Smith works for in the United States. I was the company’s representative NetBattler."

"I'm surprised he didn't have one of his sons represent. Instead he has a Hikari represent CNI."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lyne said in an angry tone.

"I know the Smith's, and their sons can battle better then you."

"I had nobody but them to practice against. I fought for the spot respectively. CNI held a mini tourney to see who would represent them at the US Net Cup. I suggest you don't make me angry Chaud."

"Oh, I didn't know I hit a soft spot. I apologize, Lyne, but it's the truth. I'm the vice CEO of IPC, and, as I said, I happen to know the Smiths," Chaud stopped when Lyne started laughing hard, "What's so funny?"

"You can't be Chaud Blaze,” Lyne said, still laughing, “He wouldn't lose his navi."

"Hey, I said I lost him and can’t find him. There's nothing wrong with that," Chaud said, becoming really red in the face.

Lyne stopped laughing, "Got you back. Now you know how I feel when you picked on me. I've had to deal with being insulted for four years at the Smith household with all of those boys. I don't blame you for being angry with me for insulting you," Lyne apologized.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just a little wound up since I lost my navi."

Dex waved his hand in-between their faces, “Sorry to interrupt, but can you fix Gutsman. He's not doing so good," he said with a sad look on his face.

"Sure. Lemme’ see your PET.” Dex handed Lyne his the device. "Oooo, bad Combit. I told you no Bad Cuts," she scolded her navi, looking over Gutsman, "You almost deleted him."

"Sorry Lyne. I'll be careful next battle with that chip,” she apologized to Lyne, who was shuffling through her bag.

"There it is. I'm not the one to apologize to Combit. Apologize to Gutsman."

"Sorry Gutsman. I didn't mean to cause any serious harm."

"It's ok. Not really mad. Guts really happy to have good opponent."

"That’s the spirit you two. Here you go Gutsman. Navi Repair chip in, download," Lyne said as she inserted a program chip into Dex's PET.

Once the chip downloaded, Gutsman started to become whole again. His semi-robotic face contorted into a smile. Me glad Lyne here. Almost deleted, he thought to himself in relief. Once he was repaired, Lyne handed the PET back to Dex.

"Good as new. Next time, I'll be careful using the Atom Blade. Combit and I still have to work on our synchs."

"Thank you Lyne. He looks great," Dex said with a smile on his face.

"No prob. Anytime."

The group got immersed in conversation and didn’t notice that someone was watching them from the shadows.
_____________________________
"Those are some nice chips," a small, ugly-looking robot beside a taller figure said.

"Shut up. I'm observing the girl. I've seen her somewhere before. She has a strangeness to her. And those chips are interesting. I want them, and the girl. She must not be harmed. Summon Gigantous and Protoman. They should be enough to bring the girl to me," the stranger answered.

"Yes, Bass," the ‘bot answered.

As the ‘bot was leaving, Bass noticed that his target had noticed him. Very strange indeed. he thought as he disappeared from Lyne's sight.
______________________________
"That was weird. Did you guys see that?" Lyne asked as she pointed at where the stranger had been.

"What?" they both asked, looking at where she was pointing.

"There was a person on the top of that building. He seemed very strange to me. Makes my spine shiver. Well, whatever. He's gone. Let's go to the Ice Cream Parlor. My treat."

"Sure," Dex said happily, leading the way. Just then, the ground began to shake slightly. They all stopped and turned around to see a huge dome starting to form around ElecTown Square.

"Lyne run. That's a DA," Chaud said as he grabbed her hand, leading her away from it.

"What's a DA?" she asked while they ran.

"A Dimensional Area. They're dangerous."

Not much of an explanation, Lyne thought to herself, but decided it was better to run than to ask questions. As they got to the edge of the closing area, Lyne tripped over her feet and lost her grip on Chaud's hand.

SOMEONE HELP ME! she thought to herself, to panicked to speak, as the DA closed around her.
_________________________________
Meanwhile, inside Jomen Electronics, Lan felt a strange sensation come over him. He had never felt this sensation before but it was coming from his synchronization with Megaman. He looked down at his PET and noted the look of worry on his navi’s face.

"Dad, something’s wrong. I can feel it somehow. I'm going to check on Lyne." He rushed outside of the store and saw immediately that the DA had taken over the whole square, and saw Lyne lying on the ground inside it.

"Lyne!" he called out. Lyne looked up to see Lan standing on the other side of the bubble. She stood up and ran to him, only to fall backwards and land on her butt. She then stood up again and touched the bubble wall, but jerked back reflexively when it zapped her.

"Ow! I can't get out. What kind of thing is this DA?"

"Hang on. I'll get help."

"Ok. I'll be right here, and please hurry. I don't like the feel of this place."

Lan reached inside his backpack to retrieve a battle chip. By the time he found it, a gigantic navi appeared behind Lyne. Out of shock, he dropped the chip. The gigantic navi bent forward, grabbed Lyne around the waist, and carried her off deeper into the DA.

"Lan, help me!" Lyne cried out.

"You can't help her boy. She is now property of Bass. Bass will reward Gigantous well,” the gigantic navi said, leaving Lan behind. Mr. Hikari came running up, along with the rest of the gang.

"What are you waiting for? Go save her," Chaud said to Lan, bringing him back to his senses. He quickly picked up the chip he’d dropped.

"Do you have the Battle Chip Gate on you Chaud?"

"No he doesn't. Lyne has it in her bag,” Yuu answered.

"Great. Megaman, are you ready to go?"

"Let's do it Lan."

"SyncroChip in download."

"Cross Fusion!" they both said in unison. A bright flash of light engulfed Lan as he attempted to force his way through the wall and into the DA, but he got forced back rather abruptly, landing on his back.

"Lan! Sis is in trouble! Try the roller blades," Mega called out from his PET.

"Right," Lan agreed and slapped on his roller blades. "Dex, wanna give me a hand?"

"Sure. Go once around," Dex said and nodded. He readied himself to grab Lan's hand as Lan skated around. The NetSavior closed in quickly, ready to be spun around by the rather large preteen. Once Dex grabbed Lan's hand, the larger boy cried out, "Gurrrahhh!" as he spun our brunette hero around, and then let go, sending him speeding quickly towards the outer DA wall.

"OK, Mega here we go. 3...2...1."

"Cross Fusion," they cried out once more as Lan hit the wall of the DA with more speed this time. Lan passed through with ease as his PET formed into digital armor around his body. Once on the other side of the DA, the whole gang cheered.

Lan nodded his head at them. "Success. OK. Let's go save Lyne," Lan said, running in the direction Gigantous had left the ElecTown Square.
_______________________

This can’t be real, Lyne thought, trying to free herself from her captor's grip. It just can’t be. Navis can’t just become real, can they? Lyne then pinched herself to see if she was dreaming. She winced in pain from her pinch. OK, so, real. Also, ow! And I can’t do anything about it.

“Maybe I can help,” Combit said, as if reading Lyne’s thoughts and answering her distress, ”Jack me in”

“You know, that might work. Combit, Jack in. Power up,” Lyne said as she pointed her PET towards the ground and beam of light shot out from it, forming Combit inside the DA. Gigantous stopped right in front of her, “What’s this puny thing?”

“Cool, now Angel Wings Battle Chip in, download. Jump up and get me out of here.” Combit complied with Lyne's request, jumping up onto the giant hand. She pushed and pulled, trying to free Lyne, but it was no use.

“Pesky navi. No one will stop Gigantous from doing Gigantous’s mission,” the large navi said, flicking Combit off his hand, into the window of a nearby building.

“No Combit! You meanie; let me go,” Lyne cried out and started to hit the giant hand.

“Gigantous will not. It’s against Bass' wishes to let you go free,” Gigantous answered. Combit then jumped back out of the window, looking unharmed.

"You sound kinda like my last opponent," Combit said in a confident tone as she stood in Gigantous's way. "Seriously, talking in the third person is a definite sign of your lack of AI."

*Whew* Lyne sighed in relief. ”Atom Blade, Battle Chip in, download. Be careful with that when you use it. You need to be precise, ‘cause I’ll be really mad if you cut me with it.”

“You want your puny navi to use a butter knife on Gigantous?” he said incredulously, “Heh, hah, ha. Gigantous doesn’t think that will work,” he bellowed in defiance.

"And he didn't hear me. Whatever," Combit said as she shrugged her shoulders. She got into a fighting stance, ready to pounce into action at her NetOp's command.

“Go Combit. Show this overgrown NetNavi what you’re made of.” Combit obediently charged at Gigantous, slicing into his wrist and disabling the hand that held Lyne prisoner. Oh shoot! I should have planned this better, Lyne thought as the hand holding her slackened and dropped her towards the ground. This is gonna’ hurt! But instead of landing painfully on the pavement, Lyne landed in a pair of arms. She opened her eyes and saw that Combit was on Gigantous’s back with the lumbering brute trying to swat her off. Lyne looked at her rescuer and felt a bit confused to see Megaman put her down. “Megaman, where’s Lan?”

“Megaman. Must destroy Megaman,” Gigantous said, turning towards Lan and Lyne menacingly. He then charged at them and slammed his functioning fist down, but before it could make contact with them, Combit pushed them out of the way, taking on the full blow of the giant fist. As Gigantous lifted his fist from the crater he’d made in the ground, Lyne could see that Combit was rapidly pixilating away into nothing.

“Oh no you don’t! Not today. File Save chip in, download,” Lyne said, inserting a program chip, but nothing happened. Combit was still dissolving. “No, Combit! I need you,” she cried as Lan grabbed her and ran away from Gigantous. Lan didn’t stop until they got back to the ElecTown Square.

“Whew that was close. We would have been killed back there if it weren’t for Combit,” Lan said very grateful for what Combit had done. He looked over at Lyne, who looked very depressed and was starting to cry, “Lyne, are you OK?”

She raised her head from her knees and looked at him. “No. I’m not. I just lost my navi. Would you feel the same...” She paused as Lan walked up to her, “No, you are a navi. Why did I even ask?” she said as she brushed away his attempt at a hug. When she touched him, she stopped and looked at him. She looked at his eyes, noticing that they weren’t green; they were brown. She then realized who he was, “Lan, but how?” she asked in confusion, “This is getting really weird.”

“I know, but we can’t get out of here until we beat Gigantous.”

"Lan’s right. He needs your help Lyne. You have the Battle Chip Gate in your bag," Megaman said.

“What is going on here, Lan? I don’t understand. I’m also hearing Megaman around. Where is he?” Lyne asked as she looked around confused even more.

“Megaman and I are Cross Fused. We help each other out when we’re inside these Dimensional Areas. As I said earlier, we need to defeat Gigantous, and I can’t do it alone.”

“But how can I help?”

“Dad said that you have the Battle Chip Gate in your bag,” Lan said as he pointed at her bag. Lyne took her bag off her shoulder and started to shuffle through it. As she shuffled through the bag, she remembered the weird device that her father had given her before the trip.

She grabbed it out of her bag and asked, “Is this it?”

“Yes, now I can use battle chips to fight.”

“How does this thing work?” Lyne asked, ignoring Lan as she examined the unfamiliar device.

“Just like a PET, but it only works for me when I’m cross fused.”

“You do know that really doesn’t explain much, but I’ll take a guess at it. Battle chips are loaded into here right?” Lyne said as she pointed to the top of the BCG as the ground started to shake.

“Yeah. No time to explain more; Gigantous is coming. Let’s do a program advance and take him out in one shot.”

“Which one? There're many of them.”

“I don’t know; pick one,” Lan said in a hurried tone. Gigantous rounded the corner, looking for them and Lan rushed out past him, drawing the larger navi’s attention. He took the bait, turning towards Lan, who was firing shots at him to keep his attention. When his back was turned to her, Lyne noticed the Atom Blade was stuck there.

Combit, you’re awesome, she thought, Smack dab in the middle of his back with the Beta Sword.

Lan, who’d jumped away from an attack, landed near Lyne and asked, “Why the Beta Sword?”

Lyne looked at Lan confused, “You heard my thoughts? Usually only Combit could do that.” Gigantous reached out and Lan retreated along with Lyne, trying to discourage his opponent with more quick shots. Meanwhile Lyne managed to regain her composure and explain, “Well anyway, the Beta Sword should force the Atom Blade all the way through, deleting Gigantous.”

“I see. Alright, I’m ready when you are.”

“Remember hit the middle of his back or it won’t work. Here we go, Program Advance,” Lan charged forward…, “Cyber Sword Battle Chip in, download,” …jumped…, “Wide Sword Battle Chip in, download,” …ran along the arm that Gigantous had struck out at him…, “Long Sword Battle Chip in, download,” …and dropped off the larger navi’s shoulder, turning to aim at his back. “Beta Sword!” Lyne finished the Program Advance with a strong cry. Lan’s arms came together and a bright, purplish, blue lance of light formed from his hands. He swung down, fast and right on target at the Atom Blade, sending it straight through. The energy of the Beta Sword followed through the hole that the Atom Blade left behind and blossomed out, widening the wound into a great cavern.

"RRRAAaaaggh-" Gigantous bellowed as his body pixilated away into nothing.

“You were right Lyne. It worked.” Lan came up and hugged her. Lyne still felt uneasy, as if something was still there.

“You did say the DA would be gone after we defeated Gigantous right?” Lyne asked in a shaky tone.

“Yes, why?” Lan asked, puzzled by her tone of voice.

“It’s still here. Look.” She pointed upwards and Lan looked where she pointed, seeing the multicolored, honeycombed ceiling that meant the Dimensional Area was still around them.

“That’s because I’m here,” another navi said as it appeared walked out from the shadows.

Protoman, both Lan and Megaman thought in unison. Lan got into a fighting stance in front of Lyne.

“Now, now. There’s no need for that. If you just hand over the girl, I’ll leave you in one piece,” Protoman said in a cool tone.

“I’m not handing my sister over to the likes of you or Bass. If you want her, you’ll have to go through me.” He turned his head towards Lyne, “Get out of here. NOW!”

“But what about you?” Lyne asked.

“I’ll be fine. Just go.” Lyne turned and saw her bike, luckily inside the DA with her. She ran to it and quickly threw her helmet on. “Hurry!” Lan said, looking at her and not seeing that Protoman had begun to charge him. She started up her bike and threw her leg over it as she gunned the motor, turning the handlebars sharply so that the bike was aiming straight at the oncoming navi. Protoman dodged to the side as Lyne quickly approached, but he’d made his dodge too soon and Lyne was able to make another sharp turn and slide out the rear of her bike, sliding the broad side of it into the SwordsmanNavi. She’d gained enough speed and momentum that the strike knocked the off-balanced navi into the wall of the Ice Cream Parlor. Lan stood there dumbfounded.

“That’ll teach you for trying to attack my brother unfairly you jerk.” She then looked at Lan and suggested, “Let’s get out of here.” Lan shook away his shock and climbed onto the back of the bike, holding on as Lyne drove off further into the DA.

That brat! She’ll pay for that, Protoman thought to himself as he got up while Lan and Lyne drove off.

“Well, well. Now I hope you aren’t thinking of harming that girl in some need for revenge, are you?” a voice said from behind him. He turned to see the cloaked navi that he served.

“No, Bass. Of course not.”

“Don’t feel insulted by her attack succeeding. It seems to be a part of her power. I underestimated its strength. But still, they’re getting away.”

“I’m sorry, Master,” Protoman apologized.

"Take this,” Bass said, holding out a hand, palm down, and releasing energy that coalesced into a digital motorcycle, “Get her and bring her to me. And destroy Megaman for me. Without him, Lan can’t interfere with my plans for this girl. Now go,” he commanded as he disappeared.

Protoman obediently got on the bike Bass had made him and followed the siblings.

"What were you thinking, Lyne? Lan and I could have taken him on," Megaman scolded while Lyne was driving, "You could have been hurt very badly."

“And so can Lan when you're like this. I just reacted when that navi came charging at him. I couldn’t help it.” She then looked into her rearview mirror and muttered, “Perfect. He’s right behind us.” Lan looked behind them and, sure enough, Protoman was closing in on them. “Persistent isn’t he? Take out his front tire with a charged shot. That should slow him down.”

“Alright,” Lan agreed as he managed to shift around and sit back-to-back with Lyne while she was still driving. Lan brought up his Megabuster and charged it up, aiming at the front tire of Protoman’s bike.

“Release the shot,” Lyne ordered. Just as Lan released his shot, one unexpectedly came from Protoman’s bike. Both shots hit their targets, disabling both bikes. Lyne managed to control her skidding vehicle enough to not crash, but Protoman’s wheel-less front end dug into the pavement and flipped the digital machine forward, flinging its rider into a wall. Lyne got off her bike to see what Protoman had done to it. As she was doing this, Protoman got to his feet, shaking off the hard impact, and started to walk towards her. Lyne then took of her helmet and looked at Protoman with a very angry glare that stopped him in his tracks.

This girl doesn’t really think she can do anything to me, does she? Protoman thought, But then, why am I feeling so nervous?

“You jerk! This bike is my birthday present, and you wrecked it. You will pay dearly. Atom Blade Battle Chip in, download.”

Whoa! I can feel the power coming off that chip! Megaman thought to Lan as the Blade appeared in his hand, Could her anger… no, it couldn’t be.

I think your first thought was right. I can feel it too Mega. Remind me to never ride Lyne’s bike without her permission.

“Give me the Atom Blade Lan, and nelson him.”

Yep she’s really mad. I’m not gonna’ argue with her, Lan thought as he handed her the blade. He then jumped behind Protoman, who was unusually slow to react, and grabbed him, putting him into a full nelson.

"What are you doing you idiot? Let go!" Protoman exclaimed as Lyne walked up to him, grabbed his hair, and pulled his head down.

“Not the hair. Not the hair! Anything but the hair!” he shouted struggling in Lan’s grip to try and get away. Lyne then cut off Protoman’s hair with the Atom Blade just inches below where it showed from under his helmet, and then had Lan release him.

“Here, take this with you,” she said as she handed Protoman the locks she’d cut off. He took them with a grimace on his face and logged out in disgust and embarrassment. Lyne looked satisfied at a job well done as the Atom Blade disappeared from her hand.
“Hah, hah, hah, hah! You sure embarrassed him,” came a voice from behind her. “You’re very stubborn girl. That’s what I like about you,” the navi who’d appeared behind her said, striking Lyne on the back of her neck and knocking her out. Lan caught her as she fell and he placed her gently on the ground.

“Bass leave her alone. Why do you want my sister anyway?”

“Sister…That explains some. She has a mysterious power, and I want it. And you can’t stop me from taking it.”

Bass smiled at Lan with narrowed eyes and walked towards him. Lan tensed up, then jerked in sudden surprise as he felt a strange sensation all over his body. His arm moved up and the Megabuster activated again, aimed directly at Bass. Megaman what’s going on? I can’t put the buster down. I feel like I’ve lost control.

Don’t know Lan. It’s not me. I’m doing a system scan now.

Bass stopped his approach, sensing something wrong, “You look confused Lan. Why are you aiming that buster at me? Do you really think to take me on? Or is it Megaman?” The buster then started to charge.

Stop the buster Megaman. This is Bass here. If it fires, we’re all in trouble.

No use Lan. I can’t stop it either. It’s going to fire at him.

Bass took one step closer towards Lan and Lyne.

"GET AWAY!" a shrill, ghostly voice echoed as the shot was released, passing right by Bass’ face.

Holy Crap!! Bass thought as the shot passed by noting the glossed look in Lyne’s eyes, That wasn’t a normal shot! She has control over Lan, and Megaman. I’d better get out of here before the girl actually uses them to delete me!

Lan was getting worried now. OK, calm down, he thought to himself, I just shot at Bass, and he hasn’t killed me. Maybe I can get us through this.

“Alright, it’s obvious I’m not wanted here,” Bass said backing away from Lan and Lyne. Lan was surprised that he was backing off and was even more surprised when Bass logged out. The Dimensional Area disappeared right afterwards and Megaman’s armor vanished from Lan’s body, leaving behind the PET which Lan caught reflexively despite his shock.

“What just happened?” Megaman asked from his little home, “Bass usually doesn’t back off that easily.”

“Yeah, but that shot was also weird. Bass actually looked shocked when it went off. What kind of power does Lyne have that Bass would want?”

“Don’t know, but it seems she has some kind of net power, and can control you against your will when we’re fused. At least I think it was her.”

“Yeah, it seems like that.” Just then, Lyne stirred and Lan helped her up.

“What happened? Ow, that hurts,” Lyne said rubbing the back of her neck. She looked at Lan and saw he was his normal self in his regular clothes (though still in the Dunkun Donuts T-shirt she gave him rather than his usual orange vest). Was it a dream, or was it real? She then looked at her PET and saw Combit wasn’t there. Then she looked over at her bike and started to cry, “Lan, what’s wrong with me?” Lan opened his mouth, but couldn’t think of an answer. He did the best he could do by giving her a hug to comfort her. As they stood there a helicopter landed behind them with the letters IPC on it.

“Come on Lan, Lyne. Let’s go home,” Yuu called to them from the helicopter. They both walked up and got on the helicopter. Then it took off, leaving ElecTown behind.

Lyne hung her head over the blank screen of her PET, and then put the device away. I lost control, she thought to herself. She looked down at her hands, then turned them over and looked into her palms, as if there was some answer for her there. I can’t go through it again. Combit, I need you back, she thought and placed her face down into her palms, hiding from her surroundings.
________________________
~Elsewhere~

“That girl has a power that rivals my own. I must have it,” Bass said excitedly.

“That brat cut off my hair,” Protoman complained, trying to reattach the deleting locks.

“She took over Lan in his Cross Fused state when I knocked her out. She powered him up when she did it too. She may’ve not realized it, but she did it.”

“That brat still cut off my hair,” Protoman said in a more angry tone while still futilely attempting to reattach what was left.

Bass paused his power speech, and turned towards Protoman, “You know that won’t work. Just go into sleep mode. The hair she cut off will come back.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” He stormed off, dropping the rest of his hair, “Oooo, she’ll pay for embarrassing me. I’ll make her bald. Human hair doesn’t grow back as fast.”

Bass appeared in front of him, halting the angered navi in his tracks. “Remember one thing,” Bass said, raising one of his fingers in warning, “If you harm even one of the hairs on her head, I’ll personally delete you. And you know I can.”

Protoman then hung his head, having his plans for revenge crushed. “I understand Bass,” he reluctantly agreed through gritted teeth, “I’m going to go and do sleep mode now.”

“Go ahead. I know where to find you if I need you,” Bass said dismissing Protoman from his sight.

Lyne Hikari I’ll have your net power one day, and then I’ll rule the whole real and digital world. HAAHAAHAHeHAHAHA!!! Bass thought to himself with an evil grin on his face.
____________________________
Next Episode Preview

~IPC building~

Author: *Walks into a lab area and looks around.* Famous! Where are you?
Famous: No need for… Oh, you didn’t call me Mister. Thank you.
Author: *Looks over to where his voice is.* Wh- WHAT!? What are you doing?
Famous: *Dressed in gaudy tourist clothes. He glances at the bags around him.* I was about to take a trip. Why do you ask?
Author: A trip? You can’t take one now! We’re about to get into the next chapter, and you’re in it.
Famous: I am? I thought I wasn’t in the story until Chapter Six.
Author: The story’s been revised. Oh, the lab isn’t even ready yet. Listen the helicopter’s on its way right now. Editor!
Editor: *Walks in wearing similar clothes to Famous and carrying his own bags.* Yes dear? Is Famous all ready to go? *Stops when he sees the look on the Author’s face.* Ah, or maybe not?
Author: …Next. Chapter. Honey.
Editor: Um, right. I guess we’ll be taking that trip some other time Famous.
Famous: Nothing to worry about. Next time on Lan and Lyne, Episode 3: Questions, Answers, and Parties.
Editor: Yeah, party! And we’re already dressed for it too.
Author: You’re not in the cast. Now help us get this place set up. And were you really going to take a trip without me?
Editor: Uh, no time for that now hon. We’ve got to get this place set up, right Famous?
Famous: Don’t drag me into this. You’re on your own.
_________________
"NetAngel Style Change Activate"
Megawoman (Lyne)

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[Megawoman.EXE]

Edit 11/01/2014
Episode 3: Questions, Answers, and Parties

~Flying in the IPC Helicopter~

Lyne was reflecting on what had just happened to her. That Dimensional Area was really weird. Lan was Megaman, I lost Combit, wrecked my bike, and ran away from weird navis. What a way to have a birthday! Lan was holding onto Lyne’s arm. He’d been locked onto her since they’d gotten onto the helicopter. “I’m safe now Lan. You can ease up a little.” She felt her brother relax, but he didn’t let go. Lyne was glad to have the support and protection, but there was something she was missing “Dad, I’d like some answers.”

“What kind of answers, Lyne?” Her father asked, not sure about what was coming.

“Ones that will explain what happened back there, and what’s happening to me now.”

“Oh. Chaud, can you take us to Mr. Famous’s Lab?”

“Sure. Change course,” Chaud ordered the pilot. The pilot banked the helicopter towards the IPC building.

Lan asked, “What about Mom? …. Wait, we’re going where?”

“She’s at home making dinner, and Lyne said she wanted answers, so we’re going to see Mr. Famous for them.”

Lyne was feeling nervous about this. I hope it’s not bad, Lyne thought to herself while wringing her wrists.

The helicopter started to slow down as they came in for a landing on the roof of the IPC building. Mr. Famous was standing there, waiting for them. I knew I’d see Yuuichiro today, Mr. Famous thought, Wonder what’s wrong.

The helicopter touched down and the Hikaris got off. “Thank you Chaud. We’ll see you later,” Dr. Hikari said to him. The helicopter then took off again, leaving them behind. As they walked up, Famous realized that there were three people visiting him today: Yuu, Lan, and...

Oh no, it’s Lyne. She’s back already. This isn’t good. “What’s going on Yuu? Why is she here?” he whispered to his fellow scientist friend. “She was supposed to be back here next week.”

“I know but I decided to bring her back so we could celebrate her 16th birthday here…You saw what happened in ElecTown today?”

“Yes, I saw the Dimensional Area. What’s this got to do with her?” Famous said gesturing to Lyne.

Dr. Hikari dragged him aside to talk to him in private. “Bass knows about Lyne’s power and tried to kidnap her. He was the one who made the DA.” Famous looked back at Lan and Lyne. The older Hikari sibling seemed very upset to him.

“So it seems he added something new to his robot frame…How’s Combit might I ask?”

“Umm, Combit got deleted trying to protect Lyne. I have the helicopter tape. I also brought Lan; we’re going to access his memory through Cross Fusion. Lyne’s power might be out of control right now as well, but I’m not sure. We need to get started ASAP.”

“This isn’t good. Combit kept Lyne’s power in check,” he walked off for a little bit before looking back at Dr. Hikari, “I agree with what you said Yuu; she might be out of control. Is the Sister Program ready to go or is it still behind schedule?”

“I got it finished last week but no, it’s not really ready. It’s not configured for Lyne since I needed her to be available to calibrate it, but I brought it with me on a protected file in my PET.”

“That’s good to hear. We can configure it here for her. That way, we can calm her power down, and make sure we get it done before Commissioner Kifune starts asking questions.”

“Yes and before she starts over using her power again. She’s doing her best without Combit for now.” Dr. Hikari then turned his head towards Lan and Lyne. “Lan, Lyne, come on. We're going inside.”

They both followed Famous and their father inside. It took a while to get to the lab Famous used for his net research. Once they got there, the door opened automatically for them.

“Lan, if you wouldn’t mind, please get into the DC Chamber,” Mr. Famous requested Lan.

“But, why? I’m tired and so is Megaman. We just took down two navis,” Lan complained.

“One navi. Embarrassed the snot out of the other one. *snicker*, Oh and made one run away that’s three Lan. You need to work on your math.” Megaman said.

“Sush. Anyway, we’re still tired,” Lan said, rubbing the back of his head.

“Don’t worry, you’ll both be sleeping. We just need to access your memory.”

“We need to find out what happened inside the Dimensional Area Bass made while you were inside it,” Dr. Hikari explained.

“Lyne was there too. Why not access her memory?” Lan said in a cranky, tired tone.

“Can she Cross Fuse?” he asked crossing his arms over his chest and made Lyne hang her head.

“No,” Lan said, hanging his head and kicking his foot against the floor.

“Now go,” Dr. Hikari said, directing his son to the Dimension Converter Chamber.

“Yes father,” Lan said as he walked into the DC Chamber.

Once inside, he put the SyncroChip inside his PET and then placed it inside the PET scanner next to the DC unit. Lan then laid down on the unit and the cover closed over the top of him.

In the control room, Lyne was curious about what was happening. “What are you going to do to Lan, Dad?”

“We’re fusing Lan with Megaman. You’ve seen it before, but never watched it happen. Now watch,” he said directing her attention to the DC Chamber.

“Lan this is Famous. Are you ready?” Lan gave them a thumbs up. “Dimension Core activate! Creating DA… Commencing Cross Fusion,” Famous said as he activated the main control panel. Lyne watched as Lan slowly transformed. She couldn’t believe her eyes. When Lan was done fusing, she knew what happened had to be real.

“Can I go see him, Dad?”

“Not yet. Lan, we’re activating sleep mode now.” Lan nodded in understanding. Dr. Hikari pressed the sleep button on the control panel and Lan fell asleep.

“Famous, run memory scan. Times: from about noon to about 3 PM today.”

“1200-1500, 14th of July. Got it. Here it comes.”

On one of the monitors, a scene from earlier at the Hikari house appeared. “Too far back. Forward scan to 1300.”

“Check. Here you go; 1300.” The display jumped past Lyne and her brother’s trip to ElecTown and ended up right before the DA appeared. Famous scanned forward, and it showed Lan cross fusing, only faster, and running off. Then it showed Combit’s deletion. Lyne wasn’t too thrilled at watching it again as tears started to well up under her eyes and the electronics around her started to spark.

“We’ll get you a new navi so don’t worry. It’ll be a birthday present,” Dr. Hikari said trying to cheer her up by giving her a hug.

“But I liked Combit. We worked well together,” Lyne pointed out while trying to get her cool back. Her father’s touch was helping a little.

Dr. Hikari drew her in for a better hug as the memory scan continued. Famous started to laugh as the screen showed Protoman’s haircut. Dr. Hikari joined him.

“I can’t believe you did that Lyne,” Famous said while still laughing, “That was rich. Protoman is going to be in sleep mode for a while trying to grow that back.”

“He deserved it. He wrecked my bike. How am I going to fix it now?” she growled causing a fuse to blow on a nearby panel.

“Don’t worry about it. Chaud has that taken care of,” her father assured Lyne as he reset the fuse. “Please try to stay calm Lyne or we won’t be able to finish the memory scan.”

“I’ll try,” she said as she decided to take a seat away from the control panels.

Then the scene they wanted appeared: the one where Bass encountered Lan and Lyne.

“I’ve seen him before, and I’ve felt his power before. Who is he?”

“Of course you wouldn’t recognize him with that tattered cloth on,” Famous breathed out quietly. “His name is Bass, Lyne.”

“Bass…Wait that’s Dr. Cossack’s independent navi? But how? Wasn’t he deleted before…wait it was after the Pharaohman incident? I vividly remember that, even though I was seven at the time.”

“Or so we thought. You do remember what happened with Pharaohman, Lyne?”

“Yes, I remember. He’s the reason I have net power,” Lyne said lowering her eyes away from the monitors as she noticed she had managed to short out a few of them from her earlier outburst.

“Bass might know the source of your power. That’s why he’s after you.”

“What made him change so? He didn’t do anything. Pharaohman was the one who was destroying the net. Bass was a sweet navi.”

“We don’t know what happened to him. He may have absorbed the rest of Pharaohman’s power after he was deleted, thus making him a reincarnation of Pharaohman.”

“That’s not possible. Pharaohman was sealed away in a chip by SciLab. I helped seal him away.”

“That was when you gained your net power from Pharaohman,” Famous said, “Right now, I’d say your power is greater than Bass’s. That’s why he tried to capture you, so he could have it for his own and maybe merge it with the remaining Pharaohman programming. Luckily, Lan came to your rescue, or else we would’ve had a really bad situation on our hands.”

Lyne returned her attention to the screen. “What did I do? I sort of know, but I can’t really remember. What did I do to Lan?”

“First of all, you scared the snot out of Lan and Megaman when your power took him over. They both know how dangerous Bass is, but you even surprised him, see?” Famous said as he paused the memory scan, with Bass looking shocked as the shot passed by the right side of his face.

“I did that? What made me do that anyway?”

“It’s a defensive response. Similar to when you hit Protoman with your bike, but it only activates when you’re knocked out.”

“Oh, that does explain a lot, but why now? I’ve never had problems like this before.”

“Combit kept your power in check so you could control it, but now we have to get you a new navi to help you gain control again,” Dr. Hikari said in concern, “Without a navi, you’re even more dangerous than Bass and, as we said before, he knows this.”

“How can he take my net power from me? I’m living and he’s digital.”

“You are part digital inside your mind because of what Pharaohman did to you, so he can scan you if he got his hands on you.” He looked over towards Famous and said, “We’re done with the memory scan, Famous. Wake Lan up.”

“Alright, here we go,” he said as he pressed the sleep button on the control panel again.

“Can I go see him now, Dad?” Lyne asked her father.

“Yes, Lyne. Go ahead.”

She left the control room and entered the DC Chamber. She walked up to the unit Lan was lying on. He stirred as he woke up. Lyne crossed her arms over the top of the unit and waved to him. He waved back. Lyne then walked over to his PET and touched it. Not too much, stay in control, Lyne reminded herself.

Can you hear me Lan? she thought to her brother.

Yes. How do you do that?

It’s a part of my power. I can talk to any navi I wish to this way. Since you and Megaman are fused, I can also do this with you as well. Dad says he’s done with the memory scan.

That’s good. Did you find what you were looking for?

Yes and no. I want to scan Megaman’s memory if he doesn’t mind.

Lan sat up quickly and bumped his head on the cover of the unit. Ow! Why?

Dad said that Pharaohman man was deleted. I don’t know why but something tells me the only navi that would have that kind of power would be Megaman. And you’ve both encountered Bass before. I need to know more about what happened to this navi, and if he can be stopped.

Lan then defused, got off the unit, and walked over to his PET. “Megaman, are you Ok with this?” Lan asked him.

“Sure, try not to scan too deep. My system doesn’t like it.”

“I’ll try not to,” she said as she placed her whole hand over the top of Lan’s PET. As she shuffled through Mega’s memory, she saw the terrible events that he had to go through. She finally found some of the memories she was looking for. She watched each one carefully, not missing anything. From the memories, she learned that Bass was pretty much bad to the core and couldn’t be stopped, nothing like the navi she thought she knew. She was also upset at the fact that Megaman was one of the navis responsible for freeing Pharaohman from his prison, but he made up for it when he deleted him which proved her theory. As she was finishing her scan, she noticed something unusual about Megaman and his memory. She then saw a face she recognized. Hub! she thought as she pulled her hand away from the PET with a look of shock on her face and ran out of the DC Chamber making the door malfunction and caused it to stay open after she had left.

“Lyne what’s wrong?” Lan called after her, “I’m going after her Mega. I’ll be right back” Lan said as he left the DC Chamber after Lyne.

Dr. Hikari entered the DC Chamber as Lan was leaving and walked up to Megaman. “Do you think she saw who you really are?”

“Maybe. She started to dig a little after checking out my memories of Pharaohman and Bass. I could also feel her emotions. Is that normal dad?”
_______________________

Up on the roof of IPC, Lyne was crying again. Hub can’t be alive! He died when I was six. It’s impossible! she thought to herself, rocking back and forth while sitting on the roof. Hub gone, and he’d barely begun to live. Then the Pharaohman incident after that. Hadn’t I already gone through enough? And… even before… She felt there was something even more painful, there in the back of her mind, but shook her head rather than dredge it up. Why me? Why was I given this power? I hate it, and Pharaohman for giving it to me.

“Lyne, are you OK?” Lan asked as he came up onto the roof and sat beside her.

“No, I’m not. Dad didn’t tell you I had this power, and I could’ve easily got you killed.*sniffle* About nine years ago, I helped Dad and Grandpa capture Pharaohman, but I paid a price for it. When I did it I did a Mind Net Jump. That’s similar to your Cross Fusion, but in the opposite direction.” Lan nodded his head in understanding, “I was used as bait to lure Pharaohman into the force field that they created. He was known for kidnapping navis all over the net at this time to absorb them for their data. SciLab had him before he realized I was human, but when he did, he downloaded some of his power into me. His cruel version of a joke… Combit helped me cope with my power, even when she wasn’t active, but when she was deleted, my power was fully released, putting you in harm’s way. I hate my power. I’m sorry Lan,” Lyne said as she placed her head back into her knees.

“It can’t be all that bad can it? Besides, what did you see that made you run from Megaman?”

“Because…he’s, he’s Hub,” she said looking up at him from her knees with tears streaming from her eyes.

“Oh, so you know that he’s our brother,” Lan said rubbing the back of his head again.

Their father walked up to them with Lan’s PET in hand. Lyne sensed Megaman’s presence and turned towards them.

“Why didn’t you tell me that Megaman was Hub, Dad?”

“I was going to tell you when you were ready, but you already found out, so there’s no need to tell you now. Besides, I came up here to tell you that we’re set up in the Lab,” he said, handing Lan back his PET.

“What for?” Lyne asked.

“To start working on your new navi.”

“I’ll be there in a minute. I want to vent a little,” she said as she looked back out over the city.

“Ok, but don’t do anything to dangerous,” he answered, leaving the roof.

“SUPERCALIFRAGALISTICEXPIALIDOSIOUS!” Lyne screamed at the top of her lungs, at the same time causing a nearby light bulb to burst.

Shocked, Lan asked, “What kind of a word is that? And can you use programs?”

“No that’s just some overflow of my power, sides that word helps me when I’m angry, and that’s all you need to know,” Lyne answered, crossing her arms in satisfaction, then she tuned, saying, “Let’s go,” and walked over to the roof doorway. When they reached the lab, Dr. Hikari handed Lyne a new, purple, silver, and silvery navy blue striped PET.

“All I need for you to do is one net battle with this navi and I’ll finish configuring it for you. As I said earlier, it’s going to be kind of a birthday present.”

“OK. Can I fight the simulator, please? Lan and Megaman need the rest.”

“Sure. Jack in here,” Dr. Hikari said and pointed to the infrared port located on the control panel. “Famous run Sim 2. That should be good enough.”

“You know, she’s good enough for at least Sim 4. Besides it’s more fun to watch,” Mr. Famous said with a cocky grin of defiance on his face.

“Just do it.”

“One Sim 2 coming right up. Battle set. You can jack in when you’re ready Lyne.”

Lyne looked at the PET in her hands and breathed out a sigh. “I can keep Combit’s PET, right Dad?”

“Of course you can.”

She nodded in satisfaction, and then concentrated as she held the new PET. Do you have a name? she asked the navi.

No, not yet. The programmer will give a name to me. Are you ready to battle? the BlankNavi answered.

As long as you are, OK. “Jack in, Power up,” Lyne said as she pointed the PET at the IR port. Lyne’s opponent was a HellNavi.

I’m not going to push you too hard yet. We’ll start with your buster.

OK, activating Buster, The BlankNavi responded and its buster appeared.

Charge it up and aim for the HellNavi’s right arm.

As the HellNavi charged at BlankNavi, BlankNavi released its charged shot at the HellNavi’s right arm as it was ordered.

Good Job, now we’ll try battle chips. I’m sending you a Mini Boomer, Cannon, and a Cyber Sword. Lyne loaded the battle chips, “Mini Boomer, Cannon, and Cyber Sword Battle Chips in. Download.” Throw the Mini Boomer at the HellNavi’s feet. This should force it to jump, then hit it with the Cannon to knock it down and pin it with the Cyber Sword. Execute. Without a hitch, the BlankNavi followed all of Lyne’s orders to perfection. Lyne grinned happily.

One more test; are you ready?

Yes, the BlankNavi replied as it got into an attack stance in front of its opponent.

“Program Advance. Cyber Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword Battle Chips in download. Beta Sword.” Now hit that HellNavi with all you’ve got.

BlankNavi swung the Beta Sword at the HellNavi, and the computer monitoring the match said /HellNavi Logging Out/ as Lyne’s opponent retreated.

“Dad, this navi operates very well.” She then looked at her PET, “You did a good job BlankNavi. I look forward to working with you. Jack out," she said as she jacked out the BlankNavi. "Here you go Dad; I feel better now,” she said, handing him the PET.

“I’ll start working on it right away. Hurry home. Chaud will be picking you up downstairs.”

“See ya, Dad. Bye. Beat you downstairs,” Lyne challenged Lan.

“I don’t think so. I’m faster,” he said as they both ran out of the Lab.

“There’s hope after all. Did you get it?” Famous asked.

“Yes, I did,” Dr. Hikari said as he held up Lyne’s hair brush, “And did you get what I asked you to?”

“The download from your PET was completed before the end of the match. Let’s get to work.”
_______________________

On the drive home, Lyne was reflecting again on what happened earlier. Bass felt different from Pharaohman. He felt colder, and much more powerful…I don't like this at all…My neck still hurts. Bass with Pharaohman’s power is bad news for the net, and if he could get my power from me he’d get even worse. What happened? Lyne was starting to get depressed again.

Lan was also thinking about what had happened earlier, and what Lyne had told him.

I wonder how I can make her smile like she did when she got home earlier. I couldn't even tell she had power like that until that stupid DA showed up. Now she seems downright scary, but she's still my sister. He suddenly hugged her and said. "I love you Sis, no matter what."

"Thank you Lan I needed that. You've been clingy all day,” she said and then pulled back from him. He looked at her and saw something that filled him with utter horror, knowing something was about to happen, “It’s time for the famous sister torture," she told him, confirming his worst fears, and started to tickle him.

"Haahaa, stop it, haa, please, hooho, too much, haaahaaha, please, hahahhahaa," the younger Hikari pleaded, but Lyne still tickled him.

"Now that's funny," Megaman said as he watched them having fun.

"It's your turn, Hub," Lyne said grabbing Lan's PET. Megaman gave her an odd look, thinking that she couldn’t possibly do the same thing to him, but the she then touched the screen around his mid section and moved her finger around.

"Hey," Megaman said in protest as he buckled over in uncontrollable laughter. No way! This is too crazy.

"No, that's funny," Lan said as he regained his breath, and watched Lyne smile. She's not as upset as she was earlier. I thought she didn't like her powers. Right now she's having fun with them. I guess she doesn't know what to think of them now. Neither do I, so we'll have to wait and see.

Lyne stopped rubbing the screen. "I think you had enough torture for now," she said, still smiling.

*Whew* Megaman sighed as he got back up, "That was fun."

"I like this. I have two brothers again. It's really cool. I was really sad when you died Hub."

"Oh it's alright. I'm here now so you don't have to worry," Megaman said rubbing the back of his helmet. Lyne turned to look at Lan.

"I have a question Lan. Does what I told you about my power scare you?"

"Umm, no..., yes...ooh I don't know Lyne. It's more confusing then scary really."

"I'm not sure how to feel about it either. I don't really hate it, like I said earlier. I just said that because I was angry with Bass for causing me to lose control. Besides, I can probably use this power to stop him, but not yet. I don't have control over it. Maybe when I get my new NetNavi, things will change."

"Maybe," Lan said with a smile on his face.

"We’re here Lan," Chaud said as his Limo stopped in front of the Hikari's house.

"Come on Lyne, Mom's waiting for us inside. And don’t forget, you said you'd make donuts," Lan said, grabbing Lyne's hand and dragging her out of the limo.

"Wait, I'm coming too," Chaud called after them getting out of the limo, "Pick me up around 9:00 pm," Chaud said to the limo driver. The limo drove off and Chaud walked up to Lan and Lyne. "I have to apologize for Protoman's actions earlier."

"Why?" Lyne asked. She then remembered what he’d said before about his navi and asked, "Is he the NetNavi you lost?"

"Yes," Chaud said, looking away from her, ashamed.

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't his fault he got reprogrammed to be a jerk. It was Bass’s right?"

"How'd you know?" Chaud said as he looked at her, confused.

"Just call it a hunch. Everything else that happened today was his fault."

"Yeah, I guess so," Chaud said as Lan's stomach went *Whurrrrrr*.

Embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his head and said, "Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry. Let's go inside and see what mom made for dinner." Lan ran up to the house ahead of him.

"Always food with him. It's not like he's going to starve," Megaman said, startling Lyne, who hadn’t realized that the PET was still in her hand, "He had a big breakfast at noon."

"Well that's how he is, and I wouldn't have it any other way," Lyne said to Mega as she and Chaud followed Lan up to the house. When Lan opened the door…

"SURPRISE!!" was shouted by Yai, Tory, Mayl, Dex, and Mrs. Hikari. Lan fell over in shock and Lyne jerked to a halt at the sudden obstacle he’d become almost dropping the object in her hand which surprised her when she realized she didn’t accidently make it explode or fry.

"Thank you guys," Lyne said as she helped Lan back up and handed him his PET.

"Let's eat before the food gets cold. Then we'll have those donuts that your brother wanted," Mrs. Hikari said as they entered the house.

"Mom, I was supposed to make them. I promised Lan I would," Lyne said in protest.

"I didn't make them yet. Just the dough. That way, you only have to form them and fry them up."

"Thanks, mom," Lyne said as she and the others sat down at the dining room table. As the food was being served, conversations started about Lyne's time in the United States as a foreign exchange program student, the US Net Cup, and anything else that didn't deal with what had happened earlier.
_______________________
~Mr. Famous’s lab~

"You sure about this Yuu? This navi might not be able to hold Lyne's power back. It might even increase it."

"I'm sure if Lan can handle an Ultimate Program, so can Lyne. We need to ensure she can fight Bass off when he comes after her again. This navi will be our best bet. Has the DNA Matrix been loaded?"

"It's about 94.9% downloaded. Are you sure you want to download 100%.You know the consequences."

"Of course I do. Stop your whining and finish this up so I can go home. I’m missing out on birthday cake."

Famous looked up at him from the program monitor. “You’re really on edge tonight. You’ve never been this touchy before.”

Dr. Hikari sighed and apologized to his partner, “I’m sorry Famous, but that was my daughter, my first born, in danger today. The last time she was in danger, I was the one who let her be there. Even today, it was because of what happened back then.”

“You had to do it Yuu. You know we didn’t have the time to find another way.”

“Rationalizing doesn’t make me feel less guilty,” Dr. Hikari said quietly, “But I can at least do this to help her now. Please, let’s complete this. Heh, if I don’t get home soon, Lan will have eaten all the food.”

Famous smirked, not needing to be told how much the NetSavior ate. I practically had to take out a loan just to pay for a celebration dinner after Nebula was dealt with, he thought, then returned to his task, "All right. You're the boss Yuu. 99.0%, 99.1%.., 99.3%..99.5%...99.9%. 100%. She's done. This navi might be your finest yet Yuu. I hope Lyne likes it."

"Me too. Well I'm off," Dr. Hikari said as he grabbed the new PET from the downloading station and headed out the door for home.
___________________________
~Hikari House~

"Blue, Right Foot," Lyne said after the spinner stopped. The group of party guests contorted unnaturally on the Twister mat, trying to find a place to step as directed. There was a slight, “Yeep!” as Tory’s other foot slipped from where it was and he collapsed onto the mat.

"Oh man. I'm out for the third time. That's not fair," he said, sitting next to Lyne on the couch. Lyne spun the spinner again.

"Red, Left Foot." This time, Dex was the one to fall. Unfortunately, Yai was under him, so she ended up losing this round along with him. Ouch that's got to hurt, Lyne thought to herself.

"Get off me Dex. *gasp* You're squishing me," Yai labored to cry from under his bulk. Dex got up as quickly as he could and helped her up once he’d gotten to his feet again. The two of them joined Tory and Lyne on the couch. All that was left was Lan, Mayl, and Chaud.

"Green, Left Hand." Nobody fell this round. Lyne puffed her cheeks in frustration and spun the spinner again. When it stopped she had a very big cat grin on her face. "Good one. Yellow, Left Foot."

"Come on Lan, you can do it," Megaman encouraged him from his PET.

Lan gave it a shot, but instead he fell onto the mat and took down Chaud and Mayl with him.

"Lan," they both protested as they got up to find a seat.

"Sorry guys," Lan said rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment while still sitting on the mat.

"My turn. Lan, would you do the honors?" Lyne said, handing him the spinner.

"Of course," he said, taking it and sitting down on the couch while Lyne got up and stood and stretched by the mat. Lan spun the spinner. "Red, Right Hand."

The game was really getting good after eight spins and no falls. As Lan was making the next spin, Yuu came in the front door.

"Hello everyone. Lyne I got your navi done. Do you want to try it out?" he called out as he closed the door.

"Sure," she said as she got up from the Twister mat and walked up to her father.

"Hon, did you do ice cream and cake yet?" he called to his wife, who was in the kitchen.

"No dear. We're having donuts remember."

"Oh, right," he said feeling a little foolish for not remembering.

"Lyne, get in here and make them before the dough separates," Haruka Hikari called from the kitchen.

"Yes Mom. Dad, my new navi will have to wait," Lyne said, walking into the kitchen to join her mom. Dr. Hikari turned his attention to what was going on in the living room.

"So…What are you guys doing?" he asked as he walked to the back of the couch.

"We're playing a game. Lyne says is called Twister. It's one of the games she brought back form the United States. It's fun. Do you want to play Dad?" Lan answered.

"Sure, I'll give it a shot," he said, putting the stuff he was carrying by the family computer, and then joined them back in the living room, "How do you play?"

"Well, how it starts is I spin this arrow and wait for it to stop, and wherever it lands is where you put one of the body parts pictured here," Lan said pointing at the spinner, "Lyne wrote the Japanese characters on the spinner, so it's easier for us to play. Ready to start?" he asked as his father walked up to the mat.

"Sure, go ahead and start Lan."

Lan then spun the arrow. "Green, Right Foot."

"That's it. This is easy give me the next one."

Lan spun the spinner again. "Green, Right Hand."

Yuu bent over and placed his right hand in the same row. He swayed a little as he adjusted to the unfamiliar position. What did I get myself into? "OK, I'm ready."

"Green, Left Hand."

Dr. Hikari glanced over at his son, then back at the mat. The same row? Man this is going to suck, he thought as he placed his other hand in the same row. He then nodded to Lan.

"Blue, Left Foot."

He tried to slowly move his foot over to the blue row, but almost fell over and had to quickly throw his foot into place. This game is hard. Why do Americans design such difficult games? Yuu thought in protest as he steadied himself.

"Dad, are you ready?" Lan asked while the rest of the gang was chuckling.

"Sure. Go for it."

"Yellow, Right Foot."

Just as Yuu was about to finish the move, Lyne called out, "Donuts. Come and get'em."

Yuu fell over rather than finishing. Thank God, he thought as he got up and followed the kids into the dining room. Lyne passed out the donuts and then sat down in front of hers, which had a candle on it.

"Go ahead and make a wish Lyne," her mother said.

I wish to be a normal ordinary girl. Yeah, that's what I want. If that's not possible, then I wish to be in control of my power and not be afraid of Bass, she thought to herself as she blew out the candle.

They all started to eat the donuts, which disappeared quickly, thanks mostly to Lan and Dex. When they were finished, Haruka said, "Now it's time for presents. First one is from Yai."

Yai handed Lyne a small box. Lyne opened it, and what was inside was a battle chip. It was the Light Aura Battle Chip. "Thank you Yai," Lyne said with a smile on her face.

"You're welcome. It was an extra I had, and thought it would be in capable hands if I gave it to you." Lyne got up from the table and walked over to her bag. She took out her chip folder, put the chip inside, and placed it back inside her bag. She then returned to the table and sat back down.

"Next is Mayl's present," her mom said as Mayl passed her present to Lyne. She opened it and inside was a purple headband. Lyne put it on and smiled.

"I like it. Thanks Mayl. I like purple."

"Glad you like it," Mayl said with a smile on her face.

"And now Tory," Haruka said as Tory handed her a small clothing box. Lyne opened it to reveal a light-blue, fleece jacket.

"Ohh, thank you. I really don't have any winter clothes, and fall is coming soon. Thank you Tory."

Tory blushed, "It has zip off sleeves so you can wear it anytime."

"Cool," she said noticing the zippers as she was tying it around her waist.

"Lan it's your turn." Lan stood up and walked over to Lyne with a small package and gave it to her.

"It's actually from Hub too," Lan said quietly so only Lyne would hear. Lyne opened it up and inside was a bracelet that said 'World’s #1 Sister' in beads. She hugged him and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Mayl puffed her cheeks in jealousy, but everyone ignored her reaction.

"You're the World’s #1 Brother. Thank you for the bracelet Lan," Lyne said putting it on. And thank you too Hub.

Huh? Oh, right, Megaman silently responded in surprise, You’re welcome Sis.

"You're welcome,” Lan said to her while she was silently conversing, then asked, “Dex, Chaud did you get Lyne anything?"

"No I didn't, but we had a net battle," Dex said.

"Her bike will be here tomorrow. It's still in the shop," Chaud said, crossing his hands behind his head and relaxing.

"Well, I guess it’s our turn Hon," Yuu said as he left the table to get Lyne's new PET.

Her mom gave Lyne a navy blue bandana with a symbol on it, similar to the Hikari family symbol, but it was in reverse, blue, and silver representing the female Hikaris. Yuu returned with the new PET, which had the same symbol on it, and the same coloring as before.

"Go ahead. Turn it on and wake her up," her father said, handing the PET to Lyne.

Lyne turned it on, waiting for it to boot up. When the main screen came up, a sleeping, purple armored, female navi with long black hair appeared on the screen. As she held the PET, she felt a navi signature she somewhat recognized. She feels like Megaman somehow, but she's also different. And she feels… familiar? She also felt a weird sensation all over her body. It was like when she first received Combit. She felt like she was in control again.

What's your name? she thought to the sleeping navi.

My name is Megawoman.EXE. What's yours?

Lyne Hikari. I'm your NetOp. Are you ready to wake?

Yes, I am.

"Sleep Mode, off," Lyne said.

Megawoman opened her green eyes slowly. Once they were opened, she said, "Hello, Lyne."

"Everyone, meet Megawoman.EXE," Lyne said turning her PET around so everyone could see her.

"Hi. Nice to meet you," Megawoman said as she waved to them.

Everyone stared at Megawoman. She was starting to feel a little nervous at the silence.

“She looks kinda’ like Megaman,” Mayl said. Lyne’s new navi was relieved that the silence was broken. "She has the same eye color."

“That’s because she’s Megaman’s Sister Program,” Yuu answered.

“Sister Program? What’s that?” Megaman asked out of curiosity.

“Basically, she’s based off of your programming, but has Lyne’s DNA code, not yours.”

“Just like Combit was. Right dad?” Lyne said, checking her facts.

“Right, but she has a higher amount of your DNA coding than Combit did. Combit had a 1:2 ratio compared to Megawoman’s 1:1 ratio,” her father answered, beaming with pride.

“That’s neat. That should mean that I can do more things with Megawoman then I could with Combit. Does she have a NetBattle Function installed?”

Yuu slapped his forehead, realizing he’d forgotten to reinstall that program, “No Lyne. I’m sorry. I guess you’ll have to start from scratch. I think I also forgot to install the other stuff from your old PET as well.”

“That’s OK Dad. As long as she can jack in, I’ll be fine. I’ll install the rest myself later. I want to see if there’s anything interesting we can do tomorrow,” she said getting up from the dining room table. She walked over to the family computer with Lan and the rest of the gang following her.

Good to know that she’s not really mad at me, but if she found out I did it on purpose, she’d give me the cold shoulder for sure, Dr. Hikari thought, But she does need the practice. “Hon, I’m going to bed. I had a really rough day today. I’ll see you when you come to bed,” Yuu said as he left the dining room table to go upstairs.

“OK Dear. I’ll keep an eye on the kids. It’s almost 9:00 pm anyway, and their parents will be picking them up shortly,” Haruka said while cleaning up the dining room table.
__________________________
~Computer Room~

“Megawoman, Jack in, Power up,” Lyne said as she pointed her PET at the monitor. Lan, Mayl, Dex, Yai, and Tory followed in suit.

“Megaman, Jack in, Power up.”
“Roll, Jack in, Power up.”
“Gutsman, Jack in, Power up.”
“Glyde, Jack in, Power up.”
“Iceman, Jack in, Power up.”

Chaud just stood there and watched as all six navis appear on the screen.

“Megawoman, meet Megaman, Roll, Gutsman, Glyde, and Iceman,” Lyne said introducing the navis to Megawoman, “Oh! I forgot before. This is my brother, Lan, and his friends Mayl, Yai, Dex, Tory, and Chaud.”

“Hello. Nice to meet you guys. I’m Megawoman,” she said, nervously rocking on her heels as she waved to them.

“Hello,” they all replied to her greeting.

Lyne was looking over some chips in her folder until she found the one she was looking for. “Anti-Virus Chip in Download,” she said as she put the program chip into her PET. An energy barrier started to form around Megawoman and the other navis.

“What kind of chip is that Lyne?” Lan asked.

“Oh, it’s used to keep viruses away while surfing the net. Megawoman can’t NetBattle yet, so this will protect her.”

“Thank you Lyne,” Megawoman said gratefully.

“Alright, are you ready to go to NetCity?” Lyne asked her.

“NetCity? What’s that?”

“It’s a city made for navis. We can go there, and have fun,” Megaman answered, “We’ll show you around.”

“OK then. I guess I’m ready to go Lyne.”

“Hey Megaman, when you guys get there, make sure you keep an eye on Megawoman. I don’t want her to get lost, and the Anti-Virus barrier will become invisible once you’re inside NetCity. Here we go. Loading IP Address,” Lyne said as she input the address for NetCity into her PET. Once it was loaded, a Network Portal (NP) appeared. Glyde, Iceman, and Gutsman went through it.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” Megawoman asked Megaman, hesitating to enter the NP.

“Sure, it’s safe. Come on,” he said, grabbing her hand and leading her through the NP, followed by Roll. They flew quickly down the Data Stream, catching up with the others. Megawoman looked around the DS, noticing how fast she was going. She started to get scared and grabbed onto Megaman’s arm for a more secure feeling.

“It’s alright. We’re almost there,” Megaman said looking back at her with a smile on his face. She smiled back. Roll gave Mega a jealous look and grabbed his other arm, hoping to get Megawoman’s attention, but it didn’t work. The end of the DS came up and they entered NetCity.

“Wow! This place is beautiful,” Megawoman exclaimed letting go of Mega’s arm.

“We’re here. What are we looking for guys?” Megaman asked.

“Something to do tomorrow. How about something in the local area?” Lan said.

“OK. We’ll look around,” Mega answered walking further into NetCity with Roll still clinging onto his arm and Megawoman following not too far behind.
__________________________
~Secret location~

Bass was pacing back and forth in the hideout his robot form was kept. How am I going to find her again? I lost track of her four hours ago, and I know I’ve seen her before. Where have I seen her? Blast my memory.

“Sir, your mysterious energy signature came back up,” his servbot said, bringing Bass out of his thoughts. He walked over to his tracking equipment.

“Where is it located Alegro?”

“NetCity, Main Square.”

“All right. I’m jacking in. Keep me informed if anything changes,” Bass said as his robot body became motionless. He linked himself into his Secret Network Base, located underneath NetCity in the UnderNet. He walked up to one of the many sleep chambers located in the main hall.

“Wake up. I need you,” he said commanded Protoman.

"*yawn* What for? I have 250 pixels to go,” Protoman said sleepily.

“Lyne Hikari is on the net, and we need to find her.”

“That brat again! Forget it! Leave me alone. Let someone else do it,” Protoman argued as he laid back down inside his chamber. Bass then grabbed him around the collar and pulled him back out.

“You listen to me you lazy bum. You are the only one I have that won’t draw too much attention to my presence in this navi city,” he growled, and then paused in thought, “No, you’re currently my only minion, period. Megaman deleted the others.”

“All right I’m up, I’m up.” Bass let go of him once he’d gotten what he wanted. Protoman then got out of the sleep chamber. He paused, leaning on the edge of the chamber a moment.

“What are you waiting for? Don’t think you can climb back in there,” Bass said with a warning glare.

“I was just wondering,” he began, looking at Bass, “How do you expect to find a human on the net. She’s not a navi, so she can’t really be there, can she?”

Eh? That didn’t occur to me. But still, it doesn’t seem strange that she’d be there. Ah! That must be something else she can do. “Don’t argue with me!” he scolded his subordinate, “She’s there, so you’re going to find her. Let’s go.” Bass turned and left his NQ with Protoman, who’d given up on reasoning with the other navi, following behind him. Once they were outside, Bass teleported to the top of the nearest building.

“She’s located in the Main Square. I’ll meet you there,” Bass said, heading towards the Main Square of NetCity.

In the Main Square he says. That’s just not possible. Why do I even put up with this guy? Protoman thought to himself as he ran towards the Main Square, Having me run his little errands, and seek out brats he just happens to take a fancy to.
____________________________
~Net City Main Square~

“Hey Mega, is there a concert board there?” Lyne asked Megaman.

Simultaneously, Megaman replied with, “Yes,” and Megawoman asked, “What’s that?”

“Oh boy,” Lyne said, palming her face in exasperation, “Megawoman, you need a different nickname. Hum… how about Meg?”

“That sounds fine. I’ll add it to my programming.”

“Now that the confusion is over, could you show Meg the concert board Mega?”

“Sure thing. Come this way Meg,” Mega said as he led Meg to the concert boards. Roll was still clinging onto his arm, trying to ward off Megawoman. (Still not working.)

“Here you go Meg. Do you know how to do a search?” Mega asked

“Umm… No actually. That isn’t part of my programming. I’m sorry,” Meg said, blushing in embarrassment.

“I’m really starting to get angry with Dad. Hang on… Got it. Search Program Chip in, download,” Lyne said as she placed another program chip into her PET, “Mega, why don’t you and Roll have some fun while this program downloads.”

“Sure I have to take care of something anyway. Come on Roll. I have to talk with you,” Mega said, walking away while Meg was standing still downloading the search program Lyne had given her. After getting a good ways away, he stopped. “Roll if you squeeze any harder, you might actually delete that arm. Can’t you cool off the jealousy program? Meg is my sister, not another girl navi.”

Roll let go of his arm. “I’m sorry Mega. I didn’t really mean it. I know she’s your sister, but when she hugged your arm like that, I couldn’t help it,” she said her eyes misting up as she looked at him.

“It’s OK. Please don’t cry. Let’s find the others OK?” Mega said with a smile on his face.

“Thank you Mega. I see them over there by the local events board. Let’s go join them,” Roll said pointing towards the other side of the Main Square. They took off in that direction. Once they joined the rest of the gang, they started to discuss the events board with each other and their NetOps. They decided to go to the Mini Tourney, sponsored by the local NetAgentcy, being held at the ACDC School the next day.
_____________________
~Still at the Concert Board~

“Program downloaded. What do you want me to find Lyne?” Meg asked.

“Look up American band concerts in the local area for the next month.”

“OK searching ………. I only found one. Linkin Park, playing at the DenTech Dome 18-21, Aug. Concert times are 3 pm, 8 pm all nights. Is that all you wanted to know Lyne?” Lyne smiled a wide, hopeful grin.

“Yes. That’s sweet! I haven’t seen them in concert. Go ahead and join the others while I talk to Mom about the concert,” Lyne said, leaving her PET on computer desk.

“I guess I’m on my own,” she said to herself and looked around. She started chewing lightly on the end of her finger after turning her head from one side to the other. “Now where did Mega and Roll run off to?” Megawoman wondered as she walked towards the center of the Main Square.
____________________________
~Top of building in Main Square~

“Sir, the signature faded, but it’s still in the Main Square,” Bass’s servbot said via voice mail link.

“What? Now it’s going to be like finding a bit in a sea of data. Any luck down there Protoman?”

“If you’re asking about that brat, I haven’t found her yet. The signature’s signal strength is the same as the rest of the navis down here. Face it; you lost this round. She’ll never be that easy to find with all of these navis around,” Protoman said walking around in the center of the Main Square.

“I don’t care. Keep looking. I know she’s down there. A weak signature signal is a signal we can still use.”

I’m going to be here all night... I want to go back to sleep mode…. This sucks major. Why did she have to log on now? Protoman complained to himself. Just then, he bumped into a purple navi with long, black hair, knocking her to the ground. He helped her up and started to walk off.

She tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me?” He turned around to look at her.

“Yes, what do you want?” he grumbled quietly.

“Well,” she said hesitating, “I’m lost and was wondering if you can help me find my brother program.”

“I’m busy at the moment. I’m trying to find another navi.”

You lie, a voice inside his head thought to him. You’re looking for a human, not a navi.

Stop that. I thought I held you back.

Not good enough. Help her out. She’s kinda’ cute and in distress.

No! I don’t go around doing good deeds. Why do you keep trying to get me to? Don’t you remember I’m a bad ass?

You’re not very good at it though. Come on, you know you want to. That way you don’t have to deal with Bass for a while.

All right. Fine! I’ll help her, but only to shut you up.

Kewl, score points for GS.

Oh, shut up you ham.

Megawoman was looking at Protoman with her wide, emerald, pleading eyes while he argued with himself. “Um.. Maybe we can find them together,” he said weakly, “What’s your name?”

“My friends call me Meg. What’s yours?” she asked with a grateful smile on her face.

“I’m called Protoman. Proto for short.” Why’d I say that? Nobody calls me Proto. “What does your brother program look like?” he asked, shaking his head slightly to try and clear his thoughts.

“Well he’s blue, and has a red icon similar to mine.”

Protoman looked at Meg’s icon. That does look familiar but where have I seen it before? Wait. Is it…? “What’s his name?”

“His friends call him Mega. It’s short for Megaman.”

Jackpot! Megaman’s sister program. …When did he get a sister program? Could this be the girl? No, it couldn’t, but… Ah forget it. I’ll just do a scan… … OK, no biologics detected. It’s not Lyne. So who is she?

Just take her to Mega. Bass doesn’t need to know you found the signature he was looking for.

Hmm, I did say he lost this round. Scanning for Megaman … There he is. “I know where he is. Follow me Meg,” he said grabbing Megawoman’s hand and leading her off.

“You’re quiet a lot. Um, are you mad at me for asking for help?”

“No, I’m not mad. I was-“ Arguing with myself about giving you to Bass? Probably a bad answer. “I was just doing a scan for your brother and, um, I had to concentrate because of all the other navis around.”

Nice cover, ‘bad ass’, said the voice in his head, You really don’t lie very well.

Oh, shut up!

She didn’t seem to notice at all though. I guess it’s your lucky day, huh?

Protoman didn’t bother to answer himself. They reached the local events board and he stopped a little ways away so he couldn’t be seen by Mega and the rest of the gang. “There he is. This is as far as I can take you. I saw the navi I was looking for on the way over here. Bye,” he said running off.

“Thank you,” she said, waving to him as he disappeared into the crowd. She then walked up to the gang with a smile on her face, glad she met Protoman. “Hey guys what’s going on?”

“Our NetOps decided to go to the Mini Tourney being held at the ACDC School tomorrow,” Mega answered.

“Is Lyne going to participate? She knows I’m not ready.”

“Don’t worry about that. She said she’s going to start working on your programming when we’re done here.”

“OK, I’m back,” Lyne said as she returned from her talk with her with her mother. “Good to see you found Mega and didn’t get lost Meg.”

“No biggie. The navis here in NetCity are really nice. One of them helped me get over here from the concert board.”

“You should’ve taken down their IP address, and sent them a thank you e-mail.”

“Oh, OK,” Meg replied, then did an internal search, “Lyne you don’t have a buddy list on this PET, so I couldn’t take his IP address down, but I’ll remember that next time I see him.”

“Guys, your parents are here to pick you up,” Haruka called back to them.

“We had a good time Lyne. We’ll see you tomorrow at the tourney. Jack out,” Mayl said as Yai, Tory, Dex, and she logged out their navis. They all went out to the front door to find their rides.

“You guys get plenty of rest. Good night,” Haruka said as she closed the door behind them, “Time for bed you two.”

“OK, Mom. Megawoman, Jack out.”

“Megaman, Jack out. G’night Sis.” Lan said and went to his bedroom.

”Goodnight. OK, are you ready to get started Meg?”

“Sure,” came the enthusiastic reply from her PET.
_______________________________________

Back on the net, Protoman returned to Bass’s NQ and snuck over towards his sleep chamber.

“What did you think you were doing back there? You had a job to do,” Bass said as he appeared in front of him. Protoman was shocked that Bass was actually watching his actions.

“It wasn’t my fault. She bumped into me,” Proto said in defense.

“You just couldn’t resist. Me, I would’ve deleted her. Hmm,” he hummed, scrutinizing his servant, “But maybe not. I can sense there is something you’re not telling me.”

Proto started to get nervous and wondered if Bass was scanning him at the moment for the answer.

“Well it doesn’t matter anyway. I lost the signal when you bumped into her,” Bass paused for a moment and then he shouted, “Next time if you are going to flirt while on a mission, get their IP address and get in contact with them later!” He jabbed a finger forcefully into Protoman’s shoulder, “Not help them!”

“She needed to find Megaman. She’s his sister program,” Proto burst out in defense of himself.

You idiot.

Shut up.

“Oooo, now were getting somewhere. So, she’s Lyne’s NetNavi. Dr. Hikari put a cap over her powers again. This is very interesting. I’m leaving now. I might have need for you later,” Bass said leaving his NQ.

Why did I tell him?

You can’t keep secrets well around him. Me on the other hand…

Oh just shut up and stop scolding me, Protoman DS thought as he entered his sleep chamber and went back to sleep.
________________________________
Next Episode Preview

~Chaud’s Limousine~

Dex: GutsHammer, Mega Cannon, Time Bomb…
Tory: You’re sorting through them for tomorrow?
Dex: I need to figure out which ones to use against Lan.
Chaud: *Rolls his eyes.* I’m guessing that’ll be the championship match?
Dex: That’s right! *Turns to Mayl.* Hey, what are you laughing about?
Mayl: Uh, well, the final match is gonna’ be me versus Lan. Heh, heh. Good save.
Tory: Iceman and I still have to have a match against them!
Chaud: There’s no point arguing about it. Besides, it’ll probably be against Wackoman or something.
Tory: Huh? But isn’t his NetOp too old to enter?
Mayl: Maddy can pass for a kid. She sure acts like a brat.
*Everyone nods in solemn agreement.*
Dex: I guess we’ll just have to wait until tomorrow.
Mayl: So until then…
Tory: Next time on Lan and Lyne…
Chaud: Episode 4: Reprogramming
_________________
"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

[kitangel]

hey this is great as useal. keep it up.

[sandman exe]

Lol I remember reading this for the first time. Well thanks for posting it up again.
_________________

main site http://www.megamanexenetwork.cjb.net/indexright.html

[Megawoman.EXE]

Edit: 03/27/2015
Episode 4: Reprogramming

Inside Lyne’s room, Lyne had gotten ready for bed but still had something important to do. She searched through her bags for her PET downloading/recharging station. Once she found it, she placed it on her computer desk and plugged it into the wall. She was now set to download her old PET’s data into her new one. She then placed Megawoman into the station and hooked her old PET up to it.

“What are you doing Lyne?” Meg asked curiously.

“I’m going to download all of the data from this PET into your PET. Feel free to go through the data if you want to. Once it starts downloading, I’m going to bed. I’ll finish the rest of your programming in the morning.”

“Going to bed… What’s that mean Lyne?” Meg said confused by the term her NetOp used.

“Going to bed means I’m going to sleep.”

“Oh, so you have a sleep mode too. Do you want me to wake you up? This PET has an alarm.”

“Sure. Set it for about… 7am. That way, we’ll have plenty of time to input all of the programs that dad forgot to give you. Maybe have a practice match against Lan and Megaman,” she finished quietly with a certain eagerness

“You want me to fight my brother program?” Meg asked with a sad look on her face.

“I said a practice match. You won’t hurt him. Besides, he can teach you some things. So don’t worry about it. Commencing download. Good night Meg. I’ll see you in the morning,” Lyne said as she got into bed, and drifted to sleep.

“Good night Lyne,” Meg whispered back to her NetOp. She then sat down inside her PET.

I’m by myself again. Meg looked around to see if any data was coming in, but nothing had happened yet. I hope nothing went wrong. Mmmm, I’m bored, she thought as she drew a circle on the floor with her finger, Last time I was by myself I met the nicest navi ever. He was handsome too. I wonder what his eye’s look like. Maybe they’re green, like mine. Why didn’t I think of getting his IP address earlier? Well maybe I’ll see him again when I go back to NetCity, she thought with a smile on her face and blushed. She then stood up, noticing some of the files coming in.

“Oh good, it’s working. I think I’ll look through some of these files to see if Lyne can use them on me in the morning. Scan….. oh darn, I don’t even have a scan program. This sucks. What am I supposed to do now?” she asked herself as she hung her head, ashamed that she was of no use. Why didn’t Dr. Hikari fully program me himself? It would’ve saved Lyne the trouble of doing it. Going through all of these files will take all night, or longer.

“Why not use the PET’s scan program? You don’t necessarily have to use your own,” a mysterious voice addressed her distress.

“Who said that?” Megawoman asked in shock, then tried to cover it in a stern voice, “Show yourself.”

“I did,” came the response as a little glowing orb with eyes and a mouth appeared in front of her.

Meg backed off from the orb and asked, “Who are you? What are you?”

“I’m …bit, …bit, shoot I can’t say my full name. I hate being a Byte.” The glowing orb frowned at its predicament.

“What’s a Byte?” Meg said, poking at the orb.

“Hey stop that. It’s not polite.”

“Sorry,” Meg said, quickly backing off.

“A Byte is what happens to a navi being saved a little too late in the deletion process. I’m Lyne’s NetNavi. Well was. If only she remembered how to use the File Save chip properly, I’d still be whole.”

“What do you mean you’re Lyne’s NetNavi? I’m her navi. How can she have two?”

“So you’re my replacement. If you remember, I said I’m a Byte not a Navi anymore. You don’t even know what you got yourself into, do you?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Lyne has Net Power. Couldn’t you feel it? “

“She felt ordinary to me, but then I’ve never had a NetOp before. Is she supposed to be different from her brother and the others?”

“Oh so you’re a brand new Navi. I’m sorry. You probably don’t understand much about the digital world yet.”

“No not really. I was wondering why my creator didn’t fully program me. I’d be able to help Lyne out, but I’m useless,” Meg said as she hung her head again.

“Maybe I can help. I’ll teach you how to use the PET’s scan program, but you’ll be on your own when Lyne finishes reprogramming you, so don’t be too dependant on me. I can only support you so far in my current state.”

“I understand. So how does the scan program work?”

“It’s similar to the search program but the main difference is it can file through all programs at once and display the data at the same time. It can also find viruses, but not remove them. A search program only finds specific topics or files.”

“So if I just run scan, I can see all of the downloaded data at once. That’s good to know. Thank you … um what did you say your name was again?”

“…bit. Drat it happened again. I’m sorry …bit isn’t my full name. My data must be fragmented. That’s not good.”

“Why?” Meg asked, confused at what the orb said.

“That means I can’t be restored, but maybe it’s still on here. You should be able to use the data. I bet I even know what programs are missing from my system too.”

“Ooo, if we could find those things, I’d be ready for the tournament tomorrow. Maybe if you could write your name so I could see it. That way I can use my search program to find specific files with your name in them.”

“I can’t write it I don’t have hands. It’s hopeless unless you know other languages.”

“I have a translator program if that’s what you mean, but it’s only Japanese/English.”

Bless you Dr. Hikari. She’s smarter then she looks. “Ok the first letter in my name is the English letter C. Good it comes out if I spell it, probably because spelling uses bits.”

“What are bits?”

“You’re just full of questions aren’t you? Well whatever. Bits are little parts of data that make up programs. So if I either spell or write my name I’d be using bits. Get it? Any navi should already know the basics, unless they were just programmed a few hours ago.”

Megawoman hung her head again because if what C..bit said.

“Oh! I didn’t realize that you were that new of a Navi.” Did Dr. Hikari really have to make her so sensitive? “I apologize. I’ll finish spelling my name so you can search for the programs. OK?” Meg was still hanging her head, ashamed of herself. “Please cheer up. I didn’t mean to sound mean, but it’s the truth. So let me see a smile on your face… Please I hate it when other navis are sad.” Meg then raised her head and smiled. She looks like Lyne when she smiles. It’s beautiful. “The second letter is the English letter O. The third is the letter M, and the rest is BIT.”

“So.. If I got it right, your name is Combit. Right?”

“Correct.”

“OK, I’ll run a search for any files with your name as the topic. Searching ……….” Meg said as she placed her hand out and started so search the files.

Now that you’re occupied, I’ll just borrow the PET’s scanner. Scanning …. Ooooo, DNA’s a complete Matrix for her. No wonder she looks like Lyne, but what’s this? Humm …. No that’s impossible, and not right. No wonder Lyne felt normal to this Navi. Personification of her power could be dangerous for Lyne now. Dr. H. must know this though. Don’t underestimate the knowledge of the programmer. Ah, she’s almost done with the search. Stop scan, Combit thought while Megawoman went through and completed her search.

“I found a few programs, but they’re all messed up except for this one,” Meg said pointing at one of the programs she had found. Combit looked them all over.

Yep, these are what I thought was missing. And this one is the one she’ll need more then I will. A tourney Lyne? Why can’t she resist a challenge? She was just brought online. The rest of these are too broken up to make sense. Let alone be used. First I have to make sure she doesn’t have this program. “Can you bring up your buster? It’s a weapon used for virus busting.”

“No, my NetBattle program was removed when I was being created.”

“Then you’ll need to incorporate this program into your system.”

“What kind of program is it?”

Combit had an angry mark show up on her orb body, “I’m going to have to guess Dr. Hikari gave you a security program, ‘cause it’s starting to get on what’s left of my nerves.”

“How could you tell?” Meg asked as she rubbed the back of her helmet.

“You ask too many questions. Anyway this program is a NetBattle program. You’re in more need of it then I am.”

“Are you sure? This program is yours, not mine.”

“It’s a gift. My data is too fragmented to do a complete recovery. Besides, this program is blank, so it’s ready for a new user. Go ahead and download it.”

“OK. Downloading program,” Megawoman said as she placed her hand over the program and started downloading its data.

“Good. You’ll feel a little strange after the download is complete.”

“Why?” Meg asked as she finished the download.

“Because, it’s considered a new program, so you’ll reboot.”

“Oh, I see,” Meg said dizzily as she shut down and went limp, falling to the cyber floor of the PET. Combit tried to catch her, but got squished in the process (no hands). She managed to squeeze her way out from underneath Meg as she lay on the floor.

Oops. I should have had her sit down when she finished with the download. She’s going to feel that when she gets up.

Most of the night passed with Combit watching over the rebooting Navi and looking though some of the files there. At some point, Combit realized that Megawoman had drifted into sleep mode. Eventually, Megawoman stirred from her inactivity. She got up off the floor and placed one of her hands on her helmet, “Ow, does reboot have to be so painful?”

“My fault. Sorry. So what did the good Doc call you any way?”

“Doc?”

Grr, why did Yuu program her like this? “Dr. Hikari, Lyne’s father.”

Megawoman nodded in understanding. “I’m called Megawoman. Meg for short. Dr. Hikari also calls me Megaman’s sister program.”

“You know about Megaman. That’s awesome. It sounds like you two are related somehow.”

“That’s what Dr. Hikari said, and our NetOps are sister and brother as well.”

“Yeah, I already knew that. Your brother’s cute. But not as cute as Searchman. Oooo I wish I was whole again. I’d give him lots of hugs and kisses.”

“Do all female NetNavis act that way about guy Navis?”

“Why?” Combit eyed Meg with a sly glance, “Do you feel the same way?”

“Uh, no…,” Meg said, blushing, “But one of Mega’s friends was rather clingy when we were in NetCity, and she gave me a lot of funny looks.”

“That’s just natural, but I have a feeling you also met someone.”

“That’s silly. I’m a new navi,” Meg said with her hands behind her back and trying not to blush any pinker.

“You did too. It’s written all over your face,” Combit said as she floated up to Meg’s face, “Who is it? Come on, spill it.”

“You promise not to tell anyone?”

“I promise. Cross my byte and hope to be whole.”

Meg looked blankly at Combit for a moment, but decided it meant that the Byte would keep a secret. “OK,” Meg said doing, touching the tips of her index fingers together and pressing them together nervously with flushed cheeks, “He’s called Proto.”

“That’s a nice name. I bet he’s handsome too,” she said with a wink. This made Meg blush even more. “Well, enough of that. How’s Lyne?”

“She’s OK I guess. I don’t see anything strange about her. She’s in sleep mode right now and won’t wake up until-”

*BEEP, BEEP, BEEP*

“Now?! Has that much time passed already?” Meg said, really shocked.

“Turn that alarm off Meg. I’m up,” Lyne said as she got up out of bed and went to her bathroom.

It’s good to see she’s fine. I saved her after all, Combit thought to herself with a smile on her glowing face.

“What are we going to do if Lyne sees you like this?” Meg asked, snapping Combit out of her happy thought.

“I didn’t think about that. Make something up if she asks.”

“OK.”

Lyne left the bathroom, walked up to her PET, picked it up, and looked at it. She blinked when she noticed two figures on the screen.

“What’s this Meg?” Lyne asked as she pointed at Combit, unknowingly.

“Um, I found her on my PET last night. Isn’t she cute?” Meg said rubbing the back of her helmet.

“Yes it is, but it might be a virus. I’m going to have to delete it.”

“Please don’t. I want to keep it. Pretty, please? She said she was a Byte.”

“What’s a Byte? I’ve never herd of those before.”

“It’s kind of like a kind of pet for a navi. New concept.”

“That’s not what I told you,” Combit whispered so Lyne couldn’t hear her.

“You told me to make something up so I am. Play along,” Meg whispered back.

Lyne looked at the screen uncertainly as her Navi and the Byte whispered to each other. Megawoman looked out at her operator and grinned charmingly, getting a smile out of Lyne. “Alright, you convinced me. You can keep it. What is it called?”

“Umm… Dotbit. Yep, that’s her name,” Meg said as a sweat drop appeared behind her helmet.

“OK, welcome to the team Dotbit. Meg I need to do a system scan on you to see what dad forgot to install.”

“Good save. You’re a natural,” Combit whispered in relief.

“Thanks, no prob. I didn’t want her to delete you. That wouldn’t be right,” Meg whispered back, then spoke to her operator, “Go ahead Lyne. I’m ready for reprogramming.”

“Commencing system scan, Megawoman.EXE …..” Lyne said as she ran the PET’s scan program. “What’s this?! I said you could look through the data, not download any of it,” Lyne said as she glared at Meg.

Meg hung her head, feeling bad for disobeying, “I’m sorry Lyne, but I felt bad that I wasn’t able to search, scan, or fight. It made me feel like I was going to be of no use to you.”

“That’s OK, I forgive you. I’d probably feel the same way if I were you... Scan finished. All it says you need now is that scan program.”

“Will I reboot after the program is downloaded?”

“Not with Scan. It’s an extension of your search program, but not the same. You only reboot with more difficult programs like the NetBattle program you downloaded. Your system must shut down and customize the program for your use. Scan Program Chip in download.”

“Oh I see. Downloading……. Program downloaded.”

“Let’s try that NetBattle program out. We’re going to wake up Lan and Mega.”

“OK.” Meg said with a smile on her face as Lyne grabbed her PET and left her room, going down the hallway towards Lan’s room. Lyne turned the door knob quietly and entered the room. She then tip-toed up to Lan’s PET and poked the screen around Mega’s shoulder. Mega woke up sleepily and yawned while rubbing his eyes.

“Lyne, what are you doing here?” he asked.

“I’m here to wake up Lan. I want to try out Meg’s NetBattle program she installed herself,” Lyne said placing her PET next to Megaman while she walked up to Lan and stuck her finger in her mouth. She then took it out and placed it inside his ear. Lan jumped up and fell out of bed.

Shocked, and a little angry to see his sister there, he asked, “What was that for, Lyne?”

She got up in his face and said, “I want a NetBattle.”

“What time is it Mega?” Lan asked, getting off the floor with Lyne’s help.

“7:30 AM Lan,” Megaman answered in a sleepy tone.

“Haven’t you heard of sleep Lyne?”

“I’ll make breakfast,” Lyne said with a smile on her face.

“I’m up,” Lan said excitedly. “Beat you downstairs.” They both left his room and headed downstairs, towards the kitchen.

“So, Lyne said you installed your own NetBattle program. How’d you do it?” Mega asked Meg out of curiosity.

“I had a little help. Mega, meet Dotbit,” Meg said, motioning toward the little glowing orb on her screen.

“A byte. Where did you find it?”

“In my PET,” Meg said, rubbing the back of her helmet.

“That’s neat. Usually they’re found on the net. Anyway, how was the download?”

“It was OK…, but I don’t like rebooting. Dotbit didn’t tell me I’d shut down for a while.”

“Well that’s all right. It’s just a normal part of every navi’s programming. Um… I guess you’re still not used to it yet. I bet you’re also nervous about the tourney today.”

“Of course I am. I’ve never actually NetBattled before. Lyne says you’ll be my first practice opponent. I hope I do well,” Meg said as she shuffled her foot on the floor of her PET.

“Don’t worry. You’ll do fine. It should come naturally now that you’ve got a NetBattle program.”

“Thank you Mega. Your encouragement helps a lot,” she said as Lan and Lyne came back into Lan’s room. They both looked satisfied now that they’d eaten something.

Man, I forgot how good of a cook Lyne is, Lan thought to himself, rubbing his stomach and smiling.

“Are you ready for a practice match Lan?” Lyne asked as she picked up her PET.

“Yeah, let’s do it,” he said and also grabbed his PET. Lyne followed him out as he left his bedroom. When they got to the family computer, Lyne brought up the practice NetBattle arena that she’d made the day before.

“OK. Ready to go when you are Lan,” Lyne said, pointing her PET at the monitor, “Megawoman, Jack In. Power Up.”

“Megaman, Jack In. Power Up,” Lan said, following his sister’s example.

“We’ll treat this like a normal match. OK you two, ready to go?” Lyne asked as Mega got into a fighting stance in front of Meg. She looked at him, confused as to what he was doing, but then she realized that he was ready for battle.

She got into a fighting stance as well. Oh! Mega was right; this does feel natural. OK, let’s do this Lyne.

“Battle start,” Lyne said. Bring your buster up, and charge it up. Wait for my signal to release the shot.

OK Lyne. Megbuster, charge up, Meg thought as she brought up her buster and charged it. Mega ran at her with his buster also charging. Meg jumped out of his way as he attempted to do a charged elbow shot.

“Lan, I said you can use battle chips. Meg needs the practice in all aspects of NetBattling.”

“Don’t blame Lan, Lyne,” Megaman said as he turned back towards Megawoman and charged again. “He’s slow to think at this time in the morning, so until he decides to get with the program, I’ll have to improvise. Besides I want to practice this style for a little while.”

Can I release the shot now? It’s getting difficult to keep it charged, Meg thought in complaint.

Point it towards the ground and release it. That will allow you to avoid Mega’s attack. Meg did as she was told, avoiding Mega’s charged attack again, but the shot pushed her really high.

“Angel Wings battle chip in; download,” Lyne said as she put the battle chip into her PET, allowing Meg to land safely.

You can use that battle chip to jump higher, and do more damage doing dash attacks.

OK. I want to try and attack now. I’ll prove myself to you Lyne.

Go ahead. Let’s see what you can do.

Meg charged at Mega with blinding speed and knocked him to the ground. She smiled at a job well done.

She’s playing around. Why? Mega thought, It’s starting to irritate me that Lan hasn’t come up with anything yet. He’d better hurry up or this will be my most embarrassing match ever. If she wants to play, I wonder how she’ll like this. Then he tripped Meg, knocking her down next to him.

“That wasn’t nice,” Meg said angrily as she jumped him. This started a brawl between the two of them, creating a cloud of dust with fists and feet popping out once in a while.

“Should we stop them?” Lan asked, shocked at how roughly their navis were fighting.

“They’ll stop shortly. I was expecting this to happen. She said she wanted to prove herself to me.” Sure enough the dust cleared and both Meg and Mega were lying on the ground with dizzy circles in their eyes. “I think she’s ready for the tourney. I’m going to my room to take a shower and get ready for the tourney. I suggest you do the same. Megawoman, Jack Out,” Lyne said, leaving Lan at the computer. Lan looked back at the monitor.

“Mega are you OK?” Lan asked in concern. Mega sat up and placed one of his hands on his forehead.

“Yeah, I’m OK. I didn’t think Meg would get angry at me for a simple little thing like that. Why didn’t you use battle chips?” Mega glared at Lan.

“I was about to when you said you wanted to practice that fighting style. I asked if we should stop you guys earlier, but Lyne said that you guys would stop on your own. Sure enough, she was right.”

“Well then, that’s probably a good thing. I wouldn’t have wanted to make her mad if she had the Atom Blade,” Mega said as he slid his forefinger across his throat.

“Lyne wouldn’t allow that to happen, Hub. Meg is just a little undisciplined right now. Lyne will fix that. Lyne acted like that sometimes before she left for the US, but that was when she got angry with me.”

“I guess you’re right about Lyne. She’s our sister after all. Anyway, we need to get ready for the tourney.”

“You’re right. Megaman, Jack Out,” Lan said as he left the terminal for his room, and got ready for the tourney. When he was done, Lan came back downstairs. Lyne had her stuff ready to go and was waiting for him.

“The gang called while you were getting ready. They said they’ll meet us there. Let’s go,” Lyne said walking out the front door with Lan following behind.
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~Earlier~World Three Headquarters~

Mr. Wily was in his office, reviewing footage of what had happened in ElecTown the day before. So your precious granddaughter has returned to Japan, Tadishi Hikari. Soon she will be mine, and the whole world will surrender to the power of World 3 once again.

“Maddy, I have a job for you,” Mr. Wily said into his intercom.

“Yes sir. I’ll be right there,” Maddy said as she left her desk. Now-a-days, World 3 disguised itself as Chronos Chip Corporation, located on the outskirts of Dentech City. After having their plans foiled time and time again by Lan and his friends, World 3 decided to let the net fall under the control of the NetSaviors until they could gain some kind of power to secure their place again. This was looking like World 3’s lucky break. Maddy walked down the hallway, got onto the main elevator, and entered her World 3 code so she could go to Mr. Wily’s office. When the elevator stopped, she stepped off and walked up to his desk.

“World 3 agent Maddy, reporting for duty.”

“Good, you’re here. I want you to check up on that punk, Lan Hikari, and his friends.”

“WHAT! You want me to do a babysitting mission, not terrorize the net?” Maddy complained.

“Don’t argue with me woman! I’m the one in charge. Report to me anything new. Mainly about the boy’s sister.”

“Lan has a sister?” Maddy looked at Mr. Wily, confused.

“Yes. Now go. You’re wasting my time and yours. Oh, and Maddy... If you have another outburst like that one, you’re fired.” Maddy turned and stormed out of the office and got onto the elevator.

“Man what a grouch. Well at least I still have this job,” Maddy sighed in relief.

“That’s the third time he’s threatened to fire you this month.”

“I know Wackoman. Let’s just get this job over with to appease Mr. Goucheypants,” Maddy said as she left the elevator, got into her car, and drove off to ACDC Town.
______________________

“I’m bored. I’ve been driving around here for 3 hours doing nothing but watch Lan’s neighborhood and waste gas. Mr. Wily better compensate me for this. Didn’t that punk always sleep in anyway?” Maddy asked aloud as she drove her car around the ACDC Park for the umpteenth time.

“I don’t remember really,” Wackoman said, “We haven’t messed around with the NetSaviors for a while. It’d be fun to mess with them again,” he chuckled. Just then, Maddy noticed two people walking in the direction of the ACDC School. She immediately recognized one of them, pulled her car over, and parked it at the Park.

“Did you find him? Come on please tell me. I can’t see out the window,” Wackoman complained from the passenger seat of Maddy’s car while she got into a disguise (inconspicuous teacher look).

“Stop your whining. I saw Lan. We’re starting mission phase 2,” Maddy said as she grabbed her PET and left her car, following Lan and Lyne. She followed them all the way to the school, stopped by the gate, and paused for a moment before entering.

Why are they going to the school? It’s Sunday, and school hasn’t started yet, she thought as she entered the gate. Maddy stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the large crowd on the school’s campus. *gulp* “This isn’t good.”
______________________

“Wow! The school has gotten bigger since I was here last. They were building the high school when I left,” Lyne exclaimed as she looked around the campus.

“Yeah, they finished it up right before I started 6th grade last year.”

“That’s right; you started 7th grade this year, and I’m going to start actually attending my junior year instead of through correspondence now. That was such a workload. I guess you’ll see me every day when school starts back up after the obon holiday,” she said, smiling at Lan. She started to look around again and noticed someone in the high school through one of the windows. She thought she knew the person from somewhere else, but she wasn’t sure.

“Hum… Well never mind. Let’s go register,” Lyne said as they walked up to the registration table. Ms. Mari was there, along with Mr. Higsby and Commander Beef.

“Hello Lan. How are you today? Are you here to register?” Ms. Mari asked.

“Hello Ms. Mari. I’m fine. Yes, I’m here to register, and so is Lyne.”

“Wow, Lyne it’s good to see you back in ACDC. I bet school was tough in America.” Lyne nodded in response. “Here you go. Fill these out,” Ms. Mari said as she handed them both registration forms for the tourney. They both filled out the registration forms and handed them back to her. “Here are your numbers. You two were the last to register.”

“Did everyone register?” Lan asked nervously as he looked back at the crowd.

“This a mini tourney Lan. We only have about… How many do we have registered Mr. Higsby?”

“About 32 registered I think. Numberman am I right?” Higsby asked his NetNavi pal.

“16 matches with 2 NetBattlers each = 32 NetBattlers. I just love numbers.”

“That’s cool. Lyne, let’s go find the rest of the gang,” Lan said, dragging Lyne away from the registration table.

Lyne, huh? Commander Beef thought with his hand on his chin, watching them leave, I’m going to have to increase security a little.

“Lan, slow down. You don’t have to be in such a hurry,” Lyne cried out as her brother dragged her along.

“There they are,” Lan said as he spotted the gang hanging out underneath one of the picnic table trees. When they got there, Lan stopped and let go of Lyne’s hand. Lyne wrung her wrist to get rid of the pain.

“Hey guys. Wasup? How many of you registered?”

“Lan, are you nuts? The high schoolers signed up,” Yai said in a mater-of-fact tone.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I’ve taken on tougher Navis then that. I’ve saved the world multiple times.”

“Ahem,” Megaman cleared his throat from his PET.

“Oh, sorry. We’ve saved the world multiple times,” Lan said, holding out his PET with pride.

“I signed up too,” Lyne said, rubbing the back of her head. Just then, Chaud got a great idea.

“Who wants to make a bet?” he asked the gang.

“Chaud, you know gambling isn’t allowed on campus,” Mayl said, shocked he would suggest such a thing.

Chaud turned to face Mayl. “First of all school isn’t in session, and second of all that’s only with money. I’m betting with a battle chip. This one,” he said holding up a VarSword Battle Chip. Lan drooled at the sight of the chip.

“I’m game,” Yai said, “What’s the bet?” Lan then reached for the chip. As he did so, Chaud put it up and pointed at Lyne. Lan pounded his hand in the air in defeat.

“Lyne will win the tourney, and Lan will be her opponent.”

“Oooo that’s rich,” Yai responded, “but I bet you Lan won’t make it past his third match.”

“Hey,” Lan said in protest.

“Sorry,” Yai said, smirking, “the odds are against you Lan. Those high schoolers are really tough.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll do fine,” Mayl said as she smiled at Lan.

“Thank you, Mayl. I needed that,” Lan said, rubbing the back of his head. Good to know she has faith in me.

Just then, someone called out from the crowd, “LYNE!” Lyne turned toward the voice to see a tall girl walking in their direction. She had long black hair with platinum streaks and emerald-green eyes. She had on a black t-shirt with a yellow lightning bolt on the front, a pair of blue jeans, white tennis shoes, and a necklace with a thunderbolt charm on it. Lyne had no doubt in her mind who that person was

“JACKIE!!” she shouted excitedly at the sight of her oldest and truest friend.

“Wow. Lyne how long has it been? Four years? It’s good to see you home. I’ve missed you so much,” the two best friends hugged each other to make up for the lost time.

After they hugged, Lyne asked, “Lan, you remember Jackie don’t you?”

“A little bit. I didn’t see her much after you left for the US.” Lyne grabbed Jackie’s hand and took her closer to the picnic table where the gang was still lounging around.

“Everybody, meet Jackie Yang. She’s my best friend. Jackie, this is Chaud, Mayl, Yai, Dex, and Tory.”

“Hi, Jackie,” the gang answered.

Jackie lowered her eyes a little as she shuffled her feet, and weakly said, “Hello.”

“Ha ha ha… That’s my Jackie. She’ll warm up to you guys eventually. So what’s new with you? I like what you’ve done with your hair.”

“Thank you,” Jackie said rubbing the back of her head. “The only thing I have really is my new NetNavi. How’s Combit? I’m looking forward to fighting her in the tourney,” Jackie smiled happily at the thought of the tourney.

Lyne hung her head. “She got deleted.”

“How? What happened Lyne?” Jackie asked, concerned, placing her hand on Lyne’s shoulder to comfort her.

“I’d rather not talk about it. My father made me a new navi, so we might see each other in the tourney still. Her name is Megawoman. What’s your navi’s name?”

“Flashman,” Jackie answered, “I found him on the net. His data was almost completely corrupted, but I restored him.”

“Flashman?!” Lan said, shocked at what Jackie said.

“Yes boy, and if you have a problem with it, I’ll take you on,” Flashman said from his PET.
___________________________
Next Episode Preview

~Next to the registration table~

Ribbita: Wow! Look at all the people who came here today! It looks like it’s going to be an exciting day here at the DenTech High Mini Tournament. Excuse me Miss, will you be- Oh! Sorry, I thought you were young for a second.
Maddy: What’s that supposed to mean!? Are you saying I’m old? How dare you?
Ribbita: Well, that doesn’t matter. So, who are you here to root for?
Maddy: *Still fuming.* I’m not here to root for anyone. Leave me alone! *Stomps off.*
Ribbita: Well, she certainly is touchy about her age, isn’t she? Luckily, I’ve aged really well, so I could still pass for a teenager if I wanted. Right? *Poses, holding her foot up behind her and her arms cutely tucked up under her chin.*
Ms. Mari, Higsby, Commander Beef: *Sweatdrop.* Right. Whatever you say.
Ribbita: *Still posing.* So Mr. Higsby, who do you think’s going to win today.
Higsby: Well, we have Lan Hikari here and Chaud Blaze as well, the finalists from the N-1 Grand Prix, but the competition is fierce and there are a lot of unknowns. Isn’t it hard to keep your balance like that?
Ribbita: *In same position.* So then, you’re saying you don’t have a guess at all?
Commander Beef: *Examining the registration.* Actually, Chaud didn’t register for this. But Lan’s sister, Lyne, is here.
Higsby: Ah, yes, and she won the US Net Cup. *Stares at Ribbita a moment.* Seriously, isn’t that uncomfortable?
Ribbita: Yes but… *Winces and starts to tip over.* I think I pulled something.
Ms. Mari: I’ll see if the school nurse is here. *Winces as Ribbita crashes to the ground.* Next time on Lan and Lyne, Episode 5: Tournament for Tickets. Be sure to watch!
_________________
"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

[Megawoman.EXE]

Chapter 5: Tournament for Tickets

~15 July 200X~ACDC School~

“Now Flash, no need for that right now,” Jackie said, trying to calm her Navi down, “You need your strength for the tourney.”

"But the punk made fun of me! Jackie, let me kick his butt!"

“Listen to your NetOp,” Lyne said as she flicked the back of Jackie’s PET.

“Owwww! That hurt,” Flash complained, rubbing the back of his helmet.

“I see you still have the magic touch Lyne,” Jackie said with a smile on her face.

“Oh! I’m sorry Jackie. I didn’t mean too,” Lyne said, blushing.

“It’s OK; Flash usually acts that way around strangers.”

"The punk is not a stranger. He's a stupid, young idiot that deserves a butt whooping. He only beat me out of sheer luck!”

“Hey, you’re the one who’s being rude,” Lan replied angrily, “Bring it on. Mega, let’s do it.”

“All right,” Mega agreed with Lan and got ready to attack.

“NO. You will not NetBattle,” Lyne said in a commanding tone as she stood in between Lan and Jackie’s PETs. The argument stopped there. “We will meet each other’s navis in a peaceful setting and talk this out. Let’s go inside.”

“Forceful, isn’t she?” Flash asked Lan.

“Tell me about it,” Lan said, narrowing his eyes at his sister. Lyne led the way inside the school as the rest of the gang followed her. Lyne then walked up to an unoccupied NetMeeting area, located in the main hallway, and jacked in Megawoman.

“Come on guys.” Lyne gestured to the jack in ports. “Let’s introduce our navis.” Everybody except for Chaud jacked in their navis. Once they were jacked in, the navis stood staring at Flashman

He glared at them and then crossed his arms. "I already know all of these navis. ‘Cept for that purple one." He then snorted and held his head up high.

“Lan was right about you, you rude excuse for a DarkLoid,” Mega said.

“What was that you called me?” Flash said with an angry mark on his helmet and his fist shaking in Mega’s direction.

“You heard me,” Mega said as he shrugged his shoulders with open hands.

“That’s it Blue Boy. You had this one coming,” Flash said as he charged at Mega. Mega caught the other navi’s fists with his hands and stopped them. Flashman and Megaman glared at each other as they attempted to overpower each other in their grapple, and then they started to shout insults at each other.

“Go Mega!” Lan exclaimed. Jackie had a sweat drop on her head as she looked at Lyne apologetically, embarrassed at her navi’s behavior.

Meg, go make peace, Lyne thought to Meg.

“Yes, Lyne,” Meg answered her command and she walked up and stood in between them.

“Meg! What are you doing? This is between Flashman and me. You’ll get hurt,” Mega said, still struggling with Flashman.

“It would be wise to listen to Blue Boy. Go away and let us fight.”

“STOP!” Meg shouted as she pushed them apart forcefully. Both Flash and Mega looked at her in surprise when they realized how much force she could muster. She then turned towards Flashman and smiled.

“I’m Megawoman. What’s your name?”

Flash was surprised at how gentle she became after that tense moment when she forced him and Mega apart.

“Umm… I’m Flashman,” he managed to weakly say as he brushed cyberdust on his chest armor off.

“Everyone, meet Flashman.” Meg gestured her hand towards him. She then stood beside him and beckoned the others to join her. The other navis shrugged their shoulders and joined her. Flashman became a little tense, being the center of attention.

“He’s kind of shy isn’t he Jackie.?” Lyne asked.

“I’m not shy!” Flash protested.

Jackie ignored her navi’s complaint. “Only once in a while. He’s usually more distrustful more then anything.”

“Really? Meg, maybe that was a little too much for Flashman.”

“Why?” Meg asked, about to cry, thinking she did something wrong.

“It’s not good manners to break up a fight like that.”

“I’m sorry, but you told me to make peace, and I did. Mega and Flash stopped fighting.”

“But now Flash might not trust you. First impressions are always important when meeting someone new.”

“Oh. I apologize, Flashman,” Meg said as she bowed in Flash’s direction for forgiveness.

"Whatever purple girl. You just shocked me, but didn't offend me," Flash said crossing his arms. “I just need to talk with Mega for a sec. Come on Blue Boy.”

Flash gestured for Mega to follow him away from the crowd of navis. Mega complied, following Flash a good distance off from everyone else.

“Now what do you want, Flashman?” Mega asked when they stopped.

“What kind of navi is Megawoman? She felt kinda’, well… different. Strange and empowered.”

“Oh that. You were actually feeling Lyne. She’s Lan’s sister.”

Flash shuddered at the thought, “How can a human have that much power? She felt stronger then Bass and Shademan combined.”

“It’s kind of a long story. I don’t think we have enough time for me to tell you, but I can kind of explain her power. You remember when she flicked the back of your PET, and you felt it.”

“Yeah that really hurt,” Flash said, squinching up his eyes over his face mask, remembering what Lyne did earlier. “She can cause harm to naivs?” Flash looked at Mega, confused.

“Not really, but she can interact with them through touch and thought.”

“Uh… Well then I’d better watch out for her. How about Purple Girl? Is she a copy of you or what? Her navi signature is similar to yours, and she even looks like you a little.”

“No, you got that all wrong,” Mega disagreed, waving his hands in front of himself, “Meg is completely different from me, but we’re related,” he clarified as he rubbed the back of his helmet.

“So you now have a sister. Ha ha ha ha, that’s a laugh,” Flash said.

Mega went red in the face and had an angry mark on his helmet. How dare he make fun of Meg. He will pay.

Don’t fight please, or I’ll have to send in Meg again. Mega stopped what he was about to do as the thought was sent to him and turned away from Flash, crossing his arms.

“Ooooo! What’s wrong? Did I strike a nerve?” Flash asked as he noticed Mega’s actions.

You stop egging him on. Save it for the tournament, a mysterious voice said to Flashman.

“What? Who said that?” Flash said, looking around, confused and trying to find the source of the mysterious voice.

“Lyne said it,” Mega said, pointing at a vidscreen. Flash turned to see Lyne through it, touching his PET.

“Oh. So that’s what you mean,” Flash said as he turned back to Mega, now understanding what he said a little while ago.

“We have to go. They’re announcing the tourney bracket soon,” Lyne said to the all of the navis.

“OK. Well let’s go Blue Boy. I’ll meet you in the NetBattle arena, and I will win this time,” Flash said as he logged out. All the rest of the navis did the same.

“Lan, we’ll see you after the tourney. We’ll be cheering you on,” Mayl said she and the gang went to find their seats to watch the tourney.

“OK, bye,” Lan said as he watched them leave.

“Lan, come on. Let’s go,” Lyne said as she grabbed his arm and dragged him to the tourney tier board. Jackie followed them.

When they got to the board, Lyne exclaimed, “Look Jackie! You and I are in the same tier. And it looks like you’re on your own Lan.”

“Nothing Mega and I can’t handle,” Lan said with pride.

/Will Lyne Hikari and Mesu Niwa report to the NetBattle Arena for the first match? Lyne Hikari and Mesu Niwa./ the tourney announcer said over the intercom.

“Well guys, I have to go. See you later,” Lyne said as she left Lan and Jackie behind to go to the NetBattle Arena. "Mesu Niwa. Why does that name sound so familiar?" she pondered as she entered the auditorium.

“Jackie?” Lan asked after Lyne left.

“Yes Lan?”

“I meant to ask this earlier. How did you know Lyne has Net Power?”

“Net Power? Oh! You mean her magic touch. I’ve known ever since we first met how special your sister is. She can make friends out of the most bitter enemies with that power, both human and navi alike. I’ve seen it happen on many occasions. What you saw was no different. I bet Combit would’ve done the same thing when Mega and Flash were fighting.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Let’s go watch Lyne’s first match.”

“Yes. Let’s go,” Jackie agreed as she followed Lan into the auditorium. They found seats towards the front, and barely sat down as the match started.

They were just getting settled when they heard: /Chainsman, Logging Out/ and looked up to see that Lyne had already won.

“Wow,” breathed someone next to them, “wasn’t that awesome?”

“What happened?” Lan asked, “I was just sitting down and didn’t see it.” Unfortunately, the person next to them had already turned away and was talking to his companion.

“Darn it, I didn’t see either!” Jackie complained. “We’d better go congratulate her. I hope she takes a little more time for the next match.”
_______________________
~At the back of the auditorium~

“What does he see in that girl? She’s good, but not special,” Maddy said as Lyne walked off the stage, “Wacko did you notice anything about her navi?”

“She’s good, but nothing strange going on. Wait a min… I’m picking up another navi signature, and I don’t like the feel of it.”

“Really! Do you recognize the signature?”

“I think it’s Bass. Not for positive.” Wackoman shuddered on the screen of his PET. “Wait a sec… Yep, it’s Bass. I see him”

“Bass huh… Well then, we might have a hot ticket on our hands. Keep watching.”

“You’re the boss,” Wacko said as he went back to watching the tourney, still shuddering.

The tourney matches flew by quickly. Lan managed to beat all of his opponents and had no problem in the semi-final match. Lyne had done equally well was going up to face Jackie in her own semi-final to see who would go up against Lan.
______________________________

“Yai hand it over. You lost,” Chaud said with his hand open in front of the little blonde seated next to him.

“Aww, man,” Yai said as she placed her Light Aura chip in his open hand. They then returned their attention to the match that was about to start.
________________________________

“Do your best Jackie. Don’t hold back.”

“Sure thing Lyne. May the best navi win.” Jackie and Lyne then shook hands, walked up onto the NetBattle stage, and jacked their navis in.

“Megawoman, Jack in, Power up.”

“Flashman, Jack in, Power up.”

/Battle Start/ the announcer said.

“Eat this! Neon Lights,” Flash said as he started the match, shooting off glowing orbs in Meg’s direction.

“Aqua Tower, Battle Chip in, download.” Flash laughed as Meg sent out the attack, but the water absorbed the orbs and continued at Flashman, now electrified, His eyes widened in shock that Megawoman’s attack had managed to do that, but were narrowed in irritation once the attack had hit him and dissipated.

“Neon Lights!” he shouted as he attacked Meg again.

“Anti-Electricity, Battle Chip in, download,” Lyne said as she placed another battle chip into her PET. Flashman’s attack got directed back at him knocking him down to the ground.

This match is starting to get annoying. That first attack should have passed through the tower. Did Lyne do something to it? I’m starting to not like this girl, Flash thought as he got back up. Time to bring things up a notch. “Flash Light,” Flash said as he placed his hand on the ground and two light bulbs appeared next to Meg.

“Barrier Battle Chip in download. Cyber Sword Battle Chip in download,” Meg was protected again from Flash’s attack. Go get him Meg, Lyne thought to her navi after the barrier disappeared.

Right, Meg replied as she charged at Flash.

So you want to play unfairly. I can do that. “Spark Palm,” Flash said as he slammed a large ball of energy into the ground of the arena. The energy split into three large balls. Meg avoided the first of them, but got hit by the other two, knocking her to the ground. Her Cyber Sword disappeared as she hit the ground.

“Muhahaha,” Flash laughed at the sight of his direct hit.

“Flash be careful. Don’t get cocky,” Jackie scolded him.

And now for the final touch, Flash thought as he stopped laughing. “Hypno Flash,” Flash said as he held up a large orb of light in his palm that pulsed rhythmically. As Meg was getting up, she looked into the orb and her face went slack. The look on Lyne’s face also went blank, matching her navi’s

“Flash, stop please. You’re taking this too far,” Jackie pleaded as she noticed the change in Lyne’s eyes.

“Stand up,” Flash commanded Meg. Meg labored to her feet obediently.

Lyne, what’s going on? I’ve lost control, Meg thought to Lyne in panic.

Calm down, you’re alright. He doesn’t have complete control yet. Let’s give him a surprise. Are you ready?

“Good,” Flash said in a happy tone. No navi ever created can resist my spell, he thought happily while still holding his attack. Meg stood there, trying to steady her nerves as she stared into the orb.

I’m ready Lyne, she thought to her NetOp, managing to calm down and breath slowly.

Good, you’re calm, Lyne thought as she closed her eyes. Meg, in synch, closed her own eyes and realized only after she’d opened them again that she was in control of herself again.

Now retaliate! Lyne commanded Meg. She charged at Flash, who was still concentrating his Hypno Flash attack on Meg until he noticed the purple navi coming up on him.

"What?! That's not what I told you to do!" Flash said, surprised, "S-stop! I order you!"

“Stay out of my head!!” Meg exclaimed as she gave Flash one mean uppercut to his chin, taking him off of his feet.

“Gwwaaahh.”

/ Flashman, Logging out. End Match./

“Oww! That hurt,” Jackie complained as she held her hand on her chin.

“Jackie!” Lyne exclaimed as she jacked Megawoman out and went to her aid, “I’m sorry Jackie. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Damn, Flash, why do you have to be so cocky?” Jackie said, looking at her PET. On the screen Flash had dizzy circles in his eyes. He shrugged his shoulders at his NetOp and then went into sleep mode. “That should teach him to mess with you,” Jackie said as she took her hand away from her chin.

Lyne looked at the mark underneath Jackie’s chin, shocked, “We should have the nurse look at that. It’s welting.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve had worse injuries then that before. Besides, I don’t want to miss the final match. Hikari vs. Hikari. It’s about time.”

“OK, if you say so. Let’s go on break though, before the match. I’m thirsty,” Lyne said, leading Jackie off the stage and to the break room. When they got there, Lyne found a first aid kit and took a cold pack from it. She then activated it and gave it to Jackie, “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” Jackie said placing it underneath her chin, “That feels better.”

*BEEP, BEEP, BEEP* Lyne’s PET went off.

“What is it now Meg?”

“An e-mail came for you from a umm.. onyaboTabo. However you pronounce it.”

“Oooo, it’s Tony. Open it up.”

“Tony? But it says onyaboTabo.”

“It’s a kind of code Meg. Just trust me; it’s from Tony. C’mon, open it.”

“Who’s Tony?”

“Open it, open it, open it!”

“OK, do you want me to read it for you Lyne?”

“No, I can read it just fine.”

__E-mail reads__

eyaboHabo (Hey) assupabowabo (wassup),
Iaboyabo (I) oughtabothabo (thought) I’daboyabo (I’d) etabolabo (let) ouaboyabo (you) owaboknabo (know) atabothabo (that) I’llaboyabo (I’ll) eeabosabo (see) ouaboyabo (you) oonabosabo (soon).
ignedaboSabo (Signed),
onyaboTabo Mabo. (Tony M.)

__End Email__

Lyne looked up from the e-mail she received, confused.

I’ll see you soon. What does Tony mean by that?

“BOO!” a voice shouted behind Lyne, causing her and Jackie to jump. She then turned around to see a tall guy with dark brown hair, brown eyes, and slightly tan skin. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a suede vest over the top of it, beige casual wear pants, and white tennis shoes. She then pounded her fist into his chest.

“Don’t scare me like that Tony,” Lyne spoke in English. Lan came into the break room as she continued her conversation. “I didn’t think you were serious about becoming a student here in Japan. When did you get here?”

“Actually, I’m a student teacher. I was a senior last year, remember? And I arrived last week,” Tony said, rubbing the back of his head.

“Oh right… Last week! Why didn’t you e-mail me sooner?”

“Excuse me Lyne,” Lan said in Japanese, tugging on Lyne’s shirt, “What are you doing?”

Lyne stopped speaking English for a second and looked at Lan, “Just a minute Lan. I’m talking to my friend,” Lyne turned her head back to Tony and started talking again in English, “As I was asking, why didn’t you e-mail me when you got here? And how’s Alexa?”

“I did but your e-mail account was down yesterday, which was odd, but anyway, Alexa is OK. She came with me.”

“Cool. I want to see her sometime later,” Lyne said as Lan tugged on her sleeve again.

“What?” Lyne said in an angry tone as she looked at Lan again.

“Who is that?” Lan asked, pointing at Tony.

“Oh, Lan this is Tony Montana my friend from America. He only speaks English. He knows a few phrases in Japanese, but he speaks them horribly,” Lyne said in Japanese so Lan would understand.

“Now look who’s being rude." Tony said as he eyed Lyne with a sarcastic glare, "At least I can understand Japanese fluently. Konichiwa Lan.”

“Konichiwa,” Lan replied.

“Hey! I just go a great idea. I’ll make a copy of Meg’s translator program and give it to you Tony.” Lyne smiled with pride that she’d come up with a good idea.

“Meg? What happened to Combit?” Tony asked, shocked. Lyne hung her head.

“She’d rather not talk about it,” Jackie answered for Lyne in Japanese as she comforted her.

Tony stared at Jackie with a shocked look on his face, realizing that she understood English.

Jackie blushed, “Don’t look at me that way. English is a mandatory class from 7th grade second semester on here at ACDC School. You should already know that if you’re a student teacher.”

Lan gulped. So Lyne was speaking English, and it’s a required class. Oh man.

“Lyne, please tell me, or should I guess what happened to Combit?” Tony asked in concern.

/ Would Lan and Lyne Hikari report to the NetBattle Arena? Lan and Lyne Hikari/ a voice said over the intercom.

“I’ll tell you after the match,” Lyne said as she left the break room with an eager brother following her out.

“Let’s go get some good seats. Lyne’s matches are always awesome, but this one is going to be special, wouldn’t you agree,” Tony said to Jackie as he followed Lan and Lyne out of the room.

“Yes I would have to agree,” Jackie said, reflecting on the last match, “Hey! Wait for me,” she exclaimed jogging a little as Tony rushed out ahead of her.

“Come on,” he called back to her, “Let’s try to get the front row!”
________________________

The two of them found that the rest of the group had stationed themselves behind the judges’ booth and joined them. Soon the match began.

“Megawoman, Jack in, Power up.”

“Megaman, Jack in, Power up”

/ Battle Start /

Meg, I’m going to do Tactics 1-10. Be ready.

OK Lyne, Meg answered as she got ready for Tactics.

“Cannon A, Cannon B, Mini Boomer, Battle Chips in, download,” Lan said as he placed the chips inside his PET. Megaman then charged at Meg.

“Tactics 1-10,” Lyne said as she placed a long string of battle chips into her PET.

Lan looked shocked at all the chips his sister was throwing in. What’s this move? he thought to himself.

Mega then shot both cannons at Meg. One missed completely and the other glanced off her hip as she moved to meet Megaman’s charge. Meg then used Tactics on Mega as he was throwing his Mini Boomer in her direction. The Mini Boomer exploded behind her and actually helped push her into position. There was a certain violent beauty to the effect of the explosion backlighting Megawoman as she used the Tactics chip combo, which turned out to be a string of powered martial arts attacks worthy of a well-made fighting game.

Oww! Damn that hurt! he thought as he groaned in pain, What kind of move was that!? He picked himself up off of the ground quickly and jumped backwards as Meg attacked again, barely dodging. Meg is more aggressive than she was this morning. I wonder why? he continued thinking as he avoided another attack.
__________________________
~In the shadows~

I know I’ve seen that style of fighting before, Bass thought to himself. He kept watching, then frowned in frustration. My memory fails me again. Why does this always happen when I’m around Lyne’s wonderful power, or even when I’m thinking about it. All I know is I must have control of her power. This is so frustrating. Why do I want it? He fumed angrily at his memory failure.

Protoman was also watching the match, leaning against one of the pillars beside Bass. Why did he bring me along? This is stupid, Proto thought as he kicked his foot against the pillar in frustration. “What made you want to come here Bass?” Protoman asked testily.

“I wanted to watch this NetBattler. Is that so hard to understand? Sometimes I wonder if your AI is stupid.”

“Hey! It’s not! Why do you even fancy that girl anyway? She’s just a human, and if I remember correctly you hate humans.”

“I know I hate humans, but not this one. She has net power,” Bass said as he turned towards Protoman with an evil grin on his face. “Mainly, her navi interests me at the moment,” he said as he placed his hand on his chin and returned his attention to the match.
___________________________

“She’s been getting to many hits in on us Mega. We’ve got to make a good hit. You ready?”

“Right,” Megaman responded, firing his buster to try and get Megawoman to back off.

“OK, here we go! Cyber Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword, Battlechips in, Download!”

A program advance? I think I made him mad, Lyne thought to herself as she quickly grabbed a Battlechip. “Angel Wings.” Go sideways Meg!

Right, the navi thought back as the wings sprouted out. She quickly dashed to her side, avoiding the long, powerful lance of energy that Megaman released.

“Ah! Mega, Charge Shot while there’s still distance.”

Just what I was thinking, Lyne thought as Meg banked sharply and kicked her feet off the ground, keeping herself aloft and gliding quickly at Megaman. Understanding that she’d been given an indirect order, she started charging her Buster. Like this morning Meg. Aim down. As Megaman fired off his charged shot, his Sister Program released hers as well, straight down so she was launched into the air.

“Whooooaaahh!!” Meg exclaimed as she sped upwards, “It’s a lot faster this time!”

You already had the wings on this time. Now glide over him and throw these around him, Lyne commanded as she inserted three Mini-Boomers.

“No way Sis! Area Steal!” Lan shouted as the bombs dropped around his navi. Megaman vanished as the blasts struck.

There! Strike to your right. “Flame Sword.”

Megawoman swung the sword as it appeared and hit her opponent just as he was appearing.
________________________

“No way!” Tory exclaimed, “That’s too lucky!”

“That was a great guess. Go Lyne!” Yai said, then remembered her bet with Chaud, “Wait, I mean pull it together Lan!”

Did she know where Megaman was going to appear? Chaud thought to himself, No, how could she? You might be in trouble Lan.

“Yeah,” Jackie muttered to herself, “You definitely still have the magic touch.” Chaud glanced over at her for a moment, but, as usual, kept his thoughts to himself.
_______________________

“Interesting. Did you feel that Protoman?” Bass asked of the navi beside him.

“Feel what? Are you imagining things now?” Protoman responded in seeming disinterested, though truthfully, his attention was consumed by the match. It’s really heating up in there, he thought, then his attention broken when Bass grabbed him by the throat and pulled him over to see eye-to-eye.

“Her power,” Bass said, half in excitement and half in anger, “It swept over the area just then so she could sense where Megaman would appear. It was wonderful!”

“Erk. Great. I’m glad you enjoyed that so much. You wanna’ let go now? If you watch carefully, she might do it again.”

“Yes!” Bass exclaimed with wild eyes. He let go of Protoman and turned back to the action.
______________________

“Ooww!” Megaman exclaimed as Meg’s attack struck him. He started to drop and got worried when he realized how high the Area Steal had put him.

“Try to use a charged shot to break your fall,” Lan said to him and Megaman quickly took the suggestion, successfully slowing his descent so he landed safely.

You’ve got to land now Meg. The wings won’t last much longer, Lyne thought to her navi.

Right, came the response, and Meg dove to the ground and leveled out, gliding swiftly at her opponent to press her attack.

Meg, land! Lyne thought, but too late. The wings gave out and Meg hit the ground, tumbling over due to the speed she was going.

Yes, Lan thought, quickly slotting in the chip he’d been about to use. “Use it now Mega,” he ordered as he grabbed for more BattleChips. Megaman quickly fired, letting off the Spreader attack that had just been downloaded. It hit right on and knocked back Meg, who’d been trying to recover. Lyne went for her chips as Lan was slotting three chips in, “Cannon, Hi-Cannon, Mega-Cannon.”

Zeta Cannon, huh? Well, you’d better take the bait on this one Lan, Lyne thought as she slotted in a chip and readied another, “Area Steal!”

The Zeta Cannon passed through the spot where Megawoman had just been. Lan quickly snatched up a chip and slotted it in. “Flame Sword.”

Suckered you Bro, Lyne thought as she used the chip she’d had ready, “Aqua Sword!”

“Ahh! Hit first Mega!” Lan shouted. Megaman reacted quickly when Megawoman appeared, striking out with his attack, but Meg’s Aqua Sword cut through the fire and struck full on. Megawoman grimaced as the residue of the sword scorched her armor, but with little real damage done.
_____________________________

“Ahhh, hahh, hah, hah, hah! That was great!” Bass laughed out. “That foolish boy was totally suckered in!”

“Yeah!” Protoman agreed, doubling over and pounding Bass on the back, “This has turned out to be a good match, heh, heh. Coming here doesn’t seem so stupid now, hah, hah, hah,” Protoman continued laughing, then stopped suddenly when he realized that Bass wasn’t laughing anymore. He thought about what he’d just said, then turned his head up to look at Bass with the side of his mouth twitching nervously.

“Stupid?” Bass rumbled. His eyes flared with red energy as he grabbed Protoman by the jaw and stared him in the eyes. “You say this is stupid? Do you mean to say that I’m stupid for bringing you here!?” Bass’s voice rose in power as he spoke and Protoman began to shake, just a little, thinking that his ticket might be up. He couldn’t think of any way to respond that might make his life last longer.

I… am a dumb navi.
___________________________

Megaman was on his back, trying to recover from the last attack against him. I didn’t think their synchronization would grow so much in one day. I’m in real trouble if I don’t get up and move.

Whoa, Lan was thinking, I might really be outclassed here. No. He shook his head in denial, “We’re going to get through this Mega. Come on.”

Megawoman, meanwhile, had not pressed her attack. For the moment, she’d paused because she’d felt something. It was familiar, But from where? When? she wondered. She’d noticed it for a while, but it had suddenly flared up, stronger and more menacing, and demanded her attention. Lyne, what is that? she thought to Lyne as she looked around the NetBattle Arena, confused.

Keep looking. Be prepared to charge up your buster if there’s trouble, Lyne thought back to her as she focused through Meg’s eyes, trying to figure out who was observing Meg. She then noticed two navis at the back of the NetBattle Arena. She immediately recognized one of them by the crests of his helmet and his cloak. Bass!!! Not again!!! Lyne thought, scared now, thinking that what had happened yesterday would happen again. Meg, feeling Lyne’s distress towards the two navis, reacted by charging up her buster and aiming it out over the audience in the NetBattle Arena.
____________________________

”Bass… you should turn around. Right away,” Protoman said, pointing out to the arena.

He turned around quickly, eagerly saying, “Did the boy’s navi get deleted!?” Then, as he noticed that Megawoman was pointing her buster his way, his sudden smile quickly fell. He grumbled in a low voice, “This is your fault.”
______________________________

Megaman got to his feet, seeing that his opponent was aiming elsewhere for some reason. He froze when he recognized a feeling. That same power, but it’s coming from Meg. I have to stop her before someone gets hurt, He started forward, shouting, “MEG STOP!!” and knocked her to the ground as she released the shot from her blaster. The shot flew over the audience at amazing speed, but missed its intended target.

“That felt like a powerful shot,” Bass hissed as he felt it zing by him.

”You could say that again. Oww!!” Protoman said and held his right arm as it started to pixelate, “I’m out of here,” he said as he logged out, leaving Bass behind.

Bass then looked back at Meg who had an angry ‘you’re not welcome here’ look on it. This girl is getting harder and harder to understand, He thought as he shook his head, confused at what had just happened. If you can hear me, I’m leaving, but I’ll be back. Mark my words Lyne, I’ll be back for you, and your navi will not stop me, he thought to Lyne and Meg as he logged out from the NetBattle Arena

Meg was so satisfied with the reaction she got from the mysterious navi, smiling at the good job she did, she missed his threat towards Lyne. She then returned her attention to the match, knocking Mega down to the ground with a sweeping kick as she got back up onto her feet.

Good, we’ve got her attention again, Lan thought, then slotted a chip, “Elec Sword, BattleChip in, Download!”

“Cyber Sword Battle Chip in download,” Lyne said as she placed a battle chip into her PET. Finish the match quickly, and with honor. Bass might still be here. Meg jumped back away from Mega to allow him to get up. She then charged at him with her cyber sword drawn across her chest. Mega charged as well with his sword drawn. When they were within striking distance of each other, they both attacked each other’s icons tapping them at the same time. Both navis winced at the blows, and then…

/ Megaman, logging out. Megawoman, logging out. Draw Match./ the announcer said over the intercom.

“You did a good job Meg,” Lyne said with a smile of relief on her face. “Good match brother. That was fun,” Lyne said as she walked over to Lan, and shook his hand out of good sportsmanship.

“Thanks,” Lan said as he shook her hand and rubbed the back of his head at the same time.

“Lan!!..Lan!!” Mega said whispering at Lan, trying to get his attention. As Lan was about to look down and find out what Megaman wanted, Ms. Mari came onto the stage with both his and Lyne’s prizes.

“In a minute Mega,” Lan said as Ms. Mari walked up to the microphone.

“Today’s ACDC School Mini Tourney winners are Lan and Lyne Hikari,” she said into the mike.
_____________________________________

“You lost too. You said Lyne would win and she didn’t. Hand it over Chaud,” Yai said as she held out her hand in front of him.

“Posh!!” Chaud said angrily as he handed over his VarSword Battle chip to Yai. They then returned their attention to the stage.
______________________________________

“They will both receive a concert ticket book good for three friends and themselves to go see any of this summer’s concerts they wish,” Ms. Mari said as she handed Lan and Lyne one booklet each. The crowd cheered as they accepted their prizes from Ms. Mari.
___________________________

Back in the audience, Maddy jacked out Wackoman and got out of the auditorium without being seen.

“That match was weird. Did you record it Wackoman?” Maddy asked as she was leaving the lobby of the school.

“Got every second of it. Hee, hee!! Mr. Wily will be very pleased...” he said as he held up a video file with pride.

“Good. We’re outta’ here,” she responded as she left the school grounds, headed for her car, got inside it, and drove off, leaving the ACDC area.
__________________________________

Back at the school, after the crowd had left, the whole gang was hanging out in the break room used for the tourney.

“What were you doing out there Meg?” Mega shouted as he asked Meg, “Someone could’ve got hurt.”

“I wasn’t my fault. I was protecting Lyne. It’s my primary programming,” Meg said, crossing her arms as she defended herself and she started to walk away from her brother program.

He reached out and grabbed her shoulder, spinning her back around to face him. “Protecting her from what?”

“Bass,” Lyne said, turning her eyes away.

“Bass was watching the match!?” both Lan and Mega said in shock.

“Yeah, and I scared him off,” Meg said with pride, “That sissy didn’t want to stay and fight.”

“Be glad he didn’t,” Mega said with a tone of concern at Meg’s attitude of bravery towards Bass.

“Who’s Bass?” Jackie and Tony asked. Lyne regained some of her composure and explained what happened the day before in ElecTown. She skipped over what had happened to Combit. It pained Lyne to even talk about what had happened yesterday. She hung her head, feeling weighed down with depression. Jackie felt her pain and comforted her. She felt sad for Lyne having to meet someone like Bass in the first place.

“Lyne, you said you’d tell me what happened to Combit after the match, so spill it,” Tony said, grabbing Lyne’s hand to get her attention.

She met his eyes for barely a second, then shook her hand from his grip and hung her head back down again. She finally, but barely audibly, spoke, “She got deleted.”

“Huh? What… How? Did you use the File Save chip I gave you?”

Lyne nodded her head and started to cry.

“See, I told you she didn’t want to talk about it,” Jackie said with her hand still on Lyne’s shoulder in comfort, but now with an angry glare directed at him.

“It’s alright Lyne; let me see your PET.” Lyne handed her PET to Tony. He then placed it on the break room table and hooked his PET up to it. “Sandman. Run a diagnostic on Lyne’s PET for me please.”

“Will do Tony,” answered a navi with short sandy blonde hair, bluish green eyes, light tan completion, wearing semi dark sandy brown armor as he jacked into Lyne’s PET.

Once jacked in he saw Meg and stopped. WOW. She’s cute, Sand thought while staring at Meg.

“Sandman… Hey! Run diagnostic! Now!!” Tony said snapping Sand out of his trance.

“Oh right! Running………..” Sand said as he scanned Lyne’s PET for any information on Combit. He couldn’t believe his scan. He saw tons of fragments scattered throughout Lyne’s PET. It was like looking at an over-decorated party hall. He then noticed a glimmer of light coming from Meg’s direction. He observed it for a moment, realizing it was a Byte. Found you Combit. *gulp* What kind of a fight did you get into? Must have been painful, Sand thought as he pointed at the Byte to let Tony know he found what he wanted him too.

Good. She wasn’t lying about the chip, but Combit’s data is too fragmented to repair right now. Should I tell Lyne about this? Tony thought to himself as he placed his hand on his chin, pondering the question. He then looked at Lyne, who was drying her tears on Jackie’s handkerchief as she looked at him. That look always made Tony uneasy. “Umm... Lyne. I don’t know how to tell you this, but… Combit isn’t deleted.”

“I can’t sense her anymore. She must be gone,” Lyne answered with sadness in her voice.

“When did you use the chip on Combit? At what stage of deletion did you use the chip?”

Lyne’s eyes widened with shock as she realized she had made a major mistake, and hung her head again in shame, “After she was half pixilated.”

Tony turned her PET towards her, pointing at the Byte on the screen. “That is Combit’s core consciousness. It got compiled into a byte. The rest of her data is fragmented throughout your PET.”

Lyne took her PET back from Tony and looked at the screen, So Dotbit is Combit. Meg lied to me so she could prevent me from deleting Combit. I understand. I would’ve done the same thing too if I was her, Lyne thought as she nodded in understanding. She then touched the screen where Combit appeared. Combit giggled when she made contact with the screen. Lyne smiled. “Thank you Tony and Sandman. Good to know she’s OK.” I’m sorry. I promise I’ll fix you, Lyne thought to Combit as she was touching the screen.

Thank you, Lyne, Combit thought back with a smile on her glowing face.

“Hey, why don’t you introduce Sandman to everyone?” Lyne suggested to Tony, “Wait... Meg, make a copy of your translator program and give it to Sandman first.”

“OK, Lyne. Copying………. Done. Here you go Sandman,” Meg said as she offered him the file she’d just copied.

Her copy speed is just amazing. I wonder if her download speed is just as fast? “Thank you,” Sand said as he took the file from Meg, “Downloading ………….” Sand said as he placed his hand over the file and absorbed it, “Download complete.”

“Good,” Lyne said as she jacked in her PET to the table in the middle of the break room which really was a NetMeeting Area, jacking in both Sand and Meg. Lan and the rest of the gang that had navis also jacked into the NetMeeting Area. “Sand this is Mega, Roll, Glyde, Gutsman, Iceman, and Flashman. Also meet Lan, Mayl, Yai, Dex, Tory, Jackie, and Chaud,” Lyne said as she introduced Sand to the whole gang.

Sand was amazed to be meeting a lot of new friends at once. He then looked at Roll, She’s cute too. Too many choices, he thought in a trance, trying to decide which girl navi to ask out first.

“Hey, Sand. Do you want to show off a little?” Lyne asked him, snapping him out of his trance.

“Umm... Sure!” Maybe I’ll strike it lucky and get two for the price of one, Sand thought as he did a ridiculous pose in front of the group. Everyone giggled at the sight. Sand stopped posing out of embarrassment.

“That’s not what I meant. Just a sec,” Lyne giggled as she looked through her program list, “Here we go. Desert Environment Program Activate.”

“Even better! Watch and learn guys! This is my element,” Sand said as the area around the navis turned into vast open desert. Sand started off small by forming a small floating ball of sand in the center of the group and started to move it around. Meg applauded him, but the rest of the group seemed unimpressed. He then turned into sand and disappeared. This got everyone’s attention. A sandy shape formed behind Meg and touched her. She jumped and then hid behind Mega for protection from whatever spooked her.

“Come on, I was only kidding,” Sand said in a comforting tone as he reformed himself. “Now for something bigger,” Sand said as he was about to start to use his Sand Manipulation ability again. Just then Lan’s PET went off.

*BEEP….BEEP…..BEEP*

“Hey, Lan we have to go. Mom sent an e-mail asking for you and Lyne to come home for dinner,” Mega said, disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to see what Sand was about to show them.

“Oh man! Is it that time already?” Lyne asked sadly, “I’m sorry Tony. We have to go before Mom blows a gasket.”

“That’s OK. Maybe we’ll do something later,” Tony said as Lan and Lyne jacked out their navis.

“I was planning on inviting you and Jackie to the Linkin Park concert next month. Is that OK?”

“Cool. I’ll buy Alexa’s ticket. When is it?”

“The 18th of August. Not sure what time to go though. They’re playing four different times,” Lyne said as she pondered on the time she wanted to see the concert.

“Well, whenever you decide Lyne. You have a whole month.”

“OK then. We’ll see you guys later,” Lyne said as she ushered her brother out of the break room. Their walk home was uneventful. When they arrived home, Lyne told their mother about the tickets they won. They then had a quiet dinner.

Afterwards, Lyne sat in the living room, on the couch. I invited Tony and Jackie, and Tony is bringing Alexa. Who else can I invite to the concert? Humm… Oh I know! I forgot to invite Raika.

“Meg bring up all of my old e-mails. I need to check something out.” Meg complied as she brought up all of Lyne’s old e-mails and watched her as she found the e-mail she was looking for. “Cool!! He has enough vacation days,” Lyne said aloud as she pumped her right fist in the air in victory.

Lan sat down beside her on the couch and asked, “Who are you talking about Lyne?”

Lyne quickly put her fist down, and looked at Lan, “My friend, Raika from Sharo. I’m going to invite him to the concert,” she answered with a smile on her face.

Lan laughed. “Raika! You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Why? Do you know him too?” Lyne asked him, puzzled as to how he knew another of her old friends.

“Yeah, I know him, buy why invite him?” he asked back, even more confused as to her logic of inviting the Sharo Officer to a concert.

“Because he’s my friend,” Lyne said as she composed the e-mail she was sending Raika, “Besides, he needs a break anyway. Combit, take Meg to Raika’s homepage. He should be off around now,” Lyne said once her e-mail was ready to go.

“Lan, can I go with them?” Mega said in an eager tone as Combit was bringing up the IP address for Raika’s homepage.

“Sure why not? You haven’t seen Searchman in a while. Go ahead.” Mega then followed Meg and Combit through the Net Portal.
___________________
~Raika’s HP~

“Net Portal open on homepage. Unknown origin Raika; should I investigate?” Searchman said as he noticed the Net Portal appear.

“Of course investigate it. It could be a virus. If it’s an e-mail, send a reply that I’m busy at work,” Raika said, continuing to play his rare game, Boktai, on his Game Boy QS.

“Yes Raika!” Searchman said as he got into a hidden sniper position. He watched through his scope as the first of his three guests came through the portal.

“Searchy!! Searchy!! Where are you?” a little glowing orb called out as it searched around for him. Searchman completely ignored the byte as two navis entered his homepage shortly after. Looking through his scope again he recognized one of them as his good friend Megaman, but he was uncertain about the second one.

“I found you!” the glowing orb said as it rubbed up against his cheek, spooking him. “*sigh* Searchy.”

Wait I recognize that voice, he thought, disarming his gun. He turned his head to look at the glowing orb. “Combit, is that you!?”

“Yes,” Combit nodded and then rubbed his cheek again.

Searchman was a little shocked to see Combit like this. “What happened to you? You’ve *gulp* lost a lot of your mass. Did you go on a diet?”

An angry mark appeared on Combit’s face. She then rammed herself into the back of Searchman’s helmet, and continued to do it.

“Oww!… Hey!…. Stop! I’m sorry!……. Oww!”

Meg and Mega noticed Combit attacking someone up high on a platform and went up to see what was going on. Once they got there, they noticed that Combit was attacking a larger navi and had him at her mercy.

“Stop!... Please!.... I apologize Combit!…. Sorry!… Oww!”

Combit then stopped, glaring at Searchman, “That wasn’t very nice. Anyway, we brought you an e-mail from Lyne for Raika. Meg, give Searchman the e-mail.” Meg complied and handed Searchman the e-mail.

Whoa!! Search thought as he took the e-mail from Meg, almost dropping it out of the initial shock of feeling Lyne’s Net Power emitting from the purple navi. “Raika, you might want to read this one.”

“Why?” Raika asked distractedly, still playing his game.

“It’s from Lyne.”

Raika dropped his Game Boy QS and looked at his screen. “Let me see it.”

Searchman opened the e-mail so Raika could read it.

__E-mail reads__

Hey Raika! Wassup? I know it’s been a while between e-mails. I was wondering if you would like to see a concert over here in Japan on the 18th of August. I know you have enough leave to take a vacation. You have about 60 days, give or take two days difference. Please, please, please, come!

Signed,
Lyne Hikari

__End E-mail__

How does she know I have that much leave… Wait a sec! Raika thought as he searched through all of the old e-mails he sent. “Searchman!!!!! Why did you send Lyne a copy of my Leave Statement?” Raika shouted.

Searchman gulped, “You guys better go before Raika blows a fuse. Nice meeting you Meg. Good to see you again Megaman. Stop by anytime.”

“OK, let’s go Meg, Combit,” Mega said as he led the way back to the Net Portal. After they left, another e-mail came for Raika. Search read it while Raika was ranting at him.

“Why aren’t you listening to me? That info is classified.”

“Sorry Raika, but you got an important e-mail from your commander. Plus, he sent an approved leave form,” Search answered with a semi smile on his face.

“Let me see it,” Search opened up the important message for Raika to read.

__E-mail reads__

Lt. Raika,
For your eyes only. Sister Program has been activated. You are on leave for 30 days, starting the 10th of August. Due to request of Mr. Famous of IPC Labs/ NetSavior Commander.

PS: Enjoy the concert. =)

Signed,
Colonel Kazuki
Commander, Sharo Space Station

__End E-mail__

“Damn I hate e-mail monitoring,” Raika said as he printed out the leave form and read it. He looked up from it, shocked. “Did you see where I’m staying Searchman? Why are we staying at the Hikari’s?”

Searchman shrugged his shoulders, "Budget problems perhaps." Raika sighed as he placed the approved leave sheet down. He then opened an old video file and watched it with sad remorse in his eyes.
________________________
Next Episode Preview

~Author’s house~

Editor: Nine years pass sleepily in ACDC town and Lyne is now 25. The Linkin Park concert is coming around soon and-
Author: What are you talking about?
Editor: The next episode of course. So, there is great excitement-
Author: Only a month passes Hon.
Lyne: And I’m only 16!
Raika: That sounded like the beginning of the second or third chapter of Fellowship of the Ring.
Lyne: Yay! You’re here! But you’re early, aren’t you?
Author: Uh, we had a little budget problem. The Sharo set’s next door.
Editor: *Grumpily.* OK, fine. A boring old month passes and the kids are going to that concert… Really, mine was more interesting.
Author: *Glares. Editor backs down.* So, we agree that a month passes?
Editor: *Quietly.* Yes.
Lyne: *Looking at the Sharo set* Achoo! It’s dusty in here. And cold too. *Shuts the door.*
Raika: Yeah, why wasn’t there any heat in there? I didn’t have any thermals to wear.
Editor: Well, Sharo’s a cold country and we wanted to be authentic as possible, so we used an old refrigerated room for that set.
Lyne: That wasn’t very nice! ‘Choo!
Author: I didn’t tell you to use a refrigerator. Why’d you do that?
Editor: Heey, I thought it was imaginative. *Gets put in headlock by Raika.*
Lyne: *Shakes head in exasperation.* Next time on Lan and Lyne, Episode 6: Night Before the Concert. A-ch… choo!
Author: Are you sure you’re not getting sick?
Lyne: I’m fine. Ah… really, I… Ah, ah… OK. CHOOO!!! *Puts hands to head.* Ohhhh, I don’t feel so good.
Author: Let’s get you something hot to drink. *Leads Lyne off.* Raika, why don’t you let the Editor spend some time in the Sharo set?
Editor: *Gets shut into the converted refrigerator. Hugs himself and shivers.* Oooo, that’s cold.
_________________
"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

[Zodiac]

Ah, you posted earlier today. I guess you'll post about as early tomorrow. This page sure is getting long now, isn't it. Five big chapters on one page. I think it used to be chapters 1 through 12 in the original format.
_________________
Church: Are you following any of this?
Caboose: I think so. That guy Tex is a robot, and you're his boyfriend. So that makes you... a gay robot.
Church: ... That's right... I'm a gay robot.

Red Vs. Blue

[sandman exe]

Lol they do seem long to be honest. Anyway It is a lot better now since there is extra details and lines. Very cool guys thanks for reposting these.
_________________

main site http://www.megamanexenetwork.cjb.net/indexright.html

[Megawoman.EXE]

Episode 6: Night before the Concert

~17th Aug, 200X~ In the Evening~

More than a month passed since the Mini Tourney held at ACDC School. Lyne was sitting at her computer terminal, upstairs in her room next to a box of tissues. She was working on a really difficult program she had just acquired. Meg entered Lyne’s homepage to check on her.

“Lyne, what are you doing up here? You have company downstairs,” Meg asked, concerned. Lyne had been upstairs all day.

Lyne continued typing a little bit more, stopped, and looked at Meg, who was on her PET screen, “What do you think I’m doing?” Lyne asked back in a semi-angry tone.

“Um… Working on that chip program you copied from Lan’s chip this morning,” Meg said, rubbing the back of her helmet, a little embarrassed that she answered her own question.

“If you knew, why ask?” Lyne said, returning to her typing.

“I’m sorry, Lyne. I’ve been doing that a lot lately,” Meg said as she shuffled around a little. “Do you need help with it? I can help if you want me to.”

“Hum… Maybe. Just a sec. ACHOO!!” Lyne sneezed while trying to read the last part of her program.

“Do you still have that cold? You’ve had it for a week,” Meg said in a concerned tone.

“*Sniffle* Yeah. How was I supposed to know Mayl’s dog was a virus? That’s not fair: disguising viruses as kawaii little dogs.”

“I was fine when I meet Rush. It’s pretty neat how he can jump between the digital and real world,” Meg said cheerfully.

“You have an antivirus program installed. Of course you’d be fine. GUH, ahh… ah, aha… This code at the end of this program is irritating me,” Lyne said in an angered tone, holding a tissue over her face.

Meg really wanted to help her NetOp, so she asked, “What’s the code? Maybe I can decipher it.”

Lyne sighed as she looked back at her computer screen, “OK, here it goes. CTG, ATG, GGG, CCT, ….”

“Hum… OH! I know! Lyne, don’t you remember genetics? Those are DNA codes. My basic programming,” Meg said, proud that she actually knew what the code was.

“Oh! Right! How can I be so stupid? This must be Lan’s DNA code, so I can’t use this program unless….” Lyne looked at Meg slyly, “I copy your DNA programming.”

“I don’t like the way you’re looking at me Lyne. It’s creepy,” Meg said as she shuddered in response to Lyne’s expression.

Lyne straightened herself in her chair, crossed her arms in front of her PET, and got level with Meg, “Hey, think of it this way. If Lan and Mega can Cross Fuse, so can we, but only if I copy your DNA programming for this program.”

“Really!? But I thought your father said you can’t have a Syncro Chip.”

“This isn’t a chip. It’s a program. When I’m done with it, I’ll download it into your PET. And don’t tell anyone. Promise?”

“OK, I promise. Wait! How can my DNA program help? I don’t look like you Lyne. My hair and eyes are different from yours.”

“That shouldn’t matter. Dad said he used my DNA to program you.”

“That’s correct. Dr. Hikari said that,” Meg nodded in agreement.

“Then copying your DNA program would be like a copy of my DNA. Then we can use this program.”

“Oh! I see. OK I’m ready when you are,” Meg said as she stood ready for Lyne’s copy/scan of her programming. Lyne sat up again.

“Scanning for DNA Program……………..Found it! Copying…………Done…You can go Meg. I’ll be down in a moment,” Lyne said as she pasted Meg’s DNA Programming over Lan’s DNA code. “Wait! Did you find any more of Combit’s fragmented data?”

“I only found one frag. They’re getting harder and harder to find. Do you want it?”

“Yes, Meg. Then you can go have some fun,” Lyne said as she downloaded the frag from her PET. After Lyne was done, Meg left her PET and went to where the other navis were hanging out on the Hikari Home Network. When she arrived, Mega and Flash were fighting again.

“When did this start?” Meg asked Searchman and Sand, who had done nothing to break it up. The two navis, instead, just watched, to Meg’s annoyance.

“Right after you left. I think Mega started it this time. Flash thought he made fun of Jackie again,” Searchman said as he got up out of his seat and flexed a little. Meg was expecting more, but Search simply settled himself down to watch some more.

“Why do they always have to fight? Don’t they realize it’s just stupid to fight over silly things like that?” Meg said as she fumed with anger, grabbing a bag off of Sandman’s side, and marched up towards her brother and Flash.

“Hey! Give me my Sleeping Sand back! That was difficult to program,” Sand said as he got up and tried to take back his sandbag.

Searchman stood up, stopped him, and said, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. You don’t want to experience a Lyne tantrum.”

“Lyne tantrum!? But Meg’s not Lyne, Searchman,” Sand said, looking at Searchman, confused.

“Trust me. If you stopped her right now, you would have been knocked out.”

“How do you know it’s a Lyne tantrum? It could be a Meg tantrum.” Sandman looked at Searchman crossly.

“If you’ve known Lyne’s navis as long as I have, you’d know the difference. I was going out with Combit…. Oww…. Still going out with Combit,” Searchman said, rubbing the back of his helmet in pain. Combit had a big smile on her glowing face. Searchman bent down and whispered into Sand’s ear, “See what I mean?”

Sandman nodded in agreement. They then heard a loud smack sound and turned to see that both Mega and Flash had been knocked to the ground by Meg, who was still holding onto Sand’s bag of sleeping sand. Both Sand and Searchman winced at the sight.

“Seriously you two!” Meg shouted at them, “Every single time you get together, you find some reason to fight! This is getting ridiculous! Why can’t you two get along? Lan and Jackie don’t fight every time they meet.” Mega and Flash sat up, holding the respective sides of their faces which Meg had had smacked with the Bag, and looked at her in shock. “You guy’s are stupid,” Meg said, shaking her head as she stormed off away from them, heading back towards Sand and Searchman, still holding onto Sand’s bag.

“I’m sorry,” Mega apologized, “I didn’t realize you liked Jackie that much.” Mega said as he rubbed his cheek in pain.

“You best remember that Blue Boy,” Flash warned Mega, then rubbed his cheek too, “Man, your Sis packs quite a wallop outside of NetBattle too,” he said as he got up. The electric navi helped Mega up and then they walked over toward the rest of the navis.

Meg returned Sand his bag as she sat down, “I needed something blunt this time to get their attention.”

Sand took back his bag of sand and placed it back on his side, “At least you didn’t use it. That sand is special. It came from that virtual beach we visited last week.”

Meg blushed out of embarrassment, realizing what she had done. “I’m sorry, Sand. I didn’t know.” Meg got up and bowed at him, begging for forgiveness.

“It’s alright.” Sand waved his hands out in front of him, “In fact we were talking about the beach before the fight broke out,” Sand said as Mega and Flash joined them.

“I wonder when we’re going to the beach again? That was a lot of fun,” Meg said cheerfully as she sat back down.

“Jackie in a swimsuit!!” Flash thought out loud.

“Not this again,” Mega said as he sat down beside Meg.

Flashes eyes went all starry, “Her long black hair with platinum streaks, emerald green eyes, and that royal blue and gold two piece. OOoooooo Hehe,” Flash said as his fingers twisted at his fantasy.

“I think Megaman’s right. That’s wrong,” Searchman said in disgust.

“I can show my gratitude towards my NetOp however I please. Can’t I dream?”

“Whatever, but dream to yourself.”

“Why don’t we change the subject?” Mega said, getting the other navis’ attention, “Why did Lyne hit your PET when you and Raika arrived last week,” Mega asked Searchman. This actually had everyone curious to find out what Searchman had to say about that.

Searchman cleared his throat, “You remember when we first met, Raika punched Lan?” Mega nodded in remembrance, “Lyne found out about it. She made sure that I was synchronized so Raika could feel the blow she dealt to me.”

“Oh. I see. Hey! How did Lyne know you two were synchronized?” Mega asked, surprised Lyne would know something like that.

“Lyne’s power is too vast to understand completely. What I’ve seen of it is nothing compared to its full potential,” Searchman said as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Is she really that powerful?” Meg asked, “I don’t understand. She feel’s normal, like all of the other NetOps.”

“That’s unusual. Combit was her navi before you, and she could feel it,” Searchman said, puzzled at what Meg had said. Combit nodded in agreement, “Your programming must not be able to detect it. You don’t even feel strange when she holds your PET?” Meg shook her head from side to side in response. That’s really unusual indeed. I’m going to have to a little chat with Famous later about this, Searchman thought to himself, making a note for later. “Speaking of Lyne, why hasn’t she come downstairs yet?” Searchman asked Meg.

“She’s putting Combit’s programming back together, plus she’s not feeling well. I didn’t think people could catch computer viruses. She says she’s been sick ever since she petted Rush last week.”

“Lyne’s sick!” Searchman said in shock. He then regained his composure, “Maybe Dr. Hikari should look into it. Lyne has always had problems with computer viruses.” He shrugged his shoulders again, “I don’t understand that either.”

“Why would Dr. Hikari have to look at her? Wouldn’t she need to go to a human hospital doctor?” Meg asked, confused and concerned.

“Not for what you said she caught. She caught a digital virus, giving her a digital cold. No normal human doctor can help with that.”

“Oh,” Meg said, somewhat understanding what Searchman had said.

All of the other navis looked at him, confused. “Never mind. She’ll be fine. Lyne’s immune system is strong. Besides, if I explained any more, you’d all overload,” Searchman said, crossing his arms.

“Maybe you’re right,” Meg said as she looked at the others, noticing their confusion. She decided to change the subject. “We had fun over the past month together, and recently, this week with Searchman. We went to kendo lessons in the middle of the week. I thought they were cool. I especially liked free style,” Meg said as she mimicked a few kendo moves while still sitting on the ground.

“She’s right; that was a lot of fun. But watching Lyne do combat against Mr. Famous was really cool, and Chaud,” Mega giggled, “Chaud is an excellent swordsman and all, but when Lyne drew their live swords match with him, he looked like he could blow a circuit.”

“You could say that again. Skunk Head Punk looked like Protoman when he gets pissed off major,” Flashman agreed with what Mega said.

They know Protoman, Meg thought and started to pay more attention to the conversation.

“Funny how those two look the same, except for the hair. Too bad Bass captured him and made him evil again,” Mega said, shrugging his shoulders.

He can’t be evil! He helped me. I don’t understand, Meg thought, in shock at what she’d just heard.

“From what Chaud told me, Bass used a dark chip on him when they last fought, two months ago,” Searchman said as he got into a comfortable sitting position again, “Seriously, Dr. Hikari needs to program a lounge for us to sit comfortably.”

“Easy fix,” Meg said as she accessed Lyne’s program files. “Lounge Setting Program activate!” They were all now sitting in comfortable chairs.

“Thanks Meg,” Searchman said in a tone of gratitude and relief. “Where were we? Oh yeah! Chaud told me that Bass used a Dark Chip on Protoman.”

“That’s the second time that’s happened to him, but he didn’t change into Protoman DS. I thought that was rather odd, but he sure acts like Proto DS,” Mega said, a little puzzled.

“Maybe his GS is still intact,” Flash said in semi-serious tone.

“GS! Nah, couldn’t be. He attacked Lyne on her birthday, and it looked like he was enjoying it. Not doing it against his will. I should know, I was there.”

Meg then stood up, “He can’t be evil. He helped me when I got lost the first time we went to NetCity on Lyne’s birthday.” She looked around at the shocked navis’ faces, “You just don’t understand,” Meg cried as she ran away from the group.

Mega got up and was about to follow her when Searchman stopped him by grabbing his wrist. “Let me go! She’s hurt. I need to explain what happened. Uhh…Let go!” Mega said as he struggled against Searchman’s grip.

“Nobody likes their emotions played with Megaman. I think we explained enough. Besides, she let us know something,” Searchman said as he let go of Mega’s wrist.

“What?” the other navis asked in unison as Mega wrung his wrist.

“Protoman was always a softy whenever it came to damsels in distress. I think she actually met his GS that day or his DS under the influence of his GS.”

“Protoman’s DS on its own wouldn’t succumb to such silly things, but with his GS intact it might. Hum…. Maybe Cammo is right Blue Boy. There might still be hope for your friend. We just have to find an opportune time to separate him from Bass,” Flash said, agreeing with Searchman.

Mega nodded as he looked across the lounge, over at Meg, who was still crying. Combit was trying to comfort her, but it didn’t seem to be working. Searchman was also watching her. He then realized something about Meg as he scanned over her appearance and her system with his heads up display.

Why didn’t I detect this before? he thought with a surprised look on his face. He stood up and opened a NetPortal.

“Hey Search! Where are you going?” Mega asked as Searchman was about to enter the portal

“Yeah,” Flash said as he crossed his arms over his chest, “What’s going on Cammo?” Sandman just sat there, confused as to the confrontation between the other three navis now. He then got up and walked over to Meg to check up on her.

“I’ve got to go see someone. It’s really urgent I talk with him. I’ll see you guys later,” Searchman said as he entered the portal and disappeared. The NetPortal then closed.

“Cammo looked really bothered. I really wonder if he’s lying to us,” Flash said, irritated that he didn’t get a straight answer.

“You could say that again. But I don’t think he’s lying. I wonder if Raika will be pissed if he found out Search left the HHN without orders or permission. 5..4..” Mega started to count.

“Don’t worry about Cammo. He can handle whatever kind of punishment Beret can dish out”

“3..”

“Hey what’s the counting for?” Flash asked, puzzled.

“2..1..”

“SEARCHMAN!!!” Raika shouted, “Damn him! Where did he go Megaman?”

“Umm… He said he had to talk to someone urgently. Don’t know who or why,” Mega flinched as he answered the angry Sharo Officer.

Raika looked at his PET and recognized the IP address on the screen. What did he find out? I’ll wait for him to return to brief me. It must be really important for him to talk to Mr. Famous so urgently, Raika thought as he calmed down. He then left the living room and headed to the guest room to await Searchman’s return.

Flash was irritated by Raika’s action. Silly military people, and navis. Pussy-footing around the truth. Only their actions say anything. He then looked over towards where Sand and Meg were sitting. “She’s calmed down Blue Boy. That um.. Sand seems to know how to calm her down. I wonder how he does it.”

“Don’t know. Let’s go ask,” Mega said as he started to walk over towards Sand and Meg.

Flash followed right behind him. As they got closer, they noticed a small dancing figure made out of sand in the palm of Sand’s hand, and Meg had her full attention on it.

“Amazing isn’t it?” Combit asked them as she floated over towards Mega and Flash, “Usually that only works on Lyne.”

“Really? Maybe Lyne is synchronized with Meg right now,” Mega said, considering that possibility.

“Maybe, but Lyne is asleep right now at her computer terminal. I just checked up on her. I told Dr. Hikari, and he’s tucking her into bed,” Combit said in reply to Mega’s statement. As Combit was doing so, Meg started to flutter her eyes and fall asleep as well. Mega noticed this and caught her quickly before she hit the cyber floor.

Their bond is getting stronger. I have a feeling it’ll happen soon. I hope not too soon. Searchy must have just figured it out. I hope you find some answers Searchy. I really do, Combit thought to herself as she watched Mega take Meg to her part of the HHN, while Sand and Flash said their goodbyes and logged out, leaving with Tony and Jackie.

Lan also left the living room, going upstairs to his room. On his way there, he watched his father pick Lyne up from her computer chair.

“Can you take her covers off the bed for me Lan. Please, your sister is really heavy,” Lan’s father said, grunting as he held Lyne in his arms.

Lan did what his father asked of him and watched him tuck his sister in. Lan then went to his own bedroom, got into his bed clothes, got into bed, and fell asleep. Mega came back to his PET after he put Meg back into hers, set the PET’s alarm for about 9:00 a.m., and went into sleep mode.
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~Famous’s Home Page~

“NSN ID, and NS ID,” a navi in kendo gear and carrying a glowing kendo stick asked.

“NSN ID Searchman. NS ID Lt. Raika of the Sharo Air Force assigned to Sharo Space Station.”

“Check. Password,” the navi answered.

“Sister Program,” Searchman said, narrowing his eyes into a serious look.

The navi paused for a moment and then said in protest, “Hey! That’s not the password.”

He held the kendo stick out in front of him defensively, not letting Searchman onto the private homepage.

“Kendoman, there’ll be no need for formalities,” Famous interjected from his computer terminal, “He obviously has a question about the sister program. Go ahead and ask your question Searchman.”

“How much of the sister program has been activated?” Searchman asked in a serious tone.

Famous sat up in his chair, “OOooo straight to the point. Never could get anything past you. Why do you ask?”

“Meg is acting just like Lyne. Her mood swings, behavior, and actions. And her pranks too,” Searchman said angrily as he activated his buster. There was a white bow tied to it. Famous chuckled at the sight. Famous then activated a program that removed the bow from Searchman’s buster. “Thank you. As I was saying, Meg’s mood swings, behavior, actions, and pranks are becoming more like Lyne’s every day. Plus I discovered what her core programming is. How could you? Lyne isn’t ready and you know this,” Searchman said as he pointed angrily at Famous.

Famous nodded in agreement, “That’s why Raika and you are here. To prevent the sister program from becoming whole. If she Cross Fused, there would be nothing I could do for her. You remember what happened last time. She destroyed quite a lot. The Old NetCity Network, the beginnings of World 3, Nebula, Zodiac, and probably other things we haven’t found out about yet.”

“Yes. I remember,” Searchman nodded in return, “You and your team were almost unable to separate Lyne’s mind from her NaviFrame,” Searchman said as he remembered the first time Lyne had lost control. “Wait a sec. She didn’t Cross Fuse. She Mind Jumped back then.”

“What I’m trying to say is we can’t afford for her to Cross Fuse right now. Besides, I was forced to do it by Yuu. I didn’t want to finish the sister program once I calculated the risks towards Lyne.”

An angry mark appeared on Searchman’s head, “Did you even try to talk him out of it?”

“Yes, but does Yuu ever listen to me?” Searchman shook his head, “That’s right he doesn’t. He’s starting to become as stubborn as his father was. I wonder if he even cares about what will happen to Lyne.”

“I think he still cares. She’s his daughter after all. That’s not the only thing I came over here to talk to you about. Lyne is sick.”

Famous leaned forward in his chair placing his elbows on the counter of his desk, crossing his hands, and placing his chin to rest on top of them, paying more attention to what Searchman had to say. “How long has she been sick? Why didn’t Yuu bring her over here right away?” Famous asked in an excited, angry tone.

“Meg told me that Lyne had been sick for about a week. She also said that Lyne believes she caught something from Rush, Mayl’s virus dog. Maybe Lyne didn’t tell Dr. Hikari either. You can never really tell. She can hide symptoms really well.”

“I’ll send an e-mail to Yuu to have Lyne brought in for an exam early in the morning tomorrow. This is too important to be ignored.” Searchman got ready to turn and leave, satisfied that he got some answers.

“Searchman,” Famous said as Kendoman stood in his path, “I have a favor to ask of you.”

Searchman turned to face Famous again, “Yes, what is it?” Searchman said with just a hint of fear in his voice, afraid he might already know what it is.

“Keep Lyne away from Bass. The last thing we need is having him involved. They’ll both be at risk.”

Thought so, “Understood. I’ll try to the best of my ability,” Searchman said as he left, going back to his PET through the NetPortal he’d created earlier.

I hope you can. The fate of the net is in yours and Raika’s hands Searchman, and it’s very fragile. Famous thought as he composed the e-mail he was sending to Yuu. After that he sent it off and left his terminal to get some rest for the next day.
_______________________

Damn Pharaohman, Searchman thought angrily as he flew down the data stream back to his PET, He’s the one who started this whole mess. Dr. Hikari isn’t helping either. I’ve always felt sorry for what Lyne had to go through. Now, I’m angry at the parties responsible for her net power. Only two of the systems she destroyed came back online, but were quickly taken care of. Zodiac has yet to rear its ugly head. For both Lyne and Bass’s sake, I hope they never come back online. Searchman shook his head. Why even feel sorry for Bass? He’s rotten to the core. He’s even attacked Lyne before. Why did Famous ask me to keep Lyne away from him anyway? I’m no match for him. He could have picked a more capable navi, like Megaman. He arrived back inside his PET as he finished his thoughts. He then vented his anger by knocking files and other programs around his PET.

“Searchman what’s wrong?” Raika asked, concerned, “Report.”

Searchman regained his composure at the command of his NetOp. He then explained what he had discussed with Mr. Famous, and his feeling towards their new assignment. Silence followed after he finished. Raika nodded in understanding the task they both had been assigned to. He even understood the risks involved. Raika got into his luggage, pulled out his piece, and started to clean and inspect it to make sure it was in working order.

“I was wondering how you had managed to hide that from Lyne and customs. You know she can usually figure out that you have it.”

“Customs was easy. I have a military ID and my orders. But for Lyne, never under estimate the power of dirty underwear.” Searchman slapped his forehead with a disgusted scowl on his face.

“Everything is in order. I’m going to bed. You have the first watch,” Raika said as he put his piece away and got into his PJ’s.

“Yes, Sir,” Searchman said as he saluted his NetOp and then started his rounds on the HHN.
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Next Episode Preview

~Hikari Home Page~

Searchman: Hut, two, three, four. Hut, two three, four. Makin’ the rounds. Lookin’ for bad guys.
Combit: You look like a goof, marching around like that.
Searchman: *Looking deflated.* That’s not nice to say. And I thought you liked me.
Combit: *Rubbing up against him.* Awww, I wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings, but really, I don’t think marching was programmed into you.
Searchman: Well, no it wasn’t. I’m programmed as a sniper, so it’s more natural for me to keep still.
Combit: Which would explain why you just sit there and watch when your friends are fighting.
Searchman: Hey, I said, “Go Megaman,” when they started. I don’t just watch.
Combit: So, why aren’t you in sleep mode anyway?
Searchman: I’ve been assigned to protect this place from intruders during the night.
Combit: Sounds boring. Hey! I’ve got an idea! *Floats around behind Searchman.*
Searchman: Hmm? What are you, Gyahaah, Ahahhah. Stop, hah, st-stop that!
Combit: *Blowing razzberries on Searchman’s ribs.* BBRRRRAAAPP!! What’s wrong Searchy? BRRRPPPPP!! Isn’t this more fun than marching?
Searchman: No! hah, *wheeze* yes, what-whatever you want. Hah, haha. Please just stop. I *gasp* can’t breathe.
Voice in the Shadows: Unbelievable. Why did I have to see this. You go sneaking around at night, and this happens. Oh well, we’ll leave them alone. Next time on Lan and Lyne, Episode 7: Examination. Heh, heh, I should’ve brought a camera.
Combit: Say, ‘Please Honey stop,’ BBBBBPBBPPPPP!
Searchman: No way! Hahhah, I- I refuse, *cough, cough* I’m dying here, hah. OK, p- Hah, please Honey stop.
Combit: Oohhh Searchy!! You called me Honeeeey! Mmmmwah!
Searchman: *Lying on the ground, catching his breath. Has glowing kiss-mark on his cheek.* Somebody save me *wheeze* please.
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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

[sandman exe]

Lol want to know somthing funny. I had no clue who bass was when I red the first 7 chapters because I was bearly getting back into megaman so like I forgot. Lol bass can be a real mess some times.
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main site http://www.megamanexenetwork.cjb.net/indexright.html

[Zodiac]

Weird. Actually, I hadn't been to involved in Megaman stuff for a while, but I got Megaman 8 and Megaman and Bass before he appeared in NT Warrior. So, you actually got through seven chapters before you learned about Bass? It's hard to imagine.
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Church: Are you following any of this?
Caboose: I think so. That guy Tex is a robot, and you're his boyfriend. So that makes you... a gay robot.
Church: ... That's right... I'm a gay robot.

Red Vs. Blue