Chapter Text
*bzzt*
*bzzzzzzzt*
= CLASSIFIED NETWORK ID 726 IS ONLINE. PLEASE HOLD =
= AFFIRMING NETWORK ACCESS ID AS MEGAMAN.EXE. INPUT HAS BEEN ENABLED =
[ID: The footage flickers on, displaying a blue Navi of short stature standing on a bright homepage. The Navi has a blue-and-yellow helmet with cyan crescents on the sides, and a red emblem on his chest and earpieces. He gives an awkward wave to the camera, which is slightly tilted to the side.]
Um… hi! Is this thing on?
[Megaman reaches for the camera and straightens it out.]
Right. Hi! My name is Megaman. Uh, your operator asked me to record this to get you up to speed. She thought I’d do a better job, and there’s a lot to go through, so… um, sorry in advance if this is a little overwhelming! You can pause the video if you need to, at least.
[He blinks and straightens himself out, like he’s shifting himself into ‘lecture mode’.]
So! The current year is 20XX… uh, you probably knew that. A lot of societal functions are run by a Net framework. Most people have a PET and a respective NetNavi to help them with everyday tasks and hobbies. For example, me and… well, my Lan… we make an unstoppable NetBattling team!
About that “my” thing, though… I’m actually from a different world than your operator is. As in, an alternate dimension. So, for you, things aren’t quite the same.
Basically, 10 years ago in your world, this fungal virus named Autuvera formed from a bunch of bugs and destroyed the Net. And… it hasn’t really recovered since, to the point where not everyone has a real Navi anymore. My Net had something similar happen… it was called the Alpha Revolt, but it was a long time ago, before the Net was widely used.
[Megaman pauses for a moment, grabbing his arm nervously before regaining his composure.]
But… um, that’s besides the point. The point is, the Net isn’t in great shape where you are. It’s still alive, but not… as alive as it used to be, or in my world. Your operator didn’t even have… well, wasn’t even allowed to have a Navi until I came into the picture. And… that’s kind of a long story, so I’ll try to summarize as best as I can.
A couple weeks ago, a portal opened in our world’s Net, and I was sent to investigate. I fought this Navi named Sapronosis and won… barely. Next thing I know, I wake up and meet… well, your operator. The Lan Hikari of your world. She’s pretty different than the one I know, but, uh, I don’t want to explain her for her when… well, you know…
Anyways, Lan had to learn how to NetBattle with me on the fly to stop a virus attack, and from there, we were caught up in the plot of a cult named Kituvest. They, and some associates who weren’t part of the group, were apparently planning to break the barrier surrounding the Eternal Net - the dead part of your Net where Autuvera’s been sealed. That’s where Sapronosis was sealed, because it was infected with Autuvera… but then it turned out that it escaped anyways, and it attacked us a couple of times. Anyways, some of Kituvest’s associates were working for their own ends, but Kituvest was mainly after a bunch of powerful programs lingering on the Net to use for… something. We didn’t know for a while.
[The sadness in his expression deepens ever so slightly.]
There was also this contractor for the Officials… oh, the Officials are sort of like a crime-fighting organization, by the way… uh, they were named Carme, and they had four different Navis named the Void Guardians - Star, Comet, Halo and Nova. They were a huge jerk, and wanted us out of the way so they could fight Kituvest themselves… for some pretty selfish reasons, it turned out.
Lan and I kept running into them and throwing wrenches into their plans, and it was hard on her emotionally at first. She had kind of shut herself away from the world, so I was pulling her out of her shell, in a way… and soon, she made a couple of friends who expedited that. There’s Triese, this girl who really likes Net history and battling - oh, and she has a Navi named Lurerre. And Iris, too, who’s… the daughter of Dr. Wily - he’s a pretty well-known scientific mind, and he has some employees that helped us out as well. Oh, and there was also Chaud, one of my friends from my world. He and Protoman helped out, too, by basically piloting a robot so he could exist there. Even longer story.
Once we started beating Kituvest back, Carme tried to sabotage us by outing us to Lan’s mom and then baiting us into an awful trap that inadvertently drugged both of us. But right around that same time, we learned from a Navi named Onopordum that another one of Carme’s experiments accidentally destroyed part of the Undernet… so in reality, they were just trying to cover up for their past mistakes.
[Megaman’s expression sags a bit as he sighs. He’s obviously self-conscious about how long this summary is taking.]
And then it turned out that Rot, the leader of Kituvest, was one of the only survivors from the old Undernet… and that a mastermind was manipulating him from the shadows, using his hate and misery against him. That mastermind was none other than Yuichiro Hikari, Lan’s dad… he had left the family a long time ago after his project to convert Lan’s brother, Hub, into a Navi to save him from this disease named HBD failed. In my world, he succeeded… so, um, I’m also Hub Hikari. But I shouldn’t get sidetracked.
So, Yuichiro was manipulating Kituvest the whole time with the help of his Navi, Timeman - who was the one who created the portal in the first place. He kidnapped both Rot and Sapronosis to feed them to this horrible program that he had stored in his hideout on Tartarus Island. We all banded together and raided the island, defeating Kituvest’s associates as we went. They stowed away with Carme, who also located the island- and once Lan and I encountered them, we took them out once and for all, too.
Lan finally got to fight back against her father, and Protoman, Lurerre and I beat Timeman, who under his hood looked just like me. But Timeman was just buying… well, time, for Yuichiro to activate his ultimate program, the Destroying Angel. It had enough sheer power and defense to siphon Sapronosis’ life force and make it spread Autuvera - but because our two Nets functioned slightly differently, Autuvera died out when it closed in on me. We beat the Angel, which caused Timeman’s portal network to falter… so I had to say goodbye to Lan and return home.
[He takes a huge breath, raising his arms and perking up as best as he can.]
That brings us to now. We have the portal network working again, but we’re keeping it secret and locked down just in case. That’s why I can message you. But, um, well…
Lan did tell me that Dr. Wily would work on a Navi just for her, and… well, that’s you. I’m really excited to meet you! Lan’s a really strong and kind person, so I’m sure you’ll get along with her.
[Megaman awkwardly rubs the back of his neck as he slowly runs out of words to say.]
Um, I hope this spiel wasn’t too daunting, though! I know it’s a lot to frontload you with, but it was probably for the best. If you have any questions, you can just message me, or ask Lan! Neither of us will bite! I think!
So, I hope this summary was helpful. All I can really say now, is… uh, good luck, Rock!
[He reaches for the camera, and the footage cuts to black. End transmission.]
The sun sets on an empty heart as a new arrival burrows its way into a certain Lan Hikari’s life. The weeks turn to months, and slowly, those wounds across the body and the memories they hold begin to heal.
== Mega Man Battle Network: Cross Shadows ==
Episode I:
Perilous International Espionage!
Sunrays tried their best to break through the shuttered window on a cool December morning. A light snowfall drifting past the window and sticking to the ground was contrasted by an obnoxious alarm that screeched through the entire room, and was promptly silenced by an exhausted button press from an arm underneath a pile of sheets.
The girl’s room was a bit small, and wasn’t lit very well, but it was kept relatively clean. A desk situated by the window was where most of the clutter was, with a pen and some paper scraps scattered underneath it while the desk itself was covered in notebooks, a laptop, two pictures, and the girl’s PET, adorned with a generic pink casing.
Said PET flickered on, its occupant aggravated by such a display against the alarm. “Kid, c’mon,” called a mildly aggravated feminine voice from the bright screen. “Thought you were supposed to be responsible about this. Time to get up.”
The lump underneath the sheets shifted, and a few seconds later, a very exhausted-looking Lan Hikari surfaced from her cocoon. “It’s the last day before break,” she complained wearily, her messy hair drooping over her eyes.
“That ain’t an excuse. You shouldn’t flub everything right at the end,” the Navi lectured.
This claim was enough to elicit a groan from Lan, and finally, with the threat of the alarm ringing again in two minutes encroaching, she decided to crawl out of bed. She was a total mess, her hair ragged and her eyes drooping as she yawned and stretched her muscles. Lan was one with a fairly quick morning routine - so it didn’t take long for her to get out of her white floral pajamas, do the best job reigning her hair in that she cared to do, and prepared to leave for school.
And inside her PET, situated on her homepage, awaited her Navi, already a bit impatient from the delays. Lan’s homepage had received some minor updates in the three-month interim; the generic dull grey was swapped out for a darker, sleeker shade, with her small handful of links glowing at the rims. The skybox was now pure black, lined with a grid pattern of spinning white hearts. Finally, a training dummy program had been installed, meaning that there was, in fact, a notable physical feature in the homepage now.
The Navi stood and waited, crossing her arms as Lan groggily rushed through her routine. This Navi, was of course, a gift from Dr. Wily, a man self-described as a “genius”, who her operator had gotten to know via one of her friends. It was rare for a Navi to be a “gift”, given how much work it took to customize one, but most figures in Lan’s life recognized a Navi as a necessity, given everything that had happened.
She’s an outcast, you see. She needs all the strength she can get.
This Navi was a humanoid Navi not too dissimilar to Megaman - said frames were rather flexible, and it’s what Lan had become used to in her brief time as an Operator. She wore a red jacket adorned with light purple lines and a row of orange spikes on the bottom over her black bodysuit. Her red boots were outfitted with pairs of spikes, both on the collars and on her heels. Her black-and-red helmet, too, was dotted with spikes, positioned almost like horns.
Two pigtails of thick orange hair jutted out of said helmet - they, too, were styled in a jagged way. Around her wrists were two circular sawblades, doubling both as cuffs and as her primary weapon. And embedded on her earpieces and chest was a yellow emblem of an upside-down broken heart against a cyan background - the same colors as her operator’s bandana. Said symbol was her operator’s choice - you’ve got good taste, was what she told her early on.
The Navi’s name was Rock - if you wanted to be particularly fancy, it was Rock.EXE, special project with designated serial number SWN-001, standing for “Special Wily Number”. Said project was something of an open secret - Rock hardly went around announcing the nature of herself, as per the old man’s advice, his contractors wouldn’t be especially enthused by the idea of him working on experimental Navis over more practical uses of his time.
Lan had snatched up her PET and clipped it onto the side of her bag as she rushed down the stairs. Much to her surprise, breakfast was ready and waiting for her, courtesy of her mother.
“Good morning, honey!” greeted her mother, Haruka, who was hovering over a pair of decidedly full plates. “My work hours are late today. So, I suppose I can see you off this morning!”
Lan tilted her head - this was something of a rarity. “Oh,” was all she said at first, in her currently dazed state. “That’s… that’s cool. Thanks, Mom!”
And so the only three residents of the Hikari household were able to share a quick meal before Lan headed off. These meals had become more bearable over time - certain past events had smoothened out some… sore spots, as Rock quickly learned. As she understood, someone like her probably wouldn’t have been welcome to sit down with them a few months ago - well, it was more like “lay down”, given that sharing a meal with the Hikari family consisted of the PET being situated next to Lan.
This rarity passed about as quickly as it came, but it was pleasant; and before long, Lan was sliding her rollerblades on and heading out the door. “Have a good day, Lan!” Haruka called. “And take care of her, Rock!”
Rock liked when she was acknowledged. She smiled in Haruka’s general direction - hard to estimate from where the PET was clipped on - and gave her a thumbs-up. “Will do, Ms. Hikari. See ya!”
“Bye, Mom,” Lan added, giving her a wave as she left the household and skidded off in the general direction of ACDC Middle School. Skating to school always gave her the burst of energy she needed if she woke up feeling crappy - the adrenaline and the feeling of the breeze against her skin was a foolproof strategy.
This was the last day of school before their winter break - and Lan didn’t really know how she was going to spend it. Rock had reminded her a few days ago that this would be their first Christmas with a new member of the household, which was an incredibly weird thought.
It wasn’t long before Lan spotted a familiar sight on her familiar route - one of her classmates was also on their way, though she was walking the distance as opposed to Lan’s stylistic travel method. Lan slowed down to greet her friend, Triese, who was humming a little tune to herself and totally caught off guard by the new arrival.
“Oh! Lan!” Triese exclaimed, briefly stopping in place for a moment. She resumed her walk as Lan slid along, keeping pace on her skates. “Hey, hey, hey! It’s the last day of school! You excited?!”
Her enthusiasm was as bubbly as ever, though Rock had noted it only ever rubbed off on Lan in subtle ways. Lan gave Triese a quiet “mmm”, before grabbing one arm with the other out of nervousness. “I guess. It’ll be nice to have no more tests,” was her final answer.
“Ugh, I know, right? That last math exam was the worst,” Triese complained, her eyes slamming shut to reminisce about such a horrific event. “See, I know we gotta learn these things, and it’s not useless because it helps with programming and such, and a lot of other minor things in the real world, that’s what my dad said anyway, but would it kill them to have a little mercy? I’m not that good at algebra, y’know? I’ve got trigonometry figured out because you gotta know it to be able to program anything even remotely fancy, and I mean I sort of get algebra but once you get into the problems with three different variables I just can’t wrap my head around it all. You get me, right?!”
Lan blinked. She was still amazed at how much Triese could spout without missing a beat. “Um. Yeah,” she managed, giving her friend an awkwardly sympathetic look.
“Perhaps you would have done a little better if you studied like I said you should,” said a voice from Triese’s PET - her Navi, Lurerre. Lurerre, too, was something of an open secret, something that Rock had shared a laugh about with her once or twice. “You reap what you sow, Lady Triese.”
“But- but there was this chip I was watching the listing for,” Triese protested weakly, before realizing that she couldn’t muster a proper excuse. “Well. Okaaaay, fine. But I don’t have to worry about that until next trimester.”
Once she was sure that Lurerre was off her case, Triese turned towards Lan. “So! You have any plans for break?!” she asked. “I… uh, I don’t, yet! I should come up with something. Dad’s been feeling down lately.”
Lan raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Why?”
“Something weird going on at work,” Triese recounted with palpable worry in her eyes. “He said it wasn’t anything to worry about, but I dunno how much I believe him…?”
“It’s best not to be nosy, Lady Triese,” Lurerre butted in. “I’m sure that if it has anything to do with us, he’ll let us know as soon as he can.”
Triese pouted a bit, checking the time out of habit - nice, we’ve still got 8 minutes to spare! - before refocusing her attention. “So! Anyway! Winter break plans?”
“Nothing, really,” Lan replied, shaking her head. “You know I’m not really a ‘going out’ kind of person.”
Triese curled her lip. “Weeeeeellllll~, that doesn’t mean you can’t make plans!” she exclaimed, waggling a finger at Lan. “You know, breaks are always the best time to brush up on your hobbies!”
“...Like?”
Triese went silent and gave Lan an innocent look that utterly betrayed her intentions. She was totally just implying “NetBattling” as the answer to everything - given, that was a hobby of Lan’s, but it wasn’t like there was much she could do, anyways. She only had so many friends that NetBattled, and even less that she hadn’t battled before.
Rock, too, had caught onto this implication, and couldn’t help but guffaw at Triese’s expression. “What, do you just want a rematch?” she taunted jokingly - she and Lurerre had sparred a good few times, and the latter had a hard time keeping up sometimes. “I’m always down, but you might not like the result.”
“H-hey! That’s not what I meant!” Triese retorted, breaking her silence. “C’mon, be nice to me. There’s other stuff you can do! Like… brushing up on your strats, or watching others battle!”
“Can’t believe you think I need to brush up,” Rock replied sarcastically. “I feel soooooo disrespected.”
Triese was clearly getting flustered. “That’s- what? No! I think you’re cool!” she exclaimed, totally losing her train of thought. Rock managed to get an “I know” in before their conversation was interrupted by arriving at their destination.
Most of class 6-A had already arrived by the time Lan and Triese swooped in, including Iris, who gave the two of them a polite wave as they took their seats. Half the students were clearly checked out already, also chatting with their surrounding acquaintances about their break plans. Considerable effort was required for their teacher, Mr. Kinell, to assert control of the room and get them all to concentrate on the (admittedly fairly bairbones) lesson plans.
Rock made herself comfortable on Lan’s homepage - she didn’t have much to do during the school day, besides entering inputs for problems that Lan was already solving without her help anyways. Most students used empty Navis for tasks as trivial as this, which meant Rock stuck out quite a bit - such an outwardly intimidating Navi joining the class’ Navi horde for the sake of answering a history question raised quite a few eyebrows when she was first sent to Lan.
Well, those first few weeks were a little rougher than that. Most of the class was well aware of who Lan Hikari was and what Hikari as a last name meant - or, at least, what they thought they meant. Thankfully, Triese and Iris had remained close to Lan as Rock learned the ropes, returning classmates’ condescending glances and hushed words with pointed glares and practiced responses. It was good for her, too, because she totally would’ve snapped back a little too hard if she was left to defend Lan on her own. They don’t know a goddamn thing about her, anyways.
The reactions to her existence died down after a few weeks, which left the days to pass by blandly and uneventfully. But that was good for both her and her operator, if anything.
Indeed, the class’ final day was exactly that - bland and uneventful. Exams had been completed in the few days prior, leaving this particular day as a patch of filler. Simple preparation for the next semester with no homework to match - that would have been cruel.
Most of the students wasted absolutely no time in filtering out, eager to kick back and relax for their long-awaited break. So many got up, in fact, that a small queue formed as each student filed through the relatively cramped doorway. Lan and Triese decided to sit back and wait, since they were in no hurry - though they lost track of Iris, which was a little odd.
As it turned out, their patience translated into them being the last two students to leave. Triese was already halfway out the door- before she noticed Lan hesitate, glancing back at their teacher.
“Huh? What’s the holdup?” Triese wondered aloud, blinking and turning toward her friend. She quickly found out the source of the hesitation- the class’ digital blackboard was flickering in an odd way.
Lan was the kind of person who, in spite of her adversity to shooting the shit with anyone, as Rock would call it, would stop and watch and wait for things to go wrong. And then jump at the chance to help, no matter how stupid or frivolous it was. Rock found it admirable, in a way.
“Um. Is something wrong?” Lan finally asked her teacher, motioning towards the struggling blackboard. Mr. Kinell had clearly taken note of this new issue, given his look of mild irritation.
He was buried in the screen of the rather old-fashioned desktop situated on his desk - and it took Lan speaking up for his attention to be torn away. “Hm? Oh. Possibly?” he responded, caught off guard by the lingering students. “There seems to be a technical issue, but… agh, I’m no good at this stuff…”
“Do you… need help? I could help, maybe,” Lan offered tentatively.
Mr. Kinell pulled himself away from the monitor and adjusted his glasses. “Ah? Hmm. I’m sorry, but this is probably best left to a technician. I’m unsure if soliciting a student’s help is proper… ah, but the technician is probably off right now…”
Triese had stepped back into the room upon catching wind of this conundrum, prepared to back her friend at a moment’s notice. “No, it’s okay, Mr. Kinell,” she pleaded. “Lan’s no joke at NetBattling! So if it’s viruses or something like that, then she can get it fixed in no time!”
After a brief pause, Mr. Kinell sighed. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to let you take a look,” he relented. “But… be quick and be careful about it, if you would. I shouldn’t be holding you up.”
Lan awkwardly shuffled toward the blackboard as her teacher showed her where the jack-in port was. “It’s fine, Mr. Kinell, I don’t mind,” she said, trying her best to sound cheerful. “It should be quick, at least.”
Rock had practically jolted awake at the prospect of some action - the school rarely provided her with anything other than white noise. “We takin’ a look, then? Ready when you are,” she said.
Lan gave Rock a decisive nod, and then- rather unnecessarily- initiated something of a ritual when it came to her cyberworld activities. In one brisk motion, she swerved her PET through the air, drawing the shape of an upside-down heart and a crack straight through its center while clutching her other hand close to her chest, pressing the jack-in button once the motion had finished. She had gotten the idea from another friend, and she was confident in the fact that she looked very cool doing it.
“Cut the light, Rock! Execute!"