Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

GT: Well…my brain keeps making ideas and not giving me enough time to work on the previous ones. I both love and hate Mega May for this creative writing of mine. Have a good Day 28 of Mega May 2025, folks! …As usual, I do not own Megaman Battle Network/NT Warrior/Rockman EXE. Nor do I own Kamen Rider. They are owned by their respective companies.

"...hah…hah…"

Heavy ragged breaths filled her ears as minor spasms of pain went off through her aching, broken body. How…? How could it all collapse like this? Explosions were heard in the distance, mixed in with the constant ringing filling her ears. A large blue tank soared overhead from the rubble she propped herself against, wincing as the machine exploded violently far behind her.

"You were impatient…fooled into straying from your true path…"

A wet hacking cough escaped her split lip. Her heart ached with each beat and she swore it felt like a lung was tearing itself open. A black gloved hand reached outwards and a fleeing group of humans collapsed into dust. The owner of the hand spun around and the hand swung out once more, another fleeing group turning to dust. More humans fled, screaming, as some of the dust ignited with blue flames, rising up into humanoid abominations that chased them. Three ran by shattered glass only for creatures to erupt from the glass, grab them, and pull them into the reflections.

"You are the one who destroyed him. In this moment of pain and betrayal…you were meant to protect him. Your betrayal was the death of his soul and the birth of the next in line."

Darkened gold armor glistened off the bits of sunlight between the smoke filling the air. A raid siren went off and something fell from the sky. The gloved hand rose up and the atomic bomb froze midfall. The hand twisted and the bomb was sent back into the skies, going off in outer orbit. The other hand swung down and the stealth bomber that dropped it dropped out of the sky and exploded in the distance, erupting with the force of a nuclear bomb's detonation.

"And yet…They wish to give you a final chance to repent and save his soul. You are bound to whom you ruined for five centuries. To save him, his Soul shall be rewritten, no longer bound here nor to his pained memories of betrayal. You, however, will forever remember. Never be seen by those at first until you help those They want to have what you ruined to be fulfilled. Repent for your sins. You rejected Love. So from now on…"

The red 'eyes' focused upon her. Her mind felt cloudy…as her breathing stopped. The last light faded from her eyes as she went slack, dead eyes still 'gazing' at the black and gold figure. The figure trembled before reeling their head back and roared. Their fist slammed on the ground…and the world turned to dust.

"...your soul will be tasked to prevent this Sin from repeating for others."

A groan escaped the lips owned by a figure lying on a patch of grass in a park. His eyes cracked open, revealing a pair of dichroic emerald green and sapphire blue eyes. He slowly rose up, letting him look around.

"Huh? Wh…Where am I?" He pondered, looking around before stumbling over to the nearby pond and saw his reflection, "?! This…This isn't how I look." He rubbed the side of his head, "At least…I…I think?"

The figure reflected in the water was a young man, possibly around eighteen to twenty-one years of age. He had messy black hair that bled into crimson at the tips. He wore a black jacket with a scale pattern to it over a white t-shirt and blue jeans. His feet sported a pair of black and white running shoes. He rubbed his face, feeling not a single bit of facial hair or even any sensation of the face ever being shaved at all like when his dad sometimes got from…from… He frowned as the memory vanished.

'What happened to me? I…I don't remember…but what do I remember?' He frowned, "Kamen…Rider…"

He frowned still. Kamen Rider. So many heroes and villains that hold the moniker. One created through tragedy and loss. But…there was something niggling in the back of his thoughts. Something missing…some…He ran his hands through his hair, clearing his head again. He huffed before standing up (when did he even sit down?).

"I may figure things out if I check out the place," he noted and walked past a pink squirrel statue.

As he exited the park, he awed upon seeing the large city around him. It was rather lively with a lot of people and uniquely shaped cars going about. He walked along a crosswalk and got deeper into the city. As he went by a building, the large screen on it began to play earcatching music. He looked up and his eyes widened, seeing a red and handheld device with a hole to put your thumb into it, a small screen, and a strange black and white icon.

=Something new is on the move! A new 2.5 inch Ultra TFTXGA model monitor loaded with IPC's new revolutionary 450 GHz Ultimate Molecular Chip! It's the global standard PeT that promises high speed BattleChip transfers. This high performance…is now in your hands!= on the screen, a flash of light went off, condensing into the palm of a ten-year-old boy's hand, his black and white hair making him think of an eggshell for some reason =Jack in into your heart=

"..." he blinked not once, not twice, but several times in stunned silence, "...You have got to be kidding me…" the male muttered in disbelief, "This…This has got to be a prank…" he pinched his cheek, "Ow! …" he looked back up at the screen replaying the ad, "...Nope. Not a prank."

The thoughts soon came. Mega Man. A franchise synonymous with CAPCOM. A warmth filled him. He…played the games, didn't he? Tried the Classics (never beat them even with save states), the X, Zero, and ZX eras. Oddly not the Trigger era ones (though given he's still stuck on the moon…). But…the others. Battle Network and Star Force…he grinned in excitement. Those he prided on knowing about. Now the only questions on his mind were: 1) Is this Game, Anime, or Manga timeline or a mixture of them? 2) When was he? After their adventures? Before? Midway? 3) How can he help make things less painful for the kids? …Seriously, that third one felt the most important to fulfill to him.

"It's not good to make NetBattles longer than they should be."

"Those guys were too obvious in how they attacked and were kinda weak. I just wanted to let them get a chance to show off. Plus, it's no fun for anyone if you make 'em Jack Out too fast!"

His eyes went wide as he saw a pair of kids the same age as the boy on the monitor approaching. The boy of the two wore an orange vest over a white and black shirt, black shorts with yellow lines up the sides, a blue bandana in his brown hair, and orange shoe/skate hybrids. The girl of the two had a blue vest, a blue-tinted white shirt, black leggings, red shoes, a pink skirt, and rode upon a scooter with a humanoid brown dog of sorts with a red collar and round gloves for front paws.

'Those are…Lan Hikari and Maylu Sakurai…' he thought, '...That model of PeT…and Rush being outside of the Network…' his eyes went wide, 'It's the first episode of Axess. Meaning that Chisao kid is…' he looked around, tilting his head, 'Huh…No Chisao? But…'

*Thump!*

"Ah!" the man looked down at the yelp as he saw the boy on the ground, "Ow…"

"Ah! M-My apologies," he apologized, bending down and offering a hand, "Are you alright?"

"...Y-Yeah, I'm…gh…I'm okay," the boy grunted as he stood up before looking at a bag in his hands, "Phew…" he looked at the man, "You alright?"

"I'm fine, but are you okay? What's got you all in a rush anyway, hm?"

"Ah! I'm going to SciLab to deliver something for my Papa!" he replied, "I'm Lan, Lan Hikari!"

"Ah, from the N1 Grand Prix, yes?" the man asked as the girl stopped by them.

"Yep! Second place," Lan replied.

"A shame. I was really rooting for you and your NetNavi," the man admitted, "Same with this other competitor named Mayl…or was it Maylu…and her NetNavi. But it looked like someone gave her an illegal BattleChip that corrupted her NetNavi's data from what I saw on the television."

"This guy pretended to be a friend of ours and gave it to Maylu," Lan huffed, "Some sorta Devil Chip."

"Ah, a DevilChip," the man nodded, "No wonder her data got corrupted by it. It forcibly ejected the connection to her PeT and let another NetNavi's data be infused into her."

"It was scary how she was when it was controlling her," Maylu grimaced.

"Hey, it's fine to be afraid," the man chuckled, "What's important is to grow stronger and overcome the fear. To remember that she's likely more traumatized than you because it was her body that was robbed from her, forced to watch and listen to what it did to those close to her. Still…you two are going to SciLab? On your own?"

"We have Rush and our NetNavis," Lan replied, gesturing to the dog, who was staring at the man in what looked to be awe and worry.

The man knelt down and offered a hand, "A pleasure. Rush, was it?"

"Rrrr…a-arf," Rush barked, nervously shaking his hand.

"Oh, strong grip," he noted before scratching a spot on the back of the dog's head, causing him to freeze up…before smiling goofily as his left leg began to repeatedly bounce on the ground and his tail to go nuts.

"...Hey, mister? Why don't you come with us if you're worried for us?" Lan asked.

"Huh?" the man and Maylu looked at Lan in confusion.

"Well…why not?" Lan shrugged, "You seem like a good person to me."

"Lan, you don't even know his name," Maylu frowned.

"..." a few moments passed and Lan bopped the palm of his fist into his hand, "Oh right."

Maylu fell over at that.

"..." the man looked at him for a moment, a whisper in his ear, "...Saito."

"Huh?"

The man smirked as he turned his back to them, pointing a finger to the sky, "A man who travels to connect the souls of life together…" he turned around and pointed at the two kids, a small smile on his lips, "...Saito Ryder."

"Saito…" Maylu began.

"...Ryder?" Lan finished.

"I see, I see," Saito nodded as the four walked through a large building of sorts, bundles of scientists gathered together as they talked amongst one another, "So his father is basically the big cheese outside of people who pay for this place to run."

"Yep," Maylu replied as, up ahead, a man with red-brown hair in glasses and a labcoat emerged from a door.

"Papa!" Lan called.

"Huh?" the man looked up to see the four approach, "Ah! Hello there, Lan, Maylu, Rush." he looked at Saito, "Though you're new."

"My name is Saito, sir," Saito replied, "Saw these kids in town and got a bit worried for their safety going about on their own."

"Ah, a concerned man," he noted, "I'm Dr. Yuichiro Hikari. A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Saito nodded before seeing the stubble on his face, 'Wow. He's been rather busy here.'

"Hey, Papa! A fresh delivery from Mama for you!" Lan grinned as he offered the bag.

"Oh~! Thank you so much for bringing these, Lan," Yuichiro thanked.

"It's nice to see you back here, sir. Are you done with your global trip?" Maylu asked.

"Not for long. There's something major going on here that I'm needed here to help with," Yuichiro replied

"Dr. Hikari!" a man called out.

"Coming!" Yuichiro responded before looking at them, "In fact, you kids are just in time to watch us conduct a new experiment." he looked at Saito, "And you're more than welcome to see it as well for helping Lan and Maylu safely arrive."

"R-Really? Just like that?" Saito asked in surprise.

"You seem like a good guy," Yuichiro replied, "It's in your eyes."

Saito blinked a few times at that, "Th-Thank you, sir."

"That's why I asked if he would come with us," Lan smiled, "He's got cool eyes."

"It's called heterochromia," Saito explained, "It's a kinda rare genetic condition. Not as rare as this one called HBD or as common as albinoism, but it's nice." If he hadn't focused on the older man out of the corner of his eyes, he would've missed the flinch when 'HBD' was mentioned, '...So Hub does exist here. But given the ad just earlier and the fact the N1 happened…a mixed timeline?'

The four stood behind a glass wall. On the other side of it, scientists were gathered around various machines and computers, all interconnected with one another. A containment pod was set up around one group, showing a figure in a cream/off-white bodysuit with black boots and fingertips with crystal blue armor on top of it all. A pair of piledrivers nestled on his shoulder armor while his head was covered in a helmet made of the three colors of his outfit, only a pair of gold eyes visible behind the mask. On his torso was a circular emblem showing a beam of white light going into a prism and splitting into two rainbows. Nearby, Dr. Hikari was speaking with a man in a black bodysuit with red detailing and an oversized green helmet.

"That's some amazing equipment," Maylu admitted.

"What's with the biker guy's silly helmet?" Lan asked, snickering.

"It may have something to do with the NetNavi in the container over there," Saito guessed.

"You're correct on that," a voice spoke, making them turn to see a man around Saito's likely older age with brown hair, an orange and red t-shirt with a '38' on his shirt, and baggy pants with sunglasses over his eyes, "This experiment…it's a fusion of NetOp and NetNavi."

"Oh, Mr. Famous!" Lan beamed.

"Just Famous."

"What do you mean by that? 'A fusion of NetOp and NetNavi,'" Maylu asked.

"Is it like this one old game where a scientist ended up fusing with a creature and they asked you to separate them with a teleporter system?" Saito asked.

Famous snapped his fingers and pointed at Saito, "Nice to see a fellow Pokemon fan in this age, but not like that. A while ago, Dr. Hikari managed to succeed in pseudo-manifesting Cyber World data. Using that analysis, he will be attempting to materialize a NetNavi in the Human World through the body of a NetOp. In other words, CrossFusion."

"Materialize a NetNavi?" Maylu gasped.

"CrossFusion?" Lan tilted his head.

"Better focus on what they're doing down there then, because it looks like they're gonna show us," Saito advised as, down below, a green machine opened up, allowing a small robotic hand to pluck a teal-colored computer chip with a jade green sphere embedded into it.

"This is the miracle BattleChip key to utilizing CrossFusion: the SynchroChip," Famous explained, "They were created by Dr. Hikari himself."

"...So if I used that SynchroChip, it would let Megaman appear out here using my body, Mr. Famous?" Lan asked.

"Just call me 'Famous.' Now, materialization is only possible in a special area called a Dimensional Area," Famous responded as Dr. Hikari walked out of a large glass container the man in the ridiculous helmet stood inside of before smiling, "But, in the future, special operations in space and disaster relief should be possible."

"Activate the Dimensional Area," Yuichrio ordered.

"Opening the Dimensional Area," another scientist responded.

A trio of cylinders with glowing blue crystals inside of them shined brightly. Inside of the 'box,' multicolored hexagons began to manifest, connecting to one another by their sides in random spots around the man. He pulled out a gunmetal PeT and the SynchroChip that the robotic arm had once held.

"Begin the experiment! SynchroChip in and Download!" Yuichiro commanded.

"Roger!" the man declared, holding the PeT outwards so its screen faced the scientists, "SynchroChip in! Download!"

The PeT began to shine brightly. Saito grimaced, wishing he had a pair of sunglasses, as the two kids and one dog awed. Inside of the pod, the NetNavi glowed before vanishing.

"CROSSFUSION!" the man shouted as the PeT exploded into data.

Saito grimaced as he heard the man grunting in exertion, discomfort, and even slight pain. Slowly, the light dissipated, revealing the NetNavi now standing in the man's place.

"Nice! Success!" Lan cheered.

"Whoa~" Maylu awed, "The NetNavi really manifested!"

Saito grimaced, "Not…exactly."

"Hm?" the two looked up at him in confusion.

"You're seeing it, too?" Famous asked.

"Yeah," Saito nodded as he kept his eyes on the NetNavi…before they cried out in pain, grabbing their chest as they faltered in standing.

"What's going on?!" Yuichiro gasped.

"The subject's bodily functions are rapidly declining!" another reported as the man collapsed to his knees, grabbing his head in agony.

"CrossOut!" Yuichiro ordered as he made his way to the 'box.'

"What happened?" Maylu asked, looking worried.

"A poor connection is what I'm seeing," Saito replied, grimacing, "There's something they don't have that's causing some sort of negative feedback loop."

"Get the medical team!" Yuichiro demanded as the CrossFusion dispersed and the PeT reformed, clattering to the floor before the man as the SynchroChip slid out.

"Goro! Goro, where is it hurting the most?" Yuichiro demanded as he ran inside as the Dimensional Area dissipated.

"S-Sorry…I…I couldn't maintain CrossFusion with Prisman…" he apologized.

"That doesn't matter right now! Where is it hurting the most?" Yuichiro demanded, "The Medical team is on its way, so just hold on!"

"Why is he hurt?" Lan asked.

"He and his NetNavi must have not been synchronized enough in everything," Saito guessed, "When they achieved CrossFusion, the NetNavi must have gone wild and his body was wrecked by the feedback." he narrowed his eyes, focusing on the SynchroChip, "...I think it also damaged the SynchroChip."

"Hm?" Famous followed his eyesight, "I…can't tell. You have good eyesight."

"I eats me carrots," Saito joked, "But seriously, I think I see some burn marks on the SynchroChip."

"Okay, you good?" Saito asked, holding Rush.

"Ruff!" Rush nodded as he reached out and pushed a button on the vending machine.

"To think that these were the results after so many experiments…" Yuichiro sighed, slumped in a chair as he had a cup of coffee in hand, "And he was our best test subject after so many others."

"Papa, maybe next time, you can let me and Megaman try out CrossFusion!" Lan offered.

"Absolutely not," Yuichiro argued, "Right now…CrossFusion is like a blood-starved vampire. It saps the strength of the NetOp like mad." he squeezed the emptied paper cup tightly in his hand, "It's too dangerous."

"Aw…" Lan sighed.

"Your father's right," Saito spoke as he walked in, Rush happily drinking the bottle of milk that had been vended, "That was a fully grown adult and he had to be carried out of the lab. Your father doesn't want you to be like him or in a worse state." he smiled at Lan, "From just the few hours I've been here, it's obvious that he loves you a whole lot and only wants you to be safe and able to do other things except CrossFuse."

"Exactly," Yuichiro nodded before alarms went off, "Hm? A Level 1 firewall breach?"

"Dr. Hikari!" a scientist shouted as he ran into the room, "We have a massive Virus Outbreak occurring in the SciLab Network!"

"Yikes, that sounds really bad," Saito noted, stepping back from the panicking scientist…before the door slammed down before him, "..." he sighed, 'Right. If I remember right, this is when Shademan is gonna make his move and go for the SynchroChips. Those four are going to have just fifteen minutes before the air runs out, but Lan and Megaman can handle getting them out.' he frowned, 'While Roll would go far, Maylu's lack of stamina as the air grew thinner was her downfall and caused that dragon-like Virus to get her Logged Out.' he shook his head, 'Sadly, I can't do much out here except…' he looked down, "Rush, go get Famous. I'm going to go check where they keep the SynchroChips."

"Awoo?" Rush tilted his head.

"This may be a distraction to keep our focus away from those," Saito explained, "Now get going, Rush!"

"Arf!" Rush saluted before he ran off one way and Saito the other.

'If I can grab them first and hide them, Shademan can't take them to Regal to create the DarkSynchroChips,' Saito thought, narrowing his eyes in determination, 'Hang on…'

It took ten of the fifteen minutes for him to reach the right lab (he should've paid better attention to where he had been walking than focused on Rush wanting to get a drink). He managed to get into the lab and spotted the green device filled with SynchroChips.

"There it is," Saito grinned, "Nice try, Regal. But you won't get a single one as long as I'm here."

"Nice try, Regal. But you won't get a single one as long as I'm here."

A figure scowled, sitting upon a throne of sorts, "You know my identity. Yet…I know nothing about you." they tapped a button on their throne, causing a screen to pop up and a search immediately triggered, "...No match in any databases of the world for your face or your name." he tapped another button and the screen changed, showing another figure in shadows, "Shademan, there's an interloper in our plans."

"What?" they hissed.

"They plan to take the SynchroChips and most likely destroy them all. Do not let that happen," they ordered as they pushed another button.

Out in the planet's orbit, a large white satellite floated. Within it, systems came alive as a targeting reticule manifested on a monitor inside of it. It locked on to SciLab and a small rocket was deployed from a port on the underside of it. Within three minutes, the rocket broke apart, deploying four cylinders ending in spikes. The spikes stabbed deep into the ground and 'wings' extended from the cylinders. All four began to shine…and the hexagons of a Dimensional Area manifested. Unlike the scattered clusters of the box, these were all interconnecting with one another and forming a massive multicolored dome. Inside of the building, everything except for the plants, humans, and Rush turned into multicolored versions of themselves.

"Wow, that's something!" Lan awed, looking out the window, "What's this?"

"It can't be…" Famous gasped.

"Is this…a Dimensional Area?" Maylu asked, still catching her breath after the lack of it.

"But that shouldn't be possible. Dimensional Areas are still in development!" Yuichiro noted in disbelief.

"This is bad…it's covering all of SciLab," Famous frowned.

"Arf! Arf! Awoo!" Rush howled, making everyone look at him.

"What's wrong, Rush?" Lan asked.

Rush began to pantomime inserting a BattleChip into a PeT. He barked rapidly and spread his arms out, making Lan blink a few times.

"Cross…Fusion?" Lan tilted his head.

"...Ah!" Yuichiro gasped, "The SynchroChips!"

"Where's Saito?" Maylu asked, looking around.

Rush barked rapidly, mimicking running on his hind legs and posing in bravery with a bark of heroics.

"Is he a spy?" Famous scowled, making Rush fall over.

"No way! He wouldn't do that!" Lan denied.

"Come on! Open, you lousy…!" Saito growled, trying to pry open the casing to no avail and only resulted in him falling off and landing on his face, "GOI! …Ugh…" he rolled over and looked at the multicolored ceiling, "Great…Here I am trying to do something to stop Nebula…and I can't do a thing." he winced as he felt something jabbing him, making him reach into his jacket and pulled out a flip phone resembling a gold dragon's head, "Huh? What's…What's this? And why does it have this slit going down the middle?"

Data materialized near him, making him flinch. The data collided together and transformed into a new figure. They were tall, very tall. Their form was lithe and donned in a primarily purple suit with skeleton-like armor and a black middle. Their helmet was purple with the sides resembling the ears of a bat. Their hands ended in three clawed hands while their skin was a sickly green. Their face sported a beard and mustache reminiscent to Oda Nobunaga to Saito…while its glowing demonic red eyes were focused upon him.

"?!" Saito tensed, 'Shademan…'

"So…you are the one my associate wants dealt with," Shademan spoke, "Hmph."

'Oh crap…I forgot Regal was watching things here before deploying the Dimensional Area,' Saito went pale before scowling, "Yeah, so what's it to ya?"

"Not much myself," Shademan replied before swinging his hand out and destroying the top of the machine, exposing the tray of SynchroChips, "But I'll be helping myself to these SynchroChips."

"Oh no you don't!" Saito snapped, rushing at Shademan while grabbing a chair.

He swung it hard and Shademan slapped it away, shattering it to pieces. Saito gagged as Shademan slammed his fist into his gut, making him gag. Shademan laughed before slamming his knee into Saito, sending him crashing into a desk and breaking it, sending the objects atop it scattering about and breaking the computer on it.

"How pitiful," Shademan smirked before raising his free hand up, causing membranes to emerge and fuse to his entire arm, transforming it into a massive bat wing, "Begone."

He swung his arm out and a powerful shockwave ripped out. Saito screamed as it slammed into him, sending the debris and more desks and their contents flying. Saito crashed into a wall…before everything slammed down onto him with a sickening crunch.

"Hmph," Shademan scoffed, "The deed is done." he looked at the SynchroChips, "Still…what use will these be for the Darkloids and our cause?" he prepared to leave when groaning hit his ears, "?" he turned around to see the rubble shake and one of the desks fall over and break, revealing Saito struggling to rise up, "Hm?!"

Saito coughed as he slowly stood up and glared at Shademan, "You're…not taking them away…"

"What?" Shademan's eyes widened, "Impossible. That blow should've killed you instantly. And if not, all that…"

Saito hissed as he fully got up, "I won't…let you win."

Shademan narrowed his eyes, "Insolent human. You really think you can stop me? I am a Darkloid, a being of Darkness."

"Even if…you are…even if…if I…" Saito coughed before glaring at him, "...Even if I die…I won't let you win! I won't let you harm anyone with those so long as I! Can! FIGHT!"

Shademan stepped back as his eyes widened, seeing a powerful aura erupt off his body as his eyes flashed red. The aura flared and let out a burst of wind that knocked Shademan back further and sent the SynchroChips scattering all over the floor. Saito swung his hand out on pure instinct and the aura raced around and condensed into a small card. The back of it was pitch black with a red emblem of sorts on the back. On the front of it showing a bust shot of a figure in pitch black armor with red and gold detailing with a full head mask sporting red 'Bug Eyes' on it. A barcode ran along the side of it while the words 'KAMEN RIDER: SOUL' were on the bottom. Saito blinked, the red vanishing from his eyes, as he looked at it.

"Soul?" Saito read.

"What are you?" Shademan demanded.

"...I guess you can call me a passing-through Kamen Rider," Saito shrugged, "Remember it."

"Kamen…Rider?" Shademan repeated as Saito held up a card and the golden phone, tapping the side of the card four times before flipping it around to hold it in between his thumb and the first knuckle of his pointer finger.

"Hen…shin!" Saito declared before swiping the card through the slit along the top of the flip-phone, causing the 'eyes' on it to flash as a dragon's roar erupted from it.

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: TA-MA-SHI~!=

Saito flicked the card ahead as it glowed. It expanded before becoming the size of a human. Shademan raised a brow as it moved back to the male and washed over Saito. In place of his original clothes, Saito stood in a gray bodysuit. Over his torso was semi-bulky scaled armor with a ruby red 'muscles' on the torso. Armored boots and gloves coated his hands and feet, sharing the scaled texture with bits of red on the ankles, wrists, and where the limbs slide into them, an red spike emerging from the elbows. A long black and red cape fluttered on his back while his shoulders sported guards resembling the heads of dragons. Around his waist was a silver belt with a bulky gray buckle on the front. Finally, over his head was a black helmet, matching the one on the card. A pair of 'Bug Eyes' acted as his eyes while a silver faceguard covered the lower half of his face. Beside him, a pitch black sword formed, the back of the blade resembling layered scales while the handle was silver.

=Tamashii Slaying Sword SoulSlicer=

"..." Saito pulled out the sword and aimed it at Shademan, "Kamen Rider…Soul."

"Kamen…Rider?" Shademan repeated, raising a brow.

Soul let out an affirming noise before charging. Shademan quickly shot a hand out to grab Soul, only for the man to jump over the attempted grab. Soul landed behind Shademan, swinging his sword. Shademan quickly blocked it with the sleeve of his arm before a wing grew from his other arm and swung it, releasing another shockwave of air that knocked Soul back.

"Gh…" Soul grunted, slowly getting back up, "Okay…gotta see what else I've got…" a clatter made him look down to see his phone before his face, flipped open to expose the numbers, "...Ah…Right." he grabbed it and looked it over, "If a henshin or weapon device has numbers, it has to have a code to it…and since it's a phone…maybe a set of three?" he tapped three numbers on it before pushing the button with a mask on it, "If not, I'll try four and…"

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: SABER!=

"Saber?" Soul pondered before a blade pierced the ceiling and slammed down between him and Shademan, the guard a brilliant crimson with a crest resembling an 'X,' "?! No way…K…Kaenken Rekka!"

"Wh-What in the…?" Shademan gasped before lunging at the sword…only to shriek as his hand was burned to ashes by the flames that erupted the moment he grazed the hilt.

"Sorry, Shademan…but the Seiken Kaenken Rekka can't be wielded by evil," Soul chuckled as he pulled it out, causing a black and gold buckle to form on his waist with a slot for Rekka in the side along with a small red book in his free hand.

=SEIKEN SWORDRIVER=

=BRAVE DRAGON!=

"A…book?" Shademan asked as Soul flicked it open.

Katsute subete wo horobosu hodo no idaina chikara wo tenishita shinjuu ga ita… (There was once a God Beast possessing a great power that would destroy everything...)

Soul inserted the sword into the slot while closing the book, the blade actually shrinking to fit into it. He inserted the book into the slot closest to the sword's guard before pulling the blade out, engulfed in flames. The book opened up once more, showing two new pages showing a figure in black and silver armor with a cloak wielding the Kaenken Rekka and sporting a burning red, fire-themed mask shaped like an 'X' with a blade poking out of the forehead.

=REKKA BATTOU!=

"Henshin!" Soul declared, swinging his blade in an 'X' that shot out before him in the form of flames.

=BRA~VE DRA~GON~! Rekka Issatsu! Yuuki no ryuu to Kaenken Rekka ga majiwaru toki, shinku no tsurugi ga aku wo tsuranuku! ( One Rekka Book! When the dragon of valor and Kaenken Rekka meet, the crimson sword will penetrate evil!)

The flames shot ahead as a massive version of the book dropped down behind him and swung open. An Eastern style dragon erupted from the pages and encircled Soul, shining brightly before he transformed into the figure in the pages of the book, sans the mask. The fire-made X collided with his face, transforming into the mask.

"Kamen Rider…Saber!" He declared, "Monogatari no ketsumatsu wa, ore ga kimeru (I will decide this story's ending)!"

"Grrr…It doesn't matter how many armors you wear, I will end you!" Shademan roared as he rushed at Saber.

Rekka erupted into flames and Saber charged at Shademan in return. He swung and blocked a swipe of Shademan's claws before delivering a slash to the bat's torso, sending sparks and flames flying. Another block and Saber punched him in the face, dazing Shademan briefly and allowing him to get in two more slashes. The second slash made Shademan bend over, allowing Saber to roll around his back and deliver a slash to the Darkloid's back.

"Impossible," the figure stood up from his throne, a purple glow coming off one of their eyes, as they watched the battle unfold, witnessing as Saber jumped over Shademan to avoid a bite and deliver a slash going up the Darkloid's back, "This isn't CrossFusion…That armor…and that sword of his…where did he get those things? How is that sword actually harming Shademan when he's the strongest Darkloid I've made so far?" bone popped as they clenched their fists in rising frustration and curiosity, "What are you?"

"Everything's falling apart…" Lan grimaced, keeping Maylu close as they got to the observation part of the lab while materialized Viruses were running rampant outside, "There's gotta be some way to deal with this Dimensional Area…Dimensional Area…" his eyes widened, "That's it!"

"What's it?" Maylu asked, looking up at him.

"Remember what Mr. Famous said? The SynchroChip is the miracle BattleChip that lets NetNavis use NetOps to materialize in the Human World!"

"B-But your Papa said not to…" Maylu began as they looked at the window…before gasping on seeing Saber fighting Shademan, "!?"

"Whoa! Wh-Who is that?! A-And who's the bat guy?!" Lan gawked.

"ENOUGH!" Shademan roared, swinging his hands out and a swarm of oversized bats rushed out of it.

Saber shouted as he swung his sword, slicing into a few of the bats and incinerating them with the flames of his blade. Three managed to grab onto the blade and began to try to pull the sword out of Saber's hands. The Kamen Rider growled before, with a roar, he spun quickly and threw the bats right back at Shademan, sending sparks flying and knocking him back.

"HAH!" Saber roared, swinging his blazing hot sword at Shademan, letting loose a blazing flying blade of flames that struck hard against Shademan, sending him crashing into a wall and burying him halfway into it.

Saber prepared to attack before seeing something from the corner of his eye. He looked to see a figure watching. They were around his age…but tall. Roughly an amazonian ten feet in height. B/W/H 160/86/136. Knee-length white hair with blue highlights in it let free with 'spikes' of it curling outwards and two bangs framing her face. All while wearing a white shirt beneath a gold vest and jeans with gold and white trim. Her dichromatic jade green and reddish-brown eyes were focused on them.

"Eh? Why are you standing there?! Go, go!" Saber waved her off, not bothered by her height because there are some rather...unique...designs in the Megaman franchise that a tall woman did not make him think twice, before flinching when all she did was glare at him, "Gh?! What's…"

"Insufferable…" Shademan hissed, ripping himself out of the wall, making Saber look at him and then back at the woman to see she was gone.

"..." Saber scowled behind his helmet as he refocused on Shademan, "...These SynchroChips…are not yours!" with that, Saber put his sword into the SworDriver once more and pushed the trigger on the handle.

=HISSATSU DOKUHA (Reading Finisher)!=

Saber pulled the sword out and flames erupted from the blade once more.

=SABER BATTOU! DRAGON! ISSATSU GIRI! FIRE!=

"Kaen Jūjizan (Flaming Cross Slash)!" Saber declared.

The dragon erupted from his shoulder and rushed at Shademan, distracting the bat long enough for Saber to rush and slice through his waist fully. Saber spun around and slashed him again in the right arm followed by the left. The Rider became a red streak as his dragon raced around Shademan, clawing at him whenever it could. The two then became one as Saber delivered a final rising slash to Shademan. He landed beside the wrecked machine, the arm grasping the sword held far to the side post-swing. Shademan gagged as he stumbled, collapsing to the floor. Sparks crackled off his body as it struggled to not break apart. He slowly raised his head, wheezing and gasping raggedly, as all he could do…was glare with a murderous gaze upon Saber.

"Th…This isn't over, human…" Shademan rasped before logging out.

"...Whoa! What a rush! Attaboy, Saito, you handsome Kamen Rider you!" Saber cheered before pausing, "..." he looked at his hands, "...How did I pull that off?" He sheathed his sword, knelt down, and began picking up the SynchroChips before footsteps made him look up to see Lan running up to him, "Yo."

"Saito! Wh-Who are you?" Lan asked.

"Me? Just a traveler," Saber replied, going back to picking up the chips, "Mind helping me? I don't want to step on one and get scolded by Dr. Hikari."

Lan nearly fell over, "S-Seriously?"

"Yes," Saber replied, "I just beat a NetNavi named Shademan. Called himself a Darkloid of Nebula and tried stealing these." He pointed at a camera nearby, "You can check the footage. I won't run away while you do."

"Uh…O-Okay, but I just saw you fighting him with that sword and a huge dragon! I mean, seriously…That was just so awes…" Lan replied as he picked one up…before Saber tackled him, narrowly avoiding the claws of a burly, beast-like NetNavi, "Ah!"

"Oh great…more than one was here," Saber grimaced, "So what's your name? Beastman? Savageman?" a moment passed before he tilted his head childishly, "…It's not 'Fluffy,' is it?"

"Beastman! Not Fluffy!"

"Me Kamen Rider. You dummy," Saber joked before rolling away with Lan from a stab, letting him whisper to Lan, "If you use that, load five BattleChips in before the SynchroChip or you'll just be stuck with the MegaBuster."

"Huh? How did you…?" Lan began to ask.

"No time," Saber replied as he got up and swiped at Beastman, forcing him to jump back to avoid the blade's fire, "Back! Back, I say!"

Lan watched with wide eyes as Saber began to fight Beastman, the flames of his blade along with its edge sending sparks flying about. He looked down at the SynchroChip in his hands and then to a hostler on his leg. He reached down and pulled out a white and blue PeT with the same symbol on his bandana on it. On the screen, it showed a NetNavi around Lan's age in a blue bodysuit, armor in shades of blue, cobalt hair sticking out under the helmet, and bright emerald green eyes.

"Megaman, I'm going to use the SynchroChip."

"Are you sure, Lan? You heard what Papa said and…"

"Megaman, I trust you with everything I've got," Lan spoke before pulling out his BattleChips, 'When we fought him, the ZetaCannon really overwhelmed him. But…' he watched as Beastman screamed as Saber's flames grazed him, 'Fire's also his weakness. I have from Fire BattleChips I can use, but also the LifeSword would be best.' he inserted five BattleChips into the PeT, "I know Papa said that it's dangerous, but there's no other way. And from what Saito said, he seems to know that we can do it." he held the SynchroChip up to the screen, "Ready?"

"As ready as I can be," Megaman replied.

"Then let's do this! SynchroChip, Download!" Lan declared, inserting the Chip into the PeT, causing the screen to light up.

"CROSSFUSION!" both shouted before they were engulfed in a sphere of light.

"What the…?" Beastman looked away from his fight with Saber upon seeing the light before the Kamen Rider slammed the flat of his blade into Beastman's face, "AAAARGH!"

"Don't get distracted by the pretty light. You said you were a beast, not a bug!" Saber joked as the light faded, revealing Megaman in Lan's place, his hair now brown with more detailing to his armor and more light blue lines on his bodysuit, "Not bad a look, you two."

"Lan turned into Megaman!" Maylu gasped, watching through the glass with Dr. Hikari and Rush.

"Awesome~! I've…I've turned into you, Megaman!" Lan awed, looking at himself.

"It's a success, Lan!" Megaman cheered inside of his head.

"We did it! We've CrossFused! We're CrossFusion Megaman now!" CF Megaman declared, pumping a fist.

"Tch…I've gotta deal with two now?" Beastman growled in annoyance, "Still…" he vanished before appearing above CF Megaman, "You were weak in the Network and you're still weak now!"

"You sure about that?" Saber asked, sounding confident.

Beastman swung down at CF Megaman. The boy's hand shot out and grabbed onto Beastman's claws. With a grunt of effort, CF Megaman shattered the claws on the hand Beastman was using, making the NetNavi scream and stumble back. He looked at his broken hand in shock.

"Wh-What?!" Beastman gasped.

"Don't underestimate those boys," Saber spoke, delivering a slash across Beastman's back before kicking him at CF Megaman, who created a bright red plasma sword that he swung and let loose a blast of flames at Beastman across his front, making the NetNavi howl in agony, "This story isn't finished until we say it is!"

"Lan…Megaman…" Yuichiro whispered in worry while Saber sheathed his sword once more and pulled the trigger.

"Together!" Saber shouted as he drew his sword.

"Right!" CF Megaman agreed, "Sword! WideSword! LongSword!"

=SABER BATTOU! DRAGON! ISSATSU GIRI! FIRE!=

"Kaen Jūjizan!" Saber declared.

"Program Advance: LifeSword!" CF Megaman roared.

The two shouted as they swung their blades, sending out shockwaves of light and flames that fused together into a dragon. The 'dragon' roared as it engulfed Beastman, creating a massive explosion. The smoke dissipated, showing no signs of Beastman aside from data of a Log Out. Saber exhaled an unknowingly held breath as he sheathed his sword.

"Megaman…Kamen Rider…" the figure growled, slamming a fist on their throne in building fury and resentment, before pushing a button on it, causing another screen to pop up to show a beautiful brown-haired woman with her long hair in a braided ponytail going over her shoulder in a black coat, scarlet shirt, and purple lipstick, "Yuri…Plan B."

"Yes, sir," she cooly replied.

"We…We did it…u-ugh…" Saber caught CF Megaman mid-fall before the CrossFusion ended.

Saber caught the falling PeT, "Easy there."

"Lan! Laaaan!" Megaman shouted.

"He'll be okay, Megaman," Saber spoke, gently laying Lan on the nearby couch (how it didn't get damaged was a shocker and a question for a later date) before plucking the SynchroChip from the PeT, "And I'll return this after seeing if I can't reprogram this so it will be safer for you and Lan to use. Ja ne."

"Ah! Wait a…" Megaman began before Saber pulled out a white book of sorts the size of a PeT and put it against the door…before Saber opened it, revealing a countryside that Saber stepped into before it closed, "W-What the…?"

Saber exhaled before looking around. Green grass, evergreens mixed with leafy trees…yep. This was Missouri alright. He turned around, looking at the sight before him with sadness. A burned down building and the door he used being the only thing intact.

"Why did I pick this place?" Saber pondered before dismissing the transformation, letting Soul go down into the ash/muddy basement that remained alongside the cinders and charcoal of the wooden structure, "I wonder what the story was for this forever home…" he looked at the cellphone device, "...Wait…I can get my answers easy! If I became Saber, then I can use W! Maybe even access…" he pushed 0-9-5 on it, "The Gaia Library!"

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: W!=

=XTREME!=

GT: Glad I did this at last.

Chapter Text

GT: Hey folks. Day 31 for Mega May 2025. It's been a long road this month and I'm glad you all came for it. Here's the next chapter of The Rider and the Network for you all!

Saito yawned as he stretched on the rather comfortable bed he had slept in for the day. Testing things had been rather lucrative for him. The phone seemed to register Xross Saber as just a form change and not simply a different Rider entirely. Was it abusing the power of creation by using it to rebuild the original home and everything? Yes. Did he care because he wanted to sleep in a bed after it started to pour? Not in the slightest. Using Xtreme had been rather informative. It was very much the anime he thought he had watched as a kid and then in 2023 when the Legacy Collection was coming out…but it held bits from the games as well (he denied pouting when he didn't read about a single manga thing like FullSynchro and the like, even if the cast looked like they were in the manga…o-or did he? Hah…). He walked up the stairs from the basement to the kitchen and checked the fridge, filled with the food he created through his thoughts. After mixing three eggs together and putting it into a small sandwich maker, he went over his plans. For one…he pulled out the SynchroChip. He had just taken it on a whim from Lan and Megaman. He didn't have an idea how to work on it. Not unless he was…was a super…genius… He groaned, hitting his head on the table. A quick opening of his phone and a dial of 1-7-0 later…

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: BUILD!=

"If W caused me to act a bit like Philip and get sidetracked with different lookups for a bit after my initial searching, even a bit of Sento's genius would be beneficial," Saito noted to himself, glancing at the table spillijg over with pages of search results, as a new yellow belt with a bulky device formed on his waist before he picked up the SynchroChip…and his left eye flashed blue as the right eye flashed red, "...So…shall we start the experiment?"

Lan yawned as he awoke in his bed. He slowly sat up and blinked a few times. …He awoke in his bed?

"...When did I go to bed?" Lan asked himself, "Megaman, when did I go to bed? …Megaman?" He looked over at his desk, seeing his PeT wasn't plugged into its charger, "..." he lifted the covers, "No PeT." He looked over the sides, "...Nope." he slowly got out of bed, "Guess Mama needed his help…" he yawned again, 'What a weird dream. Going to see Papa and ending up using CrossFusion to combine with Megaman and teaming up with an awesome guy named Saito who turned into a fire-wielding knight who fought off a bat NetNavi who was after Papa's SynchroChips…'

Downstairs, a beautiful woman with short brown hair wearing a purple shirt with white stripes going across her chest and a green skirt reaching to her ankles hummed as she cooked. On the table, it was overfilling with various meals. Fried salmon with broccoli and fries, karaage, tamogayaki, riceballs, curry and rice, hashbrowns with fried eggs and a sliced hardboiled egg, miso soup, large bowls of white rice, and various vegetables. As she tested a sip of the next dish she was cooking, Lan came downstairs, still looking half-asleep.

"Mama…" Lan mumbled.

"Oh!" the woman gasped as she turned to him and gave him a hug, "Good morning, honey."

Lan nestled into the hug, managing to return it best he could, "Mornin'..."

"Are you sure you should be out of bed right now?" she asked, bending down to a knee to look him over better, laying a hand gently on his cheek to cup it and get a better look at his eyes, "I don't see any exhaustion…" his stomach grumbled loudly, making her blink a few times before giggling, "The doctor said you'd be starving when you wake up." she made him go over to the table, "Eat, eat. I'm almost done with some more curry so don't worry."

Lan wanted to protest and ask about Megaman when his stomach grumbled in hunger. At first, he was only going to eat a little…and the next thing he knew, most of the table was cleaned of every bit of food on the plates and he was partway through the third large bowl of rice on the table mixed in with diced carrots, broccoli, and shiitake mushrooms. He let out a muffled happy noise, feeling a lot better than when he had just woken up! He hadn't realized just how hungry he had been! Soon, he set down the empty bowl and sighed in content.

"Not a single bit of food left," his mother noted, "I guess this CrossFusion thing really does drain people."

"?! C-C-CrossFusion?" Lan repeated in surprise.

"Yes, that's what your father called what you and Megaman did to help save people at SciLab," she replied, "He even showed me some security footage of you and this odd knight fighting off a strange animal."

"It…It wasn't a dream? It really happened?!" Lan gawked.

"Yes, it did," she nodded as she put the plates in the sink and sat beside him, "Are you feeling okay?"

"I…I'm stunned," Lan admitted, "I thought all that was just some sorta dream." he looked at his mom, "H-How long was I asleep, Mama?"

"About three days," she replied, "It's the day after SciLab got attacked. Maylu was here last night to keep watch of you and just this morning before she had to go to school."

"Huh…" Lan blinked a few times, "A-And Megaman?"

"He's still at SciLab with your Papa," his mom replied, "He's being checked on for any side effects of using CrossFusion." she smiled at him, "In fact…I think your Papa forgot to eat last night, so…" she held up a package, "Do you want to go together?"

"Yes! Mama, you're the best!" Lan cheered.

She giggled, "Why thank you, thank you. Now go get dressed, alright? Maybe we'll be lucky and you boys can show me CrossFusion in person and not just over a recording."

=ERROR=

"What the heck?" Saito frowned as he dialed 1-7-0 repeatedly.

=ERROR E-ER-ER-ERROR=

"Is…Is there a time limit?" Saito asked in disbelief before groaning, "Yabei~" he leaned against a small statue and looked at his phone, "So this lets me transform into Kamen Riders, but I only get to use them for three days? And how long does it take before I can transform into them again?" He groaned as he lightly swung his phone-holding hand down, "At least I converted all those diamonds and gold bars I made using Build into Zenny." His phone hit a small metal piece with a port for some sort of device to plug into, sending a spark between it and the phone, "Now what to…" he closed his eyes and didn't notice his form turn to data and go into the statue before appearing in an alleyway that seemed to be made of hard drives molded into buildings, "...do? Maybe some lunch?"

He opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He looked out of the alley and gawked. The people there…were not people! There were all kinds of beings. Many had human or humanoid designs to them, all sporting outfits of diverging designs along with all having three things in common: various kinds of armor, circular emblems on a part of their body, and bodysuits. He paled before quickly pulling his card out and swiping it.

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: TAM-MA-SHII~!=

Soul gulped as he cautiously stepped out of the alley and into the city, 'I'm…in the Network? Net City itself even!' He looked around, seeing no signs of damage, '...Holy cow. Did stopping Nebula from getting the SynchroChips delay their plans?'

"Ah!"

Soul jumped and looked down, seeing a young girl NetNavi around Lan and Maylu's age. She wore a black, pink, and magenta bodysuit of sorts that had the pink and magenta shaped like she was in a school-issued swimsuit with pink gloves and boots that had gold rings, and a pink helmet with gold pieces that produced transparent yellow tassels resembling plugs.

'Oh shoot! It's Roll, Maylu's NetNavi!' "Ah! I-I'm so sorry!" Soul apologized, offering his hand and helping her up, "I'm Soul. It…It's my first day here, so I wasn't looking and I am so sorry."

"...It…It's alright," Roll assured after a brief moment, "Welcome to Net City. I was planning to go check out some matches at the nearby coliseum while waiting for my NetOp to be done with their duties, so I can give you a tour if you'd like."

"Eh? J-Just like that?"

"You feel like a good NetNavi," Roll shrugged after a brief moment before smiling, "So come on!"

"Um…A-Alright," Soul nodded as he followed her, 'Maybe…I can practice in the coliseum? And why does she delay before responding to me?'

The shadowed figure, Regal, grit their teeth as they paced. A screen turned on, showing Yuri. She bowed on the screen.

"I managed to grab half of them before people started showing up," Yuri informed, "I won't be able to get the rest because Dr. Hikari now carries them on his person at all times once the theft was discovered. Too many witnesses to handle properly."

"At least you did better than Shademan did. Then again, you didn't have to deal with this 'Kamen Rider' interfering," Regal noted as a few screens replayed Saito turning into Soul and then into Saber, "Just who is this Saito Ryder?"

"I looked into it while undercover," Yuri informed, "He said he was with Lan Hikari and Maylu Sakurai as a concerned adult since they had no escort."

"Really now? That's…honestly unusual."

It was an oddity and something rarely seen in Electopia. Kids were often trusted enough to even live on their own thanks to NetNavis being at their side to make sure all systems are kept safe in a home. Yet…here was a man who didn't know that and was honestly concerned. The figure frowned before pushing a button and Shademan appeared on a screen.

"We managed to obtain some SynchroChips. I do not blame you for the failure to obtain them due to this Kamen Rider's interference," Regal informed, "He was an unknown variable that we will have to keep an eye out for from now on. I gift to you a mega fortress that will destroy Net City and convert that data into energy and store all NetNavis taken by it for later use."

"We will not fail this time," Shademan responded, ending the call.

"Are you certain, Yuichiro? Even with him taking one, you don't consider it a theft?"

Dr. Hikari nodded at the two figures before him. One was a stout, pleasantly plump older man with a balding head, bushy mustache, and a green business outfit. The other was a beautiful woman with her brown hair pulled into a puffy ponytail at the base of her neck in a pink business suit with a knee-length skirt instead of pants and a white tie.

"No. Megaman said that he would return it once he made it safer for Lan and Megaman and I feel like I can trust him," Yuichiro replied, "The rest, however, yes I do intend on pressing charges for theft on."

"How can you be so sure he will return it?"

"It's honestly odd, but…I just know it, like how I know my sons Lan and Megaman," Yuichiro replied after thinking on it for a moment, "He may be Ameropan even if he looks Electopian, so maybe he grew up there with Electopian parents?"

"What makes you say that?" the woman asked instead of the man this time.

"He was protective of Lan and Maylu and had ended up escorting them here to SciLab from the middle of town."

Both blinked a few times at that. That…would make sense. Ameropans were far more strict with children compared to Electopians. The man shook his head and held up a photo, showing an aerial view of SciLab underneath a Dimensional Area.

"Moving on, then. Dr. Hikari, can you explain this?"

"Yes. It appears to be a Dimensional Area, one far more advanced than what we've managed to build," Yuichiro replied.

"How is that possible? I thought you were the only man in the world working on this technology," the man frowned.

"That's what I thought, too," Yuichiro frowned, "But I'm thinking…Wily's behind this."

"Albert Wily? But…that's impossible."

"I agree. He's gone missing since Grave collapsed," the woman pointed out.

"Yes. 'Missing,' but not 'gone,'" Yuichiro noted, "He's the smartest man I know. For all I know, the accident with my tests when the mall got turned into one could've been where he gotten samples of how to build one and went from there." he frowned as he looked over at a partially covered container for the SynchroChips besides the shattered remains of the Dimensional Area generators that had once been inside of the box Goro had been in, "And we've suffered a large casualty in the form of our own Dimensional Area Generators and the theft of half of the SynchroChips." he held up a rectangle and opened it, showing six SynchroChips inside of it, "I'll be keeping the last six on me at all times from now on until we have a stronger storage unit for them."

"Why not just put them in a safety deposit box?" the woman asked.

"Because the thief may pull up the information on it and attack the bank it's held in," Yuichiro replied, "The increased security for things like that has become a bit of a double-edge sword for research projects like my own even if it help officers better find criminals that try to hide things in those safety deposit boxes." he frowned, "With SciLab in its current state and how expensive the development of SynchroChips are due to the rare metal necessary for their construction, we can't make anymore at the moment, even if they're our only advantage over the enemy."

"I agree, Dr. Hikari. We need to have SciLab up and running as soon as we can so that you can produce more SynchroChips," the man nodded.

"I'm still curious about this Saito Ryder," the woman admitted, "I ran a background check and…there's nothing about him."

"Hm?"

"No birth certificates, no families have that last name of Ryder, and then…" the woman held up a tablet, replaying the footage of Saito transforming into Soul and then Saber to fight Shademan and Beastman, "...there's his armor. Even though the damage corrupted most of the video in the room before he donned this armor, his abilities are impressive."

"If he does return, perhaps he can allow you to study that sword that temporarily destroyed that NetNavi's hand," the man spoke.

"I hope he'll allow me to," Yuichiro replied, "He's a good person, so I hope he can answer some questions about all this. Thank you for your time, Commissioner Kifune, Ms. Matanabe."

Both nodded and walked out of SciLab. As they did, a smiling Lan and a calm Haruka walked by them, carrying a bag. The two raised brows at the mother and son, discreetly watching as they approached Yuichiro, who looked delighted and relieved to see them both, even hugging Lan when he was close enough.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Yuichiro asked.

"Yeah. I feel rested and Mama made all my favorite breakfast foods!" Lan beamed.

'Haruka really is the best,' Yuichiro thought as he stood up and hugged her, "You're amazing, honey."

Haruka giggled, "Just like you are, dear." She held up the bag, "We came to bring you some lunch and check on how Megaman is."

"His last scan's almost complete," Yuichiro replied as they walked off, soon getting to a mostly intact part of SciLab where Megaman was on a screen showing him sitting on a table in the Network.

"Oh! Mama! Lan!" Megaman beamed.

"Megaman!" Lan cheered as he ran over to the screen, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but are you okay? You were sleeping for three days!"

"Yep! Mama made a really yummy breakfast!" Lan beamed, "Wait…how did you know I was snoozing?"

"Maylu and Roll would come to let me know after school ended," Megaman replied.

"We've got great friends," Lan smiled, "Are your scans almost done? We gotta send a message to them to thank them."

Yuichiro chuckled, "Easy, boys. There's one last scan."

"Awww…" both whined.

Soul stood in the middle of a large arena, shaped like an American football field to him combined with the Roman coliseum. The stands were filled with various NetNavis, cheering on battles going on at floating platforms similar to the one he was standing on. Across from him was a slim NetNavi with a brown bodysuit and sporting teal and crystal-like armor on their body. Their helmet was teal and rounded with a diamond on the forehead that reminded him of the crest on Suicune. Their emblem on their torso was a gold gemini constellation.

"Yo there! Name's Geminiman!" the NetNavi declared, "Let's see you handle my skills, eh?"

"My name is Soul," Soul replied, "I hope you don't mind that I'm going to be trying out some new techniques today."

"Hah! Not at all!" Geminiman grinned.

'Another delay,' Soul thought, 'Do all NetNavis have this delay and I never noticed it in the anime?'

"You've got this, Soul!" Roll cheered from one of the stands before Maylu appeared on a holographic screen, "Oh, Maylu! All done with classes for today?"

"Yeah. I went to check on Lan, but nobody is home," Maylu replied.

"Oh! Lan must have woken up then!" Roll beamed after a slight moment passed, "I bet they're likely at SciLab to pick up Mega!"

"Right," Maylu nodded before looking out at the area, "Any good fights in the NetColiseum today?"

"I don't know. I just got here a few minutes ago," Roll replied, smiling, "I made a new friend named Soul and he's fighting over there against a NetNavi named Geminiman!"

"Oh my. His armor's a little, um…intimidating…" Maylu gulped.

"I know, but he's very sweet. It kinda reminds me of Mega," Roll compared before an alert went off, "Oh! It's starting!"

=BATTLE ROUTINE: SET=

"Execute!" Geminiman shouted.

"E-Execute?" Soul stammered before yelping as he avoided a plasma shot from Geminiman and charged at him, "Hiyah!" he swung a punch only for Geminiman to split into two, "?!" he cried out as both slammed a punch to his chest, sending sparks flying for a moment on impact, "GAH!" he tumbled along the floor before getting back up, "You duplicate?!"

"You bet!" the original grinned…or was it the duplicate?

"And that's not all~!" the other grinned as they turned into four…and then eight!

"Aw crud," Soul gulped before pulling SoulSlicer out and using it to block a barrage of shots while pulling his phone out, "Come on, SoulCellular…What can I use to change?" He typed in 2-3-9 and hit the call button, "Maybe this one?"

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: DESIRE GRAND PRIX=

Soul blinked and Saito jumped, seeing he now stood in what looked to be a waiting room in the sky with an ancient Greek motif to it all. He looked around before his eyes widened at a black screen popping up…showing thousands of icons.

"Uh…O-Oh my…are all these…Kamen Riders? Why isolate them here and not on the…oh wait. There's probably too many and they had to isolate them here to not overload the devices," Saito realized before looking them over, "Mmm…" he saw a white and red one resembling a fox head, "...This one."

=KAMEN RIDER GEATS=

Soul looked down at his waist as the solver buckle transformed to become a black buckle with a circular center with slots on the front sides. In the center of it was a white circular semi-clear stone bearing the fox emblem.

=DESIREDRIVER…=

Soul rolled out of the way of a surprise attack from a Geminiman and then used his sword to slash into two more, dispersing them into data. He felt something in his free hand and looked down to see a white item with a half circle on one end while the other had a black handle with a red trigger. Attached to the circle was what looked like a loaded revolver chamber. He slapped a Geminiman away before inserting it into his buckle on the right side.

=SET=

An ethereal tune began to hum from the buckle as the word 'MAGNUM' appeared on his right in a metallic white alloy. Soul aimed his right hand at the group of Geminiman, the fingers shaped to make it resemble the head of a fox, and snapped his fingers, twisting his wrist in the process to have his fingers and thumb aiming upwards.

"Henshin!" Soul declared before spinning the chamber and pulling the trigger.

Six red bullets shot out of the buckle, curving and striking the word in the air. At the same time, a ring manifested around Soul before splitting in two and went up and down, changing Soul into a solid black bodysuit with a white helmet resembling the mask on the stone with red detailing and yellow 'eyes' in the mask. The word transformed into bits of white upper torso armor with bulky lower arms. A mechanical arm appeared behind Soul, grabbed the armor, and dragged it over him, making his 'eyes' flash and produce a long flowing white scarf.

=MAGNUM - READY? FIGHT !=

"What just happened?" Maylu gasped.

"A StyleChange?" Roll pondered.

"He looks like a fox!" Maylu awed.

"Kamen Rider…Geats," Soul declared as he manifested a magnum-like bulky red and white gun, "Sā, koko kara ga hairaito da (Now, here comes the highlight)!"

=MAGNUM SHOOTER 40X=

'Huh…What did he say?' Many in the audience pondered with some NetNavis even starting to try and find a translation.

The Geminiman army roared as they charged at him. Geat pulled the trigger two times and the shots that came out knocked two off their feet with holes where their emblems were and made them disperse. Another jumped at him and earned a kick in the gut for his troubles that dispersed the copy. A pistol whip to another and then a sweeping shot at a third took those them down before he charged in and delivered two more shots. He jumped and delivered a knee strike to the face of another before using it to rebound and kick another. He jumped into the air and grabbed a floating platform for the battlefield. With a sweep of his arm, he rapidly fired and took down four more. Two looked at one another before their arms glowed and each now sported plasma swords for hands. They charged in and began to stab and swipe at Geats.

"Whoa there! Whoa!" Geats chuckled before slapping one sword away and leaned back from a rising slice the other delivered.

He bumped into a wall behind him and shot up at the Geminiman who tried to shoot at him from above before kicking the one on his left away and shooting the one on his right. On another platform floating above, three Geminiman open fired upon Geats, who proceeded to run to his right and jump over a charging Geminiman, firing off three shots that knocked the trio off the platform and dispersed. He rolled until he stood up, surrounded at all sides by the remaining Geminiman copies. The began to run around him, readying their Busters.

"Well…That's one approach, I suppose," Geats muttered to himself.

"Nice try, but my overwhelming copies are pretty exhausting, huh?" Geminiman laughed.

"Actually, they're a very good workout," Geats replied…as a piece on the left lower arm flipped down, revealing a magnum barrel, before he pulled the hammer of the gun.

=BULLET CHARGE=

With a roar, he spun around and unleashed a barrage of bullets from his magnum…and the barrel on his left arm. He destroyed several copies and Geminiman began to make more. Yet for each one he made, Geats was destroying two more. One managed to get past the shots only for Geats to slam a hard kick into him, letting out a red burst of energy that sent him flying at the original Geminiman. The original and copies groaned…before they all exploded with Geminiman turning into the words 'LOG OUT' and vanishing. Geats twirled his gun and held it beside his head as the 'eyes' flashed once more.

=BATTLE OVER! WINNER: SOUL!=

"Amazing…" Roll whispered with wide eyes.

"That NetNavi's so cool!" Maylu awed before Geats vanished, appearing in a waiting lobby that Roll quickly joined.

"Soul!" Roll called as she ran over, "That was amazing!"

"Thanks," Geats chuckled, "It's a new armor I'm trying out."

"What was that?" Maylu asked.

"...Geats. Kamen Rider Geats," Geats replied, "I use RaiseBuckles to make a set of mix and match armor between the upper and lower halves of my body." he held up a small black one with a blue shield in it before slotting it into the other side of the belt before spinning the magnum and pulling its trigger and then pushing down on the shield.

=MAGNUM - ARMED SHIELD=

His lower half glowed before bits of blue and silver armor formed on the left leg. He stomped and a blue shield of hardlight energy materialized on the right lower leg. He raised his leg up to show the shield off to the pink NetNavi and her NetOp.

"See?" Geats gestured down before removing both RaiseBuckles from the DesireDriver and then unplugged the core from it, turning him back into Soul.

"That's amazing! It's like you have a Guard BattleChip on hand at all times!" Roll awed.

"Yep," Soul nodded before looking like he was checking the time, "Ah, not good. I gotta get going now. It was a pleasure to meet you, Roll. Thank you so much for the tour of Net City."

"No problem!" Roll replied as Soul ran off.

'Okay…so that's something new for me. All the Geats Riders are stocked up on just one number code. Is it because they all use the same Driver and there's that many of them?' Soul pondered.

"Okay, that's the last scan," Yuichiro assured as he removed Lan's PeT from a device attached to the computer and then removed the SynchroChip installed into it and put it in the case with the others, "Here you go, Lan. One PeT sans SynchroChip."

"Thanks, Papa!" Lan cheered as he turned it on, showing Megaman on it, "How are you feeling?"

"I feel alright," Megaman assured, "But what about you?"

"I'm doing okay," Lan assured, "Mama made a huge breakfast today." he looked at Yuichiro, "Thanks, Papa!"

"Anytime," Yuichiro assured before frowning, "Listen, Lan…The feedback from CrossFusion has altered Megaman in a few ways. From what I can tell, his ability to access StyleChange has been lost."

"Awww~" Lan groaned, "We can't use StyleChange anymore? But that was our ace in the hole!"

"Guess we'll have to find a new ace then, Lan," Megaman spoke.

"Speaking of CrossFusion, I've been trying to figure out just why you two were able to handle it when our best volunteer Goro couldn't," Yuichiro went on.

"It could be from their close bond, dear," Haruka guessed.

"Our bond?" Lan repeated.

"Yes. I may not be a scientist like your father, but I do have a good guess by just the names for what you use and what happens: SynchroChip and CrossFusion," Haruka replied, making Yuichiro blink a few times before his eyes widened in realization.

"I think I get it," Yuichiro spoke before looking at Lan and Megaman, "It's because of how close you two are. Your powerful bond with one another allows you two to synchronize with one another and that allows you two to safely CrossFuse with the SynchroChip. It's not just a compatibility between the bodies but also the bonds between one another."

Lan blushed, "Aww…I-It might be. Maybe we can test it out?"

"As much as I'd like to, Lan, our only Dimensional Area Generators were destroyed during the chaos going on," Yuichiro admitted as he gestured to the generator still partially covered before a scientist removed it to expose part of it was melted.

"...Oh…M-Must've been Saito, huh?" Lan noted, "He was slinging fire around while fighting that bat guy and then with us against Beastman."

"I'm honestly curious about him," Haruka admitted, "The mask and the suit…it reminds me of an old television show I used to watch as a little girl called Masked Rider."

"Masked Rider?" Lan pondered.

"...Kamen," Megaman gasped, "Papa, he uses a Dead Language!"

"Huh?" Yuichiro pondered.

"Saito spoke in a Dead Language!" Megaman exclaimed.

"A-Are you certain?" Yuichiro asked.

"Yes. I've been looking up that word 'Kamen' all over and there's nothing in the united language dictionary about it," Megaman explained, "When Mama said 'Masked Rider,' I did a lookup of it and then I remembered Saito called himself a 'Kamen Rider.' I thought they sounded similar and when I did a search…the word 'Kamen' is a word in one of the Dead Languages and means 'Mask.'"

"Which one?" Yuichiro asked.

"The one that got lost in WWII for Electopia; Japanese," Megaman replied.

"That sounds so cool~!" Lan awed, "Oh! His belt shouted something when he shoved his sword into it and pulled it out, right?" he groaned in excitement, "I really wanna see him again now~!"

"Well, he did say that he'd bring that SynchroChip back," Yuichiro noted before smiling, "As for CrossFusion, you don't need to worry. When we fix up SciLab and the Dimensional Area Generator's been repaired and improved, you can try it again."

"Hopefully when you do, I can come back and see it, too," Haruka noted.

"Of course," Yuichiro nodded before seeing Lan still a bit down, "...Hey, Lan? If you want, there's a special tour going on at the building where Net City is housed today." he pulled out a pair of tickets and offered them, "I was given these when I helped with some maintenance on the servers, so why don't you send a message to Maylu and ask if she'd like to see it, too?"

"Oh! That's a great idea, Papa!" Lan beamed before looking at his PeT, "Megaman, can you…?"

"Already on it, Lan."

"Yes! Thanks, Papa!" Lan cheered before frowning, "...Papa, there's one other thing."

"Hm? What is it, Lan?"

"Did you…find anything about Beastman or that bat NetNavi Saito beat up?" Lan asked.

"Sadly not. When the Viruses rampaged, we lost a lot of footage. We barely recovered the footage of him and you fighting them as is," Yuichiro replied, "The NetPolice are looking into them, however."

"Right," Lan nodded.

"Come to think of it…there is one thing Beastman said to me when we fought," Megaman recalled, "He said 'More proof of the inferiority of a NetNavi that needs a NetOp. I will show you the true way to NetBattle.'"

"That sounds like Beastman…is a SoloNavi like Bombman and Stoneman were," Yuichiro noted.

"Really?" Lan asked.

"Yeah, but…there was something else in it…I…" Megaman grimaced as he held a hand to his emblem, "...It felt like there was something…wrong…with him…something dark a-and twisted…"

"Dark and twisted?" Haruka repeated, concern in her tone.

"Are we dealing with something like Grave again?" Lan asked in concern.

"I'm not sure," Yuichiro replied, "But, Lan? Please…let us handle this, okay? You deserve to be a kid."

"But…" Lan began before his PeT rang.

"EMail from Maylu, Lan," Megaman informed, "She'd be happy to come right now. She's actually waiting outside the entrance to the area, even."

"Really?" Lan asked in surprise, "Um…A-Alright then." he smiled at his parents, "I'll try to avoid getting involved if I can."

Beastman growled as he stood before Shademan, their injuries all repaired from the damages of their battles. Both stood within a purple and violet domain with a throne and ominous structure to it all. The bat-themed NetNavi sat upon the throne as he looked down at Beastman, a scowl on his face that matched how Beastman was feeling.

"I don't know how those two fused together with CrossFusion. We checked to make sure that they hadn't even figured it out yet just before we attacked, but still…" Beastman growled, "And the kid didn't even look like he was suffering anything at all!"

"There's also the matter of the one who calls himself a 'Kamen Rider,'" Shademan spoke, several screens showing images of Saito, Soul, and Saber on them at his left, "That blade of his before he turned into Saber…Kaenken Rekka…" he looked at his hand, phantom agony racing through his data at the sensation of the part burning to ashes, "He is not ordinary human." he stood up and walked down the stairs, "Beastman, our benefactor has delivered unto us a vessel. You are to attack Net City at once and absorb as much data and NetNavis as you can with it."

"I understand," Beastman complied.

"HURK!"

A wet splattering sound went through the alley as Saito trembled on the ground. Beside him, a dropped ice cream cone had fallen. Saito's skin was a sickly green around his cheeks as they bulged and he emptied his stomach once more. Tears prickled his eyes as he soon stopped throwing up and collapsed against the nearby wall.

"That…That was not ice cream. That was rancid curdled milk with black mold sprinkled with cat shit and dunked in bleach!" the Kamen Rider sickly whined, "No wonder Rush spends more time on Earth than in the Network…"

He hadn't said anything about it before…but the Network was duller in all his senses outside of hearing. Things didn't feel completely right as they should outside of the elements that go into BattleChips. He couldn't really smell anything. The world looked…bleaker…than he liked when it seemed so colorful outside of it all. And the less said about how disgusting the…slop…was here, the better for his aching stomach. A shadow fell over the city, making Saito look up to see a massive metal construct flying overhead.

"...Shoot," Saito summed it up best before transforming into Soul and used the walls to jump up to the rooftops to see the construct flying towards the center of the place…where it proceeded to produce a tornado that began to rip the city apart and suck up NetNavis, "...Gotta get there."

Roll grunted as she caught another NetNavi before they could break apart into data. Because of course a simple tour ends up with the entirety of Net City in the process of being destroyed and NetNavis being sucked into it as well by a giant flying machine overhead that her best friend was inside of to disable. She deployed the Yo-Yo Maylu had sent her and threw it to grab another rooftop and pulled the two away, letting the civilian (much like her) Log Out. A large explosion made her look up in time to see Megaman falling out of it, screaming in pain.

"MEGA!" Roll screamed before a blur went past her, "!?"

Megaman's fall was abruptly halted as a black and red blur caught him mid-fall. The blur and Blue Bomber fell to the rooftop Roll was on…and Soul gently helped Megaman onto his feet.

"Are you alright?" Soul asked.

"I…I think so," Megaman replied, grimacing.

"Easy, Mega," Roll spoke as she ran over and gently laid a hand on his chest before her hand started to softly glow and began to heal his injuries.

"Who are you?" Megaman asked, looking at Soul.

"Me? Oh, Megaman~! I'm hurt," Soul mocked cried, the back of his hand to the helmet and a hand over his 'wounded' heart, "You, Lan, and I fought so gracefully against Beastman just a few days ago."

"...S-Saito?!" Megaman realized after a few moments.

"Huh?! S-Saito?! B-But how are you in Net City?!" Roll gawked a moment after Megaman shouted.

"No clue," Soul shrugged, "Maybe I can do a reverse Rush trick. Not having a lot of memories sucks."

"Not a lot of…" Megaman began in shock.

"Wh-What?!" Roll gasped.

'There's that delayed reaction again…' Soul thought as he pulled out the DesireDriver again and put it on.

"Wait…I thought you had this fiery knight armor," Megaman noted.

"I have a thousand armors with sub-armors for those main armors," Soul chuckled, surprising them, 'At least I think I do. Since there's an input of three numbers at a time. Way more if you count all the Geats Riders…' He pulled out a red RaiseBuckle resembling the handle of a motorcycle, "You two stay down here. I'll destroy it."

"What? But Beastman is in there!" Megaman exclaimed.

"Who said anything about defeating Fluffy the Terrible? I said I'll be destroying that entire thing destroying this beautiful city," Soul replied as he attached it into place.

=SET=

The red stylized word 'BOOST' manifested to Soul's right. He proceeded to throttle the handle twice, letting loose a powerful gout of flames. The word shattered and transformed into a set of burning red armor with engine pipes that turned blue at the ends on the lower arms.

=BOOST=

The mechanical arm extended out and grabbed the armor. Immediately upon grabbing it, the arm pulled it to Soul as his armor turned into Geats once more, snapping into place.

=READY? FIGHT !=

"A fox?" Megaman tilted his head before a fox cry went off and a bike in the same colors as the Boost armor drove over on its own, "A bike?"

Geats got onto it and proceeded to drive towards the tornado being produced by the machine. With a grunt, the bike began to hop along the chunks of buildings all the way up.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Megaman asked, looking at Roll.

"Yep," Roll nodded after a brief moment.

Deep inside, Geats charged through, "Like Ace once said: Fortresses are easier to take down on the inside. Always have been. Always will."

He raised a fist and the engines on it erupted with a powerful flame, boosting Geats and his bike through the structure, ripping through support structures inside of it from the sheer force of speed and power that was Geats and his bike.

Outside of it, Megaman and Roll yelped as parts of the machine began to explode and caused it to start falling. Geats tore out of a wall and landed near them, slotting Magnum into the other slot on his belt.

=SET=

"A second one?" Megaman asked.

"He can use both at once like those tinier ones?" Roll asked as Geats activate Magnum.

=DUAL ON! GET READY FOR BO~OST AND MAGNUM !=

Magnum's armor formed, only it took on the form of leg armor. The mechanical hand reached out, grabbed them, and slapped them into place on Geats. His 'eyes' flashed the moment the two halves became one full armor.

=READY? FIGHT !=

"Not yet," Geats chuckled as he pushed a button on the Driver and flipped the front 180 degrees, bringing along the RaiseBuckles and the Core, "Gotta flip out first."

=REVOLVE ON=

A wheel manifested around Geats as he floated into it. His helmet came off and his head vanished. His body spun around, turning his Magnum legs into a torso and arms and the Boost arms and torso into legs. His head reformed and the helmet slapped into place, letting him drop down to the rooftop the moment the ring vanished.

"Whoa~!" Megaman awed, Roll following a moment later.

"Watch this," Geats noted as he spun the chamber, pulled the trigger, and revved the throttle thrice.

=BOOST TIME=

His eyes flashed as flames erupted from the pipes on his legs. The bike revved, earning their attention, before it transformed into a red and blue nine-tailed mecha kitsune. It howled as Geats jumped high above the vessel. The fox followed into the air, running atop a path of flames it was producing from its tails. He landed atop the bike and revved Boost again.

"Ike, Boostriker," Geats ordered.

=MAGNUM - BOOST - GRAND VICTORY!=

With that, Geats shot out at the vessel, his right foot erupting into flames. A reticule manifested behind the mask, letting Geats pinpoint an accurate spot to strike for maximum destruction. Behind him, Boostriker cried as it followed him, engulfed in flames. The collided with the vessel and tore through it, landing on the ground perfectly. The vessel violently exploded, shadowing the front of Geats as his mask's eyes glowed ominously.

-linebreak-

"HOW?!" Regal snapped, slamming a fist down so hard on their throne it cracked, as they watched the structure explode and break apart, restoring the pilfered data back to the Network, "Rrrrr…! BEASTMAN!"

-linebreak-

"Whew," Geats exhaled slowly, reverting to Soul, as the two ran over to him, "Everything alright? You didn't get hit by any debris, did you?"

"We're fine," Megaman assured.

"That was amazing!" Roll exclaimed.

"And I can get even stronger," Soul chuckled before shouts came from their PeT connections, "...Dimensional Area?" Rush came out of a hole that appeared between them, "...Viruses out there?"

"...Arf," Rush nodded.

"...Does that tunnel still connect to the Human side of this place?" Soul asked, earning a nod, "...Good. Megaman, get back to your PeT. Roll, you too, and ask Maylu to hold it up to let you see what happens next."

He jumped into the hole, making them yelp in shock.

A few moments earlier, the satellite deployed another set of Dimensional Area generators. Lan and Maylu tensed at the multicolored coating everything was getting.

"This is SciLab all over again," Lan gulped.

"...Um…Lan…?" Maylu squeaked as she looked ahead.

Lan followed her eyesight as data coiled around before them. The data soon transformed into a swarm of yellow spheres with white faces that had just large eyes with beady red irises, yellow feet, a lightning bolt 'hairdo' on the top of their spheres…and large white spikes for arms. They all looked at the two kids for a few moments…before one screamed, throwing their 'arms' upwards as electricity crackled off them all. Rush yelped before he grew calm, snapped his fingers, and…fell through the hole that formed underneath his feet to easily run away.

"RUN!" Lan screamed before the two started to run for the exit.

The two went past Rush's hole. As the Viruses began to approach the hole, a blur shot out of it with a roar. Soul roared, swinging his SoulSlicer and tearing into the Viruses, making Lan and Maylu stop upon hearing the fighting. They looked behind them and gasped. Soul grunted, rolling out of the way of several blasts of electricity and hit the set of three once more, making a DesireDriver form on his waist…but the emblem was now purple with orange and showed a mask akin to a buffalo motif. As he got up, he inserted a purple device resembling a ribcage with a 'key' on the end.

=SET=

A sickly slimy yellow 'ZOMBIE' manifested to his right, a purple hand looking as decayed and malicious as what it was meant to represent behind it. He clenched his fist tightly enough the bones popped before grabbing the 'key.'

"HENSHIN!" Soul shouted, twisting his wrist and turning the 'key,' opening the 'ribcage' to expose a zombified arm with orange claws for fingers.

=ZOMBIE!=

The emblem turned into purple ooze that reformed into a bulky purple and silver torso, purple and white shoulders, overly armored arms with the left hand sporting an oversized gauntlet with massive orange claws, and orange spikes all over it. The mechanical arm reached out as Soul turned into the base Geats Rider suit with a purple menacing helmet with two large curved horns pointed straight ahead formed instead of Geat's fox helmet along with a purple mulleta on his right hip reaching past his knee in length. The armor was snapped into place and a purple and orange sickly chainsaw formed in his right hand.

=READY? FIGHT !=

"Kamen Rider Buffa! Tatoe shindemo... omaeni o buttsubusu (Even if I die…I will crush you)!" he roared out before delivering a powerful slash with his claws before swinging his chainsaw and tearing into more of the Viruses.

"Wh-Who is that?!" Lan gawked.

"It's Saito!" Megaman replied.

"Saito!?" Lan gawked as the two pulled their PeTs out.

"You Viruses leave these kids alone, ya hear me?!" Buffa bellowed, continuing his barrage until the last of the Viruses either fled in fear or were torn apart, "..." he turned around and dismissed the armor, letting Soul walk over and kneel down to them, "Are you both alright?"

"Y-Yeah, but…what did you just say when you transformed into that new armor? A-And is this a new armor, too?!" Lan asked.

"Lan," Maylu hissed before Soul chuckled.

"I told them that I'd crush them all before they could get to you," Soul replied, "And this is what I was in before I turned into Saber. I am Kamen Rider Soul when I'm in this suit."

"A-Are you a super hero?" Maylu asked.

"Nope! I'm better than a super hero; I'm a Kamen Rider!" Soul replied, "Now let's get to the entrance. I get the feeling Fluffy the Dummy Mutt will be waiting there."

"HUH?!" the two gawked before Soul pulled out a SynchroChip and dropped it into Lan's hand.

"Almost forgot. Delivery~"

"Oh! Th-The SynchroChip!" Lan gasped.

"I said I'd return it after I worked on it a little," Soul replied, "Now, get your five BattleChips ready. Maylu, stay behind us."

"Wait, why didn't you turn into Saber?" Megaman asked.

"Can't. I can only use it for three days before it gets locked down for a period of time," Saito shrugged.

"Aw that sucks," Lan frowned as he inserted a few BattleChips into his PeT.

"I know, right? I didn't even know about it until today," Soul huffed before a wall exploded ahead of them…allowing Beastman to emerge.

"You!" Beastman snarled, glaring at Soul.

"Hiya, Fluffy!" Soul taunted.

"I AM NOT FLUFFY!" Beastman screamed, stomping a foot in fury.

"And I'm not amused by you and Shademan," Soul huffed as he inserted 1-0-0 into his phone, "You have some crazy Desires…so I'll smack ya down with the power of Desire itself."

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: OOO!=

His buckle glowed before transforming into a silver belt and a new black buckle. It was rectangular with light blue lines on it. It sported three coin slots on the top of it with clear spots on the front to show the coins. On his left hip was a silver coin case of sorts while his right right sported a large black and gold circular scanner of sorts. Soul held up a trio of coins all with a gold border to them. One was red and sported a hawk design to it, the second was yellow with a tiger face, and the last was green with a grasshopper in it. He inserted the red and green coins first on the far right and far left respectively before he inserted the yellow coin into the middle with his right hand. He tilted the buckle and all three coins seemed to flash inside of it. He grabbed the scanner and it began to let out a humming noise. He swiped it over the trio of coins, each one making a coin dropping noise come out from the scanner as astral images of the coins appeared over the buckle. He held the scanner over his chest as he looked right at Beastman.

"Henshin…" Soul declared.

=TAKA! TORA! BATTA! TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TA-TO-BA!=

Three rings with several colored circles in them spun around Soul. One went vertical around him while the other two were horizontal at his chest and knees. The vertical ring settled on a red circle while the two horizontal rings settled on yellow and green before the three circles became copies of the three scanned Medals. They collided with one another, forming a combined image of the three before colliding with Soul's torso. In a flash of gold energy, a new suit of armor covered Soul.

The armor was primarily pitch black; however, as the large emblem on its chest began glowing, the suit began painting parts of itself in color. Green spread down his legs as his legs from the knees down were covered in green insect-like armor like the legs of a grasshopper with green shoes. His arms had large circular shoulder pads with yellow lines going down his arm and ending at bright yellow gauntlets with yellow armored fingers; three metal claws rested across the back of each arm. A red stripe went up his neck before forming a mask over his black helmet. The mask resembled a red hawk with its wings spread upward, the beak of the hawk image was a red crystal in the center of his forehead. Green compound eyes lit up as the suit finished fully forming.

"Oz?" Maylu asked.

"OOO. Three 'O's make the name of this Kamen Rider's name," OOO corrected her before glaring at Beastman, "I've got him for now, but hurry and CrossFuse, Lan, Megaman."

With that, OOO roared and charged at Beastman, who returned in kind with a roar and charge of his own. The yellow on OOO's torso lit up and trailed in his hands, causing the claws to flip down and enlarge. Both jumped and swung at one another, sparks flying as their claws struck the other across their bodies. Beastman roared, firing his claws and head off his body and towards OOO, who began to move around and dodge, managing to use his claws to get slashes in and parry Beastman's claws. The green part of the emblem glowed and trailed down into his legs, causing his feet to turn into grasshopper legs. With a bounce, he shot off at Beastman's body before his limbs could return and he delivered several strong slashes with his claws, sending sparks flying and making Beastman howl in pain.

"Y-You bastard! You had more armors?!" Beastman snapped.

"I have multiple armors. Think of me as the Tony Stark of the world…when it comes to armory. I ain't no womanizing, philanthropist, millionaire playboy," OOO snorted before rubbing his chin in thought, "Maybe Armored Adventures would be closer to the kinda Tony I am?" He tilted his head in thought, "Though…should I even do that comparison?" He jumped over Beastman's wild lunge, "Bad dog! No treat for you!"

"Shaddap!" Beastman howled in rage as OOO kept hopping around, avoiding his wild strikes, "I'll kill you, human!"

"Sorry not sorry!" OOO laughed

"Whoa~!" Lan awed, "He has multiple armors!" he grinned excitedly, "Okay, let's get in on this and…" he trailed off, seeing the tall woman, "Huh?" Looking back at the fight, he saw Beastman fully focused on the Rider and Maylu focused on the fight as well, before running over to her, "Miss, what are you doing? You gotta get outta here!" The woman stopped glaring at the fight to look at him in surprise, "Why a…" he was cut off when he had to duck under one of Beastman's detached claws spinning over his head and stabbed into the wall, "Gah!" He looked and the woman was gone, "...Huh?"

"What's wrong, Lan?"

"...It's nothing," Lan replied, shaking his head before getting a determined look on his face, "We gotta hurry and join in, Megaman!"

"You bastard!" Beastman growled as his claws struggled with Build's blade.

"Oh, you're gonna hate me more when I do this," OOO chuckled, switching the green coin for a yellow one showing a cheetah on it, "A little color change in my set of Core Medals."

=TAKA - TORA - CHEETAH!=

With that, the armor on his legs changed as now they were covered in light yellow armor covering his legs all the way up to his thighs. The tips of his boots were now colored in metallic silver. The many black 'spots' along his legs hissed and released steam as he crouched down. Beastman swiped at him, only for OOO to vanish. Beastman stumbled in shock and looked around before a blur raced past him and sparks raced off his body. The blur raced about, delivering several slashes until it stopped to reveal it to be OOO. He jumped up, grabbed Beastman by the shoulders, and let loose an unstoppable barrage of kicks to the Darkloid's chest, sending sparks flying.

"SEIYA!" OOO roared, letting go and sending Beastman crashing through a wall before he stumbled out of it after a moment.

"Why you…!" Beastman bellowed before he cried out as CF Megaman sliced into him with a Sword, "GAH!" OOO then slammed a fist into his face, sending him flying back, "GRAH!"

"Glad you joined in," OOO noted, "How's the CrossFusion?"

"It feels different! A lot different!"

"It's like the process was smoother to transition into," Megaman added.

"Glad to hear!" OOO chuckled CF Megaman's arm turned into a red and silver buster that shot at Beastman and created a fiery explosion, sending up a spray of sparks and data into the air from the pained Darkloid.

'Are they seriously having a casual chat while fighting me?!' Beatman thought incredulously.

=TAKA! TORA! BATTA! TA-TO-BA! TATOBA! TA-TO-BA!=

"Time to finish it," OOO spoke as he held up his scanner and scanned the Medals again.

=SCANNING CHARGE!=

"Okay!" CF Megaman agreed, "I'll keep him stuck in place! ZapRing1, Triple Download!"

His right glove transformed into a silver piece of armor with the fist replaced with two electrical tubes. Electricity cracked between them and a ring shot out of it and slammed into Beastman, locking him in place as electricity crackled off him. Beside CF Megaman, OOO's legs turned back into their grasshopper form and he shot up into the air. His claws folded out as a trio of rings appeared in the air. OOO proceeded to fall through them. The first granted him a red aura resembling hawk wings. The second produced yellow astral projections of his claws as big as his body at the sides of his legs. The final gave him larger copies of his feet in an astral projection form. CF Megaman fired off two more electrified rings that kept Beastman in place before his weapon turned into a bulky blue blaster.

"Charge Shot!" CF Megaman shouted, letting out a massive magenta plasma shot.

"SEIYA!" OOO roared.

Both collided with Beastman and caused an explosion. OOO shot out of the smoke on the other side, skidding to a halt in a crouch with his claws bared ahead. The smoke settled, revealing a derezzing Beastman with a pair of massive holes through his body.

"I…will…d-destroy you both…" he snarled before Logging Out.

"Phew…" CF Megaman sighed in relief as the Dimensional Area fell, ending CrossFusion.

"Hmm…May need to upgrade that for letting you do it without one as well," OOO noted, resetting his buckle and pulling the Core Medals out of his belt.

"That sounds awesome!" Lan awed before tilting his head, "Wait…you're still armored."

"Yep. Mine doesn't need one," OOO replied as he changed back into Soul, "And glad you're not passing out."

"Just who are you?"

"A Kamen Rider," Soul replied.

"Kamen Rider?" Lan repeated, tilting his head.

"That was amazing!" Roll noted as Maylu ran over, "What were those coins you used?"

"They're called Core Medals," Soul replied as he held up Tora, Cheetah, and a third yellow one with a lion motif to it, "These are a creation of magic and science together, fueled by Desire. But…I gotta be careful."

"Why?" Lan asked.

"Well, that's because of what would happen if they landed in a pile of Cell Medals or got onto a human's body," Soul replied before a canister clinking made them look down to see a black cylinder, "...Eh?" all three screamed when the flashbang went off, "GAH! I'M BLIND! I'M BLIND! I AM DEAF AND I AM BLIND!"

"AH! HEY, NO! GET BACK HERE WITH THOSE!" Roll shouted.

Slowly, the brightness dimmed, the spots faded, and noise returned…before Soul realized his hand felt emptier than it should've been. He looked down at his hands…to see the three Core Medals were gone.

"...Yabei…" Soul whispered, 'Did Nebula just…?'

"He called these 'Core Medals?'" Regal asked, looking at the three inside of a container.

"Yes. Core Medals. These allowed him to make that armor of his when in the Dimensional Area. He also seems unable to use the power of Saber for a period of time now," Yuri informed.

"Excellent work then on getting these before he couldn't access it anymore," Regal complimented, "I'll see about studying them and if we cannot use them against him." their eye narrowed, "Damn you, Kamen Rider."

"This SynchroChip is yours to keep," Yuichiro spoke as he handed Lan the SynchroChip back to the boy, Lan and Saito in an office with the man (after having escorted Maylu home on the off-chance the thief was still in the area).

"He kinda has to because I coded it to your DNA," Saito noted, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, "Don't know when I'll be able to use the form I used to modify it for a bit, so sorry if you need some tune ups."

"I checked the modifications you did and they're simply amazing, Saito," Yuichiro noted, "Thank you for letting me apply these patches into the others."

"Hey, it's your project. I just lent a hand," Saito shrugged, "Plus, this means less chances of that first test we saw happening again."

Yuichiro nodded, "Still…Lan, just because you have this doesn't mean I want you willingly going out to find trouble."

"I promise, Papa," Lan assured.

"There's just one more thing," Yuichiro added before nodding to someone.

"Hello, Lan, Saito," a voice spoke and the two looked to see Kifune enter with Rin, "I am the General Superintendent Keifer Kifune. With me is my assistant, Rin Matanabe."

"A pleasure," Rin greeted with a friendly smile.

"Listen, we heard of your deeds both today and a few days ago," Kifune spoke, "I'd like to offer you both a job as NetSavers."

"NetSaver? What's that, sir?" Lan asked.

"NetSavers are specialized agents of the NetPolice that perform operations that regular NetBattles and NetPolice cannot handle," Rin explained.

"So…you want me and Saito?" Lan asked.

"That's correct, young man," Kifune confirmed, "So what do you say? Are you and Megaman willing to become NetSavers and help with the ongoing situation?"

"..." Lan looked at Yuichiro, unsure with himself.

"...Do what you think is right, Lan," Yuichiro assured.

"...In that case, then yes! I'd like to join!" Lan smiled, "It…It'd honestly be nice to have a bigger support system than just my friends and Papa for when things happen like with WWW and Grave."

"Wonderful! And you, young man?" Kifune asked.

"Hmm…Work with you and be a, in my opinion and I mean no offense to you or Ms. Mattanabe, sir, servant to a corporation or run free and be myself only to be constantly hounded for my technology?" Saito pondered before smirking, "I'll go with the third option."

"Third?" Everyone repeated.

"I won't join, but I will train these two to be strong for your organization," Saito stated, pointing at Lan and Megaman, "You can turn it down, but I'll leave and ask them in private if they wish to become stronger. Maybe include a friend of theirs, too."

"You'd train Maylu?" Lan asked.

"Your chosen friend? That was fast," Saito noted, giving a thumbs up, "Must be pretty close than I thought for her to be the first person you'd think of for my offer. She your girlfriend?"

"U-Um…"

"You'd really train them?" Yuichiro asked in concern.

"Of course," Saito replied, "From how they fought that Kaijin, they've got the potential to go far. I'd have to test his friend and her NetNavi before I decide to agree to train her as well." He nodded, "I'll include being a tutor for his schooling in trade of room and board. I just want an empty closet."

"Kaijin?" Kifune repeated.

"Saito uses a Dead Language at times," Megaman informed, "I've turned on the Translator Program in Lan's PeT for him to understand."

"I can call my wife, Haruka, and ask her to clean one out," Yuichiro assured, 'Honestly, I'd be grateful to have you protecting my family, Saito.'

"In that case…" Kifune spoke as Rin walked over and presented Lan an emerald green BattleChip, "Insert that and your credentials as a NetSaver will be established."

"Dr. Hikari, I really hope you get that Dimensional Area up and running sooner than later," Saito advised, "We're going to practice with him in CrossFusion often."

"That's a good idea," Yuichiro nodded.

"We're home, Mama!" Lan called as he ran inside with Saito and his father following.

"Tadaima," Saito greeted, taking off his shoes once he entered and bowed to Haruka, "Thank you for allowing me to stay."

"It's not a problem," Haruka assured, "Thank you for helping Lan improve his grades."

"Hey, it's no worry," Saito shrugged, a grateful smile on his face.

"Though…um…Why did you only want a closet?" Haruka asked, looking at the closet she emptied by the stairs to go upstairs.

"Oh, for the doorway," Saito replied, punching in 1-0-7 on his phone.

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: FOURZE!=

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold and silver switch of sorts. The top of it sported a silver 'X' to it with a gold push lever on the top. With his thumb, he pushed in on the switch, making it give a soft click, before opening the closet door. He tossed it into the closet and closed it immediately. The family titled their heads and Saito held up a finger to make them wait a moment…before a light shined briefly under it. Saito opened the door…and a tunnel of multicolored light was revealed, showing a sliding steel door on the other side. Saito smirked before walking into it, gesturing for the family to follow. Lan grinned as he was quick to follow. Soon, Haruka and Yuichiro followed and the door slid open, revealing a large white structure with a bed atop a steel ladder, several smaller rooms, a big round table, and various monitors. Saito grinned as he walked over to a switch and pulled it down…causing a panel to slide up…and reveal Earth.

"Th-The Earth?! But that's…" Lan gawked, "No way…" he turned to Saito, excitement in his voice, "We're…We're on the moon?!"

"Yep. This is the Astro Base," Saito replied, "I welcome you all." He smiled at Yuichiro, "I also welcome you to study some of the material here, just not on some items of importance: the FourzeDriver, PowerDizer, Zodiarts AstroSwitches, and the MeteorDriver."

"Amazing!" Yuichiro awed, looking around, "Why didn't we find this on previous missions to the moon?"

"Because it was just built by me just a few moments ago with that AstroSwitch," Saito replied, "We'll rest for today and tomorrow before I start tutoring your son. During that rest, you're welcome to ask me about almost anything I know." he pointed at Yuchiro, "And I repeat myself in another way. No, I will not agree to let you study my Rider Technology in this structure."

"Aw…" Yuichiro groaned, earning a chuckle from Saito.

"I can see where Lan gets that from," Saito noted, earning a giggle from Haruka.

"Um…I have one," Megaman noted, "What is a Kamen Rider?"

"What is a Kamen Rider?" Saito repeated, walking over to the window that let them see the moon's surface, "...It depends on the Kamen Rider. Some seek power for power. Others seek to destroy everything. But most? Most of them want to protect the innocent…their friends and family…their home." he turned to them, "For me? I am a Kamen Rider who wants to protect others. To give them a chance to live their lives, letting their souls sing as they live their lives." he smiled softly at them, "And that begins with your family. I swear to you that from this day forward, I am going to be the best darn home tutor for Lan and the best darn house guest I can be." he clapped his hands together, "Now then…we've got several spacesuits with oxygen in them. Does anyone care to do a moon walk before dinner?"

Lan spun around to his parents, barely managing to not hop in place in excitement. The adults traded looks before looking at Saito.

"Sounds a bit romantic," Haruka giggled.

"I've always loved watching Ameropa's moon landing with Neil Armstrong," Yuichiro sheepishly admitted.

"Great. I should have some golf clubs and balls in this place," Saito grinned, 'Hoo boy…Missing memories…don't know what I'm fully capable of…and now I'm a home tutor. What is my life?'

GT: Man…What an insane Mega May this has been. I'm glad everyone's enjoyed themselves. I'll be trying to work on things as the year passes, so don't worry about when fics get updated and the like. Thank you, everyone, for this year and I hope you all enjoy it when it comes around in 2026. Just know I will be updating when I can year round, too, so don't think I'll just update during May. So until next time, folks! Please Read and Review! It means the world to me when you do!

Chapter Text

GT: Alrighty, time for the next chapter, folks!

Soul leaning against his SoulSlicer, looking at his fingertips. Across from him in a small gymnasium-sized room was Lan, almost hopping in excitement. At the corners of the room, SciLab's Dimensional Area Generators were set up. Nearby, Yuichiro and his group of coworkers were at a set up, separated from them by the large box the two were inside of.

"Activate the Dimensional Area."

"Activating the Dimensional Area."

The hexagonal clusters manifested and Yuichiro nodded. Lan grinned as he put five BattleChips into his PeT before holding up the SynchroChip.

"SynchroChip in and Download!"

"CROSSFUSION!"

Soul nodded before flipping open his SoulCellular. W, OOO, Fourze, Build, Saber, and the Geats Riders were all locked away, but he was there to teach Lan, not treat him as a Kaijin. He rubbed his chin in thought before nodding and inserted 0-4-4 into it.

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: CHALICE!=

Black electricity covered his belt and buckle, turning the belt silver and the buckle turned into a bulky silver and gold buckle with a red 'heart' in the middle made of rubies with a slit in the middle of the 'heart.' On his right hip was a card case. He flicked it open, revealing a set of cards. He pulled one out, showing a red heart with a mantis inside of it.

"Henshin," Soul declared, slicing the card through a slot on the buckle.

=CHANGE=

Black electricity coated Soul before his form altered. The form had a black bodysuit with gold detailing on armor covered most of his body on his lower arms, his boots, knees, and torso with bulky rounded black shoulder guards. The armor on his torso took on the shape of a heart with red detailing on it. His helmet was shaped like the head of a praying mantis with red 'bug eyes' shaped like a heart. He held his hand out and black electricity formed in it, transforming into a large gold and silver bow-type weapon. He casually spun it around.

"Kamen Rider…Chalice," he declared before removing his buckle and attaching it to the weapon in the middle, "Ready to start, Lan? Megaman?"

"You bet, Saito!"

"Janai! Ware wa Kamen Rider Chalice!" Chalice barked, making Lan jump, "Do not use my name when I am in armor. If you don't know the name of it, then address me as 'Rider-sensei' or just 'Sensei.' Understood?"

"Ah! S-Sorry."

"Understood?"

"Um…y-yeah, Sensei."

"Good. Then we start!" Chalice roared, charging in and slashing at CF Megaman, forcing him to dodge.

"Ah! What the heck?!"

"Our enemies will not give you a chance to strike first! Always take the initiative if you can, otherwise you need to fight defensively!" Chalice declared as he began to fire off shots of light at the boy, creating small explosions each time it missed the running boy.

"Ah! Whoa!" CF Megaman yelped, "Boomer, BattleChip in and Download!"

His right glove transformed into a gunmetal rounded device with a large, off-white, sharpened, metal boomerang. He threw his arm towards Chalice, causing the boomerang to shoot off it and head right for the Rider. Chalice flicked open the Card Deck on his right hip and pulled out a card, depicting a metal trilobite with the top right and bottom left corners showing a gold spade with a red '7.' He swiped it through the slit on his weapon.

=METAL=

His armor took on a metallic sheen and the boomerang bounced off him. He took out another card, showing a leather covered chameleon with a hand at the end of its tongue on top of a treasure chest with a 1600 on one side with a gold diamond and red '10' on the two corners. CF Megaman took several shots with his MegaBuster, letting them splash off his metallic surface, as Chalice sliced the card through his weapon.

=THIEF=

"ElecSword, Download!" CF Megaman declared…only for nothing to happen, "Huh?" he looked at his hand, "What gives? Where's the…" Chalice's right hand turned into an electric generator of sorts before producing an electrified plasma blade while the metallic sheen vanished, "HUH?!" Chalice ran right at CF Megaman, delivering several slashes with both weapons, "GYARGH!"

"How do you even wield it like this?" Chalice grumbled, dismissing the pilfered blade and flexing his fingers, "That was severely uncomfortable."

"You're not gonna like this then! MiniBomb, Download!" CF Megaman declared as a blue sphere formed in his hand and he threw it right at Chalice, who retaliated with a shot from his weapon, creating an explosion that obscured his view.

"..." Chalice took out another card, depicting a gold heart with a red '8' on the two corners and an '1800' on one side.

=REFLECT=

"CHARGE SHOT!" CF Megaman roared, firing off the large magenta plasma bullet at Chalice…only to bounce back at him, "GAH!" he barely avoided the shot before Chalice ran past him and took the hit, "Huh?!"

Everyone gasped once the smoke settled, revealing green blood dripping off parts of Chalice's damaged body. Chalice stumbled and pulled out another card showing a '9' with the gold heart and the number '2000' on the side while it showed a black and gold steampunk camel with its humps being golden silos. He sliced it through his weapon.

=RECOVER=

A red aura came off him as the green blood stopped flowing while the damages on his body faded away. He then sliced another category heart with the number '10,' the MP of 2200, and an image of a metallic centipede through his weapon.

=SHUFFLE=

His Card Deck glowed for a moment. Chalice whipped out two cards. One depicted a strange metallic creature with a black 'body,' massive sharp fangs, and green metallic tentacles ending in blades in the category 7 of hearts with an MP of 1600. The other showed a pitch black shark with red scars and wearing blue armor on its head resembling a double-bladed axe. It was the category 3 of hearts with an MP of 600.

=BIO - CHOP=

Chalice thrust his weapon out and vines erupted from the weapon, quickly ensnaring CF Megaman. His free hand began to glow as he tugged his weapon-holding arm back, forcing CF Megaman to be pulled right into the karate chop thrown by Chalice, making a small explosion. CF Megaman screamed as he tumbled out of the smoke and stopped on his back. His body glowed before the CrossFusion ended, letting his PeT fall right on his face. Chalice slowly walked up and helped Lan onto his feet. He wiped some dirt off Lan while looking him over. With a nod, he stood up and looked down at the boy.

"Lesson...failed."

"H-Huh?" Lan asked.

"Do you know why I took that reflected hit?" Chalice asked before pointing at the scientists, "You and I didn't pay attention to your surroundings and if I didn't, they would've been hit."

"?!" Lan tensed.

"I also admonish you scientists as well! What kind of safety precautions were missed to be put into danger, huh?!" Chalice demanded as he turned and began to scold them.

"W-Well, you two are in that container and…" one scientist began before Chalice aimed and shot at a corner, blasting it off, "..."

"Never stay close to a fight if you cannot fight and are not on the same level as those fighting, especially when they are training and one of them doesn't fully understand their strength yet," Chalice warned, "You are scientists, pursuers of knowledge for the betterment of everyone. One of you is even the parent to my student! What would he do if you had gotten hurt and he caused it, huh?!" he pointed at them in annoyance, "Baka! The lot of you are a bunch of baka!"

"You don't need to translate what that means, Megaman. I think I get it means 'idiot,'" Lan whispered to Megaman.

"It is," Megaman agreed softly before Chalice turned to them.

"Okay, we are going to rewatch the match and see what went wrong and see what needs to be worked on," Chalice informed.

"Um…A-Are you gonna stay transformed for it, Sensei?" Lan asked.

"Hm? Oh, right," Chalice sheepishly spoke before putting the heart back on his waist and sliced another card through it.

=SPIRIT=

"Okay," Saito nodded, "Let's get to work."

Haruka smiled as she rechecked the graded homework assignment pinned to the fridge. Hardly a week since that young man had started to (sort of) live with them and already Lan was having improved homework grades. The closet door opening made her look to see Saito backing out of the tunnel…with a gong. He paused on seeing her.

"...um…He has a field trip today, promising his teacher he'd be there early, and I don't want him running late," Saito explained, "...Too much?"

"...Hit it inside his bedroom, not the hallway," Haruka replied after a moment, "And ask Megaman to send me the recording."

Saito gave a thumbs up before resuming his backing up and getting the gong upstairs. She pulled out a pair of earplugs and put them on. A moment passed and…

*BOOOOOOOOO~OOOOOONG~!*

…She nodded and took them out.

"Should start learning to wake up on his own," Haruka noted.

"Ugh…I hate my home tutor…" Lan groaned, face against his desk.

"Home tutor?" Lan looked to the side to see a worried Maylu sitting down at her desk beside his as their teacher prepared to begin homeroom.

"Saito isn't all that bad, Lan. He's been helping you really well with coursework."

"He is evil…" Lan groaned under his breath, "He locks me out of the Internet unless all my homework is complete with a perfect score."

"R-Really?" Maylu gawked.

"Then there's the exercises he makes us go through…" Lan shuddered, "It's worse than what Masa had us do."

"Ah…May need to talk to him then," Lan paled at the voice and looked to see Saito walk over, "See what ideas he's got."

"Saito?" Megaman asked.

"Yo. Sorry if I interrupted the start of class, Ms. Mari, ma'am. Lan forgot his bento lunch," Saito explained, holding it up before tipping a nonexistent hat to Maylu, "Ms. Sakurai."

"H-Hello," Maylu greeted.

"Hi, Saito!" Roll greeted before tilting her head as he looked the two over.

"Mmm…Yep. I can see it," Saito shook his head as he quietly spoke, "You girls have amazing potential. Just need to get past the mental blocks you two have made for yourselves."

"Mental blocks?" Roll repeated as Maylu tensed while he handed the bento to Lan.

"I'd explain, but I need to get going. Have jobs to do. Good luck at school, Lan. Don't fall asleep or I will know," Saito waved as he left.

"See? Evil," Lan grumbled, neither aware of a small robot that looked like it was made from a burger watching them from an innocuous shelf.

'Mental blocks…' Maylu thought, her hand covering the troubled frown on her face.

"How bad is it?" Roll asked.

"He…is brutal," Megaman groaned, lying on the ground, "Outside of school tutoring which helped with the homework, CrossFusion training is brutal."

"Really?"

"Yes. He used different armors with unique powers each day for those three days before today and we would have to fight until Lan passed out or we managed to get a hard enough hit in that he was knocked into a wall. He used this one form called Chalice who used cards with sealed immortal monsters made by the God for a battle royale that ended with humanity being allowed to be the dominant race to do all sorts of things. Then he turned into this one called Thouser with the most ridiculous thing coming from his belt when he transforms and ended up saying a thousand percent a lot and seemed extra affectionate to Rush for a bit after he dropped the form," Megaman recalled, "And before you ask, Thouser has this weapon that hijacked our BattleChips and the MegaBuster! After that, he then used this one that was…weird."

"Weird?"

"He had to punch, kick, and headbutt as bits and pieces of the armor formed. He calls it Kuuga. And it started off all white and gold and we were actually winning! But when we thought our LifeSword beat him…the white turned red and more gold grew on the armor and he beat us bad," Megaman winced, "But after that…he, still in that armor, started correcting Lan on stuff we tried on him. He was really calm, patient, and made it make sense. I think the only thing that has ever made Lan's smile that bright was when Mama welcomed you girls back into the house after the Homework Incident and said she made his favorite curry with strawberry rice."

Roll flinched at that memory before shaking it off, "Wait…still no Saber?"

"Yeah…and no Darkloids either," Megaman frowned.

"Huh? Darkloids?"

Megaman nodded, "Don't tell Maylu this because Saito wants Lan to tell her, but…" he motioned for her to come closer before, once she did, whispered to her, "Lan and I got recruited by the NetPolice after what happened with Beastman. Saito turned it down but agreed to teach us how to fight to have a better chance against the group Beastman is with: the Darkloids."

"Really? Why?"

"Because we're the only ones who can CrossFuse," Megaman replied with a grimace, "I'd be more against it, but…we have Saito there and he's really strong."

Roll nodded, "And he wants Lan to tell Maylu."

"Yes. She has to ask, first," Megaman frowned, "I'm allowed to tell you, but please don't tell Maylu yet."

Roll nodded, "If Lan is going to, then I won't say a word."

Megaman smiled in relief, "Thanks, Roll."

=ERROR=

"Is everything alright?" Haruka asked as she looked over at Saito at the kitchen table.

"Yeah, just confirming another thing about my powers," Saito replied as he looked at his SoulCellular before closing it, "After three days from the first use of a Rider, any I use on different days don't have their own time limit, but share that first one's."

"I see…and…" Haruka held up a metal McDonald's fries container that flipped upside down and folded its front 'up' to expose a cute little robot face and scissor-like pinchers, "...these don't go away?"

"That's what I can understand," Saito nodded, "They use the same powers as the Rider, but are separate beings. They act as support units. The little guy you have is a Potechokin Foodroid, powered by the Scissors AstroSwitch. Burgermeal is at school, keeping an eye on Lan and they'll let me know if he falls asleep in class."

Haruka nodded as she looked at the table where a few cans were on the table with two silver and green ones unfolded to resemble grasshoppers. Another black one had unfolded to resemble a tiny gorilla, currently trying to clean the top of the table with a cloth.

"And those are…?"

"Candroids. Apparently any vending machine I put a Cell Medal into could produce them. Which is odd since they normally need a specific kind called a RideVendor made the Kougami Foundation, but that may be because of my power," Saito replied, "I have a group of Taka Candroids with Batta Candroids acting as patrol while Gorilla Candroid there can detect when a Yummy is nearby."

"A what?"

"I told you about the Core Medals that were stolen, right? If they figure out how to use them, they can revive a very dangerous individual who creates monsters called Yummy that are fueled by Desire, converting it into Cell Medals that fuel the monster those Core Medals form." He sighed, leaning back on the couch, "I should've waited until everything was all clear before showing them to the kids."

"Perhaps, but you couldn't have known they'd do that," Haruka replied.

"True, but it's still my responsibility to reclaim them," Saito sighed.

"...How bad is this creature?" Haruka asked.

"That…is a long story, so make sure you have a cup of tea," Saito warned.

"I'll make some snacks, too," Haruka replied.

"It's been a while since we last came here," Maylu noted softly to Lan as they followed their classmates to a large building, the class led by a beautiful-looking woman in a teal and purple dress-like outfit with teal boots and purple stockings with her long brown hair pulled into a roll.

"Yeah. Not since Tory got kidnapped," Lan agreed as an older man walked over, wearing a navy-blue uniform and his silver hair neatly combed.

"Hello, everyone," the man greeted, "I'm Dr. Froid, the head of the WaterWorks for all of DenTech. Here in the WaterWorks, we handle many of the utilities in the city. As you go through this tour, I hope you all pay attention to what you learn here."

"Long…long ago. In the Dark Ages of Europa, there was a kingdom ruled by a man whose name has long been erased from history itself. He was a powerful and mighty king, his Desire unmatched by any. He wanted to control everything he could see," Saito spoke, "He had his alchemists work tirelessly day and night to create the most powerful army in the world. One day, an alchemist named Gira figured it out. By infusing rare metals with the essence of powerful beasts and insects, they could create homunculi and create they did. Several sets of brightly colored Core Medals each inscribed with the image of a beast or insect were made, all ten in number. Silver Cell Medals were produced and when introduced to the Core Medals, they clustered and transformed, becoming his generals. But…all they did was exist. They had no Desire to do anything but exist. So, in rage, the King stole a Core Medal from each and destroyed all but a hawk, a tiger, and a grasshopped, secretly giving them to Gira to turn into a suit of armor for himself. The homunculi, not lacking in completion, grew restless…angered. They didn't fight for the kingdom and instead rampaged. All wanting to be complete no matter the costs…except for one."

"Who?"

"This one, Ankh, was a bird. He lived to soar free and befriended a blind girl. She gave him something that he lost: a Desire to be with others. With a Cell Medal, he created a minion from her Desire to see: a Yummy. It granted her desire…but her first sight was that of the dead bodies the Yummy slain to grant her sight. She lost her Desire and the Yummy collapsed, no longer able to fulfil a purpose. Ankh would hold her close as she died in his arms."

Haruka softly gasped, covering her mouth.

"Ankh, seeking atonement, helped the King to face his brethren, now known as the Greeed. They fought with the King becoming the first OOO. Ankh would steal the Core Medals from the Greeed, letting the King use their power to fight them and conquer the lands. In a final battle with them, the King backstabbed Ankh, ripping several Core Medals from him and scanned them all at once. He couldn't handle it and he and the Greeed turned into a stone coffin, waiting for the day the seal made by the King's belt to be broken and let them free once more," Saito finished before pulling out some Cell Medals, laying down one based on the Taka Core Medal, "And like I said, their names are Ankh…Uva…" he laid down one showing a stag beetle, "...Mezool…" a whale, "...Gamel, him you treat as an Autistic child with the power to throw skyscrapers when upset…" he laid down a rhino, "...and the one that correlates to the ones stolen, Kazari." He put down a lion, "Kazari is a chronic backstabber. If he can get an advantage, he will use it. He takes on the form of a humanoid feline with red eyes and studded jacket with dreadlocks. His human form is a teenage boy with platinum blonde hair with dreadlocks-yes, Greeed can take on human forms to blend in. Never be alone around him or things get dangerous for you."

"What does he do?"

"It's not him; it's his Yummy," Saito corrected, "All Greeed have their Yummy do things differently. Gamel? He makes them using himself because he's special. Ankh? His hatch from an egg and make a nest to fill with one's Desire. Mezool? You produce an eggsack filled with tiny fish Yummy that you make grow as your Desire gets out of control. Uva's come out of you and eat the thing you Desire a lot. Kazari? His Yummy basically turns you into a pregnant person that forces you to fulfil your Desire until they eventually engulf you in their bodies and you need outside help to get freed."

Haruka gulped and nodded, "Noted."

"I'm sorry if I'm frightening you with this, but unless I have like, oh I don't know, live action shows, having to explain the nitty gritty is evil," Saito sighed.

"...Why live action shows?"

"Because I don't know how to read the novels," Saito admitted before the faucet erupted with water, "Whoa now!"

"Oh my!" Haruka gasped as Saito ran to another closet by the kitchen, grabbed a metal rod, and went outside to the backyard, "?" The water turned off instantly and Saito walked inside, "Oh!"

"...Where was the field trip their class was going to?" Saito asked.

"The WaterWorks," Haruka replied as she looked outside, seeing houses spraying out large amounts of water.

"..." Saito sighed, "Right. Because of course a field trip can attract chaos…" he walked to the door, "I'm going to head out towards it just in case this correlates."

Haruka nodded, "Good luck."

Outside, Saito ran out towards a simple red bicycle. He had bought it the second day he had been living with the Hikari family with his Zenny. As he pedaled down the road, he pulled out his SoulCellular and his card.

"Henshin!" Saito called out, slashing the card through the slit.

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: TA-MA-SHII~!=

He biked through the astral projection…and the powerful engine roared as Soul drove down the road. The bicycle has transformed drastically. In its place was an obsidian and crimson Harley-Davidson Tri Glide Ultra 2020 themed after a black dragon, its engine sounding like the roar of a dragon.

"I don't understand. We've never had this kind of problem before," Dr. Froid frowned, looking at the water on the floors as maintenance workers were working at fixing the cracks in several pipes.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Yes?" Dr. Froid asked, turning around to look at a coworker.

"The pipes are cracking and bursting all over town," he informed, "If this keeps up, the entire city will be flooded."

"What?!"

"Sir, we need Iceman," he urged.

"I…don't have him," Dr. Froid admitted, gritting his teeth in frustration, "He's with my son and his classmates on their field trip in Yoka."

"?! B-But sir…"

"I can still do something, but I'll need to get to the control room," Dr. Froid spoke before turning to Ms. Mari, "Please excuse me, Ms. Mari. Because of the ongoing emergency, we'll have to reschedule the tour."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Froid. I completely understand," Ms. Mari assured before turning to her students, "Everyone, I'm afraid we have to go. Please line up single file and head to the bus."

"It's really serious now," Maylu noted softly.

"This feels like the shortest field trip in the history of our school," Lan noted before his PeT went off.

"Lan! Lan, you have an emergency call!" Megaman called out, "It's from NetSa…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I-I know!" Lan quickly replied before looking sheepishly at Maylu, "Sorry, I, um…I need to take this. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I'll let Ms. Mari know you had to use the restroom," Maylu replied.

"Thanks!"

"Megaman~! Why did you almost blow our cover?! Being a NetSaver is supposed to be top secret!" Lan scolded as he stood in the bathroom.

"And I thought we agreed to tell Roll and Maylu and ask them to keep it secret so we'd have at least one confident each at school," Megaman replied.

"Whatever. Just bring up the call," Lan huffed before the screen changed to show Famous at a desk.

"I have a mission for you, Agent Light."

"Yes, sir!" Lan replied before blinking a few times, "A-Agent Light?"

"Correct. You are a NetSaver now, so you will be addressed as such," Famous responded, "It was your mentor's idea to give you the codename 'Agent Light' to help with anonymity on the chance these calls are being listened in on."

"Understood. So…wait. Is 'Famous' your codename then?"

"Indeed. I won't tell you my real name, however. You'll have to earn it," Famous replied, "But let's get back to the matter at hand. There are reports of random flooding all over the city, primarily through sinks, showers, bathtubs, and especially toilets."

"Toilets?" Lan repeated before shaking his head, "I'm on it, sir! My class was on a field trip to the Waterworks and the tour just got canceled because of the flood reports."

"How convenient," Famous noted, "Now get to work. We've informed Dr. Froid that you would be coming and likely have support in Special Operative 'Agent Mask.'" Lan recognized who it'd likely be, "Yes, it's him. Now get moving, Agent Light. Streetcam footage shows Agent Mask is making his way there now."

"Understood, Mr. Famous."

"It's just 'Famous.'"

"So…you're heading for the WaterWorks," Regal noted as they pressed a button on their throne, "We can't have that, now can we?"

Out in space, the satellite deployed its Dimensional Area Generators once again. They soared down to the ground and split apart, stabbing down in a large area. They whirled to life and quickly surrounded the area outside of the WaterWorks just as Soul turned a corner for a straightway to it.

"Bubbleman must have been beaten quicker in the Network than I thought," Soul noted, "Wait…the WaterWorks aren't in the Dimensional Area." he pulled out his phone and quickly dialed a phone number.

"Famous."

"Agent Mask. Do not inform Agent Light about the Dimensional Area. I'm inside of it and he needs to focus on the problem at the WaterWorks," Soul advised.

"EEK!"

Soul looked ahead to see purple humanoid NetNavis with saucer-like purple heads with gleaming yellow eyes inside of them appearing and starting to attack the area. He narrowed his eyes as he saw a group rocking and shoving the sides of the schoolbus Ms. Mari's class was in.

"I've got this," Soul stated before hanging up, 'HeelNavis?! But why do the Darkloids have them?! …Aw crap, it's because of me, isn't it?'

He revved his engine and sped up. With a roar, he quickly spun around, slamming his back wheels into one side of the group of HeelNavis around the bus, making the others stop and stare while the ones he hit were sent flying away. Soul jumped out of the bike and his SoulSlicer glinted in the distorted sunlight before he land and swung down at one HeelNavi, sending sparks flying. He charged at another three, swinging horizontally and sending sparks flying from the impacts.

"Whoa~!"

"Holy cow! D-Do you see him?!"

"What kinda NetNavi is that?"

"He looks scary…"

Maylu patted the frightened female classmate of hers, "Don't worry, he's a good guy."

"You know that NetNavi, Maylu?" Ms. Mari asked.

"Not fully, but I do know his name: Kamen Rider Soul," Maylu replied.

"Kamen Rider?" one of her classmates repeated.

Several HeelNavis surrounded Soul, keeping out of reach of his blade, "Gh…How can I hit them?" his chest glowed before a card manifested that he quickly grabbed, the image showing his sword in the form of a blaster, "Hm?" he sliced it through his SoulCellular, "Let's see."

=KENKA CARD: SOULBUSTER=

The blade part folded down, the sharp side of the blade opening up and flipping upwards to the sides. A second handle flipped out and Soul grabbed it, looking down at his transformed weapon. He chuckled before spinning around and pulling the trigger on the original handle, causing a red laser to shoot out and slam into a HeelNavi, knocking them away. He looked to see an attachment on the SoulBuster and attached his SoulCellular to it.

=SET=

Another card manifested, showing the image of Soul performing rapid fire on it. He quickly slashed it through his SoulCellular.

=KENKA CARD: RAPID FIRE=

His 'eyes' flashed and he pulled the trigger, letting loose a barrage of laser fire that sent sparks flying from all the HeelNavis surrounding him. He reverted his SoulBuster back into the SoulSlicer and another card manifested, revealing astral duplicates coming out of him.

=KENKA CARD: MULTI=

Three more copies of himself appeared, one with the SoulSlicer and two with SoulBusters, "Ready boys?" he pointed ahead before they charged at the HeelNavis, "IKUZE!"

"The controls should be somewhere below. We'll Jack In through there," Lan spoke as he walked through a hallway before stopping, seeing several red lights ahead, "Huh?"

"Halt," a mechanical voice spoke before a group of strong-looking humanoid robots emerged from the darkness, "This hallway is restricted."

"Security robots?" Lan pondered, "What happened to the big one with four legs?"

"Lan, this isn't the time. Show them your badge," Megaman advised.

"Oh right," Lan nodded as he opened his PeT and pushed a button, causing a hologram to manifest and show a spinning hexagon with the letters 'N' and 'S' on it with the word 'NETSAVER' below them, "..."

"Identification accepted," the lead robot informed before they moved to the side, "Have a good day, officer."

"Whoa~" Lan awed before making his way past them, "This is gonna be super easy!" he soon made it into a large room with several water tanks lining one wall, "Looks like we can use this terminal."

"Jack me in, Lan," Megaman instructed.

"I know!" Lan replied, "Jack In, Megaman! Power Up!"

Megaman quickly entered the Network, the lands as blue as water. He looked around before spotting a tower in the distance, its center resembling a sphere of glowing red light. His eyes widened as he saw it surrounded by several Aqua-Attribute Viruses.

"I've found the problem! It's a Virus Swarm!" Megaman replied as he headed for the tower, "They're altering the WaterWorks' system!" he quickly fired his MegaBuster, taking down several of them only for more to replace them, "Gh…I need to find the one in charge of them all."

"What do we have?"

"Shrimpy Viruses, Swordy3s, and those Jellyfish ones from the Aquarium when the robotic fish went on a rampage," Megaman replied.

"Makes sense that they're all Aqua-Attributes. Sending you ElecSword!" Lan declared.

Megaman's MegaBuster turned into the ElecSword and he quickly went to work, slicing through several of the water-based Viruses with ease. He prepared to strike another when a harpoon shattered his ElecSword. He stumbled back and turned to see who had attacked him. The figure was a short, plump NetNavi in a diving suit in shades of blue. Over his plump face with large lips was a green visor. His fingers were all yellow and he had armored yellow flippers for feet. Atop his head was a flashlight attachment.

"Who are you?" Megaman demanded.

"My name is Bubbleman, blub! You better remember it!" the NetNavi declared.

"Bubbleman?" Megaman repeated.

"That's right! You won't get in my way, blub!" Bubbleman declared before deploying several bubbles as big as him and sent them at Megaman, the Blue Bomber quickly popping them with his MegaBuster, "Gah! My bubbles got popped?!" he grinned and several jellyfish deployed, "Jelly Viruses, swarm!"

"Oh great!" Megaman grit his teeth in annoyance.

"I am so glad we got a spare ElecSword!" Lan noted as Megaman was rearmed and began to slice through them all.

"Heh. Keep at it, tire yourself out, blub," Bubbleman whispered, sneering, "I'll make it next to impossible for people to use their toilets."

"Almost done," Soul grunted as he looked at the remaining five HeelNavis before a final card depicting him performing a Rider Kick formed and he sliced it through his SoulCellular.

=KENKA CARD: HISSATSU!=

Black and red flames erupted around him as he reeled his right leg back and crouched down on his left leg. The flames swirled and condensed to envelop his right foot. The HeelNavis fired their Busters at Soul, who proceeded to perform several flips towards them before going high into the air. The HeelNavis looked up to see him falling down towards them in a flying side kick.

"Tamashii Kick!" Soul roared, slamming the fire-engulfed foot into the lead HeelNavi, sending them crashing into the others before they all exploded while he did a backflip and landed by the schoolbus, "Hmph." he looked up at the students, driver, and Ms. Mari, "You all okay?"

"W-We're fine, Soul!" Maylu replied, "But Lan's still in the WaterWorks!"

Soul nodded, "Don't worry. It should be…" he watched as more Dimensional Area Generators fell and surrounded the WaterWorks before they caused the Dimensional Area to expand and add it, "...alright. All will be fine." he gave a thumbs up to them, "Don't worry. I'll make sure he gets out safely."

"Thank you, Mr. Soul," Ms. Mari thanked.

"No 'mister' here, ma'am," Soul chuckled, "I'm Soul, Kamen Rider Soul."

"A Dimensional Area now?!" Lan gawked before Bubbleman appeared before him.

"I've arrived!" Bubbleman cackled.

"..." Lan blinked a few times, "...Um…"

"What?! What is it?! I'm a scary evil NetNavi, so why aren't you panicking, blub?!" Bubbleman ranted.

"...You're…kinda…w-well…"

"What, blub?! What am I, huh?!" Bubbleman demanded as he glared up at Lan.

"...sh-short…"

"...HAH?!" Bubbleman gawked after a moment.

"Got ya! SynchroChip, Download!" Lan declared.

"Huh?! L-Lan, wait a second, wait a…!"

"CrossFusion!" Lan declared, transforming into CF Megaman, "Bubbleman, hope you're ready because I'm gonna send you back to the Network!"

"Good luck with that, because nothing's gonna stand in the way of my plans!"

"And what even are they, huh?"

"Heh. I'm gonna make people feel fear, chaos, and natural water, blub!"

"...Natural water?"

"To make water from the East flow in at once, and then getting control of the sewer system programs, I'll make it all go through everyone's toilets!" Bubbleman declared.

"...What?" CF Megaman looked dumbfounded.

"Just imagine folks on the toilet when-BLU-BLAM!-the water exploded out and slams them into the ceiling!" Bubbleman laughed.

"E-Ew…" CF Megaman crinkled his nose behind his mask.

"How's that?! Isn't it terrifying, blub?!" Bubbleman laughed.

"Lan…That doesn't seem scary, so why are you getting so afraid?"

"It's terrifying, Megaman! You wouldn't get it at all!"

"Lan…"

"Seriously, you've been really annoying today!"

"Huh?! A-Annoying?!"

Bubbleman snickered, "I've got him so scared, he's talking to himself, blub. Now all I gotta do is switch the valve and my plans are complete!"

"Hold it!" CF Megaman shouted.

"Nope!" Bubbleman replied, snapping his fingers and sent a bubble at him.

"Shotgun, Download!" CF Megaman declared before a moment passed and nothing happened, "...Um…"

"Lan, you used it before you put any BattleChips into the PeT again," Megaman groaned.

"What?! Why didn't you say something!"

"I tried to, but you jumped the Buster like always!"

"Gh…Fine!" CF Megaman formed the MegaBuster.

"Lan, wait!" Megaman panicked before CF Megaman fired at the bubble, popping it…only to scream and barely avoid the mechanical piranha that came out of it, "He hides things inside of the bubbles…"

"Why didn't you say something sooner!?" CF Megaman complained.

"You moved too fast!" Megaman argued, parts of CF Megaman's CrossFusion starting to unravel.

"I'm gonna move the valve now~!" Bubbleman laughed before a finger tapped his shoulder.

"Excuse me."

"Blub?" Bubbleman turned to earn a fist from Soul to his face, "GAH!"

"Hmph," Soul cracked his knuckles, "Bubbleman."

"You know him, Soul-Sensei?" CF Megaman asked as Soul helped him onto his feet.

"Not personally, but I've heard of his reputation."

"A reputation~" Bubbleman beamed.

"He's a dirty coward, utilizing every trick he can to make himself seem like an incompetent idiot and has been known to engulf people inside of indestructible bubbles that turn from blue to yellow to red before exploding violently. There's rumors that he planned to use dishwashers to do that to humans, but nobody in Electopia owns a dishwasher except for wealthier people like your friend Yai's family," Soul replied, causing Bubbleman to fall over.

"Ghhh…How dare you mock me, blub…" Bubbleman growled.

"..." Soul looked at him before looking back at CF Megaman, seeing parts of his CrossFusion unravelling, "Lan, Megaman, what's wrong?"

"Lan didn't use BattleChips before we CrossFused!"

"Don't say it like that, Megaman!" CF Megaman snapped, his boots coming undone and reforming.

"..." Soul adopted a flat look behind his mask before chopping him on the head, causing the CrossFusion to burst.

"GAH!" Lan yelped, holding his head, "S-Sensei…"

"I am disappointed in you both," Soul stated, making Lan and Megaman wince, "You're arguing while a major situation is breaking out. I just had to save your classmates and teacher from a group of HeelNavis that were attacking the place and you're down here arguing instead of solving the matter."

"Chance…" Bubbleman whispered as he quickly began to turn a valve.

"Normally, a chop like that wouldn't drop CrossFusion. Yet here it did," Soul went on as Lan's eyes widened not at his statement but the giant wave of water coming for them.

"S-Sensei…"

"Why are you two arguing when you need to work together to stop this!?"

"Sensei, there's a tidal wave!"

"Drown!" Bubbleman cheered as the water slammed down on the two…before it began to spiral, "Blub?"

=SUI~SUI~SUI~SUI~!=

The water flowed and spiraled before it was sucked up into a strange glowing blue circle, filled with intricate runic words and an elaborate crystal emblem in the middle of it. Holding Lan close was a new Kamen Rider. He was donned in a black bodysuit and a black knee-length cloak with a sapphire interior. His torso was made of armor resembling chiseled blue crystals with silver detailing. On his wrists and ankles were sapphire bands trimmed in silver. On his waist was a silver henshin belt with two levers at the sides and a large black left hand trimmed in gold. Finally, his head sported a diamond-shaped sapphire for a mask, trimmed in silver to give him 'eye' and chin. He held up his left hand, the back facing Bubbleman to show a ring on his ring finger resembling his mask.

"Kamen Rider Wizard…Saa, Showtime da (Now, it's Showtime)," he calmly declared.

"Wizard?" Lan repeated before Wizard looked over his shoulder at him.

"Instead of being in awe, stop arguing with Megaman and talk," Wizard ordered before looking back at Bubbleman while he reached down to his belt and flipped the Shift Levers, causing the Aura Hand on the belt to change sides and become a right hand.

=LUPACHI MAGIC TOUCH GO! LUPACHI MAGIC TOUCH GO!=

"The same goes for you, Megaman. Talk it out or else," Wizard sternly demanded as he swiped his right hand over the Grimoire Stone inside of his Aura Hand, an orange and silver circular ring on his ring hand.

=CONNECT - PLEASE!=

The magic seal appeared once more to Wizard's side. He reached into it as Bubbleman fired off several harpoons at him from a harpoon gun in his hands. Wizard swung his hand out and a silver sword in it ripped through them all, a closed hand resembling the Aura Hand on the right side of it.

"Wh-What's with that blade, blub?!" Bubbleman demanded.

"Magic Sword-Gun WizarSwordGun," Wizard replied before he charged at Bubbleman and began to deliver several slashes, sending sparks flying from the hits.

"We gotta help him," Lan frowned as he inserted the SynchroChip after inserting some BattleChips …only for nothing to happen, "...Why isn't it working?"

"...Maybe it's us," Megaman replied.

"What?" Lan looked at his PeT screen.

Megaman had several screens up, "I can't find any anomalies in the SynchroChip or the PeT…so…it's…it's us."

"What do you mean?!"

"That! That right there is why!" Megaman pointed at Lan, frowning, "Sensei…He's right. We've been arguing all morning and just now when we needed to be focused on just fighting Bubbleman."

Lan opened his mouth to argue…only to close it with a grimace. He looked up, watching as Wizard slammed a foot into Bubbleman, throwing him away from the valves.

"Gh…Y-You jerk!" Bubbleman snapped as he sent a Virus Swarm of Jelly Viruses at Wizard, "Drown!"

=DEFEND - PLEASE=

Water erupted around Wizard, knocking away the Viruses and causing them to be deleted. Bubbleman fired off more harpoons at Wizard, who shot them out of the air with his blade now converted into a gun, casing of silver bullets falling at his feet with each shot. He grit his teeth before noticing Lan out of the corner of his eye.

"Bubble Parade!" Bubbleman shouted, unleashing a barrage of smaller, faster bubbles…at Lan.

"AH!" Lan yelped before Wizard ran before him and took the bubbles, each one sending sparks flying off his armor as they exploded against him, "SENSEI!"

"Ugh…" Wizard grunted, stumbling a bit.

"Bluhuhuhuhuhu~! And this is the guy Lord Shademan is terrified of?" Bubbleman laughed, making Lan tense.

"He…He works for the bat guy?" Lan whispered, guilt growing inside of him, 'We were facing a Darkloid all this time…and we were just arguing with each other instead of focusing on helping stop him…' he looked at his PeT's screen, "Megaman…we…we messed up."

Megaman nodded, looking just as ashamed, "We did."

"...I'm sorry," Lan apologized, "I…I'm just…I…I don't know…"

"We've both been idiots today, Lan. I'm sorry as well for what I've been doing," Megaman apologized.

"Die, Kamen Rider! Bubble Bombs!" Bubbleman shouted, deploying glowing red bubbles filled with orange bombs resembling sea urchins.

"!? SENSEI!" Lan screamed, running between them.

"LAN!" Wizard and Megaman shouted…before Wizard sighed in relief, seeing a bright light erupting from the PeT.

"About time," he whispered as the explosions struck the light and exploded harmlessly against it, the smoke of the explosions dissipating to reveal CF Megaman in Lan's place.

"Sensei, we're sorry," CF Megaman apologized.

"Good," Wizard nodded as he stood up and walked up to stand beside CF Megaman, looking like he hadn't been injured at all, "Glad you two managed to sort it out and talked it out."

CF Megaman nodded, "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Hm? …Oh, I pretended it hurt worse than it did. My armor as Water Style makes me pretty much immune to water-based attacks," Wizard admitted.

"WHAT?!" Bubbleman and CF Megaman shouted as Wizard replaced his left hand's ring with a more stylized, higher detailed version of its sapphire color.

"Now then…" Wizard began as he switched the levers of his WizarDriver again.

=SHABADOOBIE TOUCH HENSHIN! SHABADOOBIE TOUCH HENSHIN!=

"...let's give this Aqua-Element Darkloid a deep seated fear of the water," he stated, scanning the ring before holding it above his head, creating the blue magic circle.

=WATER - DRAGON !=

"D-Dragon?" CF Megaman repeated before a blue hardlight dragon erupted from the magic seal this time, roaring and encircling Wizard with bubbles and water spiraling around him, "AH!"

=JABAJABABASHĀN! ZABUN ZABŪN!=

The dragon collided with Wizard, dispersing the bubbles and water. His jacket had turned a brilliant sapphire blue with more intricate silver detailing. The sapphire crystals making up torso armor was replaced with a silver plating resembling the head of a dragon with sapphire crystals on top of its 'head.' The sapphire bands on his wrists had turned onyx black with more silver armor on his lower legs. His shoulders sported semibulky silver diamond guards with sapphire gems in them while more silver pieces decorated his mask. Behind him for a brief moment, the dragon's wings were spread out.

"Ore-tachi wa saigou no kibou da (We are the final hope)," Wizard declared.

"Final Hope?" CF Megaman repeated, Megaman's Translation Program letting him understand the declaration.

"Let's go, you two," Wizard ordered.

"Right!" CF Megaman agreed.

"Gh! Why you…Bubble Parade!" Bubbleman shouted as he quickly fired off a barrage of harpoons to go with the bubbles.

"Nice try," Wizard replied as he scanned a new ring on his right hand.

=CHŌIINE! BLIZZARD! SAIKŌ~!=

A larger version of the seal manifested and Wizard 'pushed' it with his right hand. The seal shot off like a rocket, sweeping over the oncoming attacks and even Bubbleman. The bubbles froze solid and crashed down into ice shards on the ground as the harpoons clattered to the ground in a layer of ice.

"Ah! C-c-c-cold!" Bubbleman stammered as frost covered his body before he sneezed and his snot froze solid to his face, "Ghhh~!"

"Whoa~!" CF Megaman awed.

"Finale," Wizard declared as he scanned another ring.

=CHŌIINE! SPECIAL! SAIKŌ~!=

The watery astral dragon emerged from the magic seal once more. It roared before spinning around Wizard and slammed into his back…and CF Megaman yelped in surprise at the large golden dragon tail swaying behind him, silver blade-like ridges going down the spine of it.

"Ready?" Wizard asked.

"R-Right!" CF Megaman nodded, "ElecSword, Double Download!"

With that, the two charged. The two jumped and began to slate on the ice, heading straight for Bubbleman. CF Megaman got there first, roaring as he delivered two strong slashes of his swords, leaving a deep 'X' slice into his body. The blade-like ridges on Wizard's tail shone before he did a twirl and his tail lashed out and tore right through Bubbleman. His tail and CF Megaman's swords dispersed at the same moment before Bubbleman screamed as he exploded.

"Whew…" Wizard sighed in relief.

"My body hurts so much~" Bubbleman whined, curled up in a ball with Beastman looking down at him, Shademan sitting nearby.

"The fact this guy made him use a powered up form annoys me…" Beastman grunted.

"Yes, but this was an excellent test of the UnderShirt Program we've been given to avoid Deletion," Shademan noted, "Let him recover, Beastman."

As Beastman left the smaller Darkloid alone, Bubbleman trembled, 'More…I…I want more…I swear, I will, without fail, one day make the humans cower in fear so badly that none of them can do their private business anymore, blub!' "I need…DarkChips…"

"Good work, you two. Dr. Froid contacted us and the water flow was halted just in time," Famous complimented on Lan's PeT, the two guys inside of the Astro Base.

"I couldn't do it alone," Lan admitted, "No idea if Bubbleman survived, though."

"He's crafty. If he did survive, just means we need to hit him harder next time," Saito stated.

"We can check into that later. What I'm more concerned with is why Agent Light's CrossFusion came undone."

"...Megaman and me were arguing all day," Lan admitted, "I think…it's because we weren't working together that I couldn't do anything with CrossFusion."

Saito nodded, "A deep trust is needed between NetOp and NetNavi in addition to a NetOp having a body that can handle the strain. Sadly for my students here, they lost that trust in one another for just a little bit."

"I see…So a stable synchronisation between NetOp and NetNavi is required. If you both argue, then the CrossFusion falters and eventually collapses to the point you can't perform it for a short period of time."

"I'll be instilling Trust Exercises into their training routine," Saito stated, making both boys gulp.

"Good to know," Famous nodded.

"Oh, any word about the guy who was testing them before Lan and Megaman achieved it?" Lan asked.

"Gorou is recovering as well as he can. The doctors say he should be out by the first of next month," Famous replied.

"Would it be alright if I could speak with him, offer if he would want to train and achieve it?" Saito asked.

"Really now?"

"Yeah," Saito nodded, "I want to figure out why CrossFusion didn't work for him and see if we can't get it working."

"That's quite nice of you, Agent Mask. I'll check into it and see what he says," Famous replied before ending the call.

"Huh? But…why do you wanna do that?" Lan asked.

"Because it's just you two and me, Lan," Saito replied, "Nobody can be everywhere and everywhen at once. One day, you won't be the only one who can CrossFuse and it's going to hurt…a lot." Lan grimaced at the thought, "But…it'll be something you'll appreciate as time goes on."

"Why?" Lan tilted his head.

"You'll have people who understand what you're dealing with, who you can openly talk about the things you'll experience," Saito explained, "I mean, today was pretty scary because of what was going on with CrossFusion, right?"

"Y-Yeah…" Lan admitted, frowning, "I couldn't do anything all because we were arguing." a look of guilt passed his face, "We even disappointed you."

Saito smiled softly and gave Lan a side hug, "It's alright, Lan. Do you know why I was disappointed?"

"Because we couldn't stop Bubbleman?"

"No, Megaman. It's because you two lost faith in one another. Your greatest power will always be the bond between you two, your bond with your friends and family," Saito replied, "When you forget that, you'll just be left powerless. Even twenty years from now, I betcha that if Lan got put in charge of a reunion of Ms. Mari's class and everyone in your friend group said they couldn't attend, they'd still find a way to make the time to get there because of your bonds with one another."

"Saito…" Lan whispered, feeling honestly touched by the praise, before smiling, "Right! You're absolutely right!"

"Even when we argue, we just have to remember that at the end of the day, we'll always be connected," Megaman pumped his fists.

"Attaboys," Saito chuckled, "Now, best get washed up, Lan. You had a long day and kinda smell a little funky."

"Very funny," Lan rolled his eyes…before trying to discreetly sniff himself and retched a little, "..." he dashed for the door back to his house, "D-Don't take this as me admitting I stink! I just wanna take a bath because…I just wanna!"

"Lan…" Megaman whined…from the PeT still on the table.

"Because of course he forgets his PeT," Saito sighed as he picked up the PeT, "Sorry 'bout this."

"No problem. Thanks for helping us today. We almost lost because of our arguing and..."

"It's trust that's needed most," Saito stated, "You have a good bond, but…"

"...But…?" Megaman encouraged.

"You don't fully trust Lan," Saito stated bluntly, making Megaman freeze up for a moment.

"?! H-H-How can you say that?!"

Saito narrowed his eyes, all amusement gone from his body, as he scowled in annoyance, "You know damn well what I mean…Hub Hikari."

Megaman's eyes widened in pure horror at that one, single name, "...How…?"

"Kamen Rider W CycloneJokerXtreme has the power to access all of the Earth's knowledge. You were the twin brother of Lan who died of Heart Bypass Disorder, a genetic disease you inherited from your grandmother on your father's side. Before death, your father used Spectrum to turn you into a NetNavi."

"?! …" Megaman winced before looking down.

"...Look, I won't say anything, but you need to," Saito advised, "If you're going to improve on the power of CrossFusion, you both need to be honest and fully trust in the other."

"...Wait. If you knew about me, you…"

"The Gaia Library enjoys being a tease and puts a Lock on certain books. One being 'Who is a member of Nebula' and another being 'What is the Endgame for Nebula,'" Saito replied.

"S-Seriously?"

"The World loves a good mystery story, Hub. It sucks at times, but we have to deal with it and just try to overcome what comes next," Saito stated, not wanting to really spoil things, while he continued petting Rush, 'You guys have a Destiny to be the Heroes of this world. Can't do that if I do things to make it easier. So I'm gonna enjoy being your trainer…both in fighting, class, and…' he chuckled, a glint forming in his eyes, '...getting you guys emotionally smart.'

'I'm worried about that chuckle…' Megaman thought with a worried gulp.

GT: Saito is a tough, but fair, teacher. At times, he'll say 'screw Canon,' but others he'll try to help play it out so they'll learn vital lessons.

Chapter Text

GT: Fourth chapter, folks. Hope you're enjoying this.

Shademan hissed as he glared at the stolen footage of OOO and CF Megaman's fight against Beastman, "Just how many armors does this human have?!"

Beastman grumbled as he rubbed his still healing wound, "That kick from the guy's taking longer to heal than the stupid sword slice…" he narrowed his eyes, "Using beasts against me…"

Shademan scowled, sitting on a makeshift throne as they were now in an empty warehouse their benefactor purchased in Net City's outskirts, 'Our Fortress of Darkness…destroyed by a kick of all things. What kind of power does this Kamen Rider hold?'

"Shademan," Regal spoke, a 'VOICE ONLY' screen appearing.

"I despise that Kamen Rider," Shademan hissed.

"Likewise. However…I have something to deliver," Regal informed as data appeared and formed a NetNavi that was all white with just a sharp pair of eyes along with a sphere of yellow data, "Install this within the Alpha-I. It's made from the data of these Core Medals we took from the Kamen Rider."

Shademan raised a brow before grabbing the sphere. He placed it over the blank emblem of its chest and the sphere sunk into it. Alpha-I stumbled as yellow electricity crackled off its body. It began to convulse and fall over, its frame tearing itself apart. Shademan and Beastman stepped back as an arm bulged before exploding, exposing a humanoid arm with black and gold armor resembling a tiger's arm. The legs bubbled with the sound of coins tinkling before turning into black and gold cowboy pants with a cheetah theme to them. A black and gold zipped up vest decorated the now toned torso with an emblem resembling OOO's torso with a lion, tiger, and cheetah together to make a rough image of the lion roaring made from the three on its left lapel. Finally, its head split open and exposed a feline-like head that was pitch black with red eyes and long golden dreadlocks bound with black strings. Slowly, he rose up…and a long gold curtain fell behind him, causing Beastman to splutter since it smacked him in the face.

"...Where…am I?" The NetNavi questioned, looking around and then down at himself, "What…? This…looks like me, but…"

"Greetings. I am Shademam," Shademan declared.

"...Kazari," they replied, still looking themselves over before their eyes widened, "I'm…complete? But I don't feel my Core Medals…but I do? What did you do to me?"

"Interesting… There was a conscious inside of those Core Medals of the Kamen Rider's."

"?! You know…OOO?"

Beastman huffed as he pulled himself out from under the banner, "That's the name of his armor!"

Shademan showed Kazari the photos, "This human, Saito Ryder, used the power of this OOO to defeat Beastman yesterday."

"I see…this isn't the human Ankh picked, but someone new and like that magenta bastard," Kazari compared.

"Ankh?"

"A traitor," Kazari scowled, producing a solid silver version of the tiger Core Medal to twirl between his fingers, "I was a being known as a Greeed, a being created from Desire by a king long ago."

"Greeed?" Regal repeated, hearing the third 'e' in it.

"Why haven't we heard of you before?"

"The king, the original OOO, was overcome by his own Desire. He stole our Core Medals and scanned them all at once, turning himself and us all into a stone coffin and his kingdom collapsed. Ankh freed us, but stole many of our Core Medals. I was backstabbed and thought I died, alone and unnoticed by even the humans, but…here I am," Kazari gestured, "Though…where is this place? Why do my senses feel sharper?"

"Sharper?"

"The bastard King stole destroyed a Core Medal from each Greeed and our senses ended up dulled and almost lifeless. Food was bland unless it had something strong enough to pierce our sense of taste, the world's colors were muted, voices tended to be muffled…" he shook his head.

"You have been converted into a digital being, a NetNavi," Regal informed, "Kazari…our goal…our Desire…is to destroy this world and make it our own. The betrayal you had will no longer be a thing. Will you help us deal with this Kamen Rider?"

"...Heh. Of course. My own Desire is to end those infuriating bastards," Kazari purred, "Let me demonstrate my power."

He snapped the silver Medal and tossed the halves to the side. The halves glowed before transforming into humanoid mummy-like creatures, glowing red eyes shining beneath the wrappings. They charged at Kazari, who nimbly avoided their strikes. His dreadlocks shot out, stabbing and wrapping around one. He swung his hand out and a golden tornado violently ripped into and apart the other mummy as the first was crushed.

"Cell Medals, when broken, create Trash Yummy to be utilized as grunts," Kazari informed, "But a whole Cell Medal can create a Kaijin known as a Yummy. They feed upon Desire, converting it into more Cell Medals for Greeed to harvest. Mine infect them from the inside, growing from the Desires of those they inhabit before engulfing them and 'decorate' their hosts."

"Truly now?" Shademan questioned.

"Bring me someone with strong desires, such as gluttony, battling, or helping others, and I can show you," Kazari smirked.

"What's this?" Lan asked in the Rabbit Hutch, looking up at a wall with a large banner showing a rocketship with orange 'bug eyes' and the letters 'KRC' under it.

"The Kamen Rider Club," Saito replied as he was setting stuff up at the table, "It was founded by Gentaro Kisaragi, Kamen Rider Fourze himself, to help protect the school from the Zodiarts, the Kaijin he fought."

"Kaijin?"

"It means 'monster' for a vague translation," Saito replied.

"You called Beastman that, too," Megaman noted.

"Because he gave off the vibes of one. That guy wasn't a NetNavi. He and Shademan call themselves Darkloids," Saito explained, "So I'm mentally categorizing them as Kaijin and not NetNavis."

Lan nodded before looking back at the banner, "Can we revive it?"

"Hm?"

"The Kamen Rider Club," Lan explained, "It'd be pretty awesome if we could. Having a way to better keep a lookout for Darkloids or things like them would be good."

Saito nodded, "Yeah. It would be nice." He rubbed his chin in thought, "Hey, Megaman? Are there forums for the NetColiseum? If there are, maybe we could use those as a start."

"There are. I was looking at them last night and a lot have been talking about you," Megaman replied.

"Huh?" Lan tilted his head as he looked at the screen, showing a video of Geats shooting up the Geminiman copies, "Whoa! Didn't you use that to blow up the thing destroying Net City?"

"Yeah, Geats," Saito nodded, "Wanted to practice. Also…" he looked at Megaman with a sympathetic look, "I am so sorry for what you've been eating and drinking in the Network."

"Huh? What do you mean? It's great at healing damage outside of NetBattles and Virus Busting."

"...Right. I need to learn to make holes like Rush can and give you and Roll food from this side of the connection. That is not food; that is filth. Filth~!"

"Huh?"

"Later. For now, Science lessons."

"Aw what?" Lan gawked.

"We're resting our bodies, not our minds," Saito replied, "I asked for your last report card and I can see where I need to improve upon to get your grades up."

"Aw man~!" Lan whined.

"Cheer up, Lan. We're gonna learn kinetically," Saito grinned.

"Kin-what?" Lan tilted his head.

"Lan, I checked a few of your assignments and asked your mom about some things. You sound like you learn things better by applying them than through regurgitating stuff you watch and read," Saito noted, "We'll do a few physical lessons then you'll do you homework that is related to this lesson. If you get an eighty-five or higher, I'll treat you to some snacks."

"Snacks?" Lan asked.

"Yep. Nearest candy store," Saito replied.

"Oh sweet!" Lan cheered as he ran over, "Sweets, here I come!"

Saito chuckled and the two began to do the physical lesson, 'Kids sure get motivated easily enough. Homework is meant to help you remember what the lessons were and…homework…' he frowned, 'Didn't he get into trouble because Maylu deleted his homework?'

"His homework?"

"Yeah, I'm curious about something. He and Megaman didn't notice, but Lan mentioned something about 'not going to let it get deleted this time' when I told him what I'd like for his grade to be," Saito spoke, sitting across from Haruka at the dining room table the next day.

Haruka sighed, "Oh, that assignment." she shook her head, "Lan had worked hard on the assignment that time, but Maylu deleted it."

"Wait, Maylu deleted his homework? Why?"

"She had an accident the day before and it left her hair a mess, curled upwards and she had to wear a hat to hide it. Lan pulled it off in the classroom before school began and he and Dex, a friend of theirs who moved to Jawaii a month ago, laughed at her."

"Ah, so he got his homework deleted, too?"

Haruka frowned, "No. She did it to Lan and just Lan. In fact, she actually spent time with Dex at an arcade later."

"Yikes," Saito flinched, "That's awful to hear and messed up thinking about it. She doesn't seem like someone who'd do something like that."

"Furthermore, a terrorist organization was after my boys and sent a challenge letter through her and Roll…and the two went instead of ever telling the boys," Haruka went on, shaking her head, "I swear, the idiocy of it all. Megaman was able to get there in time once Dex told Lan what was going on and Megaman intentionally took a hit that Roll could have easily avoided. Or she could've just gotten hit herself and dealt with the consequences."

"I'm guessing they managed to get over it after the fight with the terrorist considering they're still friends?"

"Not immediately. In fact, Lan was still upset with her," Haruka replied, "It didn't help that Megaman didn't understand he was still angry at her and they got into an argument that led to him tossing his PeT to the ground and came straight home. When I heard the story…well…" she inhaled, exhaled sharply, and drank her entire cup of tea before pouring another cup of it, "I had to tell her exactly what she did wrong and why it was wrong when she came to give Megaman back since she found him. I also let their teacher, Ms. Mari, know about what Maylu did and why it happened. I also let her know Lan would not be attending school for a few days."

"...Why?" Saito asked, not sure if he'd like the answer.

"Lan is one of the healthiest boys in his school, but when he gets upset and stressed out like what happened that day? It's like his immune system tanks severely and he immediately gets a terrible cold or flu," Haruka replied, "He ended up with a flu that time and Megaman was in a panic the whole time he was sick."

"Oof…" Saito grimaced, "Okay, so try not to stress the poor kiddo out then. Got it."

"He was out of school for at least a week and I refused to allow Maylu to see him even once and even turned off Lan's computer so she couldn't use Roll to try to speak or check in on him," Haruka went on.

"Makes sense. She was the cause of it all, so best to remove the cause from the situation. So…how did it go from 'keep away from my son' to 'oh hello, glad to see you?'"

"That whole week? Maylu spent it in in-school suspension for deleting Lan's homework," Haruka stated, "Furthermore, her grade for that assignment was set to a zero and she's not allowed to enter the classroom until Ms. Mari arrives now. She has to wait outside the teacher's office now and walk with Ms. Mari." Saito nodded, "That whole time in ISS, she had to write a meaningful and honest apology to Lan about what she did. She could not use a single attempt to redirect blame to him and her letter would be immediately shredded right in her face if there was even one sentence that even sounded like she was trying to shift the blame."

"It took her the whole week to do that?" Saito asked in surprise, 'Wow. I know anime her was stubborn, but…'

"No. Just the first two days," Haruka replied, "The rest was put into making sure she wouldn't do it ever again."

"Like not being allowed into the classroom until she arrives with Ms. Mari from the office," Saito noted.

"Yes. Sabotaging another student is a large stain that will be on her permanent record, one she will never be able to have forgotten," Haruka noted, "There were talks about having Lan or her transfer out of Ms. Mari's class or the school all together, but Lan had been listening in on our conversation and pleaded for that to not happen."

"Seriously? Wasn't he still upset with her?"

"No," Haruka shook her head, "He had been wanting to see her after the second day. It was like he knew exactly when she finished the letter. It was a bit saddening to tell him that she couldn't be around him until he was better."

Saito nodded, "So she wrote the letter and was allowed to give it to him?"

"No," Haruka shook her head, "The day Lan was allowed back to school, Maylu had to read the letter in front of the entire classroom. She was also warned that if she deviated from the letter or even tried to shift the blame, it was straight back to ISS for the rest of the day. From what Ms. Mari told me, the moment she finished the letter, Lan had immediately ran over and hugged her. They actually broke down into sobs. He keeps that letter in a picture frame on his desk in his room." Saito nodded as she looked at him, "We all agreed to just let it be after that. Both of them get angry for the other's sake if anyone brings it up, so don't talk about it when they're around, alright?"

Saito nodded, "I get it, Mrs. Hikari. Still…to get over it in just a few days from something that hurtful? Lan really must care a lot for Maylu."

"A few of the mothers for the students have a betting pool that changes every so often between the two," Haruka giggled before sighing, "It really took a nosedive into some more negative bets during that time and a few weeks after, some people changing their bets to them never entering a relationship and even the friendship dissolving completely before they enter Middle School."

"They still keeping those bets?"

"Sadly yes," Haruka sighed, "Me? I just had my time shortened from the original one I had for them."

"You can see it's obvious, too?"

"Oh, so much so, yes," Haruka nodded with a sigh of exasperation, "I swear the tiptoing they do is infuriating some days! It's obvious they see each other that way, but neither can just say it!"

"Well, to be fair? They are still children," Saito reminded her, "Things like that kind of upgrade from best friends to boyfriend and girlfriend is just…diffuclt for them to understand. Especially for boys." he stage-whispered to her, "We're…kinda dumb in that department, if ya don't know. At this rate, Maylu needs to woman up and be blunt with him."

Haruka giggled, "Well, maybe you can help him not be a dummy then? Have him 'woman up' instead?"

"I can try," Saito replied, snickering at the last bit, "Mainly for the fact I'm gonna have to wait for his grades to update and see if my theory on him being a kinetic learner is right."

Haruka nodded, "Honestly…I didn't think of that being something for Lan."

"It does make sense, though. Your son's quite brilliant from what I've seen, but it's like he needs to physically do things to show it," Saito nodded, "I mean…he made the wireless device that led to the current model of PeT, correct?"

Haruka nodded before looking at the stairs leading upstairs before leaning closer to him and whispered, "Lan gets royalties from it all, but we put it into a savings for him outside of a stipend for his allowance. When he's old enough, we plan to tell him about it."

"Smart move," Saito nodded before the door opened and Lan ran in, an excited look on his face.

"Mama! Saito!" Lan cheered as he ran over, his shoes in hand and slippers on his feet, "I did it! I really did it!"

"Did what? And should we be worried about a police officer coming here?" Saito asked, smirking a little.

"Saito~! I didn't do anything bad! Look!" He held up his PeT, showing his homework assignment and the grade on it: 93.

"Attaboy! You see? Kinetic learner," Saito beamed.

"We had a pop quiz on math today," Lan added, "I didn't get it at first, but then I thought about if it was calculations for a NetBattle." the screen changed to show a perfect score, "See?"

"Hm?" Haruka tilted her head as Saito looked at the questions for the pop quiz.

"Oh, I see now," Saito recognized, "Not bad. You applied your studies to scenarios that helped you understand the questions." he smiled, "So…this means the goal was met. Your friend able to come?"

"No. She has a piano lesson right now," Lan replied as he pointed to the house next door, the two separated by a large tree with a thick branch on each end reaching to the balcony on the other side…as a piano started to be heard.

"Huh…This is practice?" Saito pondered, 'Beethoven would…actually, I shouldn't say anything. He'd likely throw her out the window.'

"She's quite good at it. Maybe Lan can use this time to do his homework?" Haruka advised.

"Good idea," Saito nodded.

"Aw nuts," Lan pouted, but still went to get his homework set up while giving his PeT to Saito.

"Hm?"

"An agreement we made," Saito explained.

"He has to give the PeT to Saito when he has homework," Megaman explained, "He's gotta do it and show Saito what he did before he gets it back."

"...Huh…That's honestly a good idea," Haruka frowned, "I should've done that."

"It's alright, it's alright. But think of it this way? Lan does homework, Megaman does Network."

Megaman groaned, "That was terrible!"

"Doesn't mean you won't get out of looking around the house Network and making sure everything's fine."

"Shoot."

"If you see a Virus, then yes, do shoot."

Haruka giggled.

"Mama~!"

"Why did you buy all that?" Maylu asked in surprise, watching him wheeling along two coolers with a third stacked on them with a few bags filled with various snacks.

"Because I am correcting a massive error in the Network for two kid NetNavis and their kid NetOps who have been nothing but nice to me," Saito replied before stopping outside of Maylu's house.

"Huh?" both tilted their heads in confusion as Rush ran over.

"Arf!" Rush barked happily at Saito.

"You remember the deal?" Saito asked.

"Ruh-huh!" Rush nodded.

"Lan, you go and take Maylu on to the Astro Base," Saito ordered as Rush made a hole in the wall big enough for Saito, "I'll be in your PeT with Megaman. Please send Roll over, Maylu."

"Huh? Astro Base?" Maylu repeated before Saito entered the hole that closed once he, Rush, and the coolers were through.

"It's so awesome, Maylu," Lan grinned, offering his hand, "Come on!"

As Lan took Maylu to the Astro Base, Saito entered Lan's PeT. Rush cheered as he rode atop the three coolers. Roll appeared in a bolt of pink lightning and walked over, both NetNavis tilting their heads in confusion.

"Saito…We have snacks here," Megaman pointed out.

"I know…and I threw up from just one lick of Network ice cream."

"Huh?! But ice cream is so good!" Roll gawked.

"Yes…Human World ice cream is good," Saito replied, opening the pink cooler and tossed her a Blue Bunny strawberry shortcake bar before opening the blue cooler and tossing Megaman one from there, "Before you say anything else, try those."

Megaman tilted his head. He unwrapped it, seeing the ice cream bar on a stick covered in crumbled up strawberry shortcake. Roll followed his lead and tilted her head.

"It's…brighter than the one I get at the shop," Roll observed as she picked it up by the stick, "Cold?"

"Yeah. The ice cream cone I got was not cold at all and odd to me," Saito admitted.

Megaman looked his over before taking a bite…and his eyes widened. Creamy…but cold. And a strong juicy flavor to it all. He chewed a few times and swallowed.

"Wh-Whoa…" he whispered while Roll took a bite of hers…and gasped.

"Wh-What is this?! The creamy and fluffy texture mixed with…this…this crumbly texture…and it's all so sweet!" She observed, taking another bite, "And…and the cold…it feels nice in my mouth as it warms up and-oh! The ice cream is melting in my mouth?!"

"It's supposed to do that," Saito spoke as Megaman ate his quietly.

'This is really something else. I always felt the milk was wrong in the Network so I've avoided that…' Megaman thought, glancing at his health, 'It even works like Network food since I'm getting the same notifications.'

"Care to try other things?" Saito offered once they finished.

"Yes!" Both replied.

"Great! Pink cooler is Roll's. Blue is Megaman's. Rush gets the third," Saito informed as he held up bags, "And these are for sharing."

"Okay, Saito said this is top secret, so don't tell anyone unless he lets you," Lan warned as they entered the house.

"Alright, but…what is it?" Maylu asked.

"The Astro Base, but we also call it the Rabbit Hutch," Lan replied as he walked to the closet door and pointed down.

Maylu looked down and blinked a few times, seeing faint light shining underneath the door. She looked at Lan in confusion before he opened the door…and Maylu gasped, seeing the multicolored tunnel of light. Lan took her hand and headed inside of it, the door closing behind them. They walked up to the sliding door and it opened up, revealing the moon base. Lan let go of her hand and ran in…only to yelp as he floated in the air and did a few flips.

"Ah! The gravity got flipped off!" Lan yelped.

"L-Lan! What's-EEK!" Maylu yelped as she started floating the moment she ran inside, her hands shot down to her skirt to keep modest, "Lan!"

"H-Hold on! I've got it! I've got it!" Lan called, managing to use a wall as a springboard and flew over to another wall with a lever on it and pulled it, causing the two to land on their feet, "Phew…Saito must have forgot to turn it back on before he left."

"Wh-What was that?!" Maylu gawked.

"Gravity control," Lan replied before pulling another lever and the window was revealed.

"Is that the Earth?!" Maylu exclaimed in shock.

"Yep! Saito made that tunnel and it leads here," Lan explained, "On his first night with us, he took us walking across the moon. We even took pictures and Papa hit a golfball! He even has this super awesome Kamen Rider form named Fourze who looks like an astronaut with a rocket-shaped helmet that can make all these cool attachments for his arms and legs!"

"Whoa~" Maylu awed.

"WHAT IS THIS TASTE?!" both jumped and Lan pulled his PeT out, seeing the stunned faces of Roll and Megaman as Saito grinned.

"What's wrong?" Lan asked.

"We've been gyped by the Network!" Megaman exclaimed.

"I can't go back to eating Network food…I just can't," Roll muttered as she hugged a bag of Doritos.

"Hah! You see? You see?! And you two probably kept wondering why Rush never eats things in the Network and always leaves to the Human World to get something to eat!" Saito beamed, "And just think of this: these are just snacks. What will actual meals taste like, hm?" he yelped as the two were immediately upon him, begging and pleading so quick it sounded like chipmunks chittering, "Whoa! Whoa now! Heel, heel, heel! I'd be happy to get you some of Mrs. Hikari's cooking when it's ready, but I don't know how to go in and out on my own yet. I need some lessons from Rush, so he has to be the one who…"

"...Um…What's going on?" Lan asked, watching as the two were now holding Rush and tempting the dog with praises, cuddles, and affectionate scratching.

"Showing them the major difference between Network slop and Human World snacks," Saito shrugged before a loud bark from Rush made him look to see him managing to get out of their hugs and into a hole with his goods, "Ah! Rush! Wait a second, wait a second! I don't know how to…get…out…" he facepalmed, "And I have the bags with your snacks, you two."

"Aw come on!" Lan groaned.

"I take partial responsibility for the dog running away," Saito admitted, "But primary blame goes to these two for overwhelming the pupper."

"We're sorry," both NetNavis apologized, looking honestly guilty.

"Hey, you don't apologize to me; you apologize to the doggo you both spooked off."

"Why did you two do that anyway?" Maylu asked.

"Their Desire went out of control," Saito replied.

"Desire?" Lan repeated.

"It's something dangerous if you have too much of it," Saito replied, "Too little and you're little more than a husk, but too much and you grow out of control. And you need to get a strong hold on your Desires thanks to whoever stole the Core Medals."

"Why?" the kids asked.

"Because they could revive a very dangerous Kaijin known as the Greeed, who can use Cell Medals to create monsters made from your Desire and cause you to fall under the deep control of your Desire. And with the Core Medals they took, that Desire will literally eat you from the inside out and shove you into their body that you made."

Rush sighed in relief as he ate a bag of fruit snacks. That was ridiculous and overwhelming! He never saw Roll and Megaman ever act like that! Then again…he had a bit of the same reaction when he first ate his first piece of Human food. He frowned, realizing he needed to go back. He prepared to jump off and summon a hole to go back to them when Beastman's claws grabbed his head.

"ARF?!"

"Gotcha," Beastman growled before turning to Kazari, "How about this one?"

"Hmm…Yes, I can see a strong Desire inside of this one," Kazari noted before pulling out a Tora Cell Medal, "Let your Desire consume you."

He held the coin up to Rush's forehead, causing a coin slot to manifest on it. Before Rush could do a thing, Kazari inserted the Cell Medal into the slot. The dog froze…before a few tattered, yellowed bandages began to emerge as small patches on his skin. Rush's eyes flashed yellow and Beastman released him. Rush landed on his feet before turning to the bag of snacks and the cooler…before he began to tear into the bag, ripping open one of the bags of snacks and began to devour it greedily.

"...He's just eating," Beastman pointed out.

Kazari chuckled, "Of course he is. His current Desire is to eat and eat he shall. More and more until it overwhelms him and turns him into my Yummy. Even now, I hear the Cell Medals being produced."

Beastman tilted his head, "Seriously?"

"Just keep an eye on him," Kazari assured.

"How did you even get into the Network the first time?" Lan asked.

"The first time? I wasn't really thinking at all to be honest," Saito admitted, lying on the floor with his SoulCellular in one hand and the bag of snacks in the other, "I don't even remember what I was thinking about."

"Amnesia kinda sucks, doesn't it?" Roll asked.

"Amnesia?" Lan repeated.

"My name, random bits of memory, and what I know about Kamen Riders are all I know," Saito replied, closing his eyes, "But that doesn't help with this." he dropped his arm and the phone tapped the ground, a spark coming off it, "Really wish I could go out there. I've got stuff I bought for you as a reward for actually applying yourself and validating what we both thought."

"AH!"

Saito opened his eyes to see Lan and Maylu looking down at him in surprise. He blinked a few times and sat up, seeing he was in the Astro Base.

"...Maybe you gotta wish for it to happen?" Lan guessed, causing Maylu to facepalm.

"...I am going to practice this later. For now…" he put the bag on the table and pulled out a bag of fruit snacks with soda-themed gummies mixed in, "I just need to enjoy a snack before dinner." He took a bite of one, "Ahh…Been a while since I last had one of these a…Hm?" He blinked as something under his shirt around his stomach area began rumbling, "…Was that my stomach?"

He turned from the two and lifted his shirt up, revealing a transparent astral projection of a device seemingly growing from his abdomen. It was a red mechanical mouth with small yellow teeth with what seemed to be a tongue sticking from the lower jaw, but its mechanical nature was supplemented by the crank lever on the right and the large button on the left. He was about to comment when it suddenly opened as a black circular unit could be seen in the back of its 'throat' which began glowing with light before it formed into a small rectangular package that fell out. It was revealed to be some sort of little candy bag-shaped item with letters reading "Poppin' Gummy." It seemed to have a little purple face with two eyes peering through the packaging which began blinking before flipping up and looking around. Several more popped out.

"...What the…?" Lan blinked a few times as one waddled over to them.

"Aww~! It's adorable," Maylu cooed, letting it hop into her hand, "How did you do that?"

"I don't know. I just ate a fruit snack and…" he ate two soda-shaped gummy candies…causing six more to join, but three were orange with 'Kickin' Gummy' on it and the other three were blue with 'Punchin' Gummy' on them, "...That happened." He frowned, "This is gonna bother me something fierce."

"I wonder what else will make them," Lan pondered as he looked at the snacks on the table.

"Moderation, Lan. Remember that we have an hour before dinner's ready, so don't spoil your appetite on snacks," Saito warned as he got a washbin and put it into another room with a clear window to it, "Also, do not touch the coke and mentos. That's your chemistry lesson tonight."

"Chemistry? What's that?" Maylu asked.

"A type of science that focuses on chemical manipulation and their reactions. He's learning it sooner to better understand his current lessons at school," Saito replied as the little creatures followed after him into the room, carrying the bottles of coke and the bag of mentos, "Huh…Strong little guys when you've got a bunch together, eh?" they all cheered at the praise, "...Gochizo."

"Huh?" both kids tilted their heads.

"I believe they're called 'Gochizo,'" Saito stated, earning cheers from the creatures, "They approve."

"Nice! …Think we can test what snacks will make more of them?" Lan asked.

"Alright. But serving sizes only," Saito replied, "Remember, dinner in an hour. Though you two should send Megaman and Roll out to find Rush. They need to apologize to the little guy for overwhelming him."

"Right," both nodded.

Rush growled and snarled as he finished the last thing in the cooler. More…he needed more! He slapped the ground and a jagged hole formed that he went through. Beastman gawked.

"Where did he go?" Beastman asked.

"Somehow…He's on Earth," Kazari replied, earning a look from Beastman, "Any Yummy I create I can track anywhere. Seems that it extends between the Network and Earth." he shrugged, "This new body created for me is something I'm still learning from as well."

-linebreak-

'I'd like to ground Megaman, but I suppose this is punishment enough,' Haruka thought as the four ate a nice rich pork curry…as roughly five dozen Gochizo of various shapes and colors were scattered around, a few even falling out a window, 'I guess I'll have to wait another day for him to try his first curry.'

'We couldn't find Rush at all. Did he hide on Earth?' Megaman pondered

'Oh Rush…' Roll thought in worry before she noticed the Gorilla Candroid paused in its helping with cleaning the counter with the Gochizos "Hm?"

The Gorilla Candroid slowly stood up straight…before it started spinning its arms and letting out loud hoots. Saito froze midbite and his head snapped to it.

"Sugar honey iced tea," Saito whispered.

"What's it doing?" Lan asked before Saito quickly finished the curry.

"Thank you, it was delicious. Gotta go!" Saito quickly spoke as he ran out.

Haruka gulped, "Saito warned me if Gori makes that sound."

"What's wrong?" Maylu asked before yelping as a Batta Candroid and an orange Candroid resembling a peacock got on the table, "Oh!"

The feathers of the Kujaku Candroid spun rapidly and let out a light to show a holographic screen. The Batta's eyes shined and the screen changed, showing a buffet.

"Hey, that's the Golden Corral that opened last month," Maylu recognized before the footage moved in and to a window…showing a plump feral Rush devouring plate after plate at a table, "Rush!?"

"What happened to him?!" Lan gawked.

"What's with the bandages?" Megaman pondered, spotting them growing out of Rush's skin.

Haruka gasped, covering her mouth in realization and horror, "A Yummy…"

"A what?" Lan and Maylu asked.

"Saito told me. Yummy are creations of Desire, making those who are used to make them go out of control and be consumed by their current Desire," Haruka explained, "This one is made by this one Greeed named 'Kazari.'"

"How do you know, Mrs. Hikari?" Maylu asked.

"Saito," Haruka replied, "The Yummy is inside of Rush and will consume him whole when it matures."

"Consume?!" The two shouted in horror.

"Ahhh~ Just listen to the sounds of the Cell Medals growing," Kazari chuckled, watching the security feeds with Beastman.

"So what happens next?"

"Once it makes enough, it will devour the host completely."

Beastman gawked at that, stunned by the blunt response, "Did you say it eats its way out?"

"Yep," Kazari replied before seeing Saito running into the restaurant, "Hm?"

"Ma'am, please, you have to evacuate the restaurant," Saito pleaded, "There is a dangerous genetic experiment inside that is about to go on a rampage."

"Nice try," the woman huffed.

"Lady, I am serious here. Haven't you noticed one customer eating everything faster than your cooks can make more?"

"H-Huh? What are you…?" she began as a waiter ran over.

"K-Krissy! B-Big trouble! The food's being all gobbled up and they're running out of stock!" the waiter called.

"HUH?!" the woman gasped.

"It's by a very fat dog, right? Getting fatter with the more food he's eating?" Saito asked.

"Y-Yes! That's exactly it!" the waiter replied.

"Y…You can't be serious!" Krissy gawked.

"Ma'am, please. You need to evacuate the building right now. I can handle the dog, but it's imperative that no one is here but the workers or there will be a panic," Saito advised, "I'm going to need two of the strongest workers you've got…and a ham on the bone."

Lan and Maylu stopped on their rollerskates and scooter respectively in front of the buffet, watching as two workers and Krissy were having people escorted out of the building. Lan frowned before spotting a side entrance that was going unnoticed. He nudged Maylu and pointed to it. She nodded and the two ran inside, hearing Rush groaning. They quietly made their way to the main area of the restaurant and stifled gasps. Rush was swollen from all the food inside of him to the point he looked like he was filled up like a balloon with mud. The chair under him groaned, barely keeping up with how much he weighed…yet the dog was still stuffing his face with food, despite the look in his eyes that he wanted to stop, struggling without any results with his body with tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I'm going to be sick…" Megaman gurgled.

"Rush…" Roll whimpered.

"NOW!" Saito's shout went off.

Two burly chefs roared as they ran out and grabbed Rush. The dog yelped as his body began to struggle with them. The two struggled to get him out of the chair and Saito whistled sharply. Rush looked to see him before them…holding a big bone with ham on it.

"Yoo-hoo~" Saito taunted, "You want this? Come get it~! Don't let go of him, you two! Trust me, you need to keep holding him as I'm doing this taunting!"

"What's he doing?" Maylu whispered.

"Come on, you greedy Yummy. Come out of the dog and you get the food!"

A bright light began to shine from Rush's stomach. His body began to convulse as the fat began to vanish as something began to pull itself out from the light, looking like a decaying mummy. The last of the fat on Rush vanished and the dog went slack in the arms of the chefs as the mummy rose up, roaring. The chefs screamed on seeing the mummy.

"Wh-What is that?!" one asked.

"My problem," Saito replied, "Hurry and get out of here. Also…I'll write a check for the repairs to the place later."

The mummy hissed and rasped before hugging itself as a yellow aura began to waft off it. The blackened skin shined before it exploded, bandages going into shreds, as a new figure stood. It resembled a humanoid cat with blue fur yet was immensely overweight with twisted growths on its shoulders. A pair of blue cat arms draped around its neck like an untied scarf while its yellow fur-coated hands had spikes growing out of the knuckles. Its head seemed like a cat's at first, but emerging from underneath the upper jaw was a human face with yellow skin. A myriad of strands of fur stuck straight up on its back and shoulders as it hissed before gagging and coughed up a hairball engulfed in yellow flames, striking at Saito, who rolled out of the way and allowed it to eat the dropped food. The two chefs ran off, still screaming, but ended up dropping the barely conscious Rush on the floor.

"Is that…a Yummy?" Lan whispered, eyes wide in shock.

"Ewww…ew-ew-ew-ew…" Maylu whispered in disgust, "It has two faces melded together and…ghh…"

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: TAM-MA-SHII!=

Soul grunted as he sliced through another hairball attack. He roared as he charged and swung his sword, only to bounce off its folds of flab. Soul huffed before swiping several times, each one bouncing off its fat. The Neko Yummy rowled in laughter before delivering several strikes with its paws, sending him stumbling back.

"Ghhh…In that case…" Soul opened his SoulCellular and typed '1-0-1' into it.

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: BIRTH!=

A light shined around his belt, turning it pitch black and the buckle transformed. It was primarily silver with hints of black in it. In the center was a metallic green and silver orb with a gold knob on the right. On the left was a coin slot for a coin. Soul held up a Cell Medal.

"Henshin!" Soul declared, inserting the Cell Medal into the slot and turned the gold knob until the orb split open with a loud popping sound.

=POP!=

An astral image of the orb manifested around Soul with much smaller ones appearing within. The smaller ones popped open, releasing bits and pieces that quickly converged on Soul before the large one opened. The Rider replacing Soul's armor wore a black jumpsuit under bits of silver and metallic green plating. He had twelve half clear/half metallic green orbs on his arms, shoulders, hips, knees, torso, back, head, and belt. The belt had a Cell Medal visible on the left side while a metallic gold knob was on the right side. His masked helmet had the orb at the top while black plating covered the eye area and extended back to resemble two flat, curved horns. Silver plating covered the mouth area.

"Oh great…Birth," Kazari grumbled.

"But…weren't we waiting for that?"

"No. That's his name. Kamen Rider Birth."

"...That has got to be the dumbest name for all these armors ever," Beastman replied after a moment, "...Of all time."

"Tch. And I can't stop him from destroying my Yummy before I can get those Cell Medals," Kazari scowled, watching as Birth slid another Cell Medal into the slot and turned the knob.

"No need to worry, Kazari. You are with Nebula now."

=DRILL ARM=

The Receptacle Orb on his left arm opened up, dispensing machinery. It coalesced into a bulky drill with the tip and sides blue. It spun and Birth rammed it into the Kaijin's torso. The Cell Medals poured out of the Yummy magnetized onto the drill with each strike. He flicked it and the coins went through the air and landed in an empty milk canister beside the Gorilla Candroid.

"...Where did that come from?" Lan asked, the two kids blinking a few times before the place shook…and a Dimensional Area materialized, "?!"

"The finisher," Birth declared as he inserted a pair of Cell Medals into the slot and cranked again.

=CELL BURST=

Energy gathered around his drill before he charged at the Neko Yummy with a roar. He swung his fist at the feline…only for elongated dreadlocks to ensnare his limbs. Before Birth could react, he screamed as he was sent smashing into the buffet tables, shattering them under the impact.

"I suggest you leave my Yummy alone, Kamen Rider," Kazari warned, his dreadlocks retracting back to him.

"Gh…Yabei…" Birth grunted as he got up, "So you did get revived, Kazari!"

"Oh? You know of me?" Kazari asked in intrigue, "No wonder you used the same method the OOO Ankh chose for the dame Yummy." He looked at the Yummy, "Get back in your Host. You still need to mature."

The Neko Yummy rowled. It turned to where Rush was…and tilted its head, letting out a confused sound. Kazari looked and adopted a flat expression, seeing no sign of the dog.

"If it's not a bird pissing me off, it's dogs," Kazari growled in frustration, "Find him!"

The Neko Yummy rowled and scurried off. Outside, Lan and Maylu carried Rush out around the building. Rush moaned in his weakened state. Inside of their PeTs, Megaman and Roll couldn't help the guilt welling up in their systems.

'This is our fault…' Megaman thought.

'Oh Rush…This happened because of me,' Roll thought.

A wall exploded ahead of them from the Neko Yummy jumping out of it, "ROWR!"

"GAH/EEP!" the two yelped as the Neko Yummy turned to them, rowling and slamming its paws on its flabby stomach.

"Why does it have to be so gross~?" Maylu groaned as Lan carefully put Rush down and inserted five BattleChips into his PeT.

"CROSSFUSION!" the two boys shouted as they transformed into CF Megaman.

"ROWR!" the Neko Yummy hissed before firing off hairballs once more, each one quickly shot out of the air by CF Megaman, creating a wall of smoke, "Grrrr…!" the Neko Yummy rowled as it ran through the smoke only to yelp as a large yellow plasma shot slammed into it with the force of a point blank cannon shot, knocking it away and sending Cell Medals flying about.

"Huh?!" CF Megaman gawked, his Buster replaced with a bulky green cannon with yellow detailing, "Did it just bleed silver coins?"

"I think Saito called them Cell Medals when he was telling us about OOO's arsenal," Megaman corrected him before CF Megaman ducked under a fireball hairball that struck a car in the parking lot and caused it to explode.

"Gh…This is gonna be difficult," CF Megaman grimaced, "Just stay hidden, Maylu."

=CRANE ARM - CATERPILLAR LEG=

Inside, Birth charged at Kazari, his drill-covered fist now sporting a large silver mechanical arm covering his entire limb while his legs were covered in armored tank treads. He and Kazari swung legs at one another and caused a small shockwave on impact, sending the tables toppling. Birth swung his arm out and the drill shot off on a cable at Kazari's face. The former Greeed leaned back, avoiding the attack, before grabbing the cable.

"..."

"..."

"...I'm sorry," Birth weakly apologized before screaming as Kazari pulled hard and sent Birth over his head and crashing into the ground before repeating it several times until throwing him into the dessert tables, "Ugh…Why do they always have pecans in the stuff?!" Birth then screamed after he got up when a powerful yellow-tinted vortex slammed into him, sending sparks flying until he was sent through a wall and tumbled away, his form flickering before shattering, exposing Soul, "Ugh…"

"Hmph. You're weaker than the Birth I've fought," Kazari noted before seeing CF Megaman throwing an ice-blue football at the Neko Yummy that exploded and entrapped the feline in ice, "Well, we can't have that happen, now do we?"

Soul struggled to get up and slammed a fist on the ground, "Kuso! I…I need to…get up…I…I need to overcome him…but how?"

"Eat Gummy!"

"?!" Soul looked up at the Gochizo, gathered before him.

"Eat Gummy!" A Poppin' Gummy repeated.

"Eh?" he looked down as his Gochizo all crowded around him, chanting 'Eat Gummy,' "E-Eat?" they gathered around and made a set of three numbers: 2-5-6, "A…Kamen Rider?" He inserted them into his phone.

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: GAVV!=

The transparent growth that produced the Gochizo solidified as Soul looked at them, "You…want me to eat you?" Soul asked as he moved the one in his hand to his mouth area…only for it to begin projectile crying in panic, "Eh…?" he looked down at the rest as they made a shape resembling his growth, as it opened its 'jaw' and the 'crank' moved up and down, "Oh…you mean with this mouth! Sorry, still dazed from that last hit. So…like this?" he reached down and pulled up on the upper half of it, opening it up, before inserting the minion in his hand into it.

=GUMMY! Eat Gummy! Eat Gummy!=

As 'Eat Gummy' repeated itself, a saliva-like substance secreted from the sides and wrapped around his waist, hardening into a tube of sorts. Soul reached down to the crank on the side and began to move it, causing a glowing purple slime to start flowing through the 'tube' around his waist. A large plastic candy bag manifested around him before large gummy candy popped out of his body and bounced all about inside of the bag. He then slapped the button on the side of it, causing the bag around him to burst as all the gummy candies floating around him began swirling around before aiming right for his body, primarily his buckle, as they flew right into him again, passing the wildly flailing arm waving Gochizo.

As soon as they all entered him, black material began forming from his body, forming over his clothing and rapidly spreading across him, seemingly absorbing his clothing into the material until his entire body from the neck down was fully clad in black. His hands, however, were clad in a silver material. The black material began forming around his head as glowing purple armor began sprouting from his chest, shoulders, and his forearms and shins. The helmet continued spreading, covering half of Soul's face before his 'eyes' changed and became a deep violet purple. As they did…a familiar word popped into his head.

"Henshin!" with that, the helmet finished forming around him as a purple mask formed over it.

"Okay, now to…" CF Megaman began before he gagged as one of Kazari's dreadlocks gripped his neck tightly and pulled him over to the former Greeed, "GRK!?"

"LAN!" Megaman panicked.

"Heh. How ridiculous. Let's end this so my Yummy can get back to making Cell Medals for me…" Kazari spoke, holding an arm up to stab through CF Megaman…when Gavv slammed his fist into the side of Kazari's face, "OW!"

=Poppin' Gummy! Juicy~!=

"Gwah!" Kazari cried out, dropping the boy and crashing into a truck, denting it and nearly knocking it over.

CF Megaman coughed, welcoming the sweet breath of air before looking up at Gavv, "A…gummy rabbit?"

"Gavv. Kamen Rider Gavv," Gavv corrected.

"GRAH!" Kazari snapped as he got up, glaring at him, "Another armor?"

"Ah," Gavv replied, "Megaman, restock your Chip Selection. I'm trusting in you with destroying the Yummy." His 'eyes' flashed as he focused on Kazari, "I've got the bad cat."

"You got it," CF Megaman nodded as he ran after the fleeing freed Yummy away and around the Golden Corral.

Once they were gone, Gavv looked at himself, "So this is your power, eh? Not bad, little buddies! Not bad at all!" the Gochizo all cheered, "Then let's go!"

With that, Gavv quickly charged at Kazari, delivering a punch to his chest that sent splashes of gummy-like liquid into the air instead of sparks. He delivered a chop before trying for a jumping punch only to have Kazari move out of the way. He snarled and swung a punch, hitting Gavv in the chest…

*BOIN~!*

…only to stumble back as his fist just bounced off the armor.

"What the…?"

He growled before throwing another blow, only for it to bounce off as well. Gavv retaliated with a right hook across the face, making Kazari tumble away. With a roar, Kazari got up and charged, delivering a powerful swing of his claws and actually tore off part of the purple armor, dissolving it into tiny juice-filled bubbles that the Gochizo all around them rapidly ate. Kazari laughed before delivering another swipe and tearing off half of the mask in the process. Gavv snatched up two Gochizo and popped one into his belt, the original turning into a ghost with tiny angel wings and a halo that flew away.

=GUMMY! Poppin' Gummy! Juicy~!=

The armor immediately reformed and Gavv slammed a kick into Kazari's face, knocking him away. The former Greeed roared and sent his dreadlocks at him, only for a hacking sound to come out of the belt. With a loud spitting noise, a sword shot out, looking as if it were a mixture of a strip of road and a bright red tongue with a purple button at the guard. Gavv grabbed it and swung, the razor-sharp edge tearing through the feline's dreadlocks as they got too close.

"Wh…What are you?! Y…You can't be just a regular Kamen Rider. A-Are you a monster?!" Kazari stumbled back.

"...Ah. That's right. Bakemono da," Gavv calmly replied, "I am…and so are you!"

He roared and charged at Kazari, who flipped over a car and kicked it at Gavv. The Kamen Rider swung and sliced through it, the halves exploding behind him. He delivered several slashes, sparks flying with each blow. Kazari quickly threw his hands out, letting loose another yellow-tinted vortex of razor sharp winds. The winds died down and Gavv was gone. He sighed before tensing, feeling something against his back.

Gavv leaned against Kazari's back, replacing the Gochizo in his belt with an orange variant, "Dō suru? Nidoto Yokubō ni kakawaranai ka? Kono ba de ore ni taosareru ka (What will it be? Will you drop the Desire for good? Or do I have to beat you down right here)?"

=Kickin' Gummy! Juicy~!=

Orange gummies flowed over his right leg and foot, forming a much larger orange gummy-themed boot twice the size of his regular foot.

"GRAH!" the revived digitized Greeed roared, spinning around and swiping a claw at Gavv, who jumped over the strike and landed atop of a truck and began to crank the handle once more before he slapped the side of it again.

=Charge me! Charge me! Charge me! Kickin' Gummy Kick!=

Gavv crouched as he leaned on his armored right leg, he extended his left leg out towards his right as he held his arms down. The Kickin' Gummy boot began glowing brightly with energy as his eyes did the same. The boot tensed and before it flexed and bubbled from the top down, as a sudden burst of force launched Gavv up into the air, letting Kazari's dreadlocks to miss grabbing him and tying themselves up into a knot. Gavv spun around in the air as the boot flashed brighter and brighter with energy. Gavv roared as he swung his leg down and brought it down with an axekick that slammed into Kazari's chest, the force of the stomp causing the boot to pump up before it pumped down, releasing an orange shockwave from its sole that surged through Kazari's body, making him spark all over. That very shockwave caused the boot to burst as the Kamen Rider flipped back through the air, twisting his body so as to land with his back to Kazari, who stumbled as he got up, small explosions coming off his body in bursts of candy colors.

"This…isn't over…Kamen Rider," Kazari hissed as he Logged Out, allowing the Dimensional Area to fall.

Gavv exhaled slowly, dismissing his transformation. Soul nodded before hearing an explosion.

"Ah! Kids!" Soul panicked.

CF Megaman shouted as he fired off a barrage of plasma bullets from an orange gatling gun replacing his hand, Cell Medals scattering with each blow. Behind a dumpster, Maylu peeked out to watch the fight, her PeT out to let Roll see it through the camera on it.

"We've got it on the ropes! Let's finish this, Lan!" Megaman cheered as the boy looked at his MegaBuster and then at his right boot, "...Lan?"

"...I'm gonna try something. Do you trust me?" CF Megaman asked after a moment.

"Of course I trust you," Megaman replied.

"Good," CF Megaman nodded as he dismissed his Buster.

He took in a deep breath and reeled his right leg back, bending his left leg to prepare to jump. As he exhaled slowly, the sole of his boot began to glow with the light of a Charge Shot.

'Everytime I've seen Saito go for a kick, the foot glows as it charges up with energy…so if I copy it…' CF Megaman thought before jumping into the air.

With a rolling front flip, CF Megaman shouted as he shot down at the Neko Yummy. He extended his right leg, the sole shining bright.

"CHARGE SHOT KICK!" CF Megaman roared.

He slammed his foot into the human face of the Yummy, knocking it back several yards. Slowly, it stood up as CF Megaman fell on his back, grunting and holding his right leg with a hiss. The Neko Yummy hissed as it stumbled ahead…before collapsing onto its face, exploding into a small rain of Cell Medals. The Dimensional Area fell and Lan groaned, holding onto his leg still.

"Lan!" Maylu called as she ran over with Rush.

"Kids!" The three looked to see Soul running around the building, changing back to Saito as he got close, "Are you alright?"

Lan hissed as he managed to get his shoe and sock off, revealing his foot was a bright red, "Ow…"

"What happened?" Saito asked.

"He stored a Charge Shot in his foot," Megaman replied.

"...You did a Rider Kick?" Saito asked before helping him up with Maylu supporting the boy, "Alright. Gonna need a bigger ride."

"Eat Candy!" They looked at a lollipop-themed Gochizo chirping at them.

"...Oh, I think I'm gonna like this," Saito grinned before, a few minutes later, Maylu was stifling a scream as she held onto Lan and onto the large pink, pastel blue, and white four-wheeled buggy-like motorcycle Gavv was driving down the road.

"I know you lost, but the fact you still overcame the Kamen Rider and knocked him out of one armor is still far more impressive than what luck we've had," Shademan admitted as Kazari hissed as Repair Programs were patching him up.

"I swear, Kamen Riders have always been a nuisance," Kazari hissed, "Just one causes so many problems that could be handled so easily. And that kid…if that boy is his student, it's going to make things all the more troubling."

"Not fully," Regal spoke, "If his power originates from the same sources as you…" a screen popped up, showing Ms. Yuri smirking as she held up a set of terrified Gochizo, "…Then we simply need to make more Darkloids that share that source of power."

"...Oh, I love the way you think," Kazari smirked.

Megaman fidgeted as he sat in a chair at a digital table on the television screen, Lan having long gone to bed. A pink bolt of lightning made him look to see a trepid Roll looking around, unsure if she should really be there. Megaman waved to her and she sat at the other chair, neither sure what was happening. A moment passed and Rush emerged from a hole. He frowned at the two, crossing his arms over his chest.

"..." Megaman was the first to realize it, "Rush, I…" he knelt down to look at him in the eyes, "…I'm sorry for what I did earlier today. I lost all control and didn't think of the consequences."

Roll nodded, "I'm sorry as well, Rush. It…When I think back to it, it was scary that I acted like that when you didn't deserve it. Especially with what happened and you getting that monster inside of you."

"Rrr…" Rush frowned at the two for a few moments…before smiling, "Arf." his tail wagged and a hole opened up before, after a few moments, Saito walked in with a few Gochizo on his shoulders and covered plates on a tray, "Awoof."

"Rush likely had an even worse reaction to you both because he can travel between the two worlds. For all we know, he overloaded himself on food a long time ago and didn't want you two to have that happen," Saito spoke, "But he seems to accept your apologies because you meant them and didn't try to shift the blame to anything else."

Rush gave a thumbs up at him, "Ruh-huh!"

"As such, I am here to deliver to you two a well-earned item of reward," Saito nodded, setting the table before uncovering the plates to reveal curry and rice, "Tonight's dinner."

"Huh?! B-But I thought…"

"I had already made your plates when Saito told me what you two did," Haruka spoke, "I hope you both best remember today and what you did wrong. Because if it repeats, you won't get this again."

"I will, Mama," Megaman assured.

"Likewise, Mrs. Hikari," Roll agreed, still looking troubled, "Earth food is dangerous food for a NetNavi."

"There's a lot of things that will overwhelm you two since I can bring things in here from the Human side of this Sekai," Saito warned, "What's important is learning to handle it. I may be Lan's home tutor, but I think I need to be one for you both, too. I'm the one who brought those snacks here in the first place and caused all the trouble." he patted Rush's head, "I'm sorry, buddy. I should've asked you about being so blunt on this."

"Ruff," Rush nodded before hugging his leg, "Arf."

Megaman and Roll smiled at that.

"I'll try to work harder on controlling myself," Megaman spoke.

"Same here," Roll agreed, "I…I don't want to lose myself like that."

Saito nodded, "Good to hear. Now…eat up. I have no idea if the food gets cold in the Network."

Both nodded as they got back to the table. Roll was the first to take a bite of the dinner and let out a noise of joy. Meanwhile, Megaman carefully scooped up a bit of the rice and curry, recalling how Lan would do it. He blew twice on it, slowly and carefully, before taking a bite. His eyes widened as a tear fell down his cheek.

"It's…It's delicious…" Megaman spoke, more tears joining the first as he started to eat more, 'This…This is her cooking…This is my Mama's actual cooking…!'

Outside of the Network, Haruka moved away from the screen and dabbed her cheeks as she mutedly cried, 'He loves it. My little Hub loves my cooking…'

Unaware to them, the white-haired woman stood in Lan's bedroom, looking down at the snoring boy. She reached down and gently brushed a lock of his hair out of his face before giving him a gentle kiss. When Haruka went upstairs a little later to put his PeT on its charger, only Lan was in the bedroom.

GT: Yeah, gonna be trying these sorts of chapters that don't involve the anime's episodes to help build lore and the like.

Chapter Text

GT: We now return you to your scheduled program. We get to one of my favorite episodes because of one simple reason: Megaman's new power.

"Just need to get past the mental blocks you two have made for yourselves."

Saito's comment echoed in Maylu's head as she zipped up her vest, getting ready for another day at school, 'Mental blocks…What does he mean?'

In the PeT, Roll slowly chewed on a piece of blueberry flavored gum as she double-checked that Maylu had all her homework assignments complete, her thoughts straying to Saito's comment the day of the field trip, 'Mental blocks…does…Does he mean something about the N1?' faint cackles of glee amidst Megaman's screams, electrical crackles, and a whip striking flesh echoed in her mind, '...Empress…' she shook her head, 'N-No! Not at all! That…That can't be it…'

"All ready?" Maylu asked, picking up her PeT.

"You bet!" Roll replied, "But…um…"

"What's wrong?"

"...Do you get what he meant? W-When he said that stuff about us having a lot of potential?"

"..." Maylu frowned, "I…I don't know."

The human girl of the pair frowned before grabbing her backpack and her PeT. She had to get to class and could about think later.

'Hoo boy…She's got a ton of issues and I only looked at her for a few moments that day…' Saito thought as he laid on the couch, some Gochizo scattered about, "Now how to handle this because she's gonna staunchly refuse therapy. Darn Japane-err-Electopian pride…" he stood up from the couch, "I swear life is never easy…"

"I'll say," Haruka sighed as a few Gochizo set down a plate with a sandwich before Saito.

"Sorry for the nonsense I've brought to your home, you, and your boys, madam," Saito apologized.

"Like I've said before, it's alright. You're here to make sure my sons will be alright," Haruka assured, a bit relieved to have someone to talk to about her family's situation when it came to their sons, "It's like my family is always attracted to danger."

"It comes with the territory of being called 'Megaman,'" Saito sighed, "It's a life filled with attracting dangers that threaten the world and fighting for a time of peace for it."

"Hm? Really?"

"It's something well known in the Multiverse," Saito noted, "Hub having that name is one equal to the name 'Rockman' in terms of handling threats to peace."

"Huh?"

"It's one of those unique names that are destined to have to deal with conflicts in life," Saito sighed, shaking his head, "Names like 'Yugi Muto,' 'Yusei Fudou,' 'Simon the Digger,' or 'Naofumi Iwatani.' There are certain names that can lead one to becoming involved with the fate of the world. Even something innocent like Téa Gardner,' 'Aki Izayoi,' 'Nia,' or 'Raphtalia' can be wound up in it. There are names out there that have a Destiny to them that all we can do is lend a hand to help them." He smiled at her, "You, for example, give them what they need the most: a mother that cares deeply for her children. You give those kids a sense of stability that is desperately needed. I'm just here to make sure they come home."

Haruka nodded, a small smile on her lips, "Thank you for that, Saito."

"No problem," Saito assured.

"So who is this newcomer?" Kazari questioned, leaning against a pillar with the yellow curtain between him and it.

"I introduce to you Flashman," Shademan introduced.

The Darkloid in question was a tall humanoid NetNavi in a navy blue bodysuit. His body was covered in smooth pale purple/blue armor trimmed in silvers. His helmet sported a yellow dome to it, stretched out into a point to the back of his head while a mask covered all but his sharp, crimson eyes. His shouldered were rounded, shaped like half of a lightbulb each. His lower arms were covered in spade-shaped guards trimmed in silver. He currently was knelt down before the two, Beastman and Bubbleman not in the warehouse.

"He belonged to a woman who specializes in hypnotherapy," Shademan explained, "His Hypno Flash is rather effective for the cause."

"Fascinating," Kazari noted as he walked up to Flashman, "Then let's see what you can do with an assistant."

He casually flicked a Cell Medal depicting a rhino's head at Flashman. A coin slot manifested on his forehead and in the Medal went. Flashman grunted before a void appeared on his back and a large, muscular, humanoid rhinoceros-based Yummy emerged..it wore black leather straps that held in place worn, armored gauntlets and combat boots while a loincloth covered their waist. The mouth of the rhino head was missing, letting the lower half of a human head replace it.

"Help Flashman. Help Flashman," the Sai Yummy huffed, banging his fists together.

"What in the world…?" Flashman pondered.

"This is your subordinate for your first assignment," Kazari explained, "He is called the Sai Yummy, or Sai for short. He will obey your Desires and gain more power as he fulfills what you wish."

"Truly? I thank you then," Flashman nodded before looking at the Yummy, "Come."

"Understood," the Sai Yummy huffed and puffed as he followed him.

"Most ingenious, Kazari," Shademan complimented, "Having one of your warriors work with a Darkloid will help with distracting the Kamen Rider from our goals."

"After my first interaction with the new Kamen Rider, I'd rather play cautious," Kazari responded, "It's better to learn and adapt than go in unknown."

"Now in creative writing, no matter how odd or silly an idea may seem, it's better to write it down," Ms. Mari instructed her class, "Often, a great piece of literature comes from the most odd of ideas. Take the workings of the Brothers Grimm, for example..."

As Ms. Mari continued her lecture, Maylu glanced over at Lan, who had a pencil in his mouth and a semi-blank expression. Inside of the Network, Megaman sighed as Roll sat beside him, Rush in her lap.

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

"Lan still hasn't told Maylu yet," Megaman sighed.

"Is he being stubborn?" Roll asked.

"...I think he doesn't want her in danger," Megaman replied, "With that Kazari guy out there, one simple slip of attention could see us infected with a Yummy…or worse: you or Maylu infected with a Yummy."

"Yeah," Roll sighed as Rush whimpered at the memory, "But still…How about this? You tell Lan to either tell Maylu or I will tell her on Friday morning before school."

"Good thinking," Megaman agreed before loud voices went off outside the Network, "Hm?"

Outside the Network, the lights in the school began to shine brightly, far brighter than they should've been capable of.

"Until the lights are fixed, everyone is to follow me and head outside at once!" Ms. Mari shouted.

Just as Lan was about to stand up, his PeT softly rang, Megaman quickly saying, "Phone call from Dad, Lan."

"Of all the times," Lan grimaced, knowing it was their keyphrase for Mr. Famous, using 'Dad' instead of 'Papa' like they preferred.

"I wonder why the lights went so bright. What about you, Lan?" Maylu asked, in the back of the line…only to hear no response, "...Lan?" She looked and barely saw him going around a corner, "?" she carefully followed him and ducked behind the double doors to the outside, Lan having his PeT out, 'What's going on?'

"This is Agent Light, reporting for NetSaver duty, Mr. Famous."

"Just 'Famous,' Agent Light," Famous corrected him, "Reports all over the city have every single light overclocking and shining incessantly bright. Several people have already needed medical attention for epilepsy or collisions. We believe it to be a new Darkloid."

"Permission to look into it?" Lan asked.

"Granted, Agent Light," Famous responded.

"Agent Light?" Maylu repeated softly.

Roll sighed, "Mega's gonna be so upset, but…He and Lan are NetSaver agents. They got recruited because they can CrossFuse."

"Why do you know that?" Maylu asked in surprise.

"Mega told me. Lan was going to tell you before this Friday," Roll replied.

Maylu frowned, "Well…he has to now." The moment she saw Lan hung up, she swiftly opened the door and grabbed his shoulder, "Hello, Lan."

"Ah! M-M-Maylu!" Lan stammered in surprise before she spun him around to glare at him.

"Spill it, mister. Roll said Megaman told her that you're NetSavers or something."

"I told you to tell her sooner!" Megaman groaned.

"Sorry, Mega. I couldn't let it stay secret since we overheard your call," Roll apologized.

Lan broke out into a cold sweat, "I…I have…"

"Lan," Maylu frowned

"If you don't tell her, I will," Megaman warned.

"...F…Fine…" Lan sighed, "But I have to get going immediately after and you can't follow!"

"Huh?!"

"Maylu, this is now a NetSaver investigation. You'll be considered as interfering with a criminal investigation if you and Roll try to come with us," Megaman warned.

"I…I could?" Maylu gulped.

"Please, don't follow me," Lan pleaded, "I already hate what you deal with every morning at school and how you were almost banned from the rest of the field trips for the rest of our time in the school. I don't want you in juvie because of me."

"J-Juvie?!"

"We were told the consequences while we had CrossFusion Training yesterday," Megaman explained.

-FLASHBACK-

"There's something I'm curious about before we start," Soul spoke, walking up to Famous.

"What is it, Agent Mask?" Famous asked.

"What would the consequences be if someone Lan's age were to interfere with an ongoing investigation by a NetSaver? Like say a friend like Maylu Sakurai?" Soul asked, causing Lan to look up at that from checking over his BattleChip selection.

"Hmm? Well…The specific details of the investigation and the child's background will be considered first," Famous explained, adjusting his sunglasses, "Here in Electopia, cases involving children under 14 are typically handled under the Child Welfare Law, and in principle, they are sent to facilities like Children's Homes or Facilities for Development of Self-sustaining Capacity."

"A sort of juvenile detention for kids," Soul compared.

"Yes. Think of it as the kindergarten of that," Famous replied.

"So that means they would be moved far away from where the investigation is?"

"Definitely," Famous confirmed, "We'd also be looking into their family and they would be facing charges as well."

"So, say, for example…Maylu Sakurai got involved in an investigation with Agent Light because they're friends and she was concerned for him. She'd be…"

"Immediately sent to one of the facilities and forced to cut all ties with Agent Light, yes."

"Yikes. Good to know in advance," Soul nodded, glancing at Lan who was looking at them in fright and worry.

-END FLASHBACK-

"You have to stay away!" Lan pleaded, holding her hands, "You…You need to stay away while I'm doing this! Please, Maylu! I…I can't lose you! I just can't!"

"Lan…" Maylu whispered, tears in her eyes at the concern in his voice, "...O…Okay. I'll stay out of it." she hugged him before holding out several BattleChips, "But take these with you. A…And come back safely, okay?"

"..." Lan accepted the BattleChips before holding her hand with both of his, "I'll try to," Lan nodded, letting go of her hand before he skated off, 'Hopefully, Saito will be there…'

"Oh dear," Haruka winced, wearing a pair of sunglasses a Taka Candroid got her, as she looked down at the knocked out Saito, the Rider groaning from having collided with a wall when the lights had blinded him as some Gochizo and the Gorilla Candroid waved tissues at him like they were trying to cool him down.

"Let's use this to start doing a search, Megaman," Lan spoke as he stood by a crosswalk.

"Good idea," Megaman agreed.

Lan quickly aimed his PeT at a port on the post and sent Megaman into the Network. Once he entered, Megaman quickly began to access various programs, trying to trace the source. After several long moments, he smiled and the Map app for the PeT turned on, letting him mark a location.

"I found the likely spot, Lan," Megaman informed.

"Great! It's close by!" Lan grinned before a bird's cry made him look up, "Huh?"

Flying before him was a silver creature that size of the Candroids or Foodroids. It was primarily silver with red crystal wings and feathers. On its chest was a silver ring with the image of a bird on it while its talons held a pair of sunglasses.

"Oh! Garuda!" Lan beamed as he caught the sunglasses, "Huh? Sunglasses?"

"There's a note," Megaman noticed.

Lan looked at the back of the sunglasses to see a note, "'Lan, I asked Garuda to find you and give you some sunglasses. You may not be aware, but lights are becoming really bright all over town and Saito was even knocked out when they blinded him and he ran into a wall. Love, Mama.'"

"Saito's knocked out?!" Megaman gawked as Lan gave a small, nervous gulp.

"W-We can do this, Megaman!" Lan assured, "We've been learning under Sensei a whole lot!"

"I…I guess. It's just…"

"...Yeah," Lan nodded, "But…We gotta do what we gotta do." he looked up at Garuda, "Thanks, Garuda. Can you go back to Mama and Saito now? When he wakes up, ask him to come to where I'm at if we haven't resolved the case yet."

Garuda cried out in agreement. Lan smiled at the bird before he skated off, Garuda flying off to go back home. Eventually, Lan came upon an entire block filled with overly bright lights. He sighed in relief as the sunglasses were helping him a ton. He ran up to one of the street lamps and aimed his PeT at the port on it, sending Megaman into the Network once more.

"Neon Light!" Flashman laughed, letting out spheres of bright light all over a large area filled with various neon lights, advertising various things, "Shine! Shine brighter and brighter!"

"Stop it!"

"Hm?" Flashman looked over his shoulder to see Megaman, "Ah…You're Megaman, aren't you?"

"Indeed," Megaman confirmed, "Who are you?"

"My name is Flashman, newest recruit to the Darkloids," Flashman replied, "I'm so glad my light show attracted you here. I was tasked with fighting you and the Kamen Rider."

"Well you did too good a job. The Kamen Rider is knocked out right now."

Flashman nearly fell over, "Wh-What?! Seriously…?" he shook it off and chuckled, "Well that was easier than expected." he held up his fingers and snapped them, "So I did the job of this guy, so I'll let him have you."

"Huh? What g…" Megaman began before Sai slammed a fist into his face, sending him flying, "GAAAAH!"

"Megaman!" Lan panicked.

"Smash Megaman! Smash Megaman!" the Sai Yummy snorted, slamming his fists together while pawing a foot on the ground.

"A Yummy!" Lan panicked, "Wait…it's not a cat this time? Ah! They revived that Gamamellamelon guy?!"

"No idea who you're talking about. Kazari just tossed a coin at me and then this guy came out of my back," Flashman shrugged before aiming his palm at Megaman and fired off an orange sphere of light, "Neon Light!"

Megaman grunted and barely jumped into the air, quickly firing his MegaBuster at Flashman. The Sai Yummy moved between them and the shots just splashed off his body.

"How weak," Flashman scoffed, "A mere puppet playing to the strings of a human cannot defeat us."

"Let's try a Program Advance," Lan advised, "Sword, WideSword, LongSword, Download!"

"Program Advance!" Megaman shouted as he grasped a powerful purple plasma that gave shape to a large sword, "LifeSword!"

With a roar, Megaman lunged at the two. The Sai Yummy moved between them and charged at Megaman. LifeSword met horn and the sword shattered. Megaman couldn't react before the Yummy's horn skewered him through the stomach.

"GRK!" Megaman gagged.

"Hmph. Useless," Flashman scoffed as the Sai Yummy threw his head around and ripped Megaman off his horn.

"Useless! Useless!"

"MEGAMAN!" Lan screamed.

"U-Uu-Ughh…" Megaman groaned.

"H-Hold on! Hold on! I've…Oh! Recov300, Download!" Lan shouted as the wounds vanished, "Phew…Thanks, Maylu."

"...They're strong," Megaman grimaced, his mind going to an image of him in red with a massive gauntlet for a right glove, "If only I had HeatGuts…"

"We can't give up yet. TriLance, Download!"

"TriLance!" Megaman declared as he summoned a Piranha Virus and let it launch a powerful lance at them only for the Sai Yummy to let it bounce off him and he lightly rubbed where it hit, "He's too durable…"

"Let's see if it can handle this then! Cannon, Triple Download!"

"Program Advance!" Megaman shouted as he wielded a much larger buster three times the size of his normal MegaBuster and shaped like a cube with five barrels, "ZetaCannon!"

The Sai Yummy roared as he charged at Megaman. A massive beam erupted from the ZetaCannon and collided with the Yummy, creating a large explosion. For several moment, Megaman looked at it with worry. The Sai Yummy rushed out of it, bellowing in fury. Megaman screamed as the rhino grabbed him by the face and proceeded to repeatedly slam him into the ground and deliver punches and stomps.

"MEGAMAN!" Lan screamed, quickly Logging him out.

"Useless! Useless!" Sai Yummy bellowed.

"Hmph. So he ran away…" Flashman scoffed, "Come on, Sai. Let's report this to Lord Shademan and Lord Kazari."

Out on Earth, Lan trembled as he looked at his PeT. Tears welled up in his eyes before he nearly jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder. He looked to see it was Maylu, pink sunglasses over her eyes with a few Gochizo on her shoulders and Garuda on her head.

"Garuda wouldn't let me go anywhere but here for some reason," Maylu explained.

"M-Maylu…" Lan sniffled, "Megaman, he…he's…"

"Your Reward, Flashman," Shademan stated.

With that, he tossed something to Flashman. The Darkloid caught it and looked down at it in the palm of his hand. It looked like a BattleChip at first glance, yet it was a deep violet in color with parts of it looking like fragmented data. The interior of its fragmented look was a deep gray in color. In the middle of the top half of it was an amber crystal resembling an orb, glistening with an inner darkness.

"A DarkChip…" Flashman whispered, "Thank you, my Lord. I will put it to good use."

"I should hope so, Flashman," Kazari spoke as he walked over, "In fact, I hope you would participate in a large-scale plan."

"Hm?" Flashman pondered as Kazari made screens pop up, showing photos of Lan with Maylu, a short girl in a red dress and her hair in braided ponytails, and a big boy in blue jeans rolled up into shorts, a tuft of brown hair sculpted into a horn, large lips, and a green shirt.

"After Ankh showed me how humans have evolved since our old time, I try to keep up with the latest technology. I looked into their past and of the four here…" Kazari waved a hand and only photos of Lan with Maylu remained, "...She is the only one who lives here still."

"Why talk about her?" Shademan asked.

"It's simple…" Kazari held up a finger and pointed at the image of Maylu, "...We make the boy suffer even more by making her suffer due to her association with him…by airing her NetNavi being slaughtered by Flashman all over the city." he held up a DarkChip, "Or, maybe, even better…we turn her into one of us."

"Oh, I like the way you think, Kazari," Shademan chuckled.

'So while Roll didn't go and interfere…a Sai Yummy did,' Saito thought, his head sporting bandages, as he sat to Lan's right as Maylu was on his left.

"I hate that dumb cat," Lan grumbled.

"Me too!" Roll agreed.

Nearby, Yuichiro loaded Lan's PeT into a slot on the computer he was at, "Roll, are you ready?"

"Y-Yes, sir," Roll replied as Megaman appeared inside of a sphere as two rings of data materialized.

"Pay close attention because I do think you could replicate this with enough effort," Yuichiro spoke, "Repair Program, Start." as the rings began to spin around Megaman, he looked over at Lan and Maylu, "Don't worry. He'll be okay."

"Thanks, Papa," Lan thanked.

"...I…I'm sorry," Maylu apologized.

"Hm? What do you have to apologize for?" Saito asked, "I'm the one who's gotta say sorry for getting knocked out."

"I should've tried to be there and not just give Lan some BattleChips," Maylu shook her head.

"Maylu, Lan…wait, does she know?" Yuichiro asked.

"She does," Lan nodded.

"Maylu, you would've been separated from everyone here in DenTech if you tried to help anymore than giving him those BattleChips. In fact, that Recov300 you gave him really helped minimize the actual damage he received," Yuichiro noted.

"R…Really?" Maylu asked.

"Yeah. It really helped," Yuichiro confirmed.

"So what happened, Lan?" Saito asked.

"We…We didn't even get close to Flashman. That Sai Yummy was too durable. It tanked Program Advances like they were nothing!" Lan explained, trembling, "It…It scared me…If…If only I had HeatGuts to give Megaman that boosted power…" he clenched his fists, "We…We couldn't stop it…"

"...Gamel's Yummy are the physically most durable of the core Greeed," Saito spoke.

"Does that mean they revived another one?" Maylu asked.

"No. Kazari absorbed some of the Core Medals of his fellow Greeed at various points and adapted them to his own power. He can make Yummy of any type andneven hybridized ones like a lion-jellyfish one," Saito explained.

"So there are gonna be more…" Lan grimaced, "And you might not even be there like what happened now."

"Indeed," Saito nodded, "Sounds like you need Breaking-Element BattleChips."

"Breaking?" Maylu repeated, earning a nod from Saito.

"They bypass protections that Viruses and NetNavis may have outside of Aura-related ones," Saito replied, "That Pac-Man-looking Virus makes a BattleChip with that Element."

"Huh…Not bad with your knowledge on the subject. It's just recently been discovered," Yuichiro complimented.

"Thanks," Saito nodded.

"..." Maylu frowned in thought.

" So this is how he looks when not giving a child his power."

"?!" Everyone tensed.

"How adorable. He looks almost exactly like the boy," Kazari compared.

"You're…!" Roll gasped before Soul appeared beside her.

"Kazari!" Soul growled.

"Maa, maa. Easy there, Kamen Rider. I come as a simple delivery boy," Kazari casually waved him off before his hand flicked and Roll caught a letter.

"Eh?"

"Flashman will back down and stop his plans…" Kazari spoke as Roll looked at the letter before Kazari pointed at her, "If this little girl named Roll and her NetOp defeats him while you fight my Yummy, Kamen Rider."

"What?" Soul pondered.

"But if she loses…We turn her back into that form she used in the N1," Kazari stated, snapping his fingers to show footage of Megaman being pummeled by Roll, her boots now sporting high heels, her hair gone with a generator in the shape of an 'X' on her back, mascara on her eyes, and a barbed whip in hands with sharpened fingernails, "I believe she called herself…Empress, yes?"

Roll froze at the footage. Kazari chuckled at the sight. Soul growled, squeezing a fist so hard that the bones were heard.

"The link is in the letter. You have an hour to come or Flashman will make the lights flash so fast he'll make all of DenTech have seizures," Kazari threatened before he was engulfed in a yellow-tinted tornado and dispersed to reveal he was gone.

"Shoot," Soul hissed under his breath before going out of the Network to see Maylu had frozen up as her eyes gained a faraway look, "Double shoot." he dismissed his armor and gently shook her shoulder, "Maylu…Maylu! C'mon, snap outta it!"

"Maylu?" Lan asked, grasping her other shoulder and causing her to jump.

"Wh-What?" Maylu gasped.

"What do we do?" Yuichiro frowned.

"...We may have an hour now…but I can give us more time," Saito noted after thinking on it, "But it means Maylu would lose about…a day of her remaining life."

"Huh?!" Maylu gasped.

"Well of course you're losing a day because you're gonna spend it one day ago," Saito replied.

"...You have a time machine?" Lan asked.

"Several," Saito replied, "Though…I don't have hope for their victory."

"Huh?! Why?!" Lan demanded.

"Did you not see how she froze up?" Saito replied, "She's traumatized by something and this challenge triggered it."

"Huh?" Lan blinked a few times.

"Hmm…Got it. Roll, when was the last time you had a NetBattle?" Saito asked.

"Huh? Um…" Roll frowned, processing the question.

"I don't mean Virus Busting. That one is a normal thing. I mean a NetBattle against another NetNavi," Saito corrected, "I mean…when we met in the Network, you just watched and never participated."

"...Not for a few months now. In fact…I…I think the last time I fought one-on-one and not with others against a NetNavi was…the N1."

"Huh?! N-No way! That can't be!" Lan gawked.

Saito snorted, "Bingo. You have gotten sloppy. May need to trade a month then."

"Maylu?" Lan pondered, "You…really haven't NetBattled seriously since the N1?"

"..." Maylu looked away, shame on her face.

Saito sighed, 'Well…This is not good. Goddamn Electopian Pride and issues with seeking therapy…'

"...What if I operated Roll?" Lan asked.

"What?" Maylu looked up in shock.

"Lan, what do you mean?" Yuichiro asked.

"We use a filter to let them think Maylu is operating Roll, but I'll be the one who's operating."

"It's our best bet. I can still take Lan back with Roll a day to find some Breaking-Element BattleChips. Honestly, a lot safer, too," Saito nodded as Maylu grit her teeth and trembled, "But this relies on Roll."

"..." Roll looked away, a look of guilt on her face before she was Logged Out.

"Huh?" Lan looked over at Maylu in time to see her running off, "Ah! M-Maylu?!"

"Tch," Saito scowled, "We poked too many buttons. She's going off on her own and it'll be a repeat of Fireman all over again…only no Gutsman and Megaman to save Roll."

Lan winced, "Maylu…"

"Lan, your future wife has a laundry list of problems," Saito stated, causing Lan to splutter, "I'm gonna demand mandatory therapy for all NetSaver agents the next time I speak with Kifune. You may have something you're not even aware of." Several beeps came from the computer, making them look to see errors popping up on scans for Megaman, "Oh what now?"

"...Could it be…?" Yuichiro pondered.

"Be what?" Saito asked.

"Somehow, Megaman's Ultimate Program just kicked in," Yuichiro noted.

"Ultimate Program?" Saito repeated.

"A powerful program that can spontaneously develop inside of a NetNavi with the right circumstances. Megaman's is called Hyper Adaptability, which allowed him to access multiple StyleChanges before he lost them due to CrossFusion," Yuichiro added.

"I see…so that means Megaman's adapting to something now and likely making a new power to make up for the loss," Saito guessed, 'DoubleSoul approaches…'

Lan would've been more excited…he should've been excited, but… He couldn't get excited. All he saw was Maylu's eyes…the anger…and the pain.

'Maylu…' Lan thought.

"Lan," Saito's voice made him look up at the young adult, "When Megaman's ready, we're gonna go back in time two days to grind and get some BattleChips for you and Megaman to use and give to Maylu."

"...Y-You meant it?!" Lan gawked.

"Of course. I have several time-travelling Kamen Riders I can become," Saito huffed, "But…I feel a little rejoicing is needed so I'll be using just one specific one."

"Maylu, I'm not sure about this."

"Well I'm sure we can do it," Maylu replied, scowling as she sat before her computer, "Mmm…Those boys…We can do this. I know we can."

"B-But Maylu, really! We haven't practiced outside of Virus Busting lessons at school!"

"Just get going! We have to go or they'll hurt a lot of people! They demanded us, Roll."

Roll looked down, biting her lower lip. Nearby, Rush whined sadly at Roll and Maylu before thinking about it and quickly ran off.

"Smash pink NetNavi?"

"No! Again, do not smash the NetNavi! We want to make her into a Darkloid," Flashman sighed, a hand to his face in exasperation.

"...So smash pink NetNavi?"

"...No. You just…just do a cheer."

"Cheer?" Sai Yummy tilted his head.

"Yes. You cheer for me and you mock the pink NetNavi once I start beating her up."

"...So smash pink NetNavi with words?"

"Yes. That's right. You will ta-PUT DOWN THE GODDAMN SIGN!"

Roll blinked several times as she had just walked upon Flashman and the Sai Yummy. The latter currently had one of the digital advertisement signs over its head while the former was practically jumping in fury.

"Did I…come at the wrong time?" Roll asked, making the two freeze and slowly look over at her.

"...Um…Me smash pink NetNavi with words now?" the Sai Yummy asked.

"NO!" Flashman screamed, "You just…ju-just go over there! Go over there, do not attack her, just…just cheer and don't throw anything." he groaned, facepalming, 'He's such an idiot…' he cleared his throat and turned to face Roll, looking intimidating, "So you've come. You may as well give up now and become one of us."

"N-No way!" Roll shook her head, "You don't know what I can do!"

"Then show me," Flashman replied, "Neon Light!"

Roll quickly jumped over the oncoming attack. Out in her bedroom, Maylu pulled out a BattleChip.

"Tornado, Download!" Maylu declared.

Roll spun like a top, transforming into a massive tornado. Flashman scoffed and sent out another Neon Light. The sphere collided with the tornado, creating an explosion of data. The Sai Yummy awed at the explosion while Flashman narrowed his eyes, seeing no sign of Roll. He looked up to see her overhead. He let loose another Neon Light at her only to hit a falling 'wall' of MiniBombs, creating a massive smokescreen overhead.

"MiniBombs?" Flashman pondered.

"Spreader, Download!"

Roll landed behind Flashman, her right glove turning into a blue cylindrical blaster with a ring of black bumps going around the middle of it and a small black barrel. The barrel glowed before firing off a sphere of light blue plasma that dispersed into a barrage of them, all slamming into Flashman with a large explosion.

"It worked!" Maylu beamed.

"Maybe we can do this," Roll whispered before her eyes widened when the smoke dissipated, revealing a pair of navy blue and silver posts with lightbulbs on top resembling Flashman's shoulders had blocked the shots, "!?"

"Flash Light!" Flashman shouted before the posts let loose a quick flash of light, causing Roll to scream as her body locked up and started to crackle with electricity, "Hmph! You're the one who caused Megaman such difficulty in the N1? How pathetic."

"Pathetic! Pathetic!" the Sai Yummy huffed, slamming his fists together.

"You aren't strong at all. In fact, you may be the weakest thing I've fought," Flashman declared as he walked up to Roll and aimed a palm at her, "Spark Arm!"

Roll shrieked as a blast of lightning tore out of the palm of his hand and slammed into it, sending her careening back. He cackled as he fired off more Neon Lights at her, explosion after explosion occurring as they struck her and around her.

"ROLL!" Maylu cried out.

"I'll admit, you've got guts actually accepting that challenge," Flashman admitted as he walked up to the struggling to rise up Roll, "But that's not enough to win!"

He slammed a foot into her, kicking her away and across the ground, "AH!"

"Roll! Roll, you have to get up!"

"I…I'm sorry, M-Maylu…" Roll weakly whispered, "I…I can't…move…"

"Hmph. So that's all you had," Flashman noted as he picked her up by one of her helmet's ribbons before he began to punch her repeatedly, "Should rough you up a bit more just to make sure the DarkChip sticks!"

"Stop it!" Maylu pleaded, tears falling down her cheeks, "Stop it, please! She can't even more anymore!"

"Fine. She seems in the perfect state now," Flashman decided, seeing how dull Roll's eyes had become, before holding up a DarkChip, "Now…become one of us and reborn as the Darkloid known as Empress."

"ROLL!" Maylu screamed before several explosions slammed into Flashman's back.

"GH?!" Flashman tensed.

"Nani?" the Sai Yummy pondered before a massive robot with a watch-like face slammed its foot into its body, sending the Yummy flying back, "GAH!"

=TIME MAZINE!=

"What the…? A…A giant robot?" Maylu gasped before a handkerchief was offered to her, "?!" she looked at the arm and then up at Lan's worried face, "L…Lan…"

"I'm sorry," Lan apologized, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings when we suggested me operating Roll for this."

Maylu trembled as she accepted the handkerchief, slowly wiping the tears that wouldn't stop flowing that now came from relief instead of fear, "Lan…"

"The five of us have got this," Lan assured.

"F-Five?"

"You, me, Sensei, Roll, and Megaman," Lan replied, "Speaking of…"

"ARGH!" Flashman screamed as a bright green plasma blade coming from a brown version of the ElecSword's guard sliced his arm off, the data breaking apart and letting Megaman catch Roll in a bridal carry upon dismissing the new blade.

"Roll! Roll!" Megaman called out in worry.

"Me…ga…" Roll weakly whispered.

"Here. Give her this, Maylu," Lan offered.

"Recov300, Download!" Maylu quickly called as the injuries began to fade from Roll.

"I…I'm sorry," Roll apologized, sniffling as Megaman gently set her down on her feet, "I…I couldn't…"

"Roll…" Megaman whispered, giving her a hug, "I'm sorry I haven't paid better attention to you and Maylu." he turned and glared at Flashman, his fists tightening enough that if he had bones, they'd be popping, "How dare you hurt Roll and Maylu this badly…" he narrowed his eyes as he pointed at Flashman, "I don't know what you were planning with that odd BattleChip, but I won't let her be harmed by another bad one!"

"Megaman…" Flashman growled before the Time Mazine transformed into a vehicle-like form and opened up; Soul jumped out of it, now sporting a neon green and black oversized buckle with a screen in the middle, three buttons in a triangle shape on the left side, and a neon green handle with a slot for something on the right.

"Oi, Flashman. Give the lil' lady a moment to recover before Round 2 happens," Soul advised, holding up what looked like a watch with the face of a Kamen Rider on it, the mask resembling a digital watch face with neon blue light having the katakana for 'Rider' on it.

=WOZ!=

"What?" Flashman pondered.

"Trust me that if you let Roll recover enough…you'll have a fight far beyond what you had before," Soul replied before plugging it into his belt on the neon green piece, pressing the button on top of the watch and causing its face to split open to reveal another copy of the bust shot.

=ACTION!=

A large, neon green digital watch manifested behind him. Neon green circuits manifested around him in a cubic formation as he pointed at the standing up Sai Yummy. All the while, futuristic hip hop-like music came from his belt.

"With this BeyonDriver and the MiRidewatches, let me show you…my…Henshin," Soul declared before grabbing the handle and closing the green part of the belt against the black part, the screen inside showing the image on the MiRidewatch.

=TOUEI! FUTURE TIME!=

The screen of the digital watch flashed, showing the katakana for 'Rider' on it just moments before the lettering shot out of it. The data lines quickly engulfed Soul, spiraling into a massive sphere of green light.

=SUGOI! JIDAI! MIRAI! KAMEN RIDER WOZ! WOZ !=

The sphere exploded, revealing the new Kamen Rider form Soul had taken on. His body was primarily silver with primarily silver bulky armor over his torso. Black and neon green armor decorated his lower arms and boots with four more MiRidewatches on the bulky neon green and black armor of his lower arms. His gloves were pitch black with neon blue detailing on the fingers and thumbs while more neon blue decorated his upper legs/thighs. His torso going down past his belt was a black and neon green design resembling the strap of a digital watch. Neon green and black digital watch screens were firmly attached to his shoulders to act as guards. His helmet resembled a rounded digital watch with a dial on the left side of the helmet and a neon green crest on the forehead, shaped to resemble a pair of clock hands set at 10:05. The flying katakana collided with the 'screen' of his mask, completing the transformation.

"Oh so that's what Woz looks like! I was getting curious because he only had the belt on the whole time yesterday and the day before when we went to the past to stock up on new BattleChips," Lan noted.

"IWAE! Kako to mirai wo yomitoki, tadashiki rekishi wo shirusu yogen-sha! Sono na mo Kamen Raidā Wozu! Aratanaru rekishi no ichi pēji de aru (Rejoice! The reader of the past and the future. The prophet who will write the proper timeline. And his name is Kamen Rider Woz! This is the first page of a new history)!" he proclaimed as the katakana for 'Over' appeared and transformed into a black and neon green polearm with a touchscreen on it.

=ZIKAN DESPEAR!=

"KAMEN RIDER!" Sai Yummy roared as he charged at Woz, who jumped over the Yummy and swung his polearm to send sparks flying off the Yummy's back.

"You're quite the big guy," Woz noted, putting a finger to the touchscreen and sliding his finger down to an orange and white question mark app icon, making the blade on the end spin around to a green cane hook resembling a question mark.

=TSUESUGI!=

"So why bother with force at the moment when I should soften you up with trivia?" Woz went on as he removed an orange MiRidewarch from his right arm, showing a Rider with orange question marks for 'eyes' and a question mark on their forehead.

=QUIZ!=

"Crush Kamen Rider! Crush!" Sai Yummy roared as he charged again while Woz replaced the MiRidewatch in his belt with the new one, making it open up to show a Woz head shot with orange katakana reading 'Quiz' and a question mark replacing the katakana in his mask and the green watch hand crest.

=ACTION!=

Woz moved to the side and dipped down a bit to extend his Zikan Despear to the floor, catching the Yummy's foot and knocking him onto his face. Woz closed the neon green piece up once more, reflecting the image on the MiRidewatch onto the screen. The 'watch band' on his body split down the middle, becoming red on the right side and blue on the left. Three silver question marks went up the band while bulkier red and blue armor snapped over the neon green guards on his shoulders. His helmet changed to resemble the new one in the MiRidewatch he had replaced the Woz one with.

=TOUEI! FUTURE TIME! FASHION! PASSION! QUESTION! FUTURERING QUIZ! QUIZ !=

"Crush Kamen Rider!" Sai bellowed as he charged again.

"True or False: Flash Man has a lightbulb on his head," Woz Quiz questioned.

"CRUSH!"

"The answer is True," Woz Quiz stated as the red shoulder guard flipped out to show a red circle in it before the Yummy screamed as red electricity crackled off its body from a bolt of lightning from above and made the Yummy fall over.

"What?!" Flashman gawked as the Sai got back up, "That's wrong! I do not have a lightbulb on my head!"

"Not you, Flashman. I was talking about Flash Man," Woz Quiz chuckled as he dodged around the charge and pointed at the Yummy once more, "True or False: Lord Wily built a robot named Zero."

"GRAAAH!" Sai roared as he charged again, the blue guard flipping out this time to show a blue 'X' in it.

"The answer is False," Woz Quick revealed as another lightning bolt struck and blue electricity crackled off the downed Yummy.

"Idiot!" Flashman snapped.

"Whoa~!" Megaman awed.

"He's beating the Yummy up…with questions?" Roll tilted her head.

"One weakness Yummy made using Sai, Gorilla, and Zou Cell Medals: They're as dumb as rocks," Woz Quiz laughed.

"You gotta be kidding me…" Flashman groaned.

"Now for overwhelming power," Woz Quiz chuckled as he tapped the app on the top and rapidly slid his finger up and down the screen, causing a myriad of red and blue question marks to erupt from his weapon.

=FINISH TIME!=

"Round and round and round it goes. Pop quiz: This will finish you?" Woz Quiz asked as he rapidly spun his pole arm around and around above his head, making the giant question marks rapidly spin around the Sai Yummy, "The answer…is TRUE!"

=FUKASHIGI MAGIC!=

He pulled the trigger and the question marks ensnared the Sai Yummy like he was a pole for horseshoes. The moment the last of them attached to the Yummy, Woz Quiz slammed his polearm on the ground and the question marks shined brightly while spinning rapidly. They flashed once before exploding violently in a green explosion. A lone Cell Medal went through the air and landed in Woz's hand.

"Gh! S-So fast…" Flashman tensed as Woz looked at him, "?! Guess I gotta fight you, too?"

"...Nope. This is between you and those two," Woz replied as he gestured to Megaman and Roll, "I'm only going to interfere if needed."

"H-Huh?!" both gawked.

"You've got this!" Woz cheered.

"Tch…You really think that?" Flashman growled before holding up both his DarkChip and the one meant for Roll, "DarkChip, double Download!"

Megaman and Roll stepped back, Roll even moving closer behind Megaman, as the Darkloid roared with a menacing black aura coming off his body. Purple and black miasma gathered behind him, reshaping to take on the form of a mane belonging to a demonic visage within. It reached out and sunk into Flashman's body, darkening it all.

"The power…The power is within me!" Flashman shouted, "This is…the power of the DarkChip!"

'Was wondering when they'd pull one out,' Woz thought.

"DarkChip?" Lan repeated.

"Somehow…I'm sensing an evil power coming from him now…" Megaman gulped.

"Let me show you…my new power!" Flashman roared as he lunged at Megaman, who swung his sword only for Flashman to catch it between his pointer and index fingers of one hand and snapped it.

"!? My BambooSword!"

"HAH!" Flashman roared, a Spark Arm ramming into Megaman's face and sending him crashing to the ground several yards away.

"Mega…!" Roll gasped, managing to get over to him.

"He…He's different…He's stronger than before…" Megaman grunted, slowly sitting up only for both to be struck repeatedly by a barrage of Neon Light attacks.

"Weak! You're so weak!" Flashman taunted.

"Megaman/Roll!"

"Hey now~! Kamen Rider, wanna face me?" Flashman taunted as he kept shooting at the two.

"Mmm…Not really. You haven't beaten them yet," Woz shrugged.

"What?"

"Sensei…"

"I told you, Agent Light. I would only intervene if I don't believe you kids can handle him," Woz replied.

In the smoke and data, Megaman and Roll trembled across from one another, parts of their bodies derezzing and data leaking out. Megaman slowly opened his eyes to look at Roll, who was doing the same.

"Roll…I…I'm so sorry," Megaman apologized, "I…I'm supposed to be your best friend…b-but I never saw…"

"M-Mega…"

"...I…I never saw how much pain…you were in…" Megaman grunted, his lone arm pulling him closer to her, "I…never saw…you starting to…fall so far…behind me…when I…I thought you were always at…my side…"

Roll grunted, her lone leg barely managing to get her closer to Megaman as well, their foreheads pressed together, "Mega…I…I'm so sorry…" tears welled in her eyes, "You…you have so much…faith in me, but…but I'm weak…I…I'm just a Civilian Model…but…"

"I…don't care…if you are…" Megaman assured, "Roll…has always…been strong to me."

"Fine…Then I'll finish them off here and now! Flash Light!" Flashman shouted as a ring of the posts appeared around the two.

"I…never wanted…to drag you down…" Roll reached out, her partial hand trembling as it was grasped by Megaman's hand, "I…always wanted…to be strong like you…"

"I…I always wanted to be strong like Lan, too…"

"M-Maylu? Mmm…Don't be stupid!"

"Huh?!"

"The only reason I'm strong is because I have you! You've always been the biggest reason I do a lot of the reckless stuff I do because you're my best friend! I…I don't fully get why you stopped NetBattling…but you're strong! You're really, really strong!"

"Lan's…right…" Megaman smiled weakly, honesty in his eyes, "Roll…you're stronger…than I am…in a lot of ways…"

"Mega…" Roll whispered, managing to get close enough to press her emblem against his.

"Roll…" Megaman closed his eyes.

"Die!" Flashman roared as the poles all shined brightly…before a pink light overpowered their combined light, "W-What?!"

"Heh. It begins," Woz smirked behind his mask.

"What's this light?" Lan asked.

"It feels so warm…" Maylu noted, "Is this…the bond between Megaman and Roll?"

The pink light slowly dissipated, revealing just Megaman. However…his armor had drastically altered. The lines on his side had turned as red as Maylu's hair. Meanwhile, his boots had turned pink with magenta lines in the middle, the ends sporting pastel yellow rings with small plugs on the fronts that resembled the one above Roll's butt. The back of his now black gloves sported the same plugs while his original gloves were replaced with arm bands reaching up to his knees in the same design as his new boots. His shoulder guards grew two bits on them while pink armor covered his torso with a raised collar. His helmet now took on the appearance of Roll's, but sported four tassels instead of two. Megaman opened his eyes…and showed his right eye was now the same color as Roll's.

"...Always wanted to do this," Woz snickered before standing tall, "IWAE!" Woz walked over and stood by Megaman, a black book in one hand and the other raised out, "The advent of the King of Kings has arrived! Transcending the loss of StyleChange, he has gained a power greater than before by his Soul resonating with another Soul! He is Megaman EXE DoubleSoul RollSoul! May the cyber rabbit's Recov Element devastate those who stand in his way on his path to his rightful throne!"

Flashman stepped back, "King of Kings…?"

"DoubleSoul…" Lan began.

"RollSoul?" Maylu finished.

"Gh…You think this transformation will let you overpower me?!" Flashman demanded as he sent out three Neon Light attacks, "NEON LIGHT!"

Woz stepped to the side, letting the attacks all strike RollSoul. A moment passed and RollSoul emerged from the smoke…completely unharmed.

"N-No damage…?!" Flashman choked out.

"Incorrect," Woz replied, "RollSoul's healing capabilities outpace any damage he receives."

"Gh…No way! No way I'm going to lose!" Flashman roared, "Spark Arm!"

RollSoul's antennae began to shine before he held his left arm skyward. A pink aura shined before the back of the band gained a massive hot pink crossbow, the arrow resembling a heart.

"RollArrow!" RollSoul shouted, Roll's voice overlaying Megaman's.

Flashman roared as he let loose his largest barrage of attacks at RollSoul, who pulled back on the drawstring of his RollArrow as pink light gathered into the heart-shaped arrowhead. As they came upon him, RollSoul released his hold and the arrow shot out. It pierced through all the shots and slammed right into Flashman. The DarkChips appeared out of his back on the tip of the arrow before shattering and dispersing the dark energies around Flashman. He stumbled back, gagging.

"Damn you…" Flashman hissed before logging out.

"Amazing…!" Maylu awed.

"Her energy recharged him, so his power levels seem to have come back to full power!"

RollSoul smiled, "It was all thanks to our bond with one another, you two."

"Not too bad," Woz noted, dispersing his transformation to return to being Soul, as he walked over to RollSoul, his body glowing before it was back to normal with a startled Roll at Megaman's left, "Congrats, Megaman. You have obtained the power of the Soul Unison: DoubleSoul."

"DoubleSoul?" Megaman and Roll repeated.

"Yes," Soul nodded, "Whenever you resonate with another, you obtain their power. Lan, put a blank BattleChip into your PeT and RollSoul will go into it for Megaman to use later." He looked at Megaman, "When you were using it and before then…what were you feeling?"

"Huh? Feeling?"

"You resonated with Roll's very soul," Soul pointed out, "Take some time to think on it. Maybe even use RollSoul and try to feel what that bit of her 'soul' you work with feels to you."

"Um…Okay?"

"Trust me. It will become stronger if you do," Soul assured before looking at Roll, "And good work out there."

"Wh-What? But…"

"You were worried about your friends here. Not surprised you'd agree to do something like this," Soul chuckled, "No wonder these two see a ton of potential in you girls." he patted Roll's head, "And you broke those mental blocks in you by helping Megaman, Roll."

"I…I did?" Roll asked.

"You did," Saito nodded, "Just need the other half of your duo to ditch hers and I can guarantee you girls can have the potential to CrossFuse."

"H-Huh?" Roll tilted her head.

"That data Roll gave to Megaman triggered his Ultimate Program. He has unlocked a new Ability in place of StyleChange which Saito has deemed DoubleSoul," Yuichiro explained once the three were in SciLab.

"DoubleSoul?" Lan tilted his head.

"Yes. I wanted to call it SoulUnison, but DoubleSoul seemed like a better fit," Yuichiro admitted.

"As for what RollSoul can do, it seems that it constantly heals him at all times and his charge shot is now the RollArrow, which allows him to destroy BattleChip data," Saito noted.

"So cool~!" Lan awed.

"Though what was with that talk about 'King of Kings?'" Roll asked.

"?! Wh-What?"

"Saito proclaimed me as 'The King of Kings,'" Megaman informed.

"..." Yuichiro gulped as he looked at Saito, "You…really think Megaman can do it?"

"Only if he has Lan as his NetOp," Saito nodded, "Even if there was somebody with a better operation score for him or compatibility, he won't be able to achieve it without Lan being his NetOp."

"What's that mean?" Lan asked.

"Lan…in NetNavi culture…a 'King' means that you are the ultimate NetNavi, the strongest there is," Yuichiro explained, "Like the N1. Many NetNavis proclaim Protoman as the 'N1 King' due to his victory over it all."

"So if a NetNavi is super good at the NetColiseum, they'd be called the 'NetColiseum King' or something like that?" Lan guessed.

"Bingo," Saito nodded.

"King of Kings…" Lan spoke before grinning, stars in his eyes, "That sounds so awesome! I know we can get Megaman to that high a standing!"

"I…I don't really know myself…but it does sound exciting."

"I know you can do it, Mega!"

"But first…a Blank BattleChip please, Dr. Hikari," Saito spoke.

"Right," Yuichiro nodded, giving Lan a blank BattleChip.

Lan inserted the blank BattleChip into his PeT. Roll's emblem manifested before the BattleChip popped out, now a pure white with Roll's emblem on it. Along the right side, the word 'ROLLSOUL' was written.

"Whoa~," Lan awed, "Maylu, look! This is so cool!" he turned to her and paused on seeing her eyes, "Maylu?" Lan pondered, seeing the tears in them, as Yuichiro and Saito looked worried about it as well.

"I…" she sniffled, "Y…You're right…You were right…"

"Hm?" Saito pondered, Yuichiro tilting his head.

"I…I'm scared of NetBattling…" Maylu softly admitted, "E-Ever since the N1, I…I haven't wanted to…I-I couldn't try to…I…I just…"

"..." Saito patted her head and softly spoke, "You're blaming yourself for Roll becoming Empress for that brief time. And then what happened when Pharaohman rampaged and turned her to stone. If not for circumstances having it all work out…you feel like you killed Roll." Maylu flinced…before nodding, "...Let me tell you a story of one of my sempai, my predecessors." She looked up at him, "His name was Kouta, Kouta Kazaruba. He lived with his sister and they only had one another and a dancing team called Team Gaim. They danced not for recognition, but for liberation. They danced for the common people of their home of Zawame City. His best friend in the whole world was his team's leader, Yuya. One day, Kouta got a call from Yuya about something new. When he arrived at the spot, Yuya was gone and a monster attacked him. While it happened, Kouta found the SengokuDriver and turned into Armored Rider Gaim. He destroyed the monster, but couldn't find Yuya. For months, Team Gaim searched for their missing leader Yuya, all of them worried for him. Meanwhile, a dark plot was being uncovered of a dangerous alien invasion, who used fruits that created the Lockseeds that Gaim could use with his SengokuDriver. But there was a reason this invasion was terrifying: whoever ate the fruit be it a tiny insect to a full grown adult human…would become a monster known as an Inves." A moment passed and Maylu gasped in realization, "Yeah. …That monster that led to Kouta becoming Gaim…was Yuya."

"Huh?! S-So Kouta…" Lan gasped.

"That poor boy," Yuichiro whispered.

"Kouta was broken by the fact when he learned of what his actions caused," Saito went on, "He didn't know what to do anymore. So…an ally intervened. He talked to him."

"...What did his friend say?" Maylu asked.

"'What are you hesitating for? What do you want to do?'" Saito quoted…his voice not sounding like him at all.

Lan and Maylu blinked before jumping. Gone was Saito, Yuichiro, and SciLab. Now…Now they looked to be in some semi-shadowed smoothie joint, bushels of fruits hanging from the ceilings. At one part of the spacious floorplan, an older man sat in a tracksuit of greens and oranges with a red and white bandana over his bald head. The other, a young adult male in a red jacket, jeans, and messy black hair. The two looked and all four jumped as Megaman and Roll were standing right beside them in the real world.

"What happened to your zeal to defend the city?" The man asked in the same voice that came from Saito's mouth.

"I…I've been fighting because I couldn't live with what Yggdrasil was doing," the teenager replied, looking away, "But I did exactly the same thing. I claimed I was protecting people, but I had to sacrifice others to do it."

Lan and Megaman grimaced, their mind flashing to a NetNavi in all black and yellow with generators on his back and layered metal arms holding a larger red NetNavi in magnet-themed armor to a Program Advance, Deleting them both.

"Yep, that's gotta be embarrassing," the man bluntly responded…before looking at the four kids, "Much like what happened with you kids and the troubles the N1 caused."

"?!" They tensed as the teen vanished, letting the man stand up and walk over, petting their heads with a faintly glowing hand.

"Hope you don't mind. I borrowed you four for a little," he said, walking over and some vines moved out of the kitchen and laid some fruit smoothies before the kids, "Just know, none of them were made with Helheim fruit, so don't worry about turning into Inves." a few moments passed before Lan was the first to drink his, "Ah. There we go!"

"It's yummy!" Lan beamed, "Thanks!"

"Um…Who are you, sir?" Megaman asked as the girls started to slowly drink theirs.

"DJ Sagara, but…I am also Helheim itself," the man replied, knowing Saito would tell them anyway, "I enjoy using this form more for humans." he shrugged, "Still…this ain't about lil' ol' me; it's about you kids."

"Us?" Maylu repeated.

"Ah," Sagara replied as they sat down at a round table, "Your world…was not meant to house a Kamen Rider, but the remnants of a boy broken when he shouldn't have led him to bury the body of the girl his very soul loved even in the throes of madness and unquenchable vengeance in soil akin to their homeland, leading to Soul-kun being here."

"You mean...I wasn't meant to meet Saito and him becoming our teacher?" Lan asked.

"Nope. There are rules ingrained in existence, one being 'A World without a Kamen Riders whom arrives to it will grow in dangers and powers,'" Sagara spoke, "You wouldn't have dealt with that Yummy. Instead, Maylu-chan and Roll-chan would've intervened to help only for Megaman-kun to still be wounded…and you would be separated because of it. Even your friend Yai-chan and her connections would've failed to find Maylu-chan because of how important Lan-kun is at the moment…but it would've led to more tragedies than anything because separating you two would lead to them happening." All four gulped in fear, "Soul-kun has given you a chance to make it better…to make everything better." He looked up at the ceiling, "When Nebula is defeated, Soul-kun will have to move on."

"Move on?" Maylu repeated.

"Ah. His punishment for the sins he's been forced to erase from his soul alongside the sins of his fated lover. He will have no true home; always moving, always helping others whose world would have a bad fate if he doesn't intervene," Sagara responded before looking at them, "Sakurai Maylu-chan…you have been hurt…you and Roll-chan have been hurt badly by what happened in your lives. If not for Soul-kun…well…" he shook his head sadly, "Let's just say that you now have a chance that you wouldn't have gotten." He held up a pair of blank BattleChips, "DoubleSoul shouldn't exist here, but now it does. You four…have broken the 'Rules' of the world, just like Kazaruba Kouta-sama did with his old home."

"Huh?"

"You have gained the opportunity to change this world's fate," Sagara responded, the BattleChips glowing in his hand and went unnoticed as the four were more focused on his face, "The Man of the Beginning, Kazaruba Kouta, gives me the okay for worlds that are set to die, but…" he shrugged, the glow fading from the BattleChips, "...Kamen Riders tend to make things fun, so I'm just gonna watch and see what happens next." He laid the BattleChips on the table and slid then over to Lan and Maylu, Lan's white and sporting a grayed out symbol of sorts and Maylu's still blank but had taken on a silver coloration, "When that man resonates with you, Megaman, I'll be excited to see what comes. And as for you, little ladies…" he reached up and gently patted Maylu's head, a gentle look on his face, "You are more important than you think. Trust in Soul-kun and a very special woman he doesn't know he needs in his life. And, when you finally break through the last of your mental blocks, when you two regain what you lost? The gift I'm blessing you with will be ready." He winked, "And no need for a pooch to be tricked into it needed."

"Thank you, Mr. Sagara," Megaman thanked.

"Maa, maa… Janai! Just call me Sagara or even DJ Sagara," Sagara replied before grinning, "Oh, and best check out the NetColiseum later~!"

He reached up and tugged a rope that hadn't been there and everything went dark. Lan and Maylu opened their eyes and blinked a few times at the hand waving over their faces. Saito and Yuichiro were looking at the two in concern.

"Did I really bore you two?" Saito asked, "Ah man…Really need to see if I can use Decade to go make a quick trip to get some TV-Nihon vids…"

Both kids blinked a few times. In their PeTs, the NetNavis were very much the same confused pair like their NetOps. They looked at their hands and saw they still had their smoothies. They nearly dropped them from the shock.

"Trust in Soul…" Sagara's voice echoed in Maylu's head.

"..." Maylu fidgeted, "S-Saito…?"

"Whatcha need?" Saito asked.

"...I…I want to get past this," Maylu spoke, "Can…" she gulped and looked up at him, "...Can you help me?"

"..." Saito grinned, "You betcha! You've got me and Lan here to be good support! Now, I'll have to work around your piano lessons, but I think on those days, I'll train up Lan in CrossFusion and the days you don't have your piano lessons? We'll train you girls in NetBattling and talk about whatever you want to talk about."

"I wouldn't be adverse to her attending a few lessons to watch what she'll be dealing with when she can achieve CrossFusion," Yuichiro agreed.

Lan nodded, "I'll help as much as I can, too!"

Maylu managed to avoid crying and settled for giving a hug to Lan. The boy was startled for a moment before quickly returning it, smiling in relief. Saito and Yuichiro grinned at the sight.

'Guess she'll be better than I thought…' Saito thought.

Maylu, safely escorted home once more by Saito and Lan (the former not stopping at an ice cream shop on the way home for the kids as a treat for the 'good work' they did and a way to cheer Maylu up. Nope. Both kids would deny he gave them ice cream and Saito would deny the price was more than worth the happy looks on all four kids), walked into her living room. She looked around and gently laid a hand on her piano. She played a few random keys as she thought of the day's events. She stopped, closed her eyes, breathed in deep, and then opened them and turned around to the couch.

"So…" Maylu finally spoke…and looked at the tall, white-haired woman, her dichromatic eyes looking at Maylu's chocolate brown ones, "Who are you?"

GT: Let me tell you…Axess is where I first saw DoubleSoul. To me, RollSoul is one of, if not the most important DoubleSoul because of it. To me…RollSoul is a visual representation of the Love between Megaman and Roll, its power waxing and waning depending on their bond at the time.

I'll be honest…was not expecting DJ Sagara myself. But he just…showed himself in and I didn't realize it 'till it was too late. And now Maylu sees and is confronting the white-haired woman from three of the previous chapters.

Chapter Text

GT: As always, I do not own Kamen Rider nor Megaman. I do, however, own my OCs. Also, please stop wasting reviews to ask me if I'll update other stories. It's rude and makes me feel like you hate the story you're wasting a Review on to ask me to update other stories…which makes me feel like you hate me, too.

The grandfather clock ticked slowly and methodically, betraying the tense atmosphere. Maylu frowned from the chair she was in as she looked at the woman sitting on the couch. The woman was tall, very tall. Maylu knew if they were standing, she'd only be much shorter than her. Her hair was long and flowing, reaching down to her knees if she were standing, with hints of blue bleeding into it as it reached the tips. Two long locks framed her, admittedly, beautiful face and the tip ended just past her generous chest. Her face was truly mesmerizing with soft cheeks, full ruby red lips, and gentle dichromatic eyes, the left an emerald green and the right the same shade of chocolate brown of Maylu's.

Her outfit was exotic in a way to the redhead. A white button shirt with several gold buttons undone to expose most of her generous bosom's cleavage and the hints of a golden silk bra. A jacket-like golden vest decorated her figure, unzipped and sporting coattails that reached down to her knees. Her womanly hips and ample bottom were snug in a pair of jeans that left little to the imagination, trails of gold and white going up the legs. On her wrists were golden bracelets with silver charms while her dainty feet were held inside of slim, golden and bronze cowboy boots of all things. Added to the rest of the outfit, it felt like she was a cowboy.

"Who…are you?" Maylu asked.

"...I'm Rayne…Rayne Kōttakokoro," the woman spoke after a moment, "I'm a…love guide in a way."

"A love guide?"

Rayne nodded before pointing at her, "Maylu Sakurai…You must confess to Lan Hikari before his birthday next year that you are in love with him."

"?! L-Love?! M-Me?! And h-him?!" Maylu stammered as she went beet red.

"Huh? Maylu, who are you talking to?" Roll asked.

"This lady!" Maylu replied.

"Who?"

"She can't see me. Nobody can except for you, Lan, and…and the one I was the soulmate of," Rayne looked down, shame and regret in not just her voice, but posture and expression.

"Was?" Maylu repeated.

"Maylu, what's going on?"

Rayne held her hand up and then pressed it on the table…causing her hand to go through it like it wasn't there, "I'm a bound spirit to the boy I was Fated to be with only to allow myself to be tricked and break it. God has decreed that I will find no solace until I help Fated Lovers find one another and only they can see me."

"...Um…Roll…She's a ghost and I think she's Saito's late girlfriend."

Rayne grimaced, "We…never dated. We were meant to, but…"

"You never even got to tell your feelings?! That's even worse!" Maylu gasped.

"...Sure," Rayne nodded, "Just…listen, Maylu. You need to tell him your real feelings. At your current age, he won't be the one who can say it first."

"Wh-Why should I be the one who says it?"

"He's eleven. Boys at eleven are idiots and can't spit out the good truth and have foot-in-mouth syndrome," Rayne replied.

"..."

Rayne sighed, "...How about this then? You want to become stronger, right? To protect Lan?"

Maylu tensed, "How did you…?"

"Again, God gave me a job. That job means I get to know you personally to help you," Rayne replied, "I know the basics, but nothing too deep."

"Mmm…How do I know you're not lying?"

"..." Rayne sighed before leaning in close and whispered something into her ear…causing Maylu to freeze up and the color to drain from her face.

"...H-How…?" Maylu choked out, her voice barely audible as she slowly looked at Rayne.

"That is what Saito meant. You need to overcome that if you want to grow," Rayne sighed as she got up and walked towards a wall, "Do that and tell Lan that you love him before his birthday next year. If not…" she sighed and walked through the wall, "...the world will kill itself."

"..." Maylu trembled as tears threatened to fall, her heart beating so hard in her chest that she swore that she couldn't hear anything else.

"Maylu…" Roll whispered, barely able to see the tears from the PeT's cameras.

On the other side, Rayne sighed. She looked out to Lan's house and looked through the window, seeing Lan talking excitedly as Saito nodded at points while Haruka looked amused. A tear fell down her cheek as she turned and walked away.

"Huh?!" Lan gawked as he stood across from Soul in the CrossFusion chamber a few days later.

"Today, you'll be facing a fear Megaman has," Soul informed.

"I'm not scared of anything, Saito. Well…aside from my friends getting hurt…"

"Oh no. Not that fear," Soul chuckled as he opened his phone and dialed '1-4-5' on his SoulCellular.

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: GHOST!=

"G-Ghost?" Megaman stammered.

A ghostly orange energy manifested around Soul's waist, transforming into a new orange belt and a new Driver. The Driver was incredibly large and it was meant to resemble a sheet ghost...with one eye and a visible skeletal mouth of metal beneath the plastic sheet. To the left was a rectangular section of metal, and to the right was a hand lever/plunger that had an orange grip and was all black along the rest. From the top, a hole could be seen, the inside of the buckle was also empty.

=GHOSTDRIVER=

"Oh no…" Roll softly gasped, Maylu sitting by Yuichiro at the computer set up.

"What's wrong?" Maylu asked.

"Mega is terrified of ghosts," Roll explained.

"Huh?!" Maylu gawked.

"Oh yes. One of my coworkers decided to watch a scary ghost movie when Megaman was little," Yuichiro spoke, "Megaman had been curious and, well…yeah."

"Oh dear," Maylu gasped.

Soul held up a hand to his chest and pulled out a ghostly orange fireball that dispersed, revealing a pitch black object resembling an eyeball. Along the top, it was all orange with two black ovals acting as 'eyes.' It had a large 'G' at the top of the rectangular stripe, and read GHOST along the bottom in white letters. Soul opened the GhostDriver and pushed the palm of his hand against the side of the item, causing it to 'blink,' and change the iris in the center of it to show a matching 'G' in it now. He gently put it into the Driver.

=EYE~!=

The belt shouted as an orange flash came from the eye in the center. Something then flew out of the Ghost Driver. It was...a hoodie? It was pitch black with orange trim, the front had a collar that was folded out with orange coloring inside. It had two straps acting like arms for the short sleeves, burning orange eyes in its hood as a spike stuck out of where a neck would be, and around the bottom of the hoodie it also had a wispy ghost tail. The Hoodie then began to...dance?

=Bacchiri Minaa~ Bacchiri Minaa~!=

"HENSHIN!" Soul shouted as he pulled the trigger out, making the 'eye' close, before pushing it in.

=KAIGAN! ORE!=

The Eye opened to reveal the G had changed to a face that was all orange with two black eyes, the symbol growing out of the eye as a light once this was done. Lights then formed around Soul. They resembled a skeleton with a large blue eye with a wisp above it forming in the center of his chest. Sparkling light formed around him before it compressed into a suit with armor now covering Soul. He wore a pitch black suit, with clear armor covering his chest and shoulders. His arms and legs were clad in black armor along with shackle-like bracelets and anklets around those spots. Bright orange bone like patterns glowing on his suit; he even had large metal knee pads as well. In the center of the armor was a blue eye symbol with the same wisp above it his hands clad in armor resembling the bones of a human hand the inside of his palms even padded. Soul's head was now clad in a helmet that was all black but with a silver dome-like screen/visor over his face.

The floating hoodie began flying around him before the hoodie swung its makeshift arms back and jumped on his back. As it did, the two arms folded in under two loops on each short sleeve, fitting into place. Metal straps formed under the collar of his hoodie that became rigid and metal like silver studs at the ends. The new straps kept the hoodie in place. The spike folding up with a mask. An Orange mask formed on the helmet, glowing with bright light cells, large black eyes on the mask, the spike now a wispy horn above his helmet. It was blue along the sides and a red square along the front of it. The horn was also bladed as the orange parts of the armor all began to flash.

=LET'S GO! KAKUGO! GHO-GHO-GHO-GHOST! GO! GO! GO! GO!=

Ghost stood back up as he grabbed his hood and pushed it back, revealing his black helmet as silver streaks of metal keeping his still glowing orange mask in place.

"Whoa~!" Lan awed.

"I am…Kamen Rider Ghost!" Soul declared.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHA~!" Megaman screamed in fright.

"..." Lan looked at his PeT, seeing just Megaman's twitching right foot and leg, "...I think Megaman fainted."

Ghost facepalmed, "Oh we are in for a lot of training then…" he shook his head before snapping his fingers, "May as well bring in the artillery then."

"Huh?" Lan pondered before ducking as a pitch black condor-like machine with hints of orange and green swooped overhead followed by a brown and black bat-like machine, "AH!" a webline went past him before a mechanical spider swung by on it, a cobra machine hissing gleefully on its back, "Oh~!"

"Meet Ghost's little partners: the Ghost Gadgets," Ghost introduced as the condor turned into an old-styled telephone that landed in his hands, "Condow Denwor…" he then caught the bat as it turned into a grandfather clock, "Bat Clock…" the spider folded up into a lantern, "Kumo Lantern…" the snake then shot up and landed in Lan's hands, folding up into a cell phone, "...and Cobra Keitai."

"Oh wow!" Lan awed as the four then transformed into their animal/insect states, "You guys are neat! What can they do?"

"Condor Denwor can call anyone at anytime and anywhen," Saito informed before Denwor turned into its phone mode and rang, "Hello?" A moment passed and he gave it to Maylu, "It's for you."

"Hello?" Maylu asked.

"Hi, Maylu! I'm calling you from a week from now!" Maylu's voice beamed.

"Huh?! You're me?"

"Yeah. It's weird for me, too, because I was on your end of this conversation. Have fun at the hot springs!" Maylu's voice beamed before hanging up.

"That was me?!" Maylu gawked as Denwor flew off.

"Yep!" Ghost chuckled, "So long as a phone or phone app exists, Condor Denwor can call that phone at anytime it existed and function!"

"Seriously?!" Many of the scientists and the kids exclaimed in shock.

"Bat Clock can replay anything they record, Kumo Lantern can also make ghosts visible and solid enough to interact with others, and Cobra Keitai can deploy an acid so powerful it can dissolve even metals far superior to titanium."

"...You can?" Lan asked, looking at the snake on his shoulder, who nodded, "Wow. Ghost must be a super spy."

"Actually, Takeru Tenkujii is the owner of a temple who died on his eighteenth birthday and had to gather the 15 Eyecons of historic figures that would allow him to get a wish to revive himself," Ghost explained, "And Cobra Keitai belongs to Specter, his brother in all but blood. I can summon him because Ghost can use the Gan Gun Saber in its Naginata Mode to make a scythe for King Tut's Eyecon."

"Whoa~" Lan awed before a grey Eyecon popped out of Ghost's parka, "Huh?"

"Oh no," Ghost squeaked as it flew over to Maylu.

"Um…" Maylu blinked a few times.

"Maylu…be very very careful. That is Beethoven. The Ludwig van Beethoven," Ghost warned.

"R-Really?!" Maylu gasped.

"Why are you afraid?" Lan whispered.

"Because Beethoven defenestrated a woman because he didn't like her singing," Ghost quietly replied.

"He did what?"

"Threw her out a window," Ghost hissed, making Lan turn pure white and break out in a cold sweat.

"Young lady…" Beethoven spoke, "You…are doing quite well. You are as well at the piano as I was at your age. Continue your refinement and hold your head up in pride."

"Oh! Th-Thank you, sir."

"WHAT?! Speak up!"

"THANK YOU, SIR!"

"Good set of lungs, too. You'll need them for a dunce like that boy over there," Beethoven huffed, making her blush.

"Wait…You know her? You know him?" Ghost asked.

"The partners you need for your forms obtain all the knowledge you gain when you call upon the Rider connected to them," Beethoven responded before he shot over to Lan and went into him…causing his vest to turn into a Victorian era coat, "Now then…"

"Oh, you're going out the window~" several male voices sang from Ghost's parka.

Ghost whimpered as B-Lan grabbed him by the parka. A minute passed and Ghost screamed as he sailed through the highest window in the building like his namesake. B-Lan huffed and cleaned his hands of fake dust before making his way back.

"You'd throw that woman out the window, too, with how atrocious her 'singing' was," Beethoven huffed under his breath.

"Yeah, yeah…Laugh it up, ya stinkers…" Ghost grumbled as several scientists were holding hair dryers to the soaked Kamen Rider, "Is he awake yet, Roll?"

"He is!" Roll replied, "Mega, you know it's just a gimmick. He's not a real ghost."

"Um…Saito? What does this one do again?" Maylu asked, holding Kumo Lantern in her arms.

"Kumo Lantern?" Ghost pondered, "Well…When my Gan Gun Saber is in Naginata Mode, they can combine with it to make Hammer Mode. It's the preferred form I use for the Benkei Damashii. But when alone? Kumo Lanter can release a powerful light that forces ghosts into a corporeal state for a few hours."

"Corporeal state?"

"He means that if you shine the light from this amazing little gadget on a ghost, it can physically interact with the world like they were still alive," one female scientist guessed, "Possibly able to even eat and drink, right?"

"The lovely lady is correct," Ghost pointed out.

"So how many forms do you have for this?" Yuichiro asked, distracting Ghost from seeing Maylu's pondering thoughts.

"You mean Damashii," Ghost corrected, "As for how many…well, there's my standard and the fifteen Heroic Eyecons of Musashi, Edison, Robin Hood, Beethoven, Tutenkhamen, Nobunaga, Ryoma, Himiko, Newton, Goemon, Billy the Kid, Houdini, the Brothers Grimm, Sanzo, and Benkei. But…there's also Boost, Grateful, Mugen, Special…and that's not even going over the over a hundred other Eyecons…"

"You have over a hundred forms with just this one form?"

"Alongside my other Ghost Rider forms," Ghost replied, "In fact, Grimm and Sanzo are more often utilized by a Rider named Necrom while Nobunaga, Tutenkhamen, and Houdini were more often than not used by Specter."

"Houdini? …Wow, that's ironic," a male scientist noted, "Wasn't he the guy who exposed fake spirit callers because Houdini wasn't his real name but his stage name?"

"He is," Saito nodded, "The cool thing about Houdini is that he has his own motorcycle that can combine with me when I use his Damashii."

"You can combine with a bike?" Maylu asked.

"A lot of Rider bikes have a secondary or tertiary mode to them," Ghost replied, "If I were OOO or Birth, I could use a Cell Medal and turn a vending machine into a RideVendor which is a vending machine for soda cans and Candroids, a motorcycle, and can combine with the Tora Candroid to become the ToRideVendor."

"What about Ghost?" Lan asked.

"Ah, the Ghostriker. I can combine it with a vehicle called Captain Ghost and make the Iguana Ghostriker," Ghost replied.

"Mmmm…" Megaman whimpered.

"It's a pirate ship that unfolds into a large iguana body with a cannon at the end of its tail and Ghostriker combines with it at the front to form the head. It's really cute in a way when you see it," Ghost chuckled.

"Are the Eyecons gonna vanish when your three days are up?" Lan asked.

"Probably not," Ghost replied as he gestured to several Gochizo Rush was playing Go Fish with, "From what I've come to understand, the sentient transformation trinkets tend to stay."

"Well can you ask that one guy to not possess me? It felt weird and why did he throw you out the highest window in the place?"

"Semantics," Ghost quickly replied before clapping his hands, "Right. Enough delaying; lessons to be had."

"Turn on the Dimensional Area," Yuichiro ordered once everyone was at their positions.

"CROSSFUSION!"

Ghost swung a fist at the sphere of light and got bounced off it, "Okay…glad to fully confirm that you can't prevent the CrossFusion once it starts."

He brought his hands together before a light flashed from his belt, a circle with letters formed over it with an ethereal light coming from it. A weapon then shot from the circle, revealed to be a long and wide broadsword. It was all black, with an orange and teal handle. It had an eye symbol in the center of its circular cross section, resembling a pivot point. The center of the sword was all black with two separate blades along both sides. It also had four tubes connecting the cross section to the blade, making it look like a candelabra. The bottom had a squared section that looked like something was plugged in, and towards the top center of the blade was another section where it looked like something was connected.

=GAN GUN SABER!=

Ghost grabbed the weapon and held it up as the light dispersed to show CF Megaman. He rushed at the boy and LongSword parried Gan Gun Saber. Maylu bit her lower lip as she watched the two battle.

"Why is he doing this?" Maylu asked.

"He wants Lan to be at his best. My son is a kinetic learner, meaning he gets the most out of learning through applying it physically," Yuichiro responded, "He wants Lan and Megaman to be safe so he has to unleash his strength on them. Once you get CrossFusion working, he'll apply the same to you."

A small warmth filled her. Even Dr. Hikari thought she'd have the capability. Ghost floated around a swipe of CF Megaman's sword, the boy wincing as Megaman yelped. An ElecSword and BambooSword replaced his gloves while Ghost held up a red Eyecon and clicked it.

"Koi, Miyamoto Musashi," Ghost declared, swapping his Ore Eyecon for it.

=EYE~!=

A red light shined from the GhostDriver and CF Megaman grunted as he had to parry sword swipes. The owner was a parka like the one from Ghost's Ore Eyecon, but different as well. It was a red sleeveless parka with a hood that sported a metal headband around the hood and a topknot-like object from the back made from the handle of a Katana. The chest of the hood has metal straps on the front of each chest, with metal studs on the shoulders, connecting two straps that seemed made from samurai armor with short tanto blades connecting to the ends. The coat also had a wispy ghost tail at the bottom. The red eyes in the hood glowed as the blade-ended arms moved and formed a pose resembling a person holding up twin swords.

=KAIGAN! MUSASHI!=

The Musashi Hood flew around Ghost, flipped around, and put itself on Ghost as its bladed arms folded and hung behind Ghost like tassels/mufflers with blades at the end. As the hood fastened itself in place, the metal headband tightened as a sign of that, a mask locked into place; having two red katanas crossed on the mask, the horn now going in-between the headband.

=KETTO! ZUBATTO! CHO-KENGO!=

That call completed the transformation in a bright red flash from the new hood.

"Lee-ne," Ghost said as he grabbed his sword and pulled off the back blade as it unfolded, now resembling a Katana, "Tenka Musou!" he shouted, holding both his blades into the air and assumed a sword stance, "Come at me!" he challenged, his voice now full of great confidence and even sounding deeper, "Niitoryu to Niitoryu!"

He rushed in and his hands became blurs. CF Megaman grunted, doing his best to keep up. Blow after blow came, blades singing. Ghost stabbed and CF Megaman moved to the side only to scream as he was slashed with the other. Ghost delivered a spinning slash only to cut through a poorly made Megaman doll. He laughed as he proceeded to clash blades with oncoming shuriken, knocking them into the air and back at CF Megaman, sending more sparks flying.

"Interesting! Quite interesting! Your sword style is so unorthodox, but you fight so naturally with it!" Ghost declared.

"Oh my…!" Roll gasped as Ghost brought the eye on his Gan Gun Saber to the 'eye' of his GhostDriver, a red light shining between the two 'eyes' and connecting them.

=DAI KAIGAN!=

Ghost held both his swords forward as red energy formed into an intricate seal of sorts. It was a bright, burning red that seemed to radiate confidence and pride.

=GAN GAN MINAA~! GAN GAN MINAA~!=

CF Megaman grunted as he slowly got to his feet. Ghost held both his swords forward as the red energy flowed into the blades. The Kamen Rider crossed his arms, his left blade now pointing to the right and vice versa with his right arm. Ghost slowly moved his feet so his left blade now pointed forward as the boy got even closer.

=GAN GAN MINAA~!=

In a simple second, CF Megaman charged swinging with all his power. Ghost used his left blade to block the swing of the ElecSword and then began running while slashing with his right, the glowing blade cutting the boy across the abdomen and the BambooSword that tried to parry him. Sparks raced off CF Megaman as Ghost was now back to back with the boy.

=GAN GAN MINAA~!=

CF Megaman stabbed forward as both turned to face each other again, but Ghost swung both arms up, knocking their swords up and pointing to the heavens. Ghost then pressed the trigger.

=OMEGA SLASH!=

With that, the energy flashed brighter as Ghost slashed both swords straight down, sparks and fire coming off the blades' impact with CF Megaman. Two parallel red streaks now carved down his shoulders as sparks and electricity began to come off him. CF Megaman groaned as he lost CrossFusion. Ghost caught him before he could fall.

"You did well," Ghost complimented, "You'll make a splendid warrior one day."

"S-Sensei…?" Lan mumbled.

Ghost chuckled, his mask glowing faintly, "Iie. Musashi da. Rest up and we'll cover what you can improve upon. Who knows? One day you may need a sword and all you have is a paddle like myself."

"I can't wait for round two! I wanna see their shootin' skills!" A brown Eyecon declared, "Why didn't he call us sooner?"

"The window, Billy," a navy blue Eyecon joked before Beethoven was behind it…making the navy blue Eyecon break out in a sweat.

"Ryoma's in for it now," Billy the Kid whispered, the others slowly backing away.

"Only if Beethoven-san tells his wife," the purple Eyecon chuckled.

"Gah! Nobunaga-kun, don't give him ideas!" Ryoma panicked before a dark blue Eyecon appeared by him in a puff of confetti with a yellow Eyecon before both vanished and appeared on Maylu's shoulders, "Thank you, Houdini-san!"

"Indeed. Thank you, Houdini. I felt it best I stay uninvolved in his tutelage in terms of combat due to my powers," the yellow Eyecon noted before settling on Yuichiro's shoulder, "A pleasure. I am Edison."

"Young miss?" Maylu looked at Ryoma, "I do hope you don't mind me staying with you for now. If you would like, I would offer to you some lessons in strategy and philosophy."

"Oh! That…That would be nice. Thank you, Mr. Ryoma."

"Just call me 'Ryoma,' my young pupil," Ryoma chuckled good-naturedly.

"What happened to you two?" A kindergarten student-sized NetNavi asked, donned in a snow parka/jumpsuit hybrid with permanent spiral blushes on his cheeks, as he looked at Megaman and Roll looking completely exhausted.

"Saito is evil…" Roll groaned.

"Saito?"

"Lan's home tutor, Iceman," Megaman replied, "He is a dangerous taskmaster when it comes to NetBattling."

"I want to become stronger and elevate from Civilian NetNavi to Combat NetNavi…but this is insane…" Roll moaned.

"Huh?"

"He has armors that we have to fight," Roll explained, "Mega kept fainting randomly against a ghost-themed one, then there was one based off a crab that summoned this crab monster that smacked us silly with a rolling kick, and then there was the one who transformed by opening a bottle of wine and makes a giant 'G' on everything with explosions!"

"He clobbers us, has us rest, review what we did wrong while we rest, then we get clobbered all over again and survive just a little longer," Megaman grunted, 'And that's not going into CrossFusion training with those armors.'

"Well…hopefully the news Tory has will help you guys feel better," Iceman noted.

"Huh?" Both looked up at him.

"Hot Springs Club?" Lan and Maylu repeated.

"Indeed," Ms. Mari replied as Tory nodded beside her, "It's a club to which Tory and I belong to."

"We travel to a different hot springs each month, doing a set of tests there, and comparing each one we visit," Tory explained.

"Would you kids care to join?" Ms. Mari offered.

"What kinds of tests do you do in it?" Lan asked.

"We check out the composition of the water…the temperature…the fire…and other various things," Tory replied.

"Some may not even use fire but an alternative heating source," Ms. Mari added, "There are just so many factors we tend to look into."

"Umm…Will we even be getting into a hot spring?" Maylu asked.

"But of course!" Ms. Mari beamed, "But first, we do need to test you two. This weekend, the Hot Springs Club will be going to Yoka to try out the Ura Inn's hot springs."

"Didn't you go to Yoka when we went to the WaterWorks, Tory?" Maylu recalled.

"Yeah, but we used a normal hotel and not the Ura Inn, so I never got the chance to try their hot springs," Tory replied, "Though…we do have a problem."

"What's up?" Lan asked.

"Two of the adults in the club had to call out due to issues with their jobs and we may not be able to go," Ms. Mari grimaced.

"Oh! Maybe we can ask Saito," Lan grinned.

"Your home tutor? Oh, I've been hoping to talk to him for a while now!" Ms. Mari beamed, "He's helped your homework improve significantly!"

"Just need one more adult," Tory noted as Maylu glanced out the window, catching sight of Rayne looking at the statue in the middle of the courtyard, phasing her head through the back of it for some reason.

"...I think I know someone who can be the second adult," Maylu offered after thinking about it for a moment.

"What part of 'I can't be seen by anyone but you and Lan' did you not understand?" Rayne questioned as Maylu set up her PeT on the table later that day, aiming it right at her.

"Give me a chance to try one thing," Maylu offered, "If not, I'll ask Lan to ask his mom to be our third adult."

"...What idea?" Rayne asked before hearing mechanical chitters and looked to see the Kumo Lantern swing over.

"She's right there," Maylu pointed at Rayne while looking at the Ghost Gadget.

The Kumo Lantern chittered before folding up once more. It began to shine brightly at Rayne, making her raise a hand and squint her eyes. Roll's startled cry once the light faded caught her attention and she looked to see…she was looking right at her.

"Maylu! Maylu, we have a literal ghost in our house!" Roll panicked, running around in the screens, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Please don't drain the battery for the PeT~!"

"What just…?" Rayne gasped.

"You weren't watching their CrossFusion training. Kumo Lantern can make you visible for a few hours," Maylu explained before giving her a spoon, "See? You can even touch things again!"

"I…I can," Rayne realized.

"Wait, is she the ghost lady?!" Roll gawked.

"Yes, Roll. This is Rayne," Maylu introduced, "Rayne, this is Roll."

Rayne snapped out of her shock and smiled warmly at Roll, "Hello, Roll. It's nice to meet you."

"It…It's nice to meet you, too…" Roll stammered, "I…I'm sorry. Just…trying to process…"

"It's okay. Take your time," Rayne assured before looking at the smiling Maylu.

"So…do you want to go to the hot springs?"

"Huh? Where did Saito go?"

"He won a few days trip to a hot spring trip until Monday," Haruka explained, "Is everything alright?"

"Mmm…I was hoping to ask you and Saito if you'd want to go to Yoka this weekend for a hot springs trip," Lan admitted before Lan's PeT rang, "Hm?"

"E-Mail from Maylu, Lan. She says her choice agreed to it and they just spoke with Ms. Mari," Megaman replied.

"Nice," Lan smiled before looking at Haruka, "Do you wanna go to Yoka this weekend, Mama?"

"Well…It has been quite a while since I was last there," Haruka replied wistfully, "Where will be staying?"

"The Ura Inn," Lan replied.

"Oh! I'm an old friend of the owner thanks to her husband being coworkers with your father," Haruka recognized before giggling, "Oh, this will be quite the surprise for her."

"That's amazing!" Lan awed, "Oh, what does her husband do with papa, anyway?"

"He runs a very important server for the Network, but I don't fully understand it," Haruka admitted.

"Do you want me to call Ms. Mari to let her talk with you, Mama?" Megaman asked.

"That would be nice. Thank you," Haruka replied.

'Wow. Is she a model?' Ms. Mari thought, having to look up a little to be able to see Rayne's face as she walked over with Maylu.

"Hello," Rayne greeted, "I'm Rayne. I'm a distant cousin to Maylu here and I used to babysit her when she was younger when she was traveling with her parents." she lightly curled a finger in the locks on the right side of her face, "A pleasure to meet everyone."

"A pleasure to meet you, Rayne," Haruka greeted, "I'm Haruka. I'm Lan's mother."

Rayne smiled softly at her, accepting the offered handshake from Haruka, "I'm happy to get to know you, Haruka."

"She's your cousin?" Lan whispered.

"She's so beautiful, Maylu," Tory noted as he was looking at Rayne in awe.

"Yeah, she's been offered to be a model a lot, but she likes working from home," Maylu replied, Lan blinking a few times as he noticed her lightly curling a finger in the lock of hair on the right side of her face.

Soon, the train went off with everyone in it. Once they were off, Lan managed to get Maylu into a booth with just them both.

"Maylu…Who is she really?" Lan whispered.

"H-Huh?"

"Maylu, when you lie, you curl a finger in your hair, specifically on the right side of your head," Lan replied, "And I know that lady. She was in the building that operates Net City when Beastman attacked."

Maylu glanced around before leaning closer, "She's a ghost. A real one."

"H-huh?!" Lan gawked.

"She knows Saito," Maylu added, "But…he's lost all memories of her."

"That's horrible," Lan frowned, "Wait…if she's a ghost, why isn't anyone panicking?"

"Kumo Lanter," Maylu replied as the Ghost Gadget peeked out of her satchel, "It lets her pretend to be human for a few hours and we have Kumo Lantern."

"And you don't think she's lying?" Lan asked.

Maylu shook her head, "A girl knows."

Lan tilted his head. Meanwhile, in Lan's PeT, Megaman's muffled scream bellowed behind Roll's hand. After several long moments, he finally calmed down enough for Roll to take her hand off.

"Mega…I know you're afraid, but you won't be alone with her," Roll assured, "She can't drain energy and apparently, she can only be seen by Lan, Maylu, and Saito if the Kumo Lantern doesn't shine on her every so often."

"A-Are you sure?" Megaman asked.

"She's spent the last few days with Maylu and me," Roll replied, pulling him into a comforting hug, "Just give her a chance, okay? She honestly just wants Lan and Maylu to be safe and able to grow up."

"...Co…Could you stay with me w-when you introduce us?" Megaman softly asked.

"I promise," Roll assured, blushing a bit as Megaman returned the hug as relief flowed through him.

"So you've traveled all over?" Ms. Mari asked.

"Oh yes. There were a few places I've been to since I was a little girl," Rayne replied, "I think my favorite is still a nice cozy park in Ameropa. I swear, after it had rained it sounded like there was a symphony from all the raindrops falling off the leaves."

"Oh that sounds beautiful," Haruka noted.

"It was, yes," Rayne affirmed as she smiled fondly.

Haruka giggled before looking at Ms. Mari in concern, "Are you sure this may be something good for Lan? He's not exactly the most…patient…of boys when something exciting like a hot spring is right in front of him."

"I did make sure to discuss this with him and Maylu and told them that the club does research first before enjoying the hot springs we go to," Ms. Mari replied, "But I'm not surprised if he and Maylu do get frustrated at first. Today is more about the actual research while tomorrow will be all about enjoying the trip." she smiled at Haruka, "Remind me to thank his home tutor if we see him in Yoka alongside you for telling me about him being a kinetic learner." she giggled, "I've always wanted an excuse to do some more hands-on learning for my students."

"It still amazes me that I never even considered he was one myself," Haruka sheepishly admitted, scratching her cheek similar to how Lan would his own cheek.

Soon, the train finally arrived at its destination and Lan and Maylu looked out in amazement. Rayne, meanwhile, looked completely bewildered. Yoka was vast with various buildings all centered around a hot springs motif. Right outside the modest train station, a huge fountain poured thousands of gallons of water into the air and down onto itself, a gentle steam wafting off it and around the area.

"Is…Is that a hot spring converted into a fountain?" Rayne asked as Ms. Mari and Tory walked over to it, knelt down, and put a finger in before licking the dipped finger, "Uh…"

"I know this coldness. It's a well known ice, very sensitive to the cold…" Tory noted.

"Yup. That makes sense since this would have to withstand the winter months," Ms. Mari agreed.

"Best be careful now doing that just randomly," a voice spoke up and they looked to see Saito walking over, wearing a navy blue yukata with white cloud patterns on it and a pair of zori on his feet, "Tourists tend to toss Zenny in there and it probably throws off the taste."

"Saito!" Lan beamed, nobody but Maylu noticing the way Rayne froze up.

"Hm? Oh, hey," Saito greeted as Lan ran over to him.

"This is where you won your trip to a hot spring?" Lan asked.

"Yep," Saito replied, "Always wanted to go to one so this has been quite nice. There's even a zoo here. Not a fan of their vulture, though, so do not get near it, got it?"

"You sure you're not just overreacting?" Lan asked.

"I am sure of it," Saito responded as Haruka walked over, "Ma'am."

"I take it you're staying at an inn nearby?" Haruka asked.

"Yep. Ura Inn," Saito replied, "I've been helping the owner out during my stay. Can't just be lazy and enjoy the springs the whole time, now can I?"

Haruka rolled her eyes. The young man was someone who just couldn't stay still for long periods of time; always needing to do at least something for someone else.

"I take it then that Yuki asked you to come greet the school club that was coming for the weekend then, yes?"

"Guilty as charged!" Saito joked before seeing Rayne, 'Huh? Isn't that the lady from SciLab who glared at me?'

Haruka noticed his line of sight and giggled, "Oh! Saito, this is Rayne. She's a relative of Maylu's who volunteered to be a chaperone for this trip." she grabbed Saito and pulled him over to Rayne, "Rayne, this is Saito. He's the home tutor I was telling you about."

"Yo," Saito greeted.

"H-Hello…" Rayne mumbled, looking away from him.

"..." Saito leaned closer to Haruka and whispered, "Methink she's shy." he swiftly clapped his hands, "Right! I'm here to escort you lovely folks to the Ura Inn posthaste!"

As Saito escorted the group off, a nearby monitor flickered for a moment. Inside of it, Bubbleman smirked as he watched them.

"Lan Hikari…Megaman…and the Kamen Rider…" Bubbleman narrowed his eyes, clenching a fist tight, "You all won't be smiling for much longer, blub. Just like the other day, I'm on a mission to make your lives miserable, blub!"

"WHOA~! IT'S HUGE!" Lan awed, looking upon a large Japanese inn atop a modest hill a bit outside of the main part of the town.

'That's what she said.' "And only a ten minute walk to the Yoka Zoo from here," Saito nodded, "And a few seconds walk away from the souvenir store run by Mrs. Urakawa's sister Tamako and her NetNavi Metalman. I heard from her and Mrs. Urakawa that she gives discounts if you beat Metalman in a NetBattle or impress her enough even if you lose."

"She just enjoys a good NetBattle," a voice spoke as a woman walked over in a magenta kimono and her hair pulled back into a bun with chopsticks.

"Yuki, long time no see," Haruka greeted.

"It's good to see you again, Haruka," she greeted before bowing to the others, "Hello. My name is Yuki Urakawa, the owner of the Ura Inn. Please, come this way and I'll escort you to your rooms."

"Heavy…So very heavy…" everyone looked to see a businessman trying hard to not fall over from the several heavy packages in his arms.

"...Tamako strikes again," Saito noted, making Yuki giggle.

From the red curtains of the store connected to the building, a beautiful woman emerged with fair skin without a blemish. Her long, navy blue hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She wears a red coat, a white tanktop, green pants, tan sandals, a black-red waistband on each of her wrist and a metal blade-shaped ornament on the right-top side of her head.

"Come again~!" the woman called.

"I guess that's your sister, miss?" Lan asked.

"Indeed she is," Yuki replied, "Tamako~!"

"Hm?" the woman looked over, "Oh, hey~!" she walked over, "What's up, sis?"

"This is my sister, Tamako Shiraizumi," Yuki introduced, "Tamako, this is the ACDC Elementary Hot Springs Club. They're the reservation for this weekend."

"Oh?" Tamako asked, putting her arms under his chest as she looked down at them, specifically Lan, "You seem to have a pretty strong look in your eyes."

"Tamako, they haven't even gotten to their rooms yet," Yuki frowned, "Give them at least an hour before you challenge one of them to a NetBattle."

"Oh fine, fine, fine," Tamako chuckled before pointing at Saito, "You better go send a message to that pal of yours then while I'm waiting."

"Can we not and say we did?" a voice pleaded from the PeT on her hip.

"Alright, alright. I'll go tell Soul you want another round. Just remember that he already use the three up already," Saito rolled his eyes.

"How did they do against Soul?" Lan asked.

"Pretty good. They have a decent synchronicity," Saito replied, 'I called Famous about them. Hopefully, they can be capable of it just in case.'

"That armor gimmick of his is nuts," Tamako huffed, "The first time, his armor was this real intense red one that looked all feral and he even bit off Metalman's arm with his jaws and took the other with his claws in a karate chop!" she slammed her fist into her palm with a grin, "The second was this real tough guy in a tiger-themed white and blue armor with an axe that sported this tiger's head on it that used cards to let him summon this brutal-looking tiger-like Virus to help him. And then?" she shivered in excitement, "Oh man! Just yesterday, he used this gold and white armor that splurted out this grease-like jelly that solidified into more armor on his body after putting something his buckle called a Robot Jelly into it and he and Metalman went hours just laying the blows down on one another! And I think he just kept getting stronger in that one!"

'That's because I was. The fight was increasing my Hazard Level as Grease,' Saito thought.

"Huh? So we can't go in yet?" Lan asked as he and Tory finished putting their clothes for the overnight stay away.

"Exactly, Lan," Tory nodded, "If you want to go into the hot springs, you need to wear the appropriate clothes."

"Clothes?" Lan repeated, looking at Rush before both tilted their heads at Tory in confusion.

Minutes later, Lan and Tory were dressed in cream yukata with Lan's having navy blue triangles and Tory's green 'sprinkles.' Rush puffed up his chest, wearing a bright red yukata with dog bones on it.

"These are appropriate clothes?" Lan asked, thankful he got to keep his bandana.

"Of course! They're free clothing provided by the inn," Tory replied, "There's a way of doing things at hot springs, so you gotta adapt to it."

"Plus, they are just so dang comfy to wear," Saito chuckled as he walked over.

"Ah! What happened?" Tory asked, seeing the black eye Saito sported.

'A lucky shot before I could use another Rider and he broke the 'bug eye,''' Saito thought before lying casually, "Just a simple trip on the tatami mats."

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

The four males turned to see the four girls all walking up in similar yukata to Lan and Tory. Maylu had pink hearts on hers, Haruka had violet gourds, Ms. Mari had purple 'crow feet' on her own, and Rayne's had blue fireballs. Rhyme frowned as she adjusted her top, trying to cover a bit more of her cleavage.

'I miss being smaller…' Rayne thought, mentally grimacing as she noticed Saito staring at her with a small blush, '...I just had to top off with a flash of Kumo Lantern before I exited the room…'

"Shall we get going?" Ms. Mari asked, "Haruka, Rayne, it's fine for you both to enjoy things while the club works today."

Haruka giggled, "Why thank you."

"Huh?" Lan tilted as Rayne followed Haruka one way.

"Come along," Ms. Mari instructed, "Saito, I hope you have a nice afternoon."

"Sure thing. Just gonna put some ice on this eye of mine," Saito assured.

'Whoever that Tamako lady's NetNavi is…if they're strong enough to give him a black eye…' Lan thought, a bit of excitement shivering down his spine, 'I can't wait to see what it'll be like NetBattling them!'

"Whoa~! It's an open air bath!" Lan awed as the club was gathered outside in a walled off hot spring with several layers of tinier ponds all coming from a lion head-shaped fountain.

"I've never seen something so amazing," Maylu awed.

"I hope you kids remember what we're doing today," Ms. Mari spoke up.

"Huh?" Lan titled his head.

"Remember, today is about the club first," Tory reminded them, "We gather data first. Tomorrow, we get to fully experience the hot springs."

"Oh! R-Right," Lan nodded.

"Awww~" Rush whined.

"Think of it like you're getting a tutoring lesson from Saito," Megaman compared.

"...I guess," Lan muttered.

Tory nodded, "Okay, before we can even begin, we need to understand its composition. You have to take the sweet fragrance of the hot springs seriously."

"How do we do that?" Maylu tilted her head.

Ms. Mari giggled as she held up an empty water bottle, "Just give me a few minutes while you kids head to the boys' room."

Lan, Rush, and Maylu tilted their heads as they looked at the table they and Tory were sitting at. Before them were four glasses each with water in each of them. Ms. Mari stood before them.

"Okay, I brought with me tap water, bottled water from the station's shop, the water I collected from the spring, and water that was from melted ice from the freezer that I had in my suitcase before we left to come here," Ms. Mari explained, "Your goal is to figure out which is the hot spring water. After that, you'll try to pick which between two different springs is the spring water for this place and then compare notes on what you think of the taste."

'Something tells me we're gonna need the bathroom a lot later,' Lan thought.

"Are…we just drinking water?" Maylu asked.

"Nope. After this, we'll use the water for…" Tory pulled out some postcard-sized watercolor arts, "...watercolor postcards."

"Ohh~" the two awed.

Ms. Mari giggled, "The composition of a hot spring's water can lead to variations in the colors that differ from regular tap water. They're sometimes so subtle that we always write the name of the hot springs on the backs. You'll be making one from each source of water after writing down the water source on the backs."

"They're really fun to do since the goal of this is to paint scenes at the hot springs you've seen," Tory smiled.

"Oh~ This is getting exciting now! Okay! Let's do this!" Lan cheered.

"Sounds like they're having fun," Saito chuckled, a black briefcase on a table in his room nearby, showing Burgermeal's feed from a hidden spot in the boys' room, "Just let me know if anything needs my immediate attention, Burgermeal."

Haruka grunted as she stretched her arms above her head as she and Rayne sat across from one another in the women's only hot springs, "Ohh, it's been too long since I was last in a hot spring~" she smiled at Rayne while lowering her arms, "Is this your first time?"

"Hm? Oh, no, no," Rayne replied, "The last vivid time I remember being in one was when I was eleven. It was a school field trip that got cut short due to an incident."

"Oh my," Haruka frowned, "That's quite sad to hear. Well, hopefully this trip isn't as bad."

"I hope so," Rayne nodded, "Honestly…some days I feel like I'm cursed when I go to new places and something happens. I mean, I went to an amusement park once and the robots all went nuts due to viruses!"

"Tell me about it," Haruka sighed, "A few months back, I went out to do some shopping and flying robotic sword fish almost skewered me if not for a good frying pan that was on sale. I still keep it because it didn't even dent from the repeated hits I gave to those things."

"We live in…interesting…times, don't we?" Rayne asked.

Haruka nodded, recalling the words Saito had said about her sons and the title Hub now had, "Very interesting times, indeed." she smiled, leaning closer to her, "So…any reason for you looking away from Saito?"

"...He's…an old friend," Rayne replied.

"!? You are?!" Haruka gasped, "Oh that's perfect! He's got amnesia, so ha…"

"I can't," Rayne interrupted, making Haruka pause, "I…I can't do that for him. T-Tell him what happened…"

"...What happened?" Haruka asked, concern in her tone.

"...I was in a bad relationship," Rayne admitted, looking at her reflection in the hot spring water, "The guy was…manipulative…said things and did things that hit all my good buttons and I was like putty in his palms." she closed her eyes, a tear falling, "Saito is like this…becasue of my actions."

Haruka blinked a few times, "...It's not Saito, right?"

"No. He's too kind-hearted!" Rayne replied, looking at her with a firm look, "He's such an amazing boy! He's saved me so much, but…but I failed him…" her knees poked out of the water as she brought them to the underside of her chin while she looked at the ground again, "...I hurt him and I couldn't save him…until there was nothing to save."

"..." Haruka moved closer and wrapped her arms over the taller woman's shoulders, "He's alive and so are you. If you feel you're not ready…then be his friend as he is now. When you see and believe that he's ready and can handle it, then tell him."

"...Thank you, Mrs. Hi…Haruka," Rayne corrected herself, leaning into the comforting hug.

A few Gochizo cooed softly from one of the higher tinier pools in the hot spring at the sight they just saw. They had initially planned to tell their maker about this hint of his past, but the sight made them reconsider.

Lan yawned as he walked out of the inn's front doors the next morning, "That was a lot more fun than I thought it'd be."

"I can't believe Rush brought in cups for Roll, Iceman, and me to do it, too," Megaman admitted.

"How'd it taste compared to Network water?"

"Honestly? There wasn't much difference," Megaman admitted.

"Mama sure was happy with the watercolor postcards we made," Lan added, making Megaman smile.

"Yeah," Megaman nodded, "I'm glad I made a copy for myself of the one I made."

"Lan!" Lan looked over his shoulder to see Maylu walking over, "What are you planning on today?"

"Mmm…Was thinking I'd go challenge Tamako. I wanna see the NetNavi that gave Saito a black eye," Lan admitted.

"Maybe we can find a souvenir for your dad?" Maylu suggested.

"Oh~! Great idea!" Lan beamed, "Let's go!"

"Right!" Maylu nodded, blushing a little as she walked alongside Lan to the shop, neither aware of a nearby post light turning on, Bubbleman laughing as he watched from the Network.

"Good morning!" the two called as they entered.

"Welcome to my shop!" Tamako grinned as she turned around the face them, "Hm? Oh~! You're Lan and Maylu, ain't ya?"

"You know us?"

"Sure do. Saw you both in the N1, but Saito likes talking about his two favorite students," Tamako replied before pointing at Lan, "You especially."

Lan sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "I'm not all that special…"

"We're looking for souvenirs, Ms. Tamako," Maylu explained.

"Oh? In that case, I've got a bunch for ya to peruse!" Tamako beamed.

"Thanks!" Lan beamed, "Um…do you have anything that'd be good for a Papa who has to work a lot and can't be home as often as he wants to be?"

"Well, I do have a few photo frames in stock and some pretty good neck pillows if he's so busy that he needs to stay at his job," Tamako replied.

"Papa has been rubbing his neck a lot lately, Lan. Maybe one of those would help him," Megaman suggested.

"Great idea!" Lan beamed.

Maylu giggled before looking at Tamako, "We heard you give discounts if someone beats you or they impress you and your NetNavi enough. Is that true?"

"True as my hair being a natural navy blue," Tamako replied, "Up for a challenge, little lady?"

Maylu flinched, "U-U-Um…"

"She can't right now," Lan replied as he walked over with a rather comfy looking orange and blue neck pillow, "She's on strict orders to not NetBattle right now." he held up his PeT, "So I'll NetBattle you!"

"Hm?" Tamako tilted her head.

"I-It's true. I…I have a fear of NetBattling after the incident at the N1 where I had to pull out," Maylu admitted.

Tamako nodded, "DevilChips ain't no joke. There's a reason why they're banned in almost every country outside of that Nation Z place." she knelt down and patted Maylu's shoulder, "Just take it easy, okay? Considering you're not trembling, you're trying to work on getting past that fear, so that's good. You're welcome to watch us if that doesn't trigger anything."

"So long as I don't participate, I'll be alright," Maylu replied, smiling at her.

"In that case, let's have a great NetBattle, Lan!" Tamako grinned, pumping a fist, "I've wanted to face one of the finalists for quite a while now."

Three beams of lightning shot down at the ground of a hot springs-themed, semi-metallic Network. Megaman and Roll formed at one end as Tamako's NetNavi formed at the other. They were a tall and strong-looking NetNavi in a black bodysuit with most of their body engulfed in red and blue armor. His large gauntlets and red boots sported thick metal gears on the wrists and ankles while buzzsaw rings graced his shoulders. His red and blue helmet sported a buzzsaw on the forehead and spikes jutting out of the sides. His grey face was stern and his shadowed eyes focused on Megaman.

"This here's my partner, Metalman," Tamako introduced, "My brother-in-law and I worked together to make him, so you better be ready for how powerful a Break-Element NetNavi can be!"

"Break-Element…" Megaman repeated softly before Roll hugged him, "Hm?"

"Good luck, Mega," Roll encouraged before she ran off to find a good spot to watch and not get hit by anything.

"Metalman…He sure looks powerful. No wonder Soul got a black eye from him," Lan noted.

"Oh? You know Soul?"

"He's our NetBattle tutor," Megaman replied.

"He is evil!" Roll groaned from her spot on a large rock, "He uses different armors and smacks us down, points things out on how to improve as we're recovering, then smacks us down again!"

"At least he has that wait period before he can use the same armor again after three days," Megaman noted.

Metalman nodded, "Yesterday he showed off a new one. A blue dragon armor he called Cross-Z. That's 'Cross' with a 'Z' at the end of a hyphen at the end of it."

"Oh wow~! A new armor!" Lan beamed.

"Yeah, that armor of his was nuts! He had a sword that shouted something whenever he pulled a lever on it and when he did a finishing move on Metalman, he made a huge blue dragon appear and boost his kick."

"Why is it always a kick?" Metalman grumbled.

"Ah, that's the main way Soul finishes off a fight. Either that or he's gonna shoot you, punch you, or slice you with a sword…" Roll noted before giggling, "...or smack you with a staff."

"Roll~!" Megaman whined as Lan grimaced while Maylu giggled.

"Megaman, why does she know about the staff?!" Lan demanded.

"...Oops…" Megaman muttered, blushing in embarrassment.

"Ghh…We are so talking about this later!" Lan fumed, "But first we're gonna see how tough they are!"

"Right! Are you both ready?" Maylu asked, earning agreement from the four, "Alright! Battle Routine Set!"

"EXECUTE!" all four shouted and Megaman quickly opened fire on Metalman with the MegaBuster only for Metalman to punch the shots and have them harmlessly splash off his fists.

"He stopped the MegaBuster with just some punches?" Lan gasped.

"You're not underestimating us just because I'm a girl, are you?"

"No way! We don't underestimate anyone regardless of gender or anything like that!" Lan replied.

"Good. Because here comes our opening shot! Do it, Metalman!"

"Metal Wheels engaging," Metalman declared, spreading his arms out and his buzzsaw rings glowed before detaching and letting him grab them, "Take this!"

With that, Metalman threw them right at Megaman. The Blue Bomber rolled out of the way. Roll barely stifled her gasp and urge to warn Megaman as she saw the Metal Wheels curving in the air and heading right back towards him. Megaman looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened. He yelped as he jumped over them, letting Metalman catch them.

"I'll slice you into Mega Pieces!" Metalman roared before throwing them again.

"SingleBomb, Download!" Lan declared as a purple and yellow bomb appeared in Megaman's hand.

'What's a bomb supposed to do against…?' Roll thought in worry as Megaman threw it at one of the Metal Wheels, causing an explosion and obscuring the area around him in smoke for a few moments, letting one of the Metal Wheels disperse it and return to Metalman.

"Did you really think a simple counter like that would impress me?" Tamako asked.

"Nope," Lan admitted, "But it's just part one."

"Part one? …Wait. Where's your NetNavi?"

"Where did he go? Did you use an Invis?" Metalman asked.

"Not at all!" Megaman's voice replied, making Metalman turn around and gasp, seeing Megaman riding upon his second Metal Wheel right at him, "Missing something?"

Metalman moved to try to dodge the full on hit, sparks flying off his shoulder from where it grazed him. He spun around with the momentum of the strike to grab his Metal Wheel, causing Megaman to scream as he was thrown off by the sudden stop. He did a handstand and a flip before landing a bit away from Metalman, who attached the second Metal Wheel back into place.

"You know, you're not half bad. Either of you. Honestly feels like fighting Soul at points," Tamako admitted, "But that's the first time I've ever seen someone do that with Metalman's Metal Wheel!"

"It's something Megaman and I learned when fighting these annoying hockey puck-shooting Viruses Saito and Soul made us fight for training!" Lan beamed.

"Ah…Dharma Viruses," Metalman recognized it, "Those things are pretty nasty."

"But give great BattleChips! AirHockey, multi Download!"

Metalman grit his teeth as Megaman began to rapidly fire off glowing hockey pucks as big as him from a red launcher replacing his MegaBuster, "Bring it on!"

"Now I wanna keep going more than ever! My blood's boiling hotter than the hot springs!"

"Same here!"

Nearby, Bubbleman snickered as he watched the battle unfold, "Now this is a perfect chance. If I do this right, I'll wipe them both out, blub. Time to burst their bubble with a bubble of my own~" he inhaled deeply before blowing out a bubble that began to float towards Megaman, "This is perfect! Watch out because that bubble is chock full of snap, crackle, and pop!"

"Metal Missiles!" Metalman roared, slamming his fists together before ports on his back opened up and a volley of missiles shot out of them.

"He shoots missiles, too?!" Roll gawked.

"The same reaction Soul had when we first used it on him!" Tamako laughed.

"Ah! Megaman, look down!" Lan panicked.

"Huh?" Megaman looked down to see a green targeting reticule turn red, "They've locked on?!"

Megaman barely jumped out of the way as the trio of missiles slammed down hard where he had been. The explosion nearly blew Megaman over while Roll grunted, holding onto the rock as she tried to not be blown over as well. Meanwhile…the bubble was sent right back towards the now-panicking Bubbleman.

"AHHHH~! NO! NO! N-NO NO NO NONONONONONO~!" Bubbleman panicked before rapidly breathing as hard as he could to make the bubble start going back towards Megaman, "Phew…"

"Here comes more, Lan!" Megaman gulped.

"Don't worry, Megaman! Wind, Download!" Lan declared as a cream-colored fan box appeared before Megaman, letting the Blue Bomber quickly flip the red switch on top and caused it to blow the missiles away, making them hit one another and explode harmlessly away from him…while also sending the bubble back at Bubbleman.

"AHHH~!" Bubbleman freaked, quickly pulling out a paper fan and began to rapidly swing it, "Go away! Go away! Go away! Go…" his hands felt lighter and he looked to see the fan was gone, "...away…"

The bubble poked Bubbleman's face and popped, deploying the sea urchin explosive inside of it. The moment it exploded, the alarms in the store began to blare loudly and the sprinklers went off. Tamako quickly used her coat to cover the two kids as they ran out of the shop.

"EEEK!"

"AH! COLD! COLD! VERY COLD!" Lan panicked.

"I guess…it's a rain check?" Roll suggested.

"Um…Excuse me?" Rayne froze midstep and slowly turned to Saito.

"...Yes?"

"Um, I…I don't think I've introduced myself, Miss," Saito spoke, clearing his throat, "I'm Saito, Saito Ryder."

"...Rayne…" she responded before Saito held up a neatly folded yukata.

"I asked Mrs. Urakawa if she had something more fitting for you," Saito explained, "I saw how uncomfortable you were last night in the yukata."

"...You weren't checking out my body?"

"What? No, of course not. You were uncomfortable enough and I didn't want to make you feel even worse," Saito replied.

"..." a faint pink appeared on her cheeks as she accepted the bundle, "T-Thank you…"

"No problem!" Saito replied with a smile before blinking a few times, seeing Lan and Maylu walking by, their yukata soaked and clinging to their bodies, "...Um…"

"Metalman and Megaman made the sprinklers in Tamako's shop go off," Lan informed.

"They're going to have a rain check on the NetBattle…" Maylu muttered.

"Make sure to wash up before you go into them," Rayne advised.

"And it's mixed bathing time, so you have to wear swimsuits!" Saito added, "...Tamako's gonna demand a rematch while he's trying to shower…"

"Oh great," Rayne groaned, "How do you know that?"

'Watched the anime,' Saito thought before replying, "She did it to me." he sighed, "I'll go tell Mrs. Urakawa."

"I'll go follow the kids," Rayne spoke, "I need to change anyway. And…again, thank you for this."

"Hey, it's not a proper onsen if you're not comfortable," Saito shrugged.

Rayne nodded, a grateful smile gracing her lips before she turned and walked after the two kids. As she did, her smile faded as her perpetual frown returned. She held the bundle closer to her body as she picked up the pace.

"Haaa~" Lan sighed contently as he and Maylu sat on a bench in fresh yukata and half-drank milk bottles in their hands.

"Oh, that was worth everything yesterday," Maylu giggled happily before looking up at Rayne, wearing a refitted yukata that let her finally cover herself better, "I didn't know milk would taste so good after spending time in the hot springs."

"You're really cool!" Lan praised.

"Thanks," Rayne nodded, sipping her own bottle of chocolate milk.

"...So…you're a ghost?" Lan asked, making Rayne almost spit her drink out.

"Lan," Maylu whispered harshly with a stern glare.

"It…" Rayne coughed, "It's fine, Maylu." she nodded at him, "I am, yes. I…I messed up in life, so now I'm now bound to Saito until he passes on. If not for the Kumo Lantern, only you, Maylu, and Saito could see me."

"Huh? Why us?" Lan asked.

Rayne glanced at Maylu, who looked flustered, before replying with, "It's because you two are extremely special to this world. Maylu has a duty but she isn't allowed to tell you until she feels you can handle it."

"Huh? Handle what? I can handle anything!" Lan declared.

"Not everything. Remember why you're training in CrossFusion against Saito," Rayne pointed out, making him groan and slump, "It's vital for her to tell you when she's ready. If she says it too soon, it may make things worse."

"..." Lan sighed, "Okay, okay."

Maylu internally sighed in relief at that, her beating heart slowing down, before she spoke aloud, "Um…I heard a commotion when I was rinsing in the bathroom. Do you think everything's okay?"

"Ah, that was likely Mrs. Urakawa stopping Tamako from going into the men's bathroom for the hot springs," Rayne replied, "Seems she's eager for continuing the battle."

"Then bring it on!" Lan cheered.

Bubbleman scowled, dressed up as Rush, as he flipped through the pages of a black book. He finally settled on a page with 'MM VS BM' on it with two black X marks under the MM. He looked behind the wall he was behind, watching as Megaman and Metalman were at it once more, Roll and Iceman sitting nearby as spectators.

'D'oh…Megaman and Lan, since you messed with my last attempt, you've forced me to put your name down in my Revenge Book twice! And I won't stand for anyone being in Bubbleman's Revenge Book twice! Especially since they're the only ones in it aside from Kamen Rider Soul!' Bubbleman thought in a fury before finishing putting on his disguise and hefted up an oversized bone, 'But I'll focus on Soul later; for now, it's Lan and Megaman! I've disguised myself as their dog program and I'll use it to put this fake bone I put several of my bombs inside of near them to detonate! So glad that the dog's busy with Lan's mom and their teacher!'

"Oh wow~!" Iceman awed, seeing Megaman roll out of the way of a powerful punch from Metalman that shattered the ground.

"Metalman is really powerful in terms of physical might and durability," Roll noted, "But Mega's reflexes and speed are letting him stay ahead of the game."

"Right," Iceman nodded before seeing Bubbleman running out, "Huh? What's Rush doing?"

"Rush?!" Roll gawked as Metalman fired off his Metal Missiles once more.

"Rush, get out of here!" Megaman shouted, focused on the oncoming missiles to not see Bubbleman drop the bone and scurry off, "Lan, they've got a lock on me again!"

"Let's try a new trick! Longsword, Download!" Lan called as Megaman deployed the sword.

"What's a sword gonna do against missiles?" Tamako asked before Megaman stabbed the sword into the ground and proceeded to spin on it, rapidly kicking the missiles away from him, "AH!"

"Whoa! Megaman's knocking them all away with kicks!" Iceman gasped.

"It's a new idea they worked on after one session with Soul," Roll explained, "He used a sword in the armor he was using to stab the ground and then use it as a handstand to spin and kick Mega away when he tried a GoldFist BattleChip." she blinked a few times as she saw the bone sailing off from the kick Megaman gave it by accident, "Oh, Rush left a big bone."

The bone sailed over the wall Bubbleman was hiding behind, laughing to himself as he was huddled down, "Yes~! Yes~! Just a few seconds and…"

*KA-BLAM!*

"EEEK!" Maylu screamed as Mrs. Urakawa, Rayne, and Tamako tried to keep the kids covered from the sprinkler systems going off.

"NOT AGAIN!"

"WE JUST GOT OUT OF THE HOT SPRINGS, TOO!"

"Your NetNavis weren't even near any of the sprinkler systems," Mrs. Urakawa noted in surprise.

Saito sighed, trying to ignore Tamako and Lan NetBattling nearby as he had his clothes in the dryer.

"Metal Missile preparing to fire."

"Boomerang Loaded!"

Saito groaned and pulled out an umbrella. The two noticed him before an explosion went off in the Network. Saito opened it…and Tamako and Lan slumped in defeat as they were soaked from all the washers erupting with pillars of water and soaking the two.

"Not again~!" Tamako whined.

"There's no point in wearing dry clothes anymore…" Lan admitted in defeat.

"Oh come on!" Maylu screamed as she barely avoided the sprinklers in the back garden going off while Lan and Tamako got drenched.

"How did she even hide in that tiny bowl?" Tory asked, watching the slumped Tamako and Lan getting berated by the ramen cart owner as his stall was currently flooded by his sprinkler system going off.

"I have no idea and I don't wanna know," Saito replied.

"Is this normal?" Haruka asked as she, Ms. Mari, and Mrs. Urakawa watched yet another sprinkler malfunction going off and drenching Tamako and Lan.

"In all honesty? This store's sprinkler system goes off at least once a week," Mrs. Urakawa admitted, "Why do you think all the products are in containers and not on open shelves like other places?"

"I swear if I had a Zenny for every time these two caused the sprinkler system or something like it to go off, I'd have eight Zenny. Which isn't much but it's weird that it's happened eight times now," Rayne sighed, having chosen to forgo a touch up from Kumo Lantern earlier and just watched the sight of the two fleeing from yet another sprinkler malfunction, the water just passing through her body.

"Saito…"

"Hm?" Saito looked over at Lan, the two in the hot springs with the crescent moon shining high above.

"Am I cursed to always have sprinklers going off at this place?" Lan asked.

"..." Saito frowned and patted his head, "It may not be you and Tamako causing these issues." he rubbed his chin in thought, "But…How about we settle everything? The next time she shows up, you fight again…and then Soul will take over."

"Hm?" Lan tilted his head.

Lan finished getting his yukata back on. The moment he opened the door…he groaned.

"Kid, I'm getting sick and tired of all the nonsense going on," Tamako stated, "So…I'm showing you a secret area with no sprinklers or water systems."

"Huh?" Lan pondered as Tamamo led him back to the hor springs and towards a path behind the springs, coming upon a stone wall.

"...What do you know about…the Undernet?"

"Undernet?" Lan repeated.

"My brother-in-law is the administrator for the whole thing, a Network beneath the normal Network or Overnet," Tamako spoke as she pressed a stone on it, causing the surface to slide open, revealing an elevator, "It's a Network SciLab created ten years ago." The two got into the elevator and headed down, "I won't say why it was made, but just know it's really important." The doors opened and a hallway lit up, leading to a massive set of super computers, "That is the server for the whole Undernet, but we won't be going in there." She reached into her jacket and pulled out a radio, plugging it in, "There. No water systems down here, so we can safely NetBattle."

"Great!" Lan nodded, "But…um…We won't get in trouble, will we?"

"So long as we don't go near the Undernet Server. Ready to settle this?"

"Yeah. I don't even care about the stupid discount anymore."

"Same. I just wanna finish it and not have more water damage," Tamako sighed, "You're a pretty amazing kid. You remind me of my nephew."

"Huh?"

"His name's Mamoru. If you're ever at the Beach Street Hospital, he's in room 3-1," Tamako noted, "He'd honestly think you're pretty cool."

"..." Lan smiled at that, "Sure."

"JACK IN! MEGAMAN/METALMAN! POWER UP!" both shouted.

'Jack in, Sensei, power up,' Lan mentally joked.

"Go for it, Metalman!"

"We won't lose, Megaman!"

Soul sat down behind one of the larger rock formations in Tamako's Homepage. A card materialized in his hand, showing an image of him turning invisible, and he sliced it through his SoulCellular.

=KENKA CARD: INVISIBLE=

He vanished before Bubbleman appeared, breathing heavily in frustration, "Ugh…! It…It took me so long to figure out how to just jump over that stupid…security cube, blub…" he grit his teeth before he began to exhale bubbles and began to put his body into them, "Gotta be ready now, blub…"

"Metal Fist, Download!"

"GoldFist, Download!"

Megaman and Metalman roared as they charged at one another, Metalman's right fist shining brightly with a light blue glow while Megaman's right glove was replaced with the massive GoldFist. As they got near, Megaman smirked and shot his GoldFist down at the ground, creating an explosion. Metalman rocketed through the smoke, only to find no sign of Megaman.

"Where did he…?" Metalman began before looking up and quickly deploying his Metal Wheels to parry the ElecSword Megaman was wielding.

"That GoldFist was just a distraction! How unconventional…"

"We have a really great teacher in Soul," Lan sheepishly replied.

"You're strong, Metalman," Megaman noted, smiling in excitement.

"So are you, Megaman," Metalman responded, a small smirk on his lips as the two moved back before the ground shook, "?"

"What's that?" Lan asked.

"H-Hey! Who's that?!" Tamako demanded before the two NetNavis turned to see Bubbleman approach, donned in multiple layers of bubbles.

"BUBBLEMAN!" Lan gasped.

"This is my Bubble Armor," Bubbleman declared, "Because of how often you've made my explosions hit me instead, I've had to take on drastic measures!"

"Explo…" Metalman began.

"YOU'RE THE GUY WHO CAUSED ALL THAT WATER TO HIT ME!" Lan and Tamako snapped.

"Megaman, blow him up again! MiniBomb, Download!" Lan snapped.

"BASH HIS HEAD IN, METALMAN!"

Megaman threw the MiniBomb that materialized in his hand as Metalaman rocketed at Bubbleman. The MiniBomb bounced off Bubbleman first, going high into the air. Metalaman slammed his fist into Bubbleman, sending him bouncing off…only for the diving-themed NetNavi to laugh as he bounced about until slamming his feet into Metalman's face, using the momentum from the bouncing to get a good hit to making him stumble back a few steps. Meanwhile, the MiniBomb dropped out of the sky…and stopped.

"..." Soul looked down at the MiniBomb that landed at his invisible feet, "...Yeah, that tracks." the MiniBomb proceeded to go off, "EEEYARG!"

"?!" Megaman tensed and slowly looked at where the explosion had gone off at, "Uh…oh…"

"What's wrong?" Metalman asked.

"I think…I think I just hit Sensei with that MiniBomb," Megaman gulped as the smoke settled, revealing a soot-covered Soul trembling, "...Eep."

"Hah?! When did he…?" Tamako began.

"I came in here earlier to listen to music…now I'm getting blown up and not just flooded out…I'm just trying to enjoy my trip," Soul growled, "If it's not you guys setting off sprinklers all over the place, it's a Darkloid!" he shook the soot off and pointed at them in fury, punching in a set of three numbers on his SoulCellular, "That's it! I'm kicking all your asses!"

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: CROSS-Z!=

The BuildDriver materialized on his waist. He reached behind him and pulled out a bulky orange and silver device shaped like a fist with an emblem of what looked like a dragon in a gear on the center of it. In his other hand, he pulled out a pitch black bottle showing what looked to be a dragon on it. He shook it hard and twitched the orange top, letting it let loose a hiss, before slotting it into a slot on the top of the other device.

=BOTTLE BURN!=

He flipped the black handle over it before slotting the device onto his BuildDriver.

=CROSS-Z MAGMA!=

Soul grabbed the handle and began cranking it. Behind him, a large vat on a device formed, magma bubbling and sloshing within. All the while, rock music blared out of the BuildDriver.

=ARE YOU READY~?=

"Henshin!" Soul roared before the vat tipped over and dumped on him.

"Ah! He…!" Metalman gasped as the music continued roaring from the BuildDriver.

The three stepped back as several dragon heads on long necks emerged from the bubbling magma, burning red eyes glaring down upon them all with an erupting volcano's might. The magma cooled and obsidian statues remained. The vat reeled back and shot forward, 'punching' the obsidian and shattered it all…letting loose a wave of roiling heat. Standing in Soul's place was a new Rider. His bodysuit was a bright metallic orange with obsidian armor covering his body, all carved into the visage of the dragon heads. His torso armor was the biggest 'head' of all with spikes jutting from the shoulders. His helmet was rounded with a crest made of a dragon and burning orange dragon heads as 'eyes.'

=GOKUNETSU KINNIKU! CROSS-Z MAGMA! ACHACHACHACHACHACHA ACHA~!=

"Chikara ga minagiru...tamashī ga moeru...ore no maguma ga hotobashiru (My power is overflowing...my soul is burning...and my magma is surging)!" Cross-Z Magma roared.

"Ohhh…I'm scared, blub…" Bubbleman gulped before quickly pulling out three Cell Medals.

"Ah! Those are…!" Lan and Megaman gasped before Bubbleman snapped them and threw them at Cross-Z, causing the halves to form Trash Yummy that charged at him, "HUH?!"

Cross-Z growled before roaring as he charged at them. The Network shook as Cross-Z's first punch rammed into a Trash Yummy followed by backhanding another, each blow bursting with magma from Cross-Z's body. The third was knocked high into the air by the foot slamming into it before the fourth tried to punch Cross-Z only to be grabbed by the wrist and flipped over onto his back. Cross-Z slammed a fist down on the Trash Yummy and magma engulfed the entire upper body. Cross-Z punted the Trash Yummy away, ignoring its explosive end, and charged at another. He rammed his broiling fist into the stomach of the first Trash Yummy before throwing it high over his head with a trail of flames. Fire and magma churned in Cross-Z's fist before he lashed out and the fiery magma slammed into the falling Trash Yummy, sending it crashing into the other two. Cross-Z's feet glowed as he jumped into the air. With a roar, a magma dragon shot out of his chest armor and crashed into the Trash Yummy, hardening into obsidian to trap them. Cross-Z let loose a powerful blow as he landed before the trapped grunts, shattering them in fiery explosions with the single blow. With a few deep breaths, Cross-Z spun around to focus on Bubbleman, magma bursting from his burning red body.

"Nobody can stop me now!" Cross-Z shouted as he charged at Bubbleman.

'My Bubble Armor can shield me just like it did against that big guy!' Bubbleman thought arrogantly before Cross-Z performed a right hook…and the very heat of the armor popped his armor, "GAH! OH NOOOO…!" Cross-Z cranked his belt rapidly before a barrage of punches proceeded to go off on Bubbleman.

=READY? GO! VOLCANIC BREAK!=

"ORYA!" Cross-Z roared, finishing his punching barrage with a magma-infused uppercut, sending Bubbleman screaming and logging out.

"Whoa! Talk about explosive power!" Tamako gawked.

"Thank goodness Sensei was…" Megaman began before screaming as Cross-Z charged at them, "YIPE!"

"SHADDAP!" Cross-Z Magma roared as he delivered a backhand to Metalman, "You and your NetOp live near hot springs! We do not! You know not the feeling of enjoying it as a guest!" he delivered an uppercut that Megaman barely avoided, "And you! If ya had just NetBattled these idiots, no creepy lady would-a been in the springs!"

"Creepy?!"

"SHADDAP!" Cross-Z snapped as his punch overpowered Metalman's Metal Fist, the bigger NetNavi even letting out a shout of pain from the magma burning him, "You have been popping up randomly all over to target my adorable little student! It is creepy! He ain't no Mamoru!"

"How'd ya know my nephew's name?!"

"He does this when he rants," Lan explained.

"AND YOU!" Cross-Z jabbed a finger at the screen Lan was on.

"YIPE!" Lan yelped.

"When we get home…Extra. Training."

"NOOOOOO~!"

"Hoo boy…" Tamako gulped, "...Call it quits?"

"Yes, hurry!" Lan replied before both barely logged out their NetNavis and Tamako shut off the radio.

"...Let's give him a few hours to 'cool off?'" Tamako suggested.

"Uh-huh," Lan nodded, "...N-No more NetBattling?"

"Yeah…No. No more from me," Tamako replied with a grimace, "I really like NetBattling you, but this is ridiculous and I'm worried for my nephew now in case he likes being retaliatory by proxy."

"Ah, don't sweat it," Lan assured, "He doesn't like those things, getting revenge on someone by targeting someone else. He finds it stupid."

"That's good to hear," Tamako sighed as they went up the elevator, "And…sorry for how I've been. You've just been one of the best NetBattlers I've faced in so long and all that water going off just made me so dang frustrated."

"Hey, I'm mad, too," Lan pouted, "I wanted to enjoy NetBattling you but those sprinklers and all those washers a-and then the ramen cart owner getting mad at us…" he trembled before freezing when Tamako gently hugged him, "!?"

"Hey now…" Tamako softly spoke, "You're a great kid, Lan. It's okay to feel stressed out over everything today. I didn't really help all that much either, so I'm sorry for that."

"Th-Thanks…" Lan mumbled before yelping as a Dimensional Area materialized, "Not good!"

"What's going on?!" Tamako asked, keeping Lan close as she looked around.

"Dimensional Area," Lan replied before Bubbleman manifested, "And that happens, too!"

"Is…Is he a hologram?" Tamako asked.

"No," Lan shook his head as he pulled out his SynchroChip.

"Lan…You dare sick that psycho after me!?" Bubbleman snapped before pulling out a handful of Cell Medals and breaking them all, "Fine! Then I'll smash up this whole Inn and blame it on you, blub!"

"ACK!" Lan yelped before Soul jumped out of the radio, "Sensei!"

"One moment," Soul spoke before going back into the Network and pulling out Metalman.

"M-Metalman?!" Tamako gawked.

"What the…?"

"It's only temporary while the Dimensional Area is up," Soul spoke, "Lan, Megaman, suit up and beat up the blue boy. The adults will handle the grunts."

"Gotcha!" Lan nodded as he inserted his BattleChips in and then the SynchroChip.

"CROSSFUSION!"

"I don't get what's going on, but smash those creeps before they damage my sister's business, Metalman!"

"Understood!" Metalman roared, slamming his fists together.

"GET THEM~!" Bubbleman screamed as his army of Trash Yummy charged with roars of fury.

"Hmm…Too many to handle like this…" Soul muttered as he opened his phone and dialed a number, "Maybe this can help?"

=KAMEN RAIDĀ: REVICE!=

A ball of light appeared in his hand. Soul tilted his head before yelping as a harpoon knocked the ball away from him and he glared at Bubbleman, who laughed.

"No new armor for you!" Bubbleman laughed before screaming as he avoided the punch from CF Megaman.

The door opened before Rayne ran out, "What's…" the ball hit her waist and a small piece of it hit her hand before they turned into a pair of items, "Eh?"

Around her waist was the new Driver. It was a mostly purple belt buckle-like device with two main features, and pink and blue accents. A pattern resembling '50' could be seen in its detailing.

=REVICE DRIVER!=

In her hand was a purple stamp-like item with blue granite forming a button at the top and the pink image of a Tyrannosaurus-Rex in the center…seemingly covering up some sort of detail in the purple section. The '0' glowed before Soul yelped as he was sucked into it.

"Ah! Sensei?!" CF Megaman gawked before grunting as he moved back and delivered a right hook to a Trash Yummy that blocked him from getting closer to Bubbleman.

"Gah! What is this?!" Saito's voiced yelped inside of Rayne's head.

"That's what I want to know," Rayne groaned.

"Um…Oh! Breathe on the bottom of the stamp and stamp the white screen!"

"Hah?" Rayne gawked.

"Either that or stamp your heart area!"

Rayne settled on stamping her chest. A pink stamp of a T-Rex appeared before a figure jumped out and slammed a fist into a Trash Yummy that jumped at her. Their body was pitch black, with these blue streaks breaking up parts of their body into armor. His chest and shoulders had multiple vertical blue stripes making it look like a giant segmented chest plate. He had these white ridges on his head that curved along his head like hair, two horn like ears, that were hooked by a blue face mask that hid his mouth with a black EKG like line in the center making a sort of cute fanged mouth, and large blue crystal like eyes. He also had a long tail swishing around behind him.

"Ore wa…Vice da!" The figure cackled in Soul's voice.

"Sensei?!" CF Megaman gawked as Vice charged and slammed a fist through a Trash Yummy, making it explode.

"Trust me when I say this: there is one even grosser than me!" Vice laughed before pausing, "No, seriously. Shin is the nastiest one yet with his Henshin. We sure he ain't an Another Rider?"

"...Why is he talking to a wall?" Megaman whispered.

"I don't know," CF Megaman quietly replied before Vice ran over and delivered a haymaker to the two Trash Yummy aiming for Rayne.

"Oi~! Push the button on the ViStamp and stamp the belt! Then slot it into place and then turn it like a lever!" Vice instructed, Metalman delivering a haymaker to another Trash Yummy to destroy it.

"Oh no you don't, blub!" Bubbleman snapped as he ran at them only for CF Megaman and Metalman to slam their fists into his face, "DOI~!"

"Kid, you keep dealing with him. Metalman, handle the grunts. Soul, I'll see if I can't get her to do what you need her to do, got it?"

"Gotcha!" Vice nodded before charging with a roar and doing a belly flop on another Trash Yummy.

"METAL WHEELS!" Metalman roared, using his blades as chakram to tear into Trash Yummy.

Tamako nodded before turning to the trembling Rayne, "Hey!" she caused the woman to jump and nearly pop out of her yukata, "Whoa~!" she barely kept the top from coming off, "There's a kid here, y'know?" she put her hands on Rayne's shoulder, "Look at me." Rayne slowly looked at her face, "Woman up here. Sure, they're strong, but the numbers are too much. I'd like to do what the kid just did and fight with Metalman, but I can't. But you?" she pointed at Vice as he was getting dogpiled, "He needs you because you're the only one who can use the belt right now."

"B-But…"

Tamako sighed, "They're not the only ones in danger. This business is my sister's and there's something vital here that my brother-in-law needs." she looked concerned, "If my sis and bro lose their jobs, my little nephew's in a lot of danger."

"!?" Rayne tensed, 'Mamoru…'

"If I could, I'd use that belt and suit up, but…"

"BAD IDEA! IF THE BELT DIDN'T GO TO YOU, IT MEANS YOU'D MAKE THINGS WORSE BY SUMMONING A LITERAL DEMON INSTEAD OF TRANSFORMING!" Vice shouted, "AH! YOU PERVERT!" a loud smack went off before one of the Trash Yummy stumbled out of the pile, actually looking offended with a red slap mark on its face, "Wait for the third date before you get to touch my butt, jerk!"

"...yeah, I don't wanna be that crazy," Tamako muttered, a drop of sweat going down the back of her head, before she looked back at Rayne, "Please…You can do this."

"I…I'll try," Rayne nodded before looking at the ViStamp as Vice called it, "..." she breathed in deeply and pressed the button.

=REX!=

"WHEEEE~!" Vice laughed as he was pulled right into the Revice Driver once more, making the Trash Yummy dogpile collapse into a pile of wriggling bodies trying to get off one another.

"Haaa…" Rayne exhaled upon the bottom of the stamp before stamping it on the '0' of the belt.

=C'MON! R-R-R-REX! C'MON! R-R-R-REX!=

A screen popped up behind her, showing a text chat between her and Vice that nobody could translate. With that, Vice formed around her as he began dancing to the tune from the Belt. He raised his arms and held a giant version of a ViStamp seemingly fully made from glass. Rayne blinked in confusion as this suddenly got rather…weird. And she was a ghost.

"Henshin!" Rayne shouted, locking the ViStamp into the right side of the belt before pulling it to the side, tilting a mechanism and causing the screen to spin around and present the image that had been stamped on the Revice Drive forward.

=BUDDY UP!=

With the beat of Rayne's non-existent heart, the giant stamp filled with purple liquid with the Rex Stamp forming in the screen behind her. The Demon slammed the stamp down on Rayne, the liquid within suddenly swirling around and clinging to her body, forming into armor and a helmet as it began to harden.

=OHING! SHONING! ROLLING! GOING! KAMEN RI~DER! REVI! VICE! REVICE!=

The Rex Stamp on the screen flashed before bits of armor flew out and formed around the Demon as he materialized again. His shins were covered in black armor with a pink spot, claw tipped boots, pink armor along his thighs, clawed gauntlets with pink stripes, half circle armor on each shoulder, a pink ring with a Rex stamp in the center. A pink scarf around his neck and a T-Rex helmet covering his face as his eyes were visible from the mouth.

The giant stamp shattered, littering the ground with shards as the liquid turned into pink fire before slowly fading to reveal a brightly colored armored figure. Her body was covered in a pink suit with purple arms and a purple section on the inner section of the legs, pink armored greaves covered her legs with a blue going down the center and down to her armored shoes. Blue armor over each thigh with a pink paint stripe on her left leg. Her shoulders each had pink shoulder pauldrons, blue armor over her biceps with pink armor framing the sides of her upper arms, blue gauntlets with pink armor plating over the top of her arms, pink gloves with blue thumbs. She had a blue chest plate and abdomen armor, with pink stripes along the right pectoral, and a Rex imprint the left pectoral with a purple armor stripe forming a V on her chest. Her mask was mostly pink and blue, with a pink jaw strap of armor, a mouthguard that resembled gnashing T-Rex teeth, forming into a wicked smile. Red angular eyes began glowing with a blue stripe down the middle of the forehead going to a pink crest.

"WHOO-HOO~! ORE-TACHI REVICE DA!" Vice cackled before gagging as Rayne grabbed him by the head and pulled his head to her.

"What…just…happened?" she growled.

"Ah! Y-Yamete! Yamete! Iteiteiteite!" Vice squeaked, "We became Kamen Riders Revi and Vice, making us Kamen Rider Revice!"

"How does that even work?" Revi demanded.

Vice shrugged, "Blame the people who made Kamen Rider Revice." Revi growled, "...Eep. Please don't hit me."

"...Later," Revi stated, releasing him.

"Phew…" Vice sighed in relief before the two charged in, delivering blows swiftly to destroy the Trash Yummy.

"You interrupted out NetBattle for your unjust revenge and even pulled your grudges out here and threatened my NetOp's sister's business!" Metalman growled, delivering another blow to a Trash Yummy and making it explode, "You're a fool and a weakling who's made a massive mistake!"

"What else can I do with this?" Revi demanded.

"Oh! If ya pull out the ViStamp and click it, I breathe fire!" Vice beamed.

"You're kidding me, right?" Revi asked.

"He may act goofy, but he did get your belt working," Tamako pointed out before lashing out with a punch that made a Trash Yummy stumble back and have its head crushed between Metalman's fists.

"..." Revi sighed and pulled the ViStamp out.

=REX!=

Vice roared, letting loose a stream of flames that washed over several Trash Yummy. Revi swiped at a Trash Yummy coming for her with the ViStamp in hand. Vice yelped as his tail grew and lashed out in the same direction Revi swung her arm, destroying several at once.

"I can do that, too?" Revi questioned, swinging her arm again and the tail lashed out in the same direction.

"Aw come on!" Bubbleman whined before yelping as all of them surrounded him once the last of the Trash Yummy were destroyed.

"We're making a pretty good team, ain't we?" Vice chuckled, putting a hand on Revi's shoulder…earning a hand tightly squeezing his face, "AH! Iteiteiteiteite~!"

"I swear this form of yours makes me want to throttle you…" Revi growled.

"B-But this was supposed to be my revenge, blub…" Bubbleman trembled.

"HA! You'll never get it!" Vice laughed, "...No seriously, you ain't getting it as far as I've watched. Even stuck in a tiny doll forever~. Ain't that right, Readers?"

"Hah?! What are you talking about?!" Bubbleman demanded before Vice slapped him into the air.

"All together," Revi ordered, reinserting the VisTamp into her driver and repeating the Henshin motion.

=STAMPING FINISH!=

Revice jumped high into the air as CF Megaman's foot began to shine. Metalman reeled his fist back, raising a brow at the glowing boot of CF Megaman's. Giant pink energy ViStamps materialized over Revi's right foot and Vice's left foot. With a roar, both shot down and slammed their stamps into Bubbleman, sending him crashing down towards CF Megaman and Metalman with an indent in his back shaped like the stamp.

"METAL FIST/CHARGE SHOT KICK!" the two roared, Metalman delivering an uppercut as CF Megaman did a backflip to kick.

The two collided with Bubbleman's face, sending him crashing into the top of the Dimensional Area with an explosion. The Dimensional Area collapsed after that and Metalman was taken back into the Network of Tamako's PeT. Meanwhile, Revice landed between the two.

"WHOO~!" Vice cheered, wrapping his arms around all three, "THAT WAS THE BEST!" Revi's heel slammed into his foot, "ITE!" Revi's elbow then buried itself into Vice's gut, "GURK!" he let them go and fell over into the fetal position, wheezing, "Why~~~~?"

Revi huffed, resetting her belt and removing the ViStamp from it, letting the armor and Vice vanish along with the belt. In the Network for Lan's PeT, Soul twitched in the fetal position, holding his gut.

"She has…a very painful…and familiar…elbow blow…" Soul groaned.

"Haaaah~ That was so lovely!" Haruka sighed in joy, everyone gathered at the train station as the trail started to roll in, "Thank you so much for the trip."

"Anytime. If you son does join the Hot Spring Club, I'd be glad to ask if you'd like to be a chaperone more often," Ms. Mari noted.

"Oh, that'd be lovely," Haruka giggled before looking over at Lan, who was with Tamako and Saito, "Lan needed something like this, I think."

"Here," Tamako spoke, handing Lan over the neck pillow he had picked to buy for his dad yesterday, "Free of charge for a great time and a physical part of my apology to you for all that nonsense yesterday."

"Oh! The pillow for Papa!" Lan beamed as he accepted it, "Thanks, Tamako!"

"And this…" Tamako handed Lan a code, "...is my HP's address. Anytime you'd like to have a spar with Metalman, just send a message and use it to have Megaman come visit, okay? No worries about a change of unneeded showers through that."

"Gotcha," Lan snickered, glad he could relax about it.

"Do take care now, Tamako. And please don't get Soul like that again," Saito pleaded, "Seriously, him as Vice is weird and trippy and he always talks about this 'fourth wall.'"

"Yeah, that…that was really weird," Tamako admitted before giving Saito a blue neck pillow and a white neck pillow, "Here. One's for you and the other's for Rayne over there. Free of charge."

"Thanks. And I'll make sure Soul behaves if we ever need to go to the Beach Street Hospital and end up meeting Mamoru," Saito assured.

"Please do. He's my little cinnamon roll and he means a lot to me and his parents," Tamako begged, "A-And don't do anything crazy around him, alright? He has, um…he well…"

"HBD?" Saito guessed, none of them seeing Megaman freeze.

"Y-Yeah! How did you…?"

"The crazy statement was why. He likely has a heart condition that needs him to stay at the hospital, so that came first to me," Saito replied.

"What's that?" Lan asked.

"A very bad heart defect. They're still learning how to cure it," Saito explained.

"O-Oh…" Lan nodded, "I wanna meet Mamoru, but I don't wanna make him hurt himself because he got too excited…"

"Hoenstly, I think Mamoru would love to meet ya," Tamako giggled before giving Lan an envelope, "Here."

"Huh?" Lan opened it and gawked, "AH! B-BattleChips?! And so many of them!"

"They're all Metalman's personal ones made from his data," Tamako explained.

"Huh? Metalman's data?" Lan repeated.

"It was something Saito suggested; use a bit of copied data from Metalman and load it into BattleChips. It's pretty awesome! These summon a hologram of him to punch and break whatever he hits, these summon some big gears that can tank hits from non-Breaking BattleChips, these summon his Metal Wheels for ya, and these even shoot off his Metal Missiles and these his Metal Fists for your own NetNavi!"

"Oh wow~!" Lan awed in childish glee, Saito smirking.

'Hopefully, these help more than anything. Always wondered why they didn't show these kinds of BattleChips in the anime when they're so good in the games…' Saito thought as the train arrived.

"Wait, we can do that?" Tory asked, talking with Maylu and Rayne.

"Yes. You just need to copy a little of your NetNavi's data and load it into a BattleChip," Rayne explained, "It's something not a lot of people know about, but it's very useful. I've even heard some can be combined with other BattleChips to create a powerful Program Advance."

"Wow~" Maylu awed.

Rayne smiled at Maylu, "I think Roll may have one."

"I do?"

"Yep. When you do make your BattleChip, maybe try combining it with either a Barrier and AquaRing, a Repair and Recov300, or HolyPanel and Recov300," Rayne replied.

"Oh! I have all but a HolyPanel!" Maylu beamed.

"Good to hear," Rayne smiled before seeing Ms. Mari walk over.

"Thanks for helping with this, Rayne," Ms. Mari thanked.

"It's not a problem, Ms. Mari," Rayne assured.

"Yep!" Maylu beamed, "If we do this again, you can count on her to lend a hand since she's staying with me for a bit!"

"Oh that's wonderful news!" Ms. Mari beamed, not seeing Rayne look at Maylu in surprise and confusion.

"I really hope you guys can come to our next one," Tory noted with a smile.

"You bet!" Lan beamed, "Outside of some issues yesterday, the club was really fun!"

Saito smiled as he began to help them get their luggage onto the train, 'A much better resolution. The kids got to be kids and enjoy the hot springs, Lan probably doesn't miss the train due to Tamako, and I got to maim her NetNavi because this was extremely annoying!' he looked over at Rayne…and felt his heart skip a beat, 'Why does she…seem so familiar? Like a gho…OH CRAP!'

"So…y'all reckon he remembered us yet?" Billy the Kid asked the other Eyecons as the Gochizo held up their cards…while they were all on the table in the Astro Base.

"I wonder if I could throw him off the moon and he goes through an open window and out another one from the fall…" Beethoven noted to himself.

"Please don't ham it up like Edison-san does…" Nobunaga sighed.

"Minna, this hasn't been the first time nor will it be the last time," Mushashi sighed, "You all know this."

"Still…I'm kinda shocked," Tut, a neon light blue Eyecon, noted, "The guy before…"

Benkei gave a noise of agreement, "What he did was opportunistic…and what he did was also damning."

"I warned the one before that one not to pick someone from that world. Them living past 120 always causes them to become manipulative and detached from humanity…" Goemon huffed, a neon yellow Eyecon, "Not even the Air Nomads were safe from it!"

"...Let's face it. We're all mad the kids nor the current Soul brought us to the onsen," Ryoma stated, earning several sounds of agreement.

"The training shall be far harsher," Musashi declared.

GT: There we go. And, well, this is more for FF. I DO NOT WANT TO DO ART COLLABS, DANG IT! STOP WASTING REVIEWS TO ASK ME TO CONTACT YOU! AND DO NOT WASTE REVIEWS ASKING IF I WILL UPDATE A DIFFERENT STORY! YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE THE STORY YOU WASTE A REVIEW ASKING IT DOESN'T MATTER AND IT MAKES ME THINK I DON'T MATTER! PLEASE JUST REVIEW THE STORY YOU'RE USING THE REVIEW FOR AND NOT ASK FOR UPDATING OTHER STORIES OR ASKING ME TO DO ART STUFF WITH YOU! I JUST WANNA WRITE!

Chapter Text

Hello, everyone who reads this fanfic and all my others. You're all seeing so many 'updates' from me and I am sorry that the excitement you felt was wasted. But...I can't handle it anymore. Not when you involve my fellow writers on some fics who are left confused. This week, I received a 'review' for a fanfic called Network Wings on AO3. It wasn't a review. It was telling me I made an error on another fanfic called 'Omniverse Underground' and their reason for doing that? I can't be contact via PM. I disabled it because of the ongoing scam on FF and I've decided to firmly continue to NOT authorize PMs because I'm tired of the spam I get from those scams. But...I'm also tired of these 'reviews.' I'm tired of getting 'Please update x' on another fanfic I've written. It...It hurts me on an emotional level. When I get a notification for a review, I grow excited. I feel so elated and happy because someone reviewed my latest chapter or a fic I haven't done in a while. But when I get reviews like 'Please update X' or 'Hey, in x fic, you did x/left out x/made x'? I...I feel devastated. Heartbroken. When I get those 'reviews,' I feel like...like people hate me. That people hate my story and don't want to waste words on it and spend the review on another. They don't bother saying anything about the chapter they use the review on. They don't bother saying ANYTHING about the actual fanfic the review goes on. It makes me hate my work, not just the one that someone used for another fic...but also that other fic itself. It makes me want to stop writing both fics because it makes me hate them BOTH. It makes me hate the one people waste a 'review' on because it sounds like they don't care for that fic at all! And it makes me hate the other fic because I don't want to work on it now, I want to work on the one they wasted a 'review' on. I can't do this anymore. I'm tired of this. I'm sick and tired of these 'reviews' and I wish I could delete them, but I can't on FF. Please...stop wasting reviews on asking me to update other fics or correct other fics. Please, use actual reviews. Leave me comments on teh fic you review, on what you like or dislike about the chapter. Any ideas or support. I'm scared that I'm going to snap and delete both teh fic you want updated and the fic you 'reviewed' on because of this. Please...stop hurting me with being insensitive.