WARNING: Unless you want a long-winded author's note before the fanfic, skip ahead to the second horizontal line (the one after the legal disclaimer). Thank you.
Lord Cynic: "This is experiment two of my fanfic portfolio, after my FFTA fanfic. What do I mean? Well, after spending about 8-10 days looking for and reading Megaman fanfics, I've decided to write one of my own. It should be Lan/Maylu and Megaman/Roll centred, and a two-shot at that. Don't expect it to be subtle, because I assure you it won't be.
On a side note, Lan/Maylu and Megaman/Roll fanfics actually took up perhaps the lower percentage of couplings in the Romance section of Megaman fanfics... yes, I actually checked. Most of the others were Lan/Chaud, Lan/Megaman, Megaman/Protoman... if there were any Dex/Lan, Dex/Megaman, etc. yaoi fanfics... I'd be curling up on my chair fuming like the ovens in the first NT Warrior episode. I heard there was a Maylu/Roll fanfic as well... but for some reason it made me laugh. To this day I have no idea why. Actually, as I type this now it comes to me that some of the concepts in those stories seem somewhat amusing to me. Maybe it's curiosity... still, while I can picture yaoi or yuri in my head, I couldn't bring it in me to write about it. Oh well, each to their own.
Oh, last thing. I'm what may be considered to be a perfectionist when it comes to details in my fanfics. I take time to play the games, watch the shows or read the books to know as much as I can before writing my own stories. However, that doesn't mean I can't make mistakes. That may be the case as I write this... especially about what battle chips everyone has.
Sorry, one more thing, and that's it. I typed this up about 2-3 weeks ago. Since then I've decided to write another Megaman fanfic, of which the first chapter's already been typed. It's centred on a certain day in February, and as such the first chapter will be posted in that day. I call it a project as I'm hoping to make it over 10-15 chapters if possible. For those still reading my Golden Sun fanfics (as if I write anything else... heh), I'll take at least 2 more weeks from now for the next update. I've become dangerously engrossed in this leisure project and have been writing on it for the last 2 weeks. Send all flames, fireballs and atomic wedgies to Kirby, my review muse. Heh heh...
Okay, I'm done. Enjoy at your leisure."
Lord Cynic: "I don't own Megaman NT Warriors (since that's what this story's characters and stuff is supposed to be based on). The dubbing of it belongs to ShoPro Ent., as far as I know. I think they did a good job with it. Really, I don't care what anyone says, I think it's good. Hey, don't look at me like that!"
Sparring and matchmaking can mix
Chapter 1: Like Net Operator, like Net Navi
Another day, another battle between Megaman and Gutsman...
"Wide Sword battle chip, in! Download!"
"Time to cut the show!"
As Gutsman thumped his fists onto the battleground to create an earthquake, Megaman leaped into the air, a sword materialising and replacing his right hand. Frustrated, Gutsman tried to use his gigantic hands to give Megaman a thumping, only to be cut short (excuse the pun) by the handy swordsmanship of Megaman.
"Guts... beaten..."
As Megaman landed on his feet after delivering the final blow, a scoreboard flashed up on the computer screen in Yai's hideout: Megaman: 17, Gutsman: 0.
"Aw man, not again!" Dex complained, plopping onto the ground in defeat, clutching his PET. "That slippery little pest always gets me."
"Ohhh, yeah!" Lan cried, jumping up into the air and pumping his fist. "That's another day of perfect victories for me and Megaman!"
"Congratulations, Lan," Maylu said, beaming.
"Yeah," Yai agreed. "Although, it doesn't really count for much. Between us four, Dex is definitely the weakest link."
"Take that back!" Dex growled. "I could beat any of you easily, I just choose to bide my time."
"So, how long have you been 'biding'?" Yai asked, smugly still. "The last victory you've had against any of us must have been at least... eleven months ago? Y'know, before Lan got Megaman?"
"That's it!" Dex jumped onto his feet, causing the spectators (Lan and Maylu) to jump back in alarm. "Me and my Gutsman against you and your Glide, now!"
"I think we outta stay out of this," Lan said, meekly, scratching his head and gawking at the stare-off between Dex and Yai (although he could swear he saw Yai's lip tremble to hide a yawn).
"For once, I agree with you," Megaman remarked from the computer screen.
"Gee, thanks, Megaman."
Maylu and Roll giggled at the short exchange between NetOp and NetNavi. No matter how many times Lan and Megaman bickered, it never ceased to amuse the girls.
Meanwhile, the other half of the group seemed to have forgotten the others. One half of this group (or a quarter of the total group) were facing off against the other half (or quarter): Gutsman vs. Glide, Dex vs. Yai. The NetOps were shooting bolts of electricity through their eyes, the bolts meeting in the centre of the space between their faces as they sat cross-legged on the wooden floor. The NetNavis themselves were facing off on the computer screen in a good ol' fashioned Texas showdown.
"Gutsman... smash Glide!" Gutsman roared, thumping his fists together threateningly.
"Miss Yai, are you ready?" Glide asked his Net Operator, ignoring his opponent's scare tactics.
"Of course," Yai drawled in her usual confident tone. "How about you, loser boy?" she added to Dex, smirking.
"Grr!" Dex growled, his free hand clenching into a tight fist. "You cocky punks won't stand a chance against out superior might!"
While Yai and Dex were preparing themselves, Megaman and Roll had returned to their PETS. Now, Lan and Megaman were watching Yai and Dex's confrontation with increased interest, while Maylu and Roll sat next to them glancing at them out of the corners of their eyes.
(A/N: Translation: This group is talking amongst each other while the other group are doing what you just read above.)
"So," Lan began, "how long do you think this battle will last?"
"Well," Megaman said, closing his eyes, crossing his arms and bowing his head slightly, "I think Gutsman won't even last three attacks from Glide."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Roll said rationally, realising there was competition to be had. She wore a mischievous smile on her face that only Maylu could comprehend. "Four attacks. No more, no less."
"I'll take that wager," Megaman said, challenging the pink navi. "What's in it for the winner?"
"Well, let's see," Roll said, contemplating her options. Finally, she decided on something and the smile on her face grew wider. "Let's make the rules interesting. Let's say, 'Like NetNavi, like Operator?'"
Megaman's eyes furrowed in confusion, as did Lan's.
"What exactly do you mean?"
'Definitely like Operator, like Navi,' Roll thought, and by the look on her own Operator's face she could tell Maylu was thinking the same thing. She soon realised that Megaman was staring at her through his PET (let's just say he is, okay?), waiting for an explanation, and she coloured slightly. "Um, what I mean is, let's raise the stakes. If one of us loses the bet, then not only does that navi lose, but the operator loses as well."
"Um... okay," Megaman said slowly. He looked up at Lan and could tell he was nervous about this as well.
"What are you saying?" Maylu whispered urgently to Roll. "This really doesn't sound like a good idea, Roll."
"Oh, relax," Roll said dismissively. "It'll be fun, trust me. Besides, it's not like you have anything to worry about."
"I hope so," Maylu said, with a slight tone of sadness in her voice. Or was it a secret fear of the consequences of this little bet?
"So how would this work?" Megaman had asked, regaining Roll and Maylu's attention.
"Simple," Roll said, beaming. "The four of us will think up of a wager in our heads. These will be the rewards if either pair of us wins."
"How would we be able to tell the losers what the wager is?" Megaman sounded slightly fretful. "I mean, there are some things I wouldn't want Lan to know..."
This got Lan's attention immediately.
"What was that?"
"Nothing," Megaman said quickly.
"Oh, that's easily taken care of," Roll said, replying to Megaman's query. "Us navis will send each other their wagers through secret emails."
Now this got Maylu's attention.
"Since when did you have secret emails?" she asked, having been awoken from her daydreaming stupor.
"Since forever," Roll said, smirking. "Anyway," she went on, "navis will be sending via email, operators," her smirk grew wider to the discomfort of everyone involved, "will be sending wagers to each other the old fashioned way."
"Old fashioned way?" Lan asked, thoroughly confused by the whole concept.
"You know," Roll said, relishing the fact that the secret plan she'd be concocting was reaching a vital point. "Hand-delivered mail."
If possible, the smile on the pink navis face grew even wider at the expressions of shock and horror (or shockor) on everyone's faces. They stared at her incredulously, but she remained determined.
"What's wrong?" she taunted. "Scared?"
"Um, Roll?" Maylu asked timidly.
"Yes?"
"The battle's over," her operator replied, pointing to the computer screen. Large letters had just started flashing: Glide: 1, Gutsman: 0.
"Oh... that's too bad," Roll said weakly. She knew it would be no point asking how long the battle took because the opposing parties would have a feud over that as well.
"I told you we'd win," Yai said in her gloating manner. "Glide and I always win."
"I-I-I..." Dex was still in denial over his loss. Poor guy. "I let you win!" See what I mean? "Yeah, we went easy on you!"
"Sure," Yai said. "And Lan and Maylu were making out behind us all this time."
If this didn't attract attention, then nothing would. Everyone positively stared at the blonde; some with wide grins (Megaman and Roll), others with looks of shockor (Lan and Maylu), others looks of surprise (Gutsman), others with placid expressions (Glide), and others wearing looks of dark incredulous (Dex).
"What was that?" he asked, scowling. It was common knowledge to the quartet of human companions that Dex had a major crush on Maylu and any competition would be dealt with very painfully (poor victim).
"Speaking of those two," Yai said, ignoring Dex's irritable expression. "C'mon, you two haven't sparred against each other yet."
Lan and Maylu glanced at each other nervously. After the statement from Yai about them getting together, they didn't know whether they had the heart to battle against each other. Plus, they didn't think they could bear Dex glaring at the pair of them from behind, although it would be mostly directed at Lan.
Meanwhile, their navis seemed to be thinking the same thing. Each knew that the other was a superb battler, but so far they'd avoided having to battle each other. It wasn't so much the shame of losing, not in Megaman's mind, at least. It was the fear of seriously hurting Roll if he got too fierce or careless. Sure it was just a sparring match, but still...
In Roll's mind, she knew Megaman was tough. Heck, he'd been beaten up so many times but always seemed to battle back and get on top. But did she really want to battle someone she cared so deeply for? Wait, what was she thinking?
"How about it?" Yai insisted. "C'mon, Dex and I had to battle, now you two."
After hefty sighs from everyone involved, Lan and Maylu nodded and prepared for battle.
"Ready?" Lan asked quietly, his head bent towards the floor so he didn't have to look at anyone. Megaman stared up at him, knowing why he felt so depressed at having to battle his childhood friend. However, he didn't say anything.
"Sure," Maylu replied with more confidence than she felt. Only Roll recognised the fear in her operator's voice.
Dex and Yai watched with increased interest as Lan and Maylu stepped up to the jack-in sockets. Dex was eyeing Lan with a dangerous sort of "try any moves and try my fist" expression. This temporarily made Lan forget his worries about Maylu, and instead they were replaced by the fears of being beaten to a pulp by Dex. He even had to frequently mentally shake himself to try and wash off the uncomfortable feelings he was experiencing.
Lan thought (or was certain) Maylu could be coping much better than he was. However, if he dared to lift his head and glance at his opponent, he would've seen that Maylu was almost trembling. Of course, it didn't help her cause that Yai was winking at her in an all-knowing manner. Maylu wondered just how much Yai had discovered about everyone in a short space of time, but she didn't have any more time to do so because Dex was getting impatient.
"C'mon, let's go!" he demanded. "Let's see just who's the best."
Lan gulped, remembering the looks (or death glares) Dex was giving him. However, he pushed those looks aside in order to be focussed for the battle.
"Jack-in, Megaman! Power up!"
"Jack-in, Roll! Power up!" Maylu repeated next to him. 'Be careful, Roll,' she thought immediately afterwards.
Megaman and Roll materialised onto the computer screen, the blue navi before the pink. They stood at their regular battle spots, seemingly glaring each other down. However, they were just trying to buy some time.
"What were you trying to do before?" Megaman asked, lowering his voice so that only he and Roll could hear.
"What do you mean?" Roll asked back, also lowering her voice. Megaman thought he could detect a sort of mischievous feigned innocence in Roll's voice, but disregarded it.
"With the bet," he replied. "What was the point of all that?"
"Oh, that," Roll said. Yep, just as Megaman thought, there was a sort of sneakiness in Roll's expression. "Haven't you noticed something between Lan and Maylu?"
"I did notice some tension between them," Megaman said. "When Yai forced this battle, they seemed very reluctant to do so." 'Not that I blame them,' he thought to himself.
"All right, start the battle already!" Dex's voice commanded from outside the computer screen. Megaman and Roll jumped at this sudden interruption in the conversation, but assumed their battle poses.
"Go easy on me," Roll said, using her normal volume and a mock tone of distress in her voice. Megaman smirked.
"I'll try, but I can't make any promises," he replied.
Yai watched this briefly, then turned to Dex.
"Hey Dex," she said slowly, "There's a box full of potato chips in my mansion I forgot about. Knowing you have a big stomach, I thought you'd want to get it."
"Why me?" Dex whined. "I wanna watch this battle."
Yai sighed heavily. 'What a dunce.' "Well," she began, "if you get it, you can eat the whole box."
"All right!" Dex almost knocked Yai sky high in excitement. "How do I get it?"
"Simple," Yai explained, rubbing her head. "Go over to the mansion and ask someone for the box of chips. Tell them I sent ya."
"That's easy enough," Dex said. "Tell them to keep going until I come back or I'm going to cream the next NetNavi I see into dust with Gutsman. If the battle does end before I get back, I bet 500 zennys that Megaman loses."
"I'll take that bet," Yai replied. She then muttered "Yeah, right" to herself as Dex left. She then turned to her PET. "Glide, I need you to tell the butlers to distract Dex as long as possible."
"Will do, Miss Yai." In less than a jack-in, he was gone.
Yai smirked and sat back down to watch the battle between Megaman and Roll.
Lan had seemed to wake up from his mild depression and shift himself into battle mode. He didn't seem to mind that he was battling his oldest friend, since to him an opponent was an opponent, no matter who they were. Maylu sensed this, and she finally felt that her heart was back in the battle.
"Roll, go for it!" she yelled.
Roll was relieved to hear that Maylu was upbeat again and she charged towards Megaman. Just like against Gutsman, Megaman swiftly dodged to his right. This gave them the perfect chance to continue their conversation.
"So that's why you were so insistent on getting Lan and Maylu involved," Megaman said.
"That's right," Roll said matter-of-factly. "Those two are almost inseparable."
"Yeah, that certainly seems the case," Megaman said pensively. "At least for half an hour every day I hear Lan talking about Maylu. It's like he's obsessed or something." He suddenly realised what he said and covered his mouth in shock. 'Lan's gonna kill me now,' he thought desperately.
"Really?" Roll asked, her eyes glittering. However, the slow motion that comes from a dodged attack ended and both navis stood their ground yet again. Megaman sweatdropped at the starry expression in Roll's eyes, but thankfully this went unnoticed by the NetOps.
"Aqua tower battle chip, in! Download!" came Maylu's voice.
"Mini Boomer battle chip, in! Download!" replied Lan's voice.
As the surging water tower charged towards Megaman, he threw the mini boomers in its way to block it. The resulting cloud of smoke gave the navis another chance to converse.
"So, Lan talks to you about Maylu?" Roll asked, her eyes shining brightly. The expression of Roll's face caused Megaman to sweatdrop slightly.
"Yeah, and he always thinks up excuses to bring her up in a conversation." Megaman mimicked Lan's voice. ""What do you think Maylu would do?" "Do you think Maylu would like it if I..." "Maylu would like this, wouldn't she?"" He returned to his normal voice. "Like I said, it's like he's obsessed."
"Well, y'know," Roll began, twiddling her thumbs nervously, "Maylu's the same. Except it's more subtle than that."
"How so?" Megaman asked as the smoke started to clear.
"I usually have to slip him into the conversation very discreetly," Roll replied, eyes gleaming with mischief again.
The smoke cleared completely, and the two navis suspiciously appeared to be unhurt in any way. This perplexed Lan and Maylu who thought at least one of them would've taken the advantage. However, the confusion soon vanished as they launched battle techniques again.
"Use your Megablaster!"
"Dodge and attack!"
Megaman's right (I think) hand morphed into his blaster and he pelted several shots at Roll, who dodged swiftly and came within inches of him. Yep, you guessed it, another perfect opportunity to talk.
"I think it's time we did a little matchmaking," Roll whispered almost sinisterly. The tone in Roll's face caused Megaman to sweatdrop again before speaking.
"I guess so. What do you suggest?"
"Leave that to me," Roll replied, and Megaman could tell she'd been planning this for a while. "I'll send you a secret email. Just because Maylu and Lan know about our secret emails doesn't mean we still can't keep them from those two."
"All right, I guess I'm in," Megaman said, wondering what was in store for his NetOp and whether or not it would have any repercussions.
"Thank you!" Roll said, hugging Megaman tightly and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
Megaman didn't expect that at all. In fact, it made him freeze completely on the spot. His eyes didn't blink, his mouth didn't twitch, and his arms and legs didn't budge. He just... couldn't move. 'What was that?' he thought in his mind, the only thing that seemed to be operating.
Lan and Maylu were watching this with eyes wider than the black hole that was Dex and Lan's stomaches. It seemed that even Roll's NetOp didn't have a clue what was going on. Actually, the only person who didn't look shocked was Yai who was sitting in the back, smirking broadly. She'd known about the romance between the two navis as well as their operators. It was just something in their body language towards each other. Well, that and discreet information Glide had been feeding her. Again, like Operator, like Navi.
"Did she just do what I think she did?" Lan uttered, with extreme difficulty to boot.
Maylu just nodded dumbly and watched as Roll poked the still-frozen Megaman to make him fall onto the ground of the battlefield. This produced sweatdrops from everyone, including Yai.
The computer screen flashed: Roll: 1, Megaman: 0, and everyone fell down in stupidity.
No one seemed to notice that Dex had returned carrying the box of chips.
"Man, those guys just wouldn't let me leave!" he said, heaving the box behind him with a leash. He took one look at the computer screen and burst out laughing. "Hahahahahahaha!!! Megaman lost?! That's 500 zennys you owe me, Yai!"
Roll turned around to find everyone staring at her and Megaman, and she blushed lightly.
"Eheh..."
Lord Cynic: "Like I said, I made no guarantees that it would be subtle. But maybe I got carried away? Oh well, it'll come together in the next chapter. It might be a marathon bugger of a thing, we'll see how it goes. Comments? Criticisms? Flames of hatred? Don't go easy on me, I can take the heat. Diss the couples though and I'll send my Kirby in a Viking helmet to disturb your sanity. Nonetheless, I need my mailbox to be full for once...
Don't worry about the Mercury Matchmaker update if that's what you're thinking about. I'm picturing the events as I speak… well, for most of the characters, anyway."