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The sun shone warmly on DenTech city, people walking joyously trying to find their friends and cars driving through the crossing streets. Each block had around 30 people each at least, and everyone was enjoying the moment they were currently in. The city branched off into multiple sections, one of which was the lively town of ACDC. The adults were scattered about, whether they were doing chores at home or jogging in the park or just embracing the day. The local school of ACDC Town, the small elementary school at the edge of town, was having another school day.That was where Lan Hikari was currently.He was in school, as per usual, slacking off. The class was currently in the science lab, trying to mix a few liquids with the help of a bunch of textbooks in the back. Everyone had a partner to help them, obviously, Dex and Yai, A few odd pairs that clearly weren’t working out, and Lan had Maylu. “Lan, you could at least help out by getting the textbook from the bookshelf…” Maylu trailed off, staring at the the boy cradling his head with his arms on the table. She sighed as she gently but swiftly shook him awake, haboring a soft twitch from the peppy brunette.“Uhh….Maylu, what time is it…?” Lan groaned, groggily rubbing his eyes and yawning. She shook her head in disapproval and (not exactly gently, mind you.) smacked him across the head. He quietly yelped in pain and held the part of his head where her hand connected.“It’s 9:36, and also time for you to get up and help me.” She said, curtly turning her head to the side and pouting. Lan despised when she did that. She was literally hitting him, her friend, just because she’s slightly annoyed, and for some reason even the teachers are okay with one student hitting another. She even deleted his homework once!Why does he specifically need to suffer at everyone else’s need?!He sighed, quickly standing up and composing himself. He’ll admit, it’s kind of a dick move to let your partner do all the work while you do nothing, but why did he deserve it all those other times…?“Right, right…I’ll go get it…” He mumbled, trying not to feel to bitter about his new observation. As he walked down the the science classroom bookshelf, he took note of all the other partners working with the liquids.One pair was working smoothly, one pair wasn’t doing anything at all other than talk, and quite a few were arguing with each other. Dex and Yai were slowly but surely working through the process, mainly because Dex didn’t understand most of it and Yai had to explain and walk him through most of it. Everyone was doing what they did best. Just being human.Lan plucked the textbook with the least amount of damage from the shelf and made it back to the table. Megaman was in his PET with Roll, chatting about something stupid that happened with Gutsman and Glyde earlier that day.“And then, for some reason, the viruses started latching onto Gutsman and then he started to spin around in a circle and spread them everywhere like rain! It was amazing, especially when Glyde-““Lan! Hurry up! We only have till the end of class to finish this!” Megaman yelled towards the milk chocolate haired boy. Roll giggled, looking at him with somewhat mischievous eyes and playfully touched him on the helmet. He looked towards the female NetNavi with his own playful look of apology before waving Lan over once more.“I got the book, what do we need to do?” Lan said, trying to look somewhat happy like he usually does. The treatment he got in the past was starting to bite at him, but he remained vigilant. “…Lan…? Are you okay…?” His NetNavi asked, noticing the small change in his best friend’s behavior. “I’m fine, Mega. We’re on page 169, right?” He responded, but he didn’t mean to sound so curt. Megaman decided that he would push the topic later, as they had a time sensitive assignment to do.—————————————————————————Class was finished for the day, and all of the children were packing their bags and heading to wherever they planned on going after school. Lan slid the straps of his backpack around his shoulders, walking to the front gate to walk to SciLab with his friends. His dad, Dr. Hikari, was the leading scientist in the facility and for some reason, lets him and his friends see things before they are properly distributed to the public.Dr. Hikari trusted them, after all, they had aided Lan in saving the world from evil organizations multiple times. They were good friends, but…Sometimes, it feels like he never did those things at all. Lan had done things that many his age found impossible and saved the lives of countless people, but he was never given much credit or appreciation for what he had done. All he ever got were a few thank yous from his friends and a bunch of hits and excuses to waste his resources so people would get free things from him.Even his own NetNavi sided against him in certain situations. Megaman is an extremely friendly and forgiving person, and while Lan would still bitter about what happened, He would beg him to forgive the person in the wrong and scold him for ‘being mean’.This was the first time he had ever thought about the treatment he was getting from other people. He had brushed everything off because he just thought that friends would do for each other and just saving everyone else mattered, but now, after seeing what everyone’s opinion of Chaud and noticing that his friends treat each other better than they treat him, he realized now that…The only thing people wanted from him were what he could give them and nothing more. Not his time, not his friendship, not even his life mattered.How could he have not noticed that?!“Hey, Lan! You’re late again! Hurry up, will ya?!” The loud voice broke his train of thought as he looked up to see Dex waving him over with Maylu, Yai, and Tory at his side. With a bit of awkwardness, Lan sprinted to the small group and skidded his feet in front of them.“Hey, guys…” He greeted, trying to mask his newfound negativity in his usual optimistic attitude. However, acting wasn’t one of his strong suits and the four heard the bitterness in his fake upbeat voice.“Uh…Lan…Are you okay, bro? You look like someone punched you.” Dex asked with his usual demeanor. “Yeah…yeah, I’m fine…” He lied, fidgeting with the ends of his shorts. The situation quickly got more awkward as the five children remained silent.Okay, just think of something, anything to get out of this mess.“…We shouldn’t keep dad waiting for us. Let’s hurry up to SciLab.” Lan interjected curtly, speed-walking to ACDC Town’s train station. He tried to ignore the new feelings within him, but they kept pounding in his head trying to let loose. As long as he makes minimal contact with his friends, he’ll get over it soon. Being upset over this was petty, but his heart continued to force his emotions on his better logic.His friends watched him speed away and looked at each other with worried glances, before quickly trying to catch up to the milk chocolate brunette.——————————————————————————After an equally awkward train ride, the group finally made it to SciLab. The sanitized building stood firm on a rise of ground with multiple staircases leading to it and its multiple wings. Lan carefully climbed up the stairs, his friends following behind him. “Hey, don’t you think that Lan is acting a bit…off, today?” Maylu asked, firmly grasping the bar on the stairs. “Well, yeah. Did you hear him? He sounds like he dropped his curry before he could eat it.” Dex retorted, his fat legs waddling up the jagged incline. “He’s usually all smiles. Even I don’t know what could be bothering him.” Yai added, hopping gracefully while holding on to the support beam. Tory looked at the waterworks building for a moment before speaking up.“I have a feeling something’s about to happen, and it’s not good…” He then looked at Lan, who was staring down at his feet intensely. “And in no small part due to Lan’s behavior…” Maylu looked towards the creamy-grayette with concern in her expression. “I, for one, really hope your intuition is wrong…” She then looked at Lan as well, who was now at the top of the staircase with his PET in his hand. “But for some reason, I think your feeling is right.” Chaud stood next to the good doctor, aiding him in minor things while he began to finish his newest project. He had heard Dr. Hikari say he invited his son, Lan, along with his friends to see the finished product as per usual. He had gotten to know the Hikari family and had become used to his son’s behavior and antics.He wasn’t, however, expecting to see the usually upbeat and somewhat loud milk chocolate brunette quiet with a shroud darkening slightly around his similarly colored eyes, looking as if he had watched someone push someone else off a bridge.He ran his hand through his salt and pepper hair, sighing as Lan drew closer to him. “Hey, Chaud…” He halfheartedly greeted, the bitter tone in his voice noticeable to the somewhat stern official. “What’s with you?” He asked, a small amount of concern welled up in his voice, but it wasn’t noticeable to Lan.“We don’t know, either. He’s been like this all day and he won’t tell us why!” Yai interjected, placing her hands on her hips and pouting.“Lan? Is there something wrong?” Dr. Hikari asked, walking with a mug of coffee he had made a few minutes ago and setting it down on his work desk. “Yeah! Lan’s been all bitter since this morning and he’s being all secretive about it. I asked him before and he just dismissed me…” Megaman spoke from the PET speakers. Suddenly, Lan felt every corner of the room turn its attention towards him.“I-“ He started to speak, but then Maylu cut him off. “And don’t tell us that ‘you’re fine’ either. You’ve clearly proven that false.”Suddenly, Lan felt tears threaten to fall from his eyes. The pent up anger and frustration let itself out of his heart and his bitter emotions let loose.“Have any of you considered how you treat me as your friend?!” He screamed, quickly realizing there was no going back from this. “Have you ever realized that you treat each other better than you do me?! Because I’ve noticed, and I only let it slide because I thought it was normal!”“Lan…? What are you saying…?” Maylu asked, slowly shaking her head in denial at what he was saying.“What I’m saying is that you never thank me for anything! I save the world multiple times, and nobody thanks me! The people who do thank me physically hurt me and exploit me! I risked my life, spent my time and poured everything into the friendship we have, and you just use me and hit me when I mildly annoy you!”He took a breath, salty tears falling from his milk chocolate colored eyes. Everyone in the room stared at him in shock, processing his sudden outburst. Dex clenched his teeth in shame as Yai started to revaluate her time spent with Lan. Maylu spoke up, taking a step towards the milk chocolate brunette. “Lan…I…”He quickly turned to her and snapped, causing her to flinch. “Maylu, no. Just, no. You’re one of, if not the one reason why I mentioned physical hitting! You hit me in the science lab just today! And you’ve done it before multiple times, and even deleted my homework once! You are the definition of a bad friend! With a friend like you, all those enemies we’ve had were pointless!”“I was always alone when fighting the entire organizations that wanted to dominate the world! When you did help me, it was right at the very end and I didn’t need it anymore! You leave me with everything, and when I don’t do it correctly, you hurt me! You don’t care about me at all!”Chaud’s eyes slightly widened at the whole ordeal. This ray of sunshine on a rainy day was yelling at his friends because of the suboptimal treatment they give him. This wasn’t fun to experience, and Chaud couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of guilt in his heart.Before Lan could start ranting again, the SciLab alarm went off. The panic inducing noise rung throughout the building, and an image popped up on Dr. Hikari’s screen.A bunch of people were rioting about the death of many people that happened recently in Central Square. However, by doing that, they seemed to have released something even more sinister.The phoenix-like beast spread its wings and shook the Net with a mighty caw from its beak.With that, Lan Hikari sprinted out of SciLab to do what he did best.TO BE CONTINUED.
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Lan sprinted across the outside of SciLab, scanning the area for any kind of jack in port he could use. Despite being the main unit of technology development, the lab didn’t have many jack in ports to speak of. If memory served the milk chocolate brunette right, that’s something adults call ‘irony’.“Lan…do you really feel that way about your friends…?” Megaman asked, slumped against the glass screen of the PET. “Megaman, I know that your a good person at heart. But, when people apply pressure to someone, that someone snaps. All I want is some form of apology and a stop to all the punches, okay?” He responded, finally finding a jack in port to SciLab area. “Yeah, but-“ “No ‘buts’, Your part of the problem! You laugh along with them at my expense! Their behavior isn’t justified and your defending them!” He put his hand on his face, sighing and feeling a twinge of guilt for yelling at his best friend. “Look man, I’m sorry. After everything that happened to today, this new problem isn’t helping. I love you as a brother and I’m proud of your kind heart. Just please…bear with me right now…” Lan apologized, glancing to the side in remorse.“Lan…” Megaman trailed off, shocked that his best friend had said that to him directly. “If you need a break, then take one. You’ve earned it after all those times we saved the world. But our work isn’t over yet. There’s something happening in Central Square and we’re needed there ASAP.” Lan nodded and jacked Megaman into the control box outside of SciLab.In the Net, NetNavis were running in every possible direction to escape from the massive beast that appeared in the square. The phoenix-like creature let out an earth-shattering screech that shook the Net and proceeded to swipe up an entire group of fleeing Navis and swallowed them whole.“This situation is worse than I thought! It’s tearing through everyone as we speak!” Megaman shouted over the screaming NetNavis. “Whatever this thing is, it’s out for blood. Let’s save everyone as quickly as we can!” Lan assured, readying his folder of battle chips. After enough NetNavis escaped, the Cybeast turned its attention to the blue armored one below and prepared for somewhat of a battle.“Are you ready, Megaman? Battle routine, set!”“Execute!”Lan quickly sent chip data from the PET, taking a breath before starting the battle properly.Megaman quickly dodged the cybeast’s attacks, taking a tiny bit of damage before aiming a cannon at its wing. He shot and landed, earning a subtle slip from the phoenix-like monster before it recalibrated itself and stirred up the wind. The unrelenting tornadoes were sent at the NetNavi and he barely outmaneuvered them.He then armed himself with another weapon, a shotgun. Getting as far as possible from the beast, he aimed at its torso and fired.The beast took a considerable amount of damage. Although it wasn’t much, it but a small dent in its health and they were clearly making progress. While that was happening, Maylu, Dex, Yai, Tory, and Chaud were in Dr. Hikari’s lab. They were examining the situation and trying to find a solution. However, an air of guilt flooded the room as they did so.“He’s trying to beat that thing on his own!” Dex shouted, slamming his palms on the keyboard of the screen. “Why would he ever think that’s a good idea?! Whatever it is, it slaughtered most of the NetNavis in the square!” Yai inquired, clutching her patterned dress in her hands. “I…this is all my fault…” Maylu whispered, crossing her arms and squeezing herself gently in an attempt to comfort herself.Chaud scoffed quietly, his ocean blue eyes scanning the room for a port to jack into. ‘No wonder that idiot ran out on his own.’ He thought, calmly speed-walking out of the lab. ‘There isn’t a fast route to the square in SciLab…’——————————————————————————Megaman panted heavily, eyes narrowed in frustration at the phoenix-like beast. This had been going on for several minutes and the monster hadn’t gone down yet.It had taken a large amount of damage, yet it still stood, able to support itself after all of the attacks the NetNavi had dealt to it. Lan was still holding the PET, although barely because his hands had begun to sweat. His nerves were starting to get the better of him, but he tried as hard as he could to stay vigilant enough to support Megaman.“Megaman, are you okay? Can you at least still stand?” He asked, breathing without rhythm.“I’m fine…but this thing just won’t go down!” He responded, choking on air as his legs began to shake uncontrollably.“It’s going to be okay, we’ll get through this together…just like all those other times!” Lan smiled, holding back his encroaching fear. Megaman simply smiled back. ‘You’ll never change, will you, Lan?’Suddenly, the cybeast spread its crimson wings and released another earth-shattering cry from its razor sharp beak. The entire square shook and Megaman was wiped off his feet by the quake.“I can’t…I can’t hold on much longer…!” He cried, his data searing in collective pain.“Megaman!” Lan screamed, fearing for his best friends safety. “I’ll jack you out, hold on!”Megaman closed his eyes as the phoenix-like cybeast took him into his talon. It began to squeeze him, relishing in the NetNavi’s cries of agony.The square’s Net began to crumble around them, and began to force them out of the area for safety measures. Lan quickly jacked out Megaman, but after a bright crimson light, he began to feel an unbearable agony and fell to his knees.You see, when the Net forced them out, it forced the cybeast out with Megaman. The cybeast was also considerably injured, so the PET took it in. Megaman was fine, but the cybeast entered another part of the PET because it wasn’t a NetNavi. Since Lan’s hands were sweaty, the cybeast’s energy, along with the cybeast itself, was carried by the water and into the water’s source:Lan Hikari himself.The indescribable agony coursed through the milk chocolate brunette’s veins, causing him to let out an involuntary wail of pain. His eyes watered, and his breath became labored and shaky.“Lan?! Lan, are you alright?!” Megaman asked, pounding on the glass screen of the PET. Lan wanted to respond, he really did, but his own body wouldn’t listen to him.His body felt as if it were moving around on its own, like a baby learning how to walk from instinct alone. His hands were shaking violently when he looked at them, but he also noticed something else. His fingers, not just his nails, were thickening and sharpening, like claws at a point. His skin was tan on his hands now, the tips of his fingers were now fading into obsidian black. His eye widened in shock and pain, threatening to spill tears once more.His spine was hit with even more unbearable agony, and he instinctively rolled onto his chest to ease the pain. His spine shuddered, his muscles and bones reforming while he tried to stand up to call for Megaman. Suddenly, his back worsened and he felt something pull on his vest. He bit his lip to ease the pain, only to feel sharpness sink into his sensitive mouth flesh. He unbit his lip and licked his teeth, and he felt that his teeth became fangs.His head was pounding as his face pressed against the cement. Lan felt his throat become dry, his skin was burning and a bit more tan and his hair fell back down around his face as his headband fell from his forehead.His hair slowly turned into a reddish brown, like blood-stained wood, and his back morphed and new nerves formed. More pain shot down his back as new bone, muscle and skin formed and pushed against his vest. His vest and shirt ripped, slowly revealing two new appendages akin to wings.Suddenly, Lan felt sharp tingling and stinging in his new limbs, harboring a pained scream as bright crimson feathers formed on his wings. They rested at his sides, unable to move because of his current condition.His feet were shot with similar pain, stretching his sneakers and socks. Claws poked through the soles, tearing them apart and revealing clawed feet. Megaman watched what was happening to Lan with fear and horror in his emerald eyes, screaming to his best friend in hopes of gaining his attention.“Megaman…” Lan whispered, glancing at the horrified NetNavi. His vision was blurry and his head ached severely. “I’m…I’m sorry…” He uttered, before stiffening up with wide eyes and mouth agape.Milk chocolate eyes become crimson blood eyes and Lan Hikari loses himself to Falzar.——————————————————————————Chaud continued to try and find a jack in port, running through DenTech City with his PET in his vest pocket. He didn’t know how long it had been since he left SciLab, but what he did know was that he had to find Lan, and fast.Many of the citizens had rushed indoors, so he didn’t have to worry about bumping into anyone on the way there. Whatever the thing terrorizing the Net was, it craved the lives of the innocent and as an official, leaving everyone to fend for themselves would be cowardly and dishonorable. The streets felt off when there was nobody around, and the cloudless blue sky made things even more uncanny. Suddenly, the salt and pepper haired official heard an inhuman screech. He recognized it as a birds cry, but he knew damn well there weren’t any birds native to the country that could make that kind of noise. Then, in the blink of an eye, a building was up in flames and after a mighty crash, a mass screaming of people could be heard for many kilometers away.He then saw the one responsible flying in the clear sky. Bloodied wood colored hair, crimson blood eyes, and a large pair of scarlet wings on its back. It seemed to be humanoid, but nobody could tell by its blood-soaked appearance.The people that were within the building were killed almost immediately, and the ones that survived were being plucked up and sliced by the claws of the humanoid beast. Chaud watched as thousands were killed in one fell swoop, and those who were able to tell the tale were taken care of.He was about to be sick.He reflexively tore the PET from his jacket pocket and looked into the bespectacled eyes of his NetNavi, ProtoMan.“ProtoMan, send an emergency message to SciLab. Our situation just got a whole lot worse.” He ordered, hoping that the lab and everyone inside it would be safe. “Right away, Master Chaud. I’m ready to follow your next move.” He responded, preparing the message and sending it to SciLab.“Alright. We need to get any survivors we can find and bring them to safety. You need to search the Net and tell everyone you find to jack out. I need to stop this thing and find that damn Hikari.” Chaud said, looking back up at the winged humanoid.‘I hope he’s safe…’Chaud looked around, trying to find anything to jack into. ProtoMan nodded to his NetOp, and the salt and pepper haired official found a nearby control panel. However, he found something else that caught his attention.Lan’s headband.Along with scattered pieces of his clothing.And most importantly, his PET, with Megaman crying inside of it.
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Chaud picked up the PET gently and saw as the cobalt NetNavi cried tears of anguish. He never saw him like this before, so the possible outcomes of the situation were now up in the air. Lan could have very well died at the claws of the humanoid beast. Megaman, slowly looking upward at the salt and pepper haired NetOp, could only sob in agony.“Megaman, what happened here?” Chaud asked the pained NetNavi. Megaman couldn’t bear to answer, just staring at the shredded clothes of his brother in arms. Chaud understood that this was a fruitless endeavor, and placed his supposed rival’s PET in his jacket pocket. Wherever that dumbass was, he needed to be found, and fast.Dead, or alive.Running as fast as his legs could carry him, he stared up at the winged beast. Crimson. Horrible, sickening crimson covered it from hair to talon, and much more was staining the pavement below. A few thousand people were injured or killed by that…/monster/.Holy shit, he’d never seen a worse sight in his life./Please, don’t let Hikari be one of those many, maimed corpses./The smoke made it hard to breathe, but Chaud simply covered his mouth and nose with his shirt and continued onward. The winged, bloodthirsty creature turned its attention to the boy, and charged at him with extreme prejudice.Chaud barely, /just barely/, was able to get out of its line of fire. He rolled onto his side and hyperventilated, caught off guard by the attack.Oh, god.It looks so much worse up close.Tiny bits of human flesh were strewed around the figure, entire chunks clinging to the abyssal black claws of the beast. It growled lowly, clearly voicing its new target for the NetOp to hear. Chaud, felt a feeling he never thought he’d have to experience so vividly again.He was absolutely terrified.Suddenly, the monster just stared at him, like it was…contemplating something.—————————————————————————-/“I…remember him…”//“No…I refuse…!”/ /“LET ME GO!”/It was dark in the empty recesses of his mind. Lab could only scream at himself not to hurt Chaud, desperately trying to fight back against the demon inside his body. Outside, Lan-Or Falzar, neither could tell-grabbed his head and began to scream.———————————————————————————Chaud quickly covered his ears and backed away, the loud noise too much for his senses to handle. Soon, the creature stopped, now only looking terrified at the sight of the salt and pepper haired boy. It backed away, slowly moving its wings and heading into the air.He honestly couldn’t believe what he was seeing. At first, he was backed into a corner by an abomination, and now…it’s running away from him. He was about to follow it, when he heard the sounds of footsteps running towards him.Is that…Maylu?Following the request for help sent to SciLab by ProtoMan, She was the first person to volunteer to aid Chaud. She was experiencing guilt after Lan confessed his repressed feelings of betrayal and bitterness, and wanted some form of closure by making it up to the poor guy. Of course, she wasn’t aware that her unfortunate object of affection was taken over by an Eldritch Abomination.Upon seeing the velvet haired girl running towards Chaud, anger began to creep within the transformed Hikari. Falzar, ever the absentminded sadist, decided to take advantage of that newly created instinct.