MegaMan NT Warrior (Rockman) Fan Fiction ❯ Special ❯ Of Cuts and Fashion ( Chapter 4 )

Megaman winced as Lan examined his injury. Part of his arm continued to fade, the pieces of data surrounding the wound reminding him how false his existence truly was. Turning his head away, determined not to gaze at the unnatural wound, he focused on the PET's screen. It displayed the stats of his most recent battle, in which his arm had been sliced by an unavoidable attack. Recovery chips were scarce at the moment so Lan decided it best to use this opportunity to test his latest invention on Megaman's injury.

 

It wasn't too long after the New Year began that Lan took more of an interest in the technologies of the PET. Using spare parts from his father's old study, he would build up on ideas that had spawned from Megaman's successful hologram experiment. Megaman would watch quietly from his post on the edge of the bed, transferring information to the PET for later reference, as Lan spoke of his ideas with a child's enthusiasm. To see Lan's eyes light up like that made Megaman feel real.

 

A particularly painful prod made him break his train of thought. Green eyes turned reluctantly toward the wound, mouth set into a tight frown.

 

“Be careful Lan…it kind of stings…”

 

Lan reestablished another piece of data to the blue-clad navi's arm before glancing up.

 

“Sorry Megaman,” he smiled, “Just a little more and we'll be done, `k?”

 

Megaman flushed a bit, lips forming a pout, before looking away quickly. “Yeah…”

 

Brown eyes twinkled in amusement before returning to the task at hand. Megaman, after insuring Lan was fully absorbed in the patch up, observed the object that speeded his recovery. In his net op's hand, a thin tool hummed lightly, already gathering data at its tip as it neared the now sufficiently smaller wound. Megaman smiled at the devise, one of Lan's most recent inventions, as bits of data rematerialized on his skin, joining together to form the blue that made up the his trademark suit.

 

The tool was still in its prototype stages but it did what it was made to do. The Hummingbird, as Megaman dubbed it after hearing the sound it made during experimentation, was a remarkable little machine. The long design had a loop of raw data continuously flowing through it, its tip releasing some of the data when squeezed. This data came from a program Lan had set up on his PC that produced data that had yet to serve any function. When this data met with developed data, for example Megaman's arm, it would merge with that data, retaining its characteristics and functions. (“They're the stem cells of the net world.” Megaman had stated with a grin. Lan, for all his intellect, had stared at him blankly. Megaman sighed, “Pay more attention to your Science teacher, Lan…”)

 

With one final `hmm', the Hummingbird was turned off, its creator stepping back to survey Megaman's arm. The area on the navi's arm looked brand new, the cut having disappeared. The blue suit looked as though it hadn't been scratched at all. Megaman, who had distracted himself by staring at his changing stats, turned his gaze to his renewed second-skin.

 

With a few experimental turns, he spoke. “Good job…” he continued to flex the arm, looking it over, “Looks better than ever!”

 

Lan smiled widely, proud his machine had worked so well.

 

Megaman continued to admire the work, stretching the muscles in his arm. “This is amazing Lan…Not as fast as recovery chips but still-” a particular stretch of his arm made him wince, cutting off the compliment, “…It still hurts.”

 

Lan's bright expression dropped a bit at the navi's words. “I suspected this would happen…” he reached over and rubbed the spot where the wound had been and was not surprise to see his navi move away from the light pressure, “The raw data blends to the surface easily since it's so simple to copy. When it spreads further into your system, it comes across much more difficult data sequences. They need more time to merge with that type of data…”

 

Megaman watched Lan quietly absorbing the information into the PET for future reference.

 

“To make a long story short, it copies simpler stuff faster than the complex stuff.” Lan pouted, as if disappointed with his explanation. “The Hummingbird's still a prototype…and I doubt it'll be replacing recovery chips any time soon but I feel it might come in handy for spots like this where recovery chips are not available.”

 

“Not available?” Megaman laughed. “You wasted all your cash on battle chips and new parts. I don't think `forgetting to buy recovery chips' means that they're unavailable.”

 

Lan `humph'-ed and crossed his arms, a slight blush apparent on his face, before facing away from the smirking navi. Megaman snickered, amused by the reaction. Reaching up, he grabbed on to his friend's waist and pulled him down onto the bed. Ignoring the now slightly dulled pain in his arm, Megaman hugged Lan to his chest, resting his chin on the brown-haired boy's shoulder.

 

Lan flushed darkly and turned his head to meet sparkling green eyes filled with amusement.

 

Two blue clad hands moved from his waist to pull at the corners of his mouth, stretching them into a forced toothy grin.

 

“Cheer up, ne?”

 

Lan's reaction time was slowed by the strange but oddly affectionate gesture but it wasn't long before his teeth decided Megaman's finger would make a good chew toy.

“Ow!” Megaman cradled his hand to his chest, surprised by the sudden bite. He stared at his net op with wide doleful eyes, a pout forming on his lips. Having been released from the other's hold, Lan sat facing his navi, a slightly embarrassed smile on his face.

 

“Reflex?”

 

A half-hearted glare was thrown back at the response. “Yuh-huh. Of course.”

 

Lan smiled lightly, stretching his arms high, before moving off the bed. Megaman remained seated, checking his gloved hand for teeth marks.

 

After taking a moment to review his thoughts, Lan brightened, heading strait for his dresser. The sound of drawers being opened furiously (and narrowly missing getting hit by a pair of smiley-face boxers) Megaman turned his attention to his excited friend, moving every now and then to avoid articles of clothing.

 

“Lan?” the boy continued to search, mumbling to himself as he examined the contents his dresser drawer, “…Exactly why are you raiding your wardrobe?”

 

The brown-eyed boy closed the drawer he was looking through and opened the next one, obviously not having found what he was looking for. “Remember when we were hanging out a few days ago and you told me I should get out more?”

 

Megaman frowned. “Yeah…and I still think you should.” He remembered that conversation quite clearly. Ever since the MH program was completed, Lan spent almost all his time in his room, chatting with Megaman and working on his latest gadget. The blue-clad navi felt he was being selfish for taking up all of Lan's time and wished the boy would go out and make some effort to be with his friends.

 

Lan briefly glanced at scrap of paper he had found, reading the words and deciding the slip to be irrelevant to the matter at hand. “Well, I've come up with an idea…The portable battery's been complete for awhile and I know that with it, Operation Megabust can be a success-”

 

Megaman did a double-take. “Mega-what?”

 

“Megabust. I'm going to bust you out of this house. My room gets boring after awhile so I take it you're cool with it…Where are they?” he moved on to yet another drawer.

 

Megaman simply blinked, still surprised. “You named it…Megabust…”

 

Lan continued to speak, ignoring his navi's lack of a true response. “When we went to that festival with Maylu a few weeks back, she mentioned something about getting new `fashion chips' for Roll. At first I thought it sounded really girly, so I didn't give it much thought but-Aha!” the brown-eyed smiled triumphantly, a small battle chip case in his grasp.

 

By now Megaman had snapped out of it, (also having affectionately called the boy a dork under his breath) and was listening intently to his friend's plan. “But…?”

 

Going back to the bed where his navi was lying, Lan continued, the chip-case held securely in his hand. “But then I remembered what you said about going out more…And how I didn't want you to feel left out. I realized then, that these fashion chips could prove useful. A little bit a research and a lot of cash later, I got you these.”

 

Lan opened the box to reveal a series of chips, each of their labels portraying the image of a different outfit. Megaman had heard of fashion chips before, but never looked into them. He knew they were widely popular among the female population but chips that gave a navi clothes never struck Megaman as useful, considering navis didn't necessarily need anything other than their battle-suits in terms of `outfits'.

 

“Fashion Chips?” he looked at the different labels curiously, “Why so many? And what exactly do you plan on doing with them?”

 

Lan smiled mischievously, wordlessly reaching over the inquiring navi and snatching the PET of the table. After a quick look at the set of chips, he chose one near the front of the row and placed it into the download-slot of the PET.

 

“Fashion Chip in. Download. Blue Casual Wear.”

 

Megaman stared at Lan, eyes wide, as his body began to glow. New data from the chip formed, looking as real as what they were modeled after. Green-eyes could only stare in amazement as the download ended, his blue body-suit now replaced with what appeared to be a pair of snug blue jeans and a navy-blue t-shirt. The jeans sported thin chains that began at the front pockets and connected to the back. His t-shirt was a plain dark-blue except at the sleeves, which were designed to look as if someone had splashed white paint on them. His heavy boots were gone as well, replaced by a pair of simple blue and white sneakers. He noticed, with slight amusement, that the large gloves that encased his hands and the helmet that rested on his head had not been affected by the download, still maintaining their respective spots.

 

Once done looking over his new attire, Megaman turned his gaze over to Lan, who had resigned to sitting on the bed with a positively delighted look adorning his boyish features.

 

“Lan-”

 

Before Megaman could question his net op, the boy had pulled him down onto the bed by his arms, causing the navi to fall half on his friend's lap and half on the floor.

 

Nimble fingers pulled at his gloves, tugging until the snug material slipped off. After tossing the gloves to the side, those same hands turned to his head, poking and tugging at parts of his helmet. (“Hey! What are you-!? Lan!” a low whine, “Hold. Still.”) Suddenly, as if remembering something, Lan grasped the ear pieces on the sides of the helmet and turned. With a slight pop (and a light gasp from Megaman) the helmet came off, tendrils of dark blue hair falling in front of wide green eyes.

 

Lan felt his face flush as he stared at his net-navi. He'd seen the other's spiky dark hair peek from the back of the helmet and had always tugged on it to annoy the other. He had often wondered what it would look like and wasn't surprised by its appearance. It was just as he imagined: dark blue hair, matted down at the top due to the constant head-gear, which developed into spikes further down.

 

Quickly looking away, he maneuvered himself off the bed and over to his drawer again, leaving his navi kneeling at the foot of hid bed, tugging at his own hair and marveling at his hands. Megaman had barely noticed the boy go, too enraptured by the feel of the things around him. His sensory functions only went so far with his gloves on and this was an interesting opportunity to test them out fully. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling the texture of the strands and the smoothness of his scalp. He couldn't remember a time where he didn't have that helmet on and enjoyed the lack of pressure on his head.

 

Lan returned to the foot of the bed, a large hand mirror in his hand. Still smiling at the other's reactions to his new appearance, he bent down and wrapped his arms securely around the other's neck, one hand holding the mirror in front of both their faces. Megaman stared at his reflection with wide eyes for a moment before meeting the gaze of his net op's reflection.

 

“Why…?”

 

“Because…” Lan smiled back at him through the mirror and Megaman couldn't help but think that he setting himself up for something troublesome.

 

“We're going to the mall.”