Sailor Moon and related characters belongs to Naoko Takeuchi.
The Chibi scouts (except for Rini) Elysian scouts, Crystal scouts and related characters belong to Angel Raye.
MegaMan and all related characters are property of Keiji Inafune and Capcom.
Author's Note: I've read Angel Raye's fiction Runaway and felt that both Tiffany and the little girl Celine used to be deserved to have happy ending together. I'll be using fictions by Deafcat for the Elysian scout's attacks and family. Also for those who've played the battle network series of MegaMan games this story takes place after part three and will have some of the anime (NT Warrior) elements.
Warning: There will be one scene of child abuse so this is best rated PG- 13.
Digital Intervention
A MegaMan Battle Network crossover
By Richforce
It was stormy night in Crystal Tokyo, it wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last, but fate was going to change this night.
A thunderclap from a very close lightning bolt woke twelve-year old Celine from a light sleep, not that she was sleeping well lately.
Her Father had died protecting her mother; Gloria; during a large scale youma attack about a month ago. In Celine's eyes Gloria was responsible for her father's death. {Mom didn't even try} she thought to herself. {He went out there to save her and he died. I thought you're supposed to help those you loved; so why didn't she help Dad?}
Since that day her heart got a little colder. Her schoolmates noticed, her grandmother and the other original scouts noticed, and the other Elysian scouts were beginning to be aware. "You're changing and it scares Me." her best friend Brooke had told her.
{Well who needs the opinion of an overgrown crybaby?} Celine thought. Brooke was so much like her mother Annika. {I can't go back to sleep.} Celine then thought. {Maybe some warm milk will do it; that's what dad always did...}
She went to the kitchen in her grandmother's quarters; not wanting to wake up her mother; only to find a light coming from the doorway. She peeked in to see her grandmother talking to her great-aunts Amy and Raye while the three of them drank hot tea. "It's begun at last." said Mina.
"We all knew what she would become since she was born." said Raye.
"Celine was meant to do this. Looking at the records she's starting to fit the profile." said Amy.
"Still I don't want Gloria to go through this heartbreak." said Mina.
"No good parent can believe that their child is capable of doing anything truly wrong." said Raye. "If someone told me that Annika was going to abuse my grandchild I wouldn't believe them for a second."
"But this is different." said Mina. "We got information from the future that Celine would do those horrible things to her own daughter, and worse allow her stepson to sexually abuse his own stepsister! Seeing Celine grow up knowing what I know; it's made loving her difficult to say the least. And keeping it from Gloria; it turns my stomach."
"We can't disrupt the timeline." said Amy. "I want to stop any of this from happening; but I can't."
"So what do you think will happen to Celine?" said Mina.
"It won't be good." said Raye. "She'll definitely be stripped of her powers; probably spend the remainder of her life in prison."
"It's a good thing Gloria won't find out about this until it happens." said Mina.
"We all wanted to let our Daughters live their lives without letting future events shape them. It must have been hard for you in particular Mina." said Amy.
"It's been hard for me too." said Raye. "My granddaughter considers Celine her best friend, I hate to think that gentle little Brooke; and the rest of the children for that matter; will probably hate her with a passion after all this."
"We have to face it, Celine's a lost cause." said Mina.
###
Celine couldn't believe what she heard. {Am I really going to do all those bad things?" she thought to herself. "Am I going to die old and alone? No, I'll just run away and not have to worry about it! That'll make them all sorry!}
She ran to her room put on some clothes packed some more in her backpack and left a letter to her mother.
Dear Mom,
I know that everyone will hate me one day, so I'm running away forever. This is the only way I can be happy.
Don't try to find me.
Celine
P.S.
I still hate you for letting dad die!
She then ran through the dark palace blindly trying to find an exit purposely leaving her transformation pen behind. {It's because Mom was a scout that she was attacked and Dad died in the first place!} She lately felt that her mother and grandmother forced her to be a scout and she continued to be only because she had to. {Well, no more! Why should I have to be the second in command! I'll just leave this behind forever!}
###
A guard stood watch at the gates of time. It was rare for both Pluto and Cosmic Pluto to take a night off but they both were having dinner with Cosmic Pluto's family, so the guards were watching the gates in shifts. Another guard came by.
"Thought I'd start my shift early." said the second guard.
"Ok, I'm out of this creepy place!" said the first guard.
After the first guard left the youma took its true form; it had pale white skin and sharp dagger-like fingers. "Getting here when both of those scouts had the night off has been just too easy! Now where do they keep those time keys?" he opened a cabinet on the wall. "Right where a crafty youma can get one!" The plan was foolproof now; all he had to do now was go back in time to the big freeze and kill the dormant scouts there. That way none of the current scouts would ever be born and then his master will just have to wake up everyone else and take over! The youma stood before the gates. "Hear me gates! Take me to the time of the big freeze..."
"I want to go where no one here can easily find Me." said Celine as walked in without looking where she was. The gates opened pulling both Celine and the youma in. "What's going on?!" screamed Celine.
"This wasn't supposed to happen!" yelled the youma.
The time key slipped from the youma's hand flew near Celine. The two were then separated and Celine fell in some bushes. "Ouch! Where am I?" she looked underneath her to see the time key broken into two pieces. "Well, wherever I am I won't be going back the way I came." She then fell asleep exhausted by the ordeal.
###
"This isn't where I was supposed to be!" yelled the youma who was in a mountainous region in the middle of spring. "I have to get back that time key! The girl must have it; I felt that she had some negative feelings. I'll use those to find her." He then started to meditate in order to find his prey.
###
Celine was woken by singing birds she looked around to see that she was in some kind of park. "What happened?" then she recalled every thing that happened last night. "Oh yeah, guess I can stay here; wherever here is." She then heard some voices and decided to look. Nearby a girl with pink hair wearing a blue jacket and pink skirt was walking with a boy with spiky brown hair wearing an orange jacket, black shorts, rollerblades connected to his shoes and a blue bandana. On the bandana was an insignia that looked like a red circle divided diagonally by a black line that widened into a wedge at both ends surrounded by a gold ring. The two were talking to each other as they went down the street.
"Come on Lan!" said the girl. "We're going to be late for school!"
"I can't help it if I still oversleep once in awhile Mayl!" said Lan.
"And I'm glad you've improved; but if you have to oversleep, do it on weekends alright!"
"Fine, fine you're always worrying too much."
Celine decided to get some information from them. "Um, Hi there. I'm new here and this may sound weird but can you tell me where I am." She said.
Mayl and Lan looked at her strangely. "Well this is ACDC town, a suburb of Den city." said Lan.
"Are you sure you're alright?" said Mayl. "Looks like you've had a big fall."
"I'm fine, so where are you heading?" said Celine.
"ACDC Academy." said Lan. "And we're almost late!"
"You better come with us!" said Mayl.
Celine didn't feel like it but a girl on the streets on a school day would be noticeable. "Sure, lead the way!"
###
They arrived at the Academy and Celine was brought to a sixth grade class with Lan and Mayl. One unusual thing about the classroom was that the blackboard was a large screen and the desks seemed to double as computers. The teacher Miss Mari spoke up. "Class, we have a new student today! Would you like to introduce yourself?"
Celine didn't like the fact that she still had to go to school while she was running away. "My name is Celine Aino." she replied in a cold voice.
Miss Mari looked shocked. "Pardon me, but I have a little problem with your tone. So do you know what's going to be done about it?"
"You're going to deal with it?" Celine shot back.
Miss Mari wrote something down in a book. "Alright, you've earned yourself a demerit! First one's a warning, after that you have to take a note home for each demerit, get five and you get an afternoon detention! Now take your seat!"
Celine did so grumpily, but on the way she saw a calendar and couldn't believe the year on it. {20xx?} (Author's note: the two x's mean to use your imagination for the rest of the date.) {But the whole world's supposed to frozen right now! What's going on?"
Miss Mari spoke to the class. "First subject today is physical science. I have a teacher's conference right now so read chapter six in your textbooks on your PET's until I get back."
"But my cat is at home!" said Celine.
"Not pet! P-E-T or PErsonal Terminal; all sixth graders are required to have one."
"Well, um..."
"Her PET is at the repair shop!" said Lan. "I was going to help her pick it up this afternoon."
"Ok, you can share Lan's PET today, but I expect you to bring yours everyday from now on." said Miss Mari who then went out the door.
"Thanks." said Celine. "We don't have these where I come from."
"No problem, oh I forgot to introduce myself, my name's Lan Hikari."
"Hi Lan, so what does this thing do?" asked Celine.
Lan looked at he suspiciously but decided to help. "Well PET's evolved from multi-featured cell phones. With them you can read electronic textbooks or newspapers, send and read E-mail and use a digital currency called Zenny."
Celine took Lan's PET; it was device covered in a blue plastic case with one side being larger to act as a handle. "Thanks again."
"I'm glad I can help!" said a voice from the PET. Celine almost dropped it in fright!
"What was that?!"
The other kids in the class started laughing at her. "She has a PET, but doesn't have a Navi?"
Celine looked the PET's screen and saw a boy on wearing a blue jumpsuit and helmet with the same insignia on his chest as on Lan's bandanna. "Who or what are you?"
"I'm a Net Navigator; or Navi for short. My name's MegaMan!"
Mayl went to Celine. "A Navi is an artificial intelligence program; it's sort of like a digital butler who can get you information and data from the net."
"Just don't expect me to get you tea and crumpets!" said MegaMan with a laugh.
"O.K. what do I do with you?" Celine asked MegaMan.
"I'll bring up the textbook program and then you can jack me in into the school network so I can bring up any information you may want later."
"Jack In??"
"What are you, brain dead?" said Dex a big dark skinned boy with a Mohawk wearing a green shirt.
"Lay off Dex she's new!" yelled Mayl.
"Well she must come from a very poor town if she never even heard of this stuff!" said Yai a nine year old with blonde pigtails and a red dress. She was both smart and rich.
{Poor, huh?} thought Celine. {If she knew I ran away from a palace THAT would shut her up!}
"I'll show you how to do it." said Lan. He then took his PET back to his desk and took a wire from it. "Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!" Lan said as he connected the wire to a port on his desk.
###
MegaMan materialized in the computer cyber world and went to some other Navis. "So what do you think about her?" said Mayl's Navi Roll. She wore a pink jumpsuit with yellow metallic ribbons coming from the front of her helmet and a blonde ponytail. Her chest icon was shaped like a heart.
"I don't know." said MegaMan. "She seems cold but there also appears to be a sweet side to her."
"She's weird, Guts!" said Dex's Navi GutsMan. He was a robotic Navi with big fists; a shovel-like jaw and a green construction cross for a chest icon.
"Yes, we must watch her carefully." said Zero. He was also a robotic Navi who was covered in red and white body armor head to toe. His chest icon was a blue letter Z with a blue line across the middle.
"Still the best way to do that is to be polite and she'll come to us." said Yai's Navi Glide. He had a black jumpsuit with yellow gloves, boots, vest and helmet. He also had white wings coming from his back and his chest icon; the insignia for the company Yai's father owned; was a triangle separated into a red diamond and two smaller yellow triangles.
{Why do I have a feeling that Celine is going to make our lives a lot more interesting?} thought MegaMan.
###
It was Lunch and Celine was exhausted. Some of the things taught in class could only be understood by a computer nerd back home. But she did find out about how this world worked. About twenty years ago; in this world's time; the earth had started to form a "Net Society". Here just about every electronic device from supercomputers to coffee makers was connected to the internet. The net was programmed to create a "Cyber world" where Navis and other programs existed similarly as humans do in the real world. But these advances had increased two problems; computer viruses and net crime.
Celine's cold attitude in class had earned her the nickname "Ice Queen" with most of the other students. "I found out why the Ice Queen's PET is in the repair shop. It froze when she touched it!"
"Hey, Ice Queen, my fruit juice is too warm! Can you blow on it so I can have it as a popsicle?"
"Just leave me alone!" Celine snapped. "Maybe running away wasn't such a good idea after all."
She sat down not expecting a silver haired boy with a purple jacket to sit next to her. "Believe it or not I know how you feel. By the way my name's Sean."
"How could you understand how I feel?"
"I've been through a lot in my life. When I was six my parents died in a plane crash caused by a bug in the computer system. I inherited a fortune but it didn't bring me any happiness. I lived with my Aunt and Uncle who--- did things to me."
Celine started to think "That sounds like what grandma says I'm going to do my daughter."
"It seemed like the real world had forsaken me. I was bitter, angry and I took it out on the world by pretending to be adult and forming a syndicate called Gospel."
"You really did all that?"
"Yes, until Lan and MegaMan stopped me. The only reason I'm better now is because he's my friend."
"Your friend?"
"Yes, his dad got me my Navi, Zero; and together we try to take what I feel; my anger and my grief; and make it into something positive."
"And all I've been doing is feeling sorry for myself."
Lan and the others came. "Came to see how your feeling." said Lan.
"Lan." said Celine. "I want to try to make myself a better person like Sean did. Since I'm going to be here for a while can you guys be my friends?"
"No problem!" said Lan.
"We're all here for you!" said Mayl.
"This really is a great place to live!" said Dex.
"You'll have a great time here with us!" said Yai.
"It would be great to know you Celine." said Sean.
"Thank you!" Celine answered almost crying.
"After school how about I take you to my dad's lab to get you a Navi of your own?" asked Lan.
"I'd love it."
The lunch bell rang. "Better get to class." said Mayl. The group then left.
###
{I can't pick her up anymore!} the youma thought. {I just have idea for a general location!} he then clamed down. {I'll keep trying, and if I need to steal human energy to sustain myself I know where to look.} He continued to meditate not knowing that nearby someone was planning a different but nearly as sinister a purpose.
###
After school Lan took Celine to SciLab where his father, Dr. Hikari, worked. "This is incredible!" said Celine. "Do all these people work on Navis?"
"No." said Lan. "There are all kinds of research projects going on here everyday, but Dad's specialty is networks and programs he'll get you a PET and a customized Net Navi!" The two went to Dr. Hikari's lab. "Hey Dad, I brought you a visitor!" Lan called.
Dr. Hikari was kind looking man with brown hair and glasses. He had the same icon; which Celine learned was the Hikari family insignia; as MegaMan on his lab coat. "Lan called me ahead." said Dr. Hikari. "So you must be Celine."
"Yes, can you get me a Navi?"
"Yes, but first I need you to tell me the basic personality and physical configuration you want it to have."
"He means what you want it to behave and look like." said MegaMan.
Celine thought about it, she decided to give it mix of her personality and her father's. When it came to how it looked she remembered a story her Aunt Annika told her about a fairy named Aurora who hid the pearl of friendship in her and decided to use that as a starting point. When Dr. Hikari entered the information in his computer he then turned to Celine. "Now we have to talk about where you are from."
"Where I'm from?" asked Celine.
"Lan told me about you and almost no one can live on this planet and not know about PETs or Navis. So where are you from, really?"
"You're not going to believe me."
"I'm a scientist, I keep an open mind."
Celine sighed. "I come from the future, but not yours."
"What is this, multiple choice?" said Lan.
"Where I'm from in this time the whole world is covered in ice. It happened in an event called the Big Freeze."
"Another dimension." said Dr. Hikari. "Please continue."
"In my time a woman named Neo Queen Serenity thawed out everything and now rules the world in peace. My grandmother protects her so I protected the Queen's granddaughter. For you see I have another name, I'm also known as Sailor Chibi Elysian Venus."
"Sailor Chibi Elysian Venus?" said Lan. "That's a mouthful."
"So why are you here?" asked MegaMan.
"I ran away from home, but I didn't mean to come here!"
Dr. Hikari looked upset. "Running away from your problems won't solve them. Maybe you should go back home."
"Even if I wanted to I can't." she took out the two pieces of the time key. "This is what we use to travel through time, but it broke when I came here so it doesn't work anymore."
Dr. Hikari examined the pieces. "I'll get some of our guys to look at this, see if they can get it fixed."
"Doubtful, It works by magic."
"It's only magic until the scientists figure out what it really is."
"Suit yourself."
"I'm sure your family's worried about you." said Lan. "They'll probably come looking for you."
"That could take awhile."
A chime came from Dr. Hikari's computer. "Your Navi is completed and it's been installed on your PET." said Dr. Hikari.
Dr. Hikari took out a PET like Lan's; on the screen was a girl Navi with an Orange jumpsuit and helmet, her blue hair came down to her shoulders just above her clear butterfly-like wings. Her chest icon was the symbol of Venus. "Hi!" she said in a sweet voice. "My name is Passy; you must be my operator Celine!"
"Yes, I'm glad to meet you Passy!"
"I know we'll be great friends!" said Passy.
Dr. Hikari interrupted. "Remember, the two of you must work as a team or Passy will never work at her full potential."
"Ok, Dr. Hikari."
"Until your family comes or we get this key fixed, I think you should stay at our house."
"Really?" asked Lan.
"I don't think she has anywhere else to go. I'll call Mom and tell her to get the guest room ready. For now I think it would be best to keep Celine's true identity a secret between the three of us."
"Make that the four of us!" said MegaMan.
"Five!" chimed in Passy.
"Alright, five it is!" said Dr. Hikari. "I'll run this key up to analysis, you two better get home."
"Alright!" said Lan.
Celine felt a lot better about herself. {I haven't felt this good in a long time! It's great to have friends!} but then she thought about the ones she left at home.
###
Not far from where the youma was resting was the headquarters of the criminal organization, World Three. Inside it's leader; Lord Wily; was planning his revenge on Net Society. He was an old man with a big grey mustache who replaced his right eye with a cybernetic one. Once he was a respected scientist, but then SciLab; in order to win an international competition and in light of a serious accident that cost Wily his right eye; canceled his military robotics research in favor of Tadashi Hikari's network project. Wily was soon afterward driven insane. Tadashi's research paved the way for Net Society; so Wily worked to destroy it. He formed World Three recruiting the vilest criminals, their Navis and the most evil of Viruses; however Tadashi's grandson Lan and his Navi MegaMan had always foiled his plans.
"But this time is different." Wily said to himself. "This time I will get Lan Hikari and that little blue dweeb of a Navi out of the way! Then World Three will be free to Delete, Delete, DELETE!"
###
Celine got comfortable in the Hikari's guest room. "Are you ok?" asked Passy.
"Guess so. Just feeling a little home sick that's all."
"Why did you run away?"
"I was being selfish; my dad died about a month ago and I've only been thinking about how I felt. I even blamed my mom for it and I love her more than anyone."
"You're sweet; I guess I got that part of my personality from you." Just then a beeping sound came from the PET. "Celine, you've got mail!"
"From who?"
"Mayl, Dex, Yai, Sean and Mailnews!"
"Mailnews?"
"All students get put on their mailing list; do you want to read it first?"
"No, let's read the rest first." Celine read each of the messages; mostly welcomes and hello's then she started reading the Mailnews message. "Factory robots go berserk! Earlier today the robots in a car manufacturing plant went haywire injuring three workers. Eugene Chaud and ProtoMan of the Officials intervened and shut the robots down. Chaud reports that the malfunction was caused by a virus as part of another World Three attack." Celine then asked Passy. "Who are the Officials and what's World Three?"
"World Three's just a bunch of bullies! They use Viruses to cause havoc anywhere in either Real or Cyber worlds. A lot of Navis have been deleted because of them."
"I fought a lot of youmas who are like that. What about the Officials?"
"They police the net to stop criminals like World Three. We'd be in real trouble if it weren't for them."
Celine took a look at the PET's clock. "It's late; I'd better get to bed."
"Would you like me to use my alarm in the morning?"
"Thank you, good night."
###
That night Celine had a dream. She was in a dark room and couldn't seem to get anywhere no matter how much she ran. Just then a woman with the same color hair and eyes as Celine came; the very feel and look of her seemed cruel. "Who are you?" Celine asked with fear.
"You, of course." The woman answered. "Or rather I'm who you will become."
"No! I don't want to be like you!" shouted Celine.
"You don't have any choice! Now come on!" the older Celine grabbed the younger one by the wrist and drug her to a seven-year old redheaded girl with braids who was crying.
"Who is she?" the young Celine asked.
"My worthless fool of a daughter!"
"No! I would never think my daughter was worthless!"
"I never wanted her! I only had her because we would need another Venus scout!" the older Celine took out a whip and put it in the younger one's hand.
"What do you want me to do?"
The older Celine sighed. "I can't believe I was ever this naïve! Take this and use it on her!"
"No, Never!"
"You will because you are me!" the older Celine grasped the younger one's hand closed and began to whip the child who wailed in pain.
"I'm sorry!" said the younger Celine to the child. "I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!" she could only repeat her apology as the older one continued to abuse the little girl.
###
"Ahhh!" Celine screamed as she woke up.
"Ouch!" said Passy. "Any louder and I would have needed a new auditory algorithm!" Celine started sobbing. "Celine tell me what's wrong." said Passy.
"I don't want to go back!" Celine sobbed. "I don't want to be a mean person!"
"Celine you just had a bad dream that's all."
"I can't go back! I can't!"
Just then Mrs. Hikari, a woman with short brown hair came into the guest room. "I heard screaming!"
"Celine had a nightmare Mrs. Hikari."
Mrs. Hikari tried to comfort Celine. "It must have been terrifying! But don't worry you're safe here with friends. Now go back to sleep you have school in the morning." Mrs. Hikari left after it seemed Celine went back to sleep.
"Mom, I miss you so much!" cried Celine. "But I can never come back, please forgive me!" and then she cried herself back to sleep.
###
It was the next morning after the storm in the Crystal Palace; Gloria called for her children. "Breakfast is ready!"
"I'm not hungry." Her son Kazuto called back.
"It's waffles from the toaster!" Kazuto ran in quickly. Gloria was only a slightly better cook than her mother by being able to make anything prepackaged.
"Where is your sister?"
"I didn't see her today."
"Must still be moping in bed." Gloria was still sad about her husband passing away a month ago but had started dating again; Celine had accused her of "forgetting about Dad" but Gloria considered it just part of a phase of mourning, along with wishing to no longer be a scout. "Celine your waffles are getting cold! You can have that strawberry syrup you like!" Gloria went into Celine's room and found it empty. She then found the letter next to Celine's transformation pen and started to panic. "Mom!" she yelled as she opened the door to Mina's quarters.
Mina opened the door obviously still getting ready for her day. "Listen I'll..."
"She's gone!"
"Who's gone?"
"Celine, I went to get her up and she was gone! I found this!" Gloria gave her mother the letter.
"We'll call everyone; search the palace and the city she couldn't have gotten far!"
The day continued with an air of panic. The Original and Cosmic scouts searched, the children asked kids at school if they'd seen her, but there was no sign of Celine anywhere. Before noon Setsuna called every one back to the Palace. "I think I know where she is, but I think she's in danger."
She showed everyone a surveillance tape of the youma entering the gates and Celine stumbling in and the two being pulled to another time. "Where is the guard that was supposed to be on duty?" fumed Mina.
"Back home, the disguise the youma used was very convincing so he's just suspended for a week without pay and he'll never be on guard duty at the gates again."
"This is my fault." said Maggie. "All this happened because I wanted Mom to be a part of a family dinner!"
"If it's anyone's fault its mine." said Gloria. "I should have taken her feelings more seriously instead thinking it as some phase!"
"We won't get anywhere by playing the blame game!" said Artemis. "I'm just as worried for Celine, but the important thing is to find her and get her back safely!"
"You're right." said Mina. "But we also have to stop that youma, it's probably in the past causing damage, find him and we find Celine."
"There is a problem there." said Setsuna. "It's seems that they're both in the past of another dimension."
"Another dimension?" asked Annika.
"And before you ask, we don't know which one." said Maggie. "We'll just have to keep searching until we find them."
"And how long will that take?" asked Gloria.
"There are a lot dimensions so it will take a while, but we feel confident that we'll find her in no longer than three days."
"Three days?! She could be dead by then!"
"It may be sooner." said Setsuna. "Let us work and we'll call you if we find her."
###
Gloria was on the verge of suffering a nervous breakdown, just the thought of Celine with a youma without her transformation pen sent shivers down her spine. Mina walked in to Gloria's quarters as Gloria was handling the Transformation pen Celine left behind. "Feeling alright pumpkin?"
"I keep thinking that I did this. That it was something I did or didn't do; something I should or shouldn't have said. She was in so much pain after Chojiro died and I just started running off with other men as if he never existed!"
"You we're just being you. You're not the type to let bad feelings keep you down. Chojiro would have wanted you and the kids to move on with your lives. Now where is the woman who put Tabasco sauce in the punch at her own wedding reception?"
Gloria laughed when she remembered that prank. "Yes that was funny, wasn't it?"
"I pretended to be mad at you, but inside I was laughing to beat the band. I love hearing you laugh. I couldn't imagine my life without that sound."
"I love hearing Celine laugh; I haven't heard her laugh lately and I'm afraid I'll never hear laugh again."
"Don't think like that, we'll find her!"
"You're right we'll find her even if I have to search all of those dimensions one by one!"
Just then their communicators beeped. "We found her!" said Setsuna. "Head to the gates as soon as possible!" they were out the door before she finished talking.
###
"The gates can take you there, but only six people can cross both time and dimension at once, so we can only send five back." said Setsuna.
"I'm going to be one of them." said Maggie. "Venus and Cosmic Venus will probably be going so we need two volunteers."
"Well, I'm going too!" said Brooke. "Celine's my best friend, I don't know why she ran away, but whatever it is we'll get through it together!"
"Count me in!" said Chelsea. Rini and Helios were a little surprised.
"Why do you want to do this?" asked Rini.
"I remember a story you told me about the good shepherd. He was a man who had a hundred sheep, but if even one got lost he would leave the rest of the flock and go look for it. Celine's been falling through the cracks lately, I thought 'If she wants to be a jerk that's her problem.' After she ran off I realized that I wasn't such a good shepherd."
"Then go find her and bring her back to the safety of the flock."
"OK, we better get going." said Maggie. "Our timing was off so a week will have passed for Celine by now; we better find her fast!"
"I'll take care of Kazuto for you while you're gone." said Annika. "Just be sure you bring both Brooke and Celine back safely!"
"I will." said Gloria. "I just hope that we're not too late, who knows what kind off trouble she could be in?"
###
"Heat blaster, battlechip in! Download!!" shouted Celine as she inserted the chip into her PET. Battlechips contained special data that Navis used in the Cyber world to fight viruses or; like in this case; friendly net battles against another Navi. In battle Passy's mouth and nose were covered by an orange mask. When she received the chip data Passy's arm changed to a gun barrel and she shot fireballs toward GutsMan who blocked them by crossing his arms.
"Your going to have to do better than that!" said Dex. Lan and Yai watched the match nearby the machine in the arcade that was being used for the battle. Lan was concerned that Celine was fearful of something over the last week, but since she wouldn't tell what it was he and the gang thought that it was best to keep her preoccupied with activities both on and off the net. "Guts thump, battlechip in! Download!!" said Dex. GutsMan's already big fist got huge. "Take her out GutsMan!"
"Guts!!!" the big Navi yelled as he threw a punch. Passy dodged the blow and the ones that followed.
"Let's see you handle this!" said Dex. "Shockwave, battlechip in! Download!! GutsMan's hand returned to its original size and changed into a hammer. He then hit the ground causing a wave of force to move along the ground toward Passy. Passy flew up into the air to avoid the attack. "Man, I forgot she could do that!" said Dex.
"Celine I need another chip!" said Passy.
"Try this!" said Celine. "Zap ring, Battlechip in! Download!!" Passy's hand now changed to a pair of u shaped conduits.
"You got to be kidding! Zap ring is one of the weakest attack chips there is!" said Dex.
Passy fired a ring shaped bolt of electricity at GutsMan who seemed to be unable to move after that.
"Uh Dex, you do remember that Zap ring paralyzes whatever it hits don't you?" asked Lan.
Dex had shocked look on his face. "Your stunned silence is very reassuring." said Yai.
"Aqua sword, Battlechip in! Download!!" said Celine as Passy's arm then became a blade that shined blue like sunlit water.
"No! not Aqua sword!" yelled Dex.
Passy slashed GutsMan with the sword. After taking a large amount of damage GutsMan's image was replaced with the words "Logout" and a computerized voice said "GutsMan, Logging out. Team two are the winners."
"We did it!" said Passy after she "Jacked out."
Lan came up to Celine. "That Zap ring, Aqua sword combo was pretty good." He said.
"Thanks, Mr. Higsby suggested it." said Celine remembering the man who sold her the chips. "He was a little weird, but he was a real nice man."
"I think you just got lucky!" said Dex.
"Well lucky or not, loser still buys milkshakes." said Lan.
Dex checked his PET and then looked at Celine with a humble expression. "How about we go two out of three?"
"No way, I won fair and square!" said Celine.
"Come on, my allowance is only 1000 Zenny a week!" (I'm assuming that a Zenny is equal to a yen so this is roughly ten bucks.)
"A bet is a bet." said Yai.
"But tomorrow we were going to Bright Star amusement park. I need the money to break the record!"
"Record?" asked Celine.
"Eating the most junk food then ridding the Sonic Boom roller coaster without throwing up!"
"Everyone, ride on different car from him!" said Yai.
Just then Lan's PET made a ringing sound. "A phone call?" Lan asked.
"It's from Roll!" said MegaMan.
Roll's voice came from over the line. "Something has happened to Mayl! We're on west street, get the police!"
"Dex, Yai, call the cops!" said Lan. "I'm going to get Mayl!"
"Not without me your not!" said Celine. And the two raced off to west street.
###
Celine didn't expect what she saw next. The youma she met before she came to Den City was draining a police officer of his energy, Mayl laid nearby unconscious. "That should do it." the youma said as he threw the officer to the ground. "Now, to continue my search."
"If it's trouble you're looking for, you found it!" shouted Lan as used his rollerblades to rush forward. He then kicked the youma in the face.
"How dare you! Just who are you to attack me!" shouted the youma.
"I'm Lan Hikari, a duly deputized net agent of Den City! It's my job to protect the people and Navis of this city from net crime and lowlifes like you!"
"Well then 'net agent' allow me to introduce your energy into my body!" The youma grabbed Lan who screamed as his energy was drained.
"Lan!" yelled Celine. {This is entirely my fault! If I hadn't come here this wouldn't have happened!} she then thought.
The youma then looked to Celine. "Ah, there you are! I've been looking for you! You'll have to wait until I've finished with your friend here then we have something important to discuss."
The Youma dropped the unconscious Lan. MegaMan spoke from the PET. "Lan! You creep, if you were with me in Cyber world, I'd delete you in fast forward!"
"Oh shut up!" said the youma as he pushed the PET's off switch. MegaMan's image disappeared as the screen went black. "Now for some unfinished business."
Celine reached for her transformation pen but then remembered that she left it behind. {I shouldn't have just given up on being a scout, If I didn't I would have been able to do something!} she thought.
The Youma then grabbed Celine. "Alright give it to me!"
"What?"
"The time key, give it to me!"
"It's broken!"
"You lie!"
"No, see!" she pulled out the two pieces Dr. Hikari gave back to her after he was unable to repair it. "You can't use it, it's broken!"
"Well then guess what? So are you!"
"Celine!" yelled Passy as the youma pointed its knife-like fingers toward Celine.
"At least I won't grow up to be that cruel woman." Celine thought.
"VENUS LOVE ARROW!"
The youma screamed as the arrow pierced the arm he was going to thrust toward Celine.
"How dare you try to harm my daughter! I am Sailor Cosmic Venus and by the power of love I will punish you!"
"Mom!" Celine shouted as she saw her mother on a rooftop.
"You dare challenge me alone?!" yelled the youma.
"She's not alone!" said Sailor Venus as she came with the others.
"We stand for love and justice!" said Chelsea. "I'm Sailor Elysian Moon and on behalf of Elysian and the future Moon I will punish you!"
Chibi Elysian Mars stepped forward. "I'm Sailor Chibi Elysian Mars, and in the name of the future Mars I command you to give her back!"
"Fine then, take her!" yelled the youma as he threw Celine towards the scouts. "Now that you are here, I'll simply take your time key! But don't worry about being stuck here, after I go back to this time in your dimension, none of you will exist at all!"
"Well I'm not going to let you tamper with the timeline of this or any other dimension!" said Cosmic Pluto.
Celine looked toward Sailor Venus. "Grandma..."
Sailor Venus didn't have a pleasant look on her face. "I believe you forgot something." She then gave Celine her transformation pen. "You better help; we'll talk about your punishment later."
"VENUS ELYSIAN POWER MAKE UP!"
"Let's hit him with everything we got!" said Elysian Moon.
"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"
"VENUS GORGEOUS HEART BLAST!"
"PLUTO TIME HURRICANE!"
"MARS FIREBALLS CHARGE!"
"VENUS LOVELY SWEET KISS!"
"ELYSIAN DREAMS OF LOVE!"
The youma screamed as he was destroyed. Elysian Venus then ran toward Lan. "Elysian Venus, don't---"said Elysian Moon.
"It's O.K." said Elysian Venus. "He knows." She then turned back to Lan who was now waking up. "Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine." Lan said groggily. "Just tell the guy with the jackhammer to lay off." He then noticed the other scouts. "Who are they?"
"My mom, my friends, my aunt and my grandma."
"I don't see your grandmother."
"Over there." Celine said pointing to Sailor Venus.
"That's your grandmother!" said a very surprised Lan. "But she looks-- -"
"Young, I'll explain later. Right now we need to restart MegaMan and get Mayl home."
"Then we'll take you home." said Cosmic Venus.
Celine then had a horrified expression on her face. "No, Please! I can't go back, please don't make me!"
"What?" Cosmic Venus asked.
"I don't want everyone to hate me! I don't want to be a cruel person!" Elysian Venus then started sobbing.
"Honey, what are you talking about?"
"I think we better head to my house." said Lan. "We can sort this out there."
###
Meanwhile back at World Three headquarters; Lord Wily examined the footage from his robotic spy cam. "Fascinating, I have never seen such power used in the Real world. "He said as he watched the youma get vaporized. "Still they shouldn't be able to interfere with my plan. Tomorrow, I'll take away what those Net society fools hold most dear." He then turned to a black monitor. "Isn't that right my creation?"
Red eyes glowed from the monitor and a voice boomed. "DELETE!!!"
"Yes, not even MegaMan can stop me now! Muwahahahahahaha!"
###
Back at Lan's house, Sailor Venus and the Cosmic scouts talked with Celine alone while Lan and the others went to his room. Lan's parents were having a romantic night out so it seemed unlikely that they would be back soon. "Ok, Celine." said Gloria. "I read in your letter that you think that everyone will hate you. The question I have is why?"
"I can't tell." said Celine.
"Why not?"
"You would hate me."
"You're my baby, I would never hate you."
"You would after what I'm going to do."
"Going to do? Celine you're not making any sense."
Celine took a deep breath. "The night I ran away, I heard Grandma talking with Great-aunt Amy and Great-aunt Raye. They were talking about something they found out about me in future."
"The future?!" Mina and Maggie had shocked looks on their faces.
Celine broke out in tears. "I'm going to be so horrible! I'm going to hurt my own daughter! I'm going to say very bad things about her! I'm going to let a stepson..."she couldn't continue anymore and just cried.
"Celine, I have to talk with your grandma and aunt Maggie can you go upstairs to Lan's room?"
Celine ran up still crying. Gloria turned to Mina.
"I know that she shouldn't have listened in to your conversation, but whoever it was that came back and told you that garbage was obviously lying!"
"Tiffany wouldn't lie about something like this." said Mina.
"Tiffany?" Gloria said remembering the abused little girl who came when she was a child. "Tiffany's my granddaughter?!"
"Yes."
"Then the mother who did those things to her is going to be..."
"Celine."
"How long? How long did you know it was her?"
"As you now know Celine came back to us before, so when Tiffany came back again and told us about her mother it was pretty obvious."
Gloria cried tears of rage. "And you didn't do anything to help Celine?!"
"You don't know how desperately I wanted to, but we couldn't interfere with the timeline."
"I don't care! As far as my daughter is concerned the timeline can go straight to..."
"Um, pardon me for interrupting this tender family moment." said MegaMan from the PET Lan left on the living room table.
"You're spying on us!?" said Mina.
"It was Lan's idea; But that's not the point! Celine already knows about what's going to happen and the very concept terrifies her! The way I see it Celine's not going to go through with it intentionally, so that timeline you knew was going to happen is now pretty much control-alt- deleted. What matters right now is this; what are we going to do about it?"
Maggie spoke up. "Mother kept this from me as well, but it's pretty obvious that Celine was never meant to find out what was going to happen. Something happened to the timeline; this could be just the first part of an even bigger problem. I have to go back and talk with mother and the queen about this, we'll probably have to set up a scout meeting. I'll come back when we determine a course of action. In the meantime there is a very scared little girl who needs her mother and grandmother." She held up her time key and vanished.
"Well mother?" asked Gloria.
"Maybe the best way to help Tiffany now is to help Celine."
###
Upstairs Celine started to calm down. She told her friends everything. "I just can't believe that my best friend would do anything that bad." said Brooke.
"I feel like I really failed as a leader." said Chelsea.
"No, it's all going to be my fault!" said Celine. "I'm going to do those things; and probably more; so whatever is going to happen to me as punishment; we probably should get it over with now so I don't hurt anyone!"
"You shouldn't be punished for something you didn't do!" said Lan.
"Yes." said Passy. "The future isn't set in stone; you can keep it from happening!"
"But I don't think I can!" said Celine. "I already feel it happening inside me, I've let it happen because it's the only way I think I can remember dad!"
"You don't have to feel bad or take it out on anybody to remember someone." said Lan. "I've lost someone once and I remembered him even though he was gone."
"Who, How?"
Lan was quiet for a short time. "I'll tell you, but what I'm about to say must never leave this room, understand?"
Everyone nodded.
"Then listen carefully. About twelve years ago my dad was working on a new kind of Navi, one that could befriend its operator. But he had a hard time getting it right. Then he had an inspiration. If you had some connection with your Navi, it would respond to your emotions and then create its own. He had a theory that a Navi whose program had the same coding as its operator's DNA would have the same basic values and emotions. But making a DNA based program was tough; he could only complete about 95% of the program. His research came to a sudden halt. It was around then Mom and Dad had a child, a baby boy they named Hub. But their happiness didn't last long; Hub contracted a heart disease and soon became too weak to live. My Dad tried to find a way to keep his memory alive."
"I still don't understand." said Celine.
"Hub was my twin brother." said Lan. "We were born from the same egg; our DNA was identical. Dad used Hub's DNA to make a Navi for me and the results proved that his theory was right. The Navi he made was MegaMan!"
"So your Navi is Hub reborn?" said Chelsea.
"Yes, we were very close until one day; my life was in serious danger. MegaMan scarified himself so I could live."
"Just like my dad did for my mom." said Celine. "But MegaMan is still with you."
"We were able to recover his data about four months later. But only one thing allowed me to make it through those four months, and that was something Hub told me. He said 'I will always be in your heart, so we'll always be together!' So you have to remember that your dad is in your heart too Celine. Remember him, fortify yourself with love and trust against the anger and jealously that would drive you to hurt others, and you wont have to be afraid of that future."
"Maybe your right Lan." said Celine. "I'll try to remember him."
"And we'll help you!" said Brooke.
"All of us!" said Chelsea.
Then Gloria came in. "Celine, your grandma and I would like to talk about what you heard her say."
"O.K." said Celine. "Mom?"
"Yes, honey?"
"If I have to go back can I take Passy with me?"
"We'll have to talk with Aunt Maggie and Great-Aunt Setsuna, but I personally don't see why not."
Mina then asked Celine. "You wouldn't mind if your mother and I sleep with you tonight?"
"I was going to ask you to do that." said Celine.
"We'll be staying here until your Aunt Maggie gets back." said Gloria. "So is there anything you want to do tomorrow?"
"We were all going to go to an amusement park."
"Sounds like fun. Mind if we tag along?"
"No."
"Alright then we all better get some sleep then good night." Celine slept better that night than she had in a long time.
###
"A disruption?" asked Serenity.
"Yes, a disruption in the timeline." said Setsuna. "That's the cause of all this."
"So what do we do to fix it?" asked Amy.
"We can't." said Setsuna. "These disruptions are very rare and usually cause very minor changes, but it's like trying to stop an earthquake; it can't be done."
"So now what we do now?" asked Raye.
"This could lead to a paradox in time and that could cause real damage. We have to avoid it."
"We can't do it by asking Celine to grow up into that person it would be cruel." said Michiru.
"We may have no other choice." said Haruka.
"Let's not think that way!" said Lita. "We now have a real opportunity to change things for the better, I say let's take it!"
"What do you think Setsuna?" asked Serenity.
"I can't see what the best course of action right now is. Celine's decisions will have an impact on the dimension she's in right now, but I can't tell what will happen there. My advice is this. Wait until she comes back then go on forward as if we don't know anything about the future, but now that issues have now been raised by this little adventure they will have to be dealt with.
"Ariel and I can schedule a few sessions with her. Help her to get a handle on her father's passing and anything that may come up later." said Amy.
"I'll help however I can." said Hotaru.
"Alright, we'll tell Maggie first thing in the morning. But right now let's get some sleep it's been a long and stressful day." said Serenity. {First though I'm going to enjoy some chocolates while having a nice hot bubble bath.}
###
The next day Lan brought everyone to Bright Star park; all his friends were waiting for him. "So are these the friends you made while you were here?" Gloria asked.
"Yes, Mom. I'll introduce you. First this is Mayl."
"A pleasure to meet you Mrs. Aino." said Mayl as she reached for Gloria's hand.
Dex then cut in. "Hi! I'm Dex, Celine probably told you about my amazing net battle skills!" he took Gloria's hand and got zapped by the joy buzzer she held. "Yeouch!"
Celine laughed hard. "Serves you right Dex!"
"That worked better then I thought." mused Gloria. She wanted to make Celine laugh but Dex's rudeness had made the prank better. Mina also smiled.
"I'm Yai. I'm in the same class as Celine because I'm smart enough to skip a grade."
"I had a friend in my class who was that smart."
Sean then stepped forward. "Nice to meet you."
"You must be Sean." said Brooke. "Celine said you are little shy, like me."
"Come on!" said Dex. "We're wasting time! First stop, corndogs!"
For the next few hours everyone enjoyed the rides, games, and food. Then Dex was ready to make his attempt to break the record. "Wish me luck!" Dex said then we went on the coaster.
"Sean and I are going too." said Mayl and the two hopped in the car behind Dex.
"Wait for me!" said Yai. She was stopped by the ride operator.
"I'm sorry but you are too short for this ride."
"Too short?! Fine, I'll ride the carousel but I'm going to complain to the manager about this!"
"I'll go on the carousel too." said Brooke. "I never liked thrill rides."
"I'll tag along!" said Chelsea.
"We'll just watch." said Mina.
The coaster did steep dives and loop the loops. As the ride came to end Dex seemed to have broke the record the coaster went past the unloading point. "Huh, what the?!" said Sean. The coaster then started to pick up speed.
"What's going on?!" said Mayl.
"It didn't stop?" said Mina.
"Neither did the Carousel." said Gloria. "It's going faster too."
An announcement came from the loudspeakers throughout the park. "Attention! Due to a computer malfunction the park is now closed. Please head to the nearest exit in an orderly fashion and make way for Officials and rescue workers."
"Rescue workers?!" said Gloria. "What's going on?!"
"They also mentioned the Officials." said Celine. "That means..."
Lan finished her sentence. "A virus! No doubt World Three's handy work!!"
"World Three?" asked Mina.
"A bunch of criminal goons!" said Celine.
"If we don't do something innocent people could get seriously hurt!" said Passy.
Just then Wily's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Attention Net society cretins! The World Three will now take away your precious children! This is part of our ongoing war to delete the society you live in! Muwahahahahahaha! "
"Wily! That creep never gives up!" said Lan.
"Lan, jack me into the park computer system and we can delete the virus causing this!" said MegaMan.
"Right, we should be able to jack in from the manger's office! My net agent status should get us in there!"
"I'm coming too!" said Celine.
"Celine!" said Gloria. "This could be dangerous!"
"Mom, I have to do this my friends are in danger! And besides lately I've hated the fact I was a scout, I forgot its all about helping people, so I should help in any way I can!"
"Alright." said Mina. "But we're tagging along!"
They went to the mangers office and found a place to jack in. "Ready?" asked Lan.
"Yes! I've never had to face a virus before, but anything is better than doing nothing!" she took a wire from her PET and Lan did the same.
"Jack in!! Passy, execute!"
"Jack in!! MegaMan, execute!"
###
Passy and MegaMan materialized in the park's Cyber world. The evil viruses were damaging everything in the system. "Whoa!" said MegaMan. "It's a regular virus convention!"
"Split up!" said Lan. "Take them all out!"
MegaMan went up to some Curse shield viruses. They were tall and thin and could absorb almost any attack. They were gobbling up parts of the Cyber world into their huge mouths. "Sorry, but the buffet's closed! Megabuster!!" MegaMan fired his default weapon at the gapping mouths and the viruses broke into pieces.
"Celine, I'll take care of these Boomerang viruses." said Passy.
"Be careful!"
"Razor fairy wing!!" she flew past the clip shaped viruses that held their weapons in their mouths. Her wings cut them into pieces.
"Passy, lookout, Magnet bombers!" said MegaMan. The grasshopper shaped viruses launched bombs that almost hit Passy.
"MegaMan, please stop them!" said Celine.
Lan took out a battlechip. "Mini boomer, Battlechip in! Download!!"
A pair of bombs appeared in MegaMan's hands. "Here catch!" The viruses were deleted in the explosion.
Wily cackled from his unseen position. "Well done Lan! But then again I shouldn't have expected anything less from you."
"It's over Wily!" said Lan.
"Yeah, we deleted all of your viruses!" said MegaMan.
"Oh, not all of them!" laughed Wily.
"Something's wrong!" said Gloria. The rides aren't slowing down!"
"The door's locked too!" said Mina.
"I've prepared something special, just in case you showed up!" said Wily. In the Cyber world a giant human-shaped virus with blue battle armor and a horned helmet appeared. Its face was just a void except for two glowing blood red eyes. "I'd like to introduce you to my magna virus, Gamma!"
"DELETE!!!" Gamma boomed.
"Haven't you heard the old saying 'size isn't everything'?!" said Passy.
"Yes, but perhaps you've heard of another old saying 'the bigger they are, the harder they pound you into the ground'!" said Wily. Gamma roared as he stamped his foot almost crushing the two. "You can't simply delete this virus!" said Wily.
"Then we'll just try to save as many people as we can!" said Mina. She and Gloria got ready to transform when Wily stopped them.
"I wouldn't try to brake out if I were you. The moment you do, Gamma will active a bomb underneath the park and blow you all sky high!"
"Wily, you coward!" said Gloria.
"MegaMan will delete your 'magna virus' and stop your plans!" said Lan.
"I'd like to see him and that weak little fairy try!" said Wily.
Celine got mad. "Weak?! Passy is not weak; she has the power of love on her side, so you can't win! Ready, Passy?"
"Let's do it!" said Passy.
"Battle routine, set!" said Lan and Celine.
"Execute!!" said Passy and MegaMan as facemasks appeared over their mouths and noses. MegaMan's was blue.
Gamma grabbed Passy. "I'll get her loose!" said MegaMan.
Lan got out two chips. "Air shoes, battlechip in! Download!!" MegaMan's feet changed to have jet boosters on the bottom. "Cyber sword, battlechip in! Download!!" MegaMan's hand changed into a sword.
"Put her down King Kong!" yelled MegaMan as he jumped and cut off Gamma's hand but as soon as Passy was freed Gamma's hand had regenerated.
"Size isn't the only thing to Gamma!" said Wily. "Now witness his awesome power! Gamma, Omega blaster!"
"Omega?" asked Celine.
"The last letter of the Greek alphabet." said Wily. "And like with the alphabet nothing comes after it! When it hits a surface of the Cyber world it will cause the host computer to explode! So dodge it or not prepare yourselves for DELETION!" Gamma's horns sent energy to his fists and they started to glow.
"Isn't there something we can do?" asked Mina.
"Not from where I stand." said Lan.
Passy then had a determined look in her eyes. "Celine, I need you to give me access to all the programs on your PET!"
"What for?!" asked Celine.
"Just do it! I need the energy, this maybe our only chance." said Passy.
"OK."
Passy's body started to glow with a golden light. "Celine, I know that you will grow up to be a wonderful mother. My only regret is that I'll never be able to see you and your daughter happy together."
"Passy what are you talking about?"
"Actually I have one other regret. I was never able to meet you face to face..."said Passy as she closed her eyes.
Gamma slammed his fists together and Passy absorbed the full impact of the beam that came from them. Passy broke apart and vanished. Celine's PET then displayed a message coldly in red letters. "Navi deleted."
"Passy!!!!" Celine broke down. "She gave her life for me and there was nothing I could do!" Mina and Gloria tried to comfort her.
"Celine..."said Mina.
"Celine, remember what you told me about dad being in your heart? The same is true of Passy now. They would want you to grow up and have a future. Don't let them down now. I felt the same way when your father died. If I could have been able to do anything maybe he would still be alive, but he wouldn't have wanted me or you to mourn forever and neither would Passy."
Lan and MegaMan were filled with a righteous fury. "That's it, this virus is toast!" said Lan. "Brunt toast!"
"Gamma!" said MegaMan. "I can never forgive you for this!"
"Let's do it, MegaMan!"
"Right!"
"FULL SYNCHRO!!" yelled Lan and MegaMan. Lan and Hub's hearts and minds became as one, increasing MegaMan's power immensely. Gamma attacked but MegaMan's response time was too fast avoiding every shot and blow.
"That other Navi must have drained Gamma's power!" said Wily. "With MegaMan at Full Synchro, Gamma doesn't stand a chance!"
MegaMan charged his Megabuster to full power and fired. "Full Synchro Megabuster!" the two said. Gamma roared for a brief moment then froze. Light seemed to be escaping from him as he was covered in explosions. Crrrraccccckbooooooooom! After a large explosion and a blinding light Gamma was deleted.
"Lan." said MegaMan. "Jack me out; I don't want to spend another second here."
"Right."
MegaMan's form was replaced by the words "Logout." And a computerized voice said. "MegaMan, Logging out."
###
Back at World Three headquarters Wily was furious. "The Hikari's, they stopped me again!" he pounded fist on his desk. "Sooner or later one way or another they'll pay! I swear it!"
###
After the viruses were deleted Bright Star Park returned to normal. Chelsea sprained her ankle but other than that no injuries were reported, except to Dex's pride; he threw up after the coaster went haywire dashing his chance at the record. Everyone went home to recover from the day's events. Maggie came back that afternoon so the scouts were going back their home. Celine wanted to say one last goodbye at the park Celine first arrived as the sun was setting.
"I really don't want to leave you behind Lan." said Celine. "I wish you would come with me."
"Hey, I probably wouldn't like it there much anyway." said Lan. "Are you sure that you didn't want to say goodbye to the rest of the gang?"
"I would have to tell them about where I'm really from and I want them to remember me as a regular girl."
"Alright then, I'll send them an Email telling them that you went back to your old town that should be true enough." Lan then turned to Brooke and Chelsea. "Be sure to look after her you two!"
"Right!" said Brooke. "And MegaMan you look after Lan."
"Don't worry." said MegaMan. "I'll keep him out of trouble."
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Lan.
"Well you're not the sharpest knife in the drawer."
"Why I..."
Gloria then stepped forward. "Lan, I want to thank you. I think this experience helped Celine."
"It was nothing."
"No, it was something. In a way you and MegaMan intervened for her future on her behalf and for that I'm eternally grateful."
"Well in that case you're welcome."
"It's just about time to go!" said Maggie.
Celine came up to Lan. "I want you to have these."
"Your Battlechips?!" asked Lan.
"I don't need them anymore and you're going to need all the help you can get to stop World Three once and for all! Besides you can think of me whenever you use them!"
"Ok." said Lan. "Oh, I almost forgot! You should have this!"
"My PET?"
"Passy would have wanted it this way. Now you have a memento of our time together!"
"Thank you! I'll never forget any of you!"
"Right back at ya!" said Lan as he pumped his fist.
Then scouts gathered and then vanished. "Gone." said MegaMan. "We'll probably never see her again."
"At least she's back where she belongs."
"I think it's about time we got back to where we belong. Mom's making cheesecake for dessert!"
"All right, let's go!"
###
A warm welcome awaited Celine when she got back to the Crystal Palace. The only ones who didn't go to see her first were Rini and Helios seeing Chelsea's injury. "What happened!?" said a worried Rini.
"The good shepherd went to find one of her lost sheep and ran into a wolf."
"But she got the sheep back to the safety of the flock." said Helios.
"Celine!" shouted Kazuto.
"Kazuto, I'm so glad to see you!" said Celine.
"I missed you so much!"
"Don't worry; I'm staying for a long time."
Nearby Mina talked to Gloria. "Do you think this has changed anything?"
"Right now, I don't care. I'm just glad my baby's back. We'll cross those bridges when we come to them."
They looked as the Elysian scouts welcomed their team member back with open arms.
###
Several years later.
Mina walked to Celine's quarters. Tiffany became a crystal scout recently and she wanted to check up on how she was doing. She opened the door and found Celine talking to Tiffany. "What do we say?" Celine asked. Mina softly gasped.
Tiffany smiled and said. "I'm your precious jewel who you treasure more than life itself!"
"And?"
"I'm a wonderful person who will grow up to do great things!"
Tiffany laughed as her mother picked her up and spun her around. "And don't you ever, ever, EVER forget it!"
Mina breathed a sigh of relief. "Mama can I go play with Rayna?" Tiffany asked after Celine put her down.
"O.K., but remember your great grandma is coming later."
"Its alright." said Mina as she came in. "She can go play for a little while."
"Yippee!" said Tiffany as she ran out the door.
Mina turned to Celine. "For a moment there I thought she was going to say something else."
"What are you talking about?"
"You took something ugly and turned it into something very beautiful. I'm glad that she loves her mother and has her birth father."
Celine caught her drift. "Don't worry, that woman isn't invited in my home. But..."
"What's wrong?"
"Minako. Rose told me that if things went differently she would be Elysian Venus instead of me right now. I can't help but feel that I cheated her and she'll one day die because of it."
"I talked with her the other day and told her about it. She said that if she had the choice between living one lifetime knowing you as you are now and forever remembering you as a witch, she would rather have the big sister that loved her than eternal life."
Celine went to a shelf that had her old PET. For the most part it sat there collecting dust. "When Tiffany went back great-aunt Setsuna told me to write a letter for Tiffany to give to you to warn you about what was going to happen, so we could avoid the paradox."
"I remember that letter now. We used it to let you run away again."
"I want to send another one."
"I don't think she'll agree to that."
"Not that kind of letter and to a different past."
###
Two months after the amusement park incident.
"Done." said Lan. "I can't believe I had 'Comparison and contrast of the American Civil War and Meji Revolution' as an essay topic!"
"At least got to work on it right away." said MegaMan. The PET chimed. "Lan, you got mail! It's from Celine!"
"Celine! Bring it up then!"
"It's a video message; I'll have to be connected your PC to display it."
"Ok." Lan put his PET in the base recharger and opened the message. An adult Celine appeared on the PC and started talking.
"Hi Lan, I know this must be usual for you. Especially since while it has only been two months for you while a considerably longer amount of time passed for me. I just want to tell you how much You, MegaMan and Passy helped me. My mom remarried and had a baby girl two years after I came back. I was jealous at first but then after I remembered what you told me it became easy for me to love her and to stand up for her when I made a mistake when I eighteen. A close friend, Kokei asked me to marry him and when I didn't feel the same sort of love for him I let him down easy before the wedding. He's doing fine and Taylor; his twin sister; and I are still good friends to this day. I married to a husband I remained faithful to and had two sons as well as my little girl Tiffany. Although we didn't plan her, the day she was born was one of the happiest in my life, and the day she became a scout herself was my proudest. All of these events could have ended in pain and suffering if all of you hadn't reminded me of what was really important. You saved my life, if not my soul and I can never thank you enough for it. I enclosed a picture file of me and Tiffany together. I wanted Passy to see it, but I think she'll be happy if you saw it for her. Aunt Maggie arranged for a place in your Cyber world for you to send a reply and I'm expecting it soon so I can show everybody what my two heroes have been up to. I guess this it, goodbye!"
Lan was quite for a moment as looked at the picture and he wrote his reply. "I'm glad that she landed on her feet."
"Yeah, me too." said MegaMan. "Well, what are going to tell everybody?"
"That she's doing real fine now, but we can give dad the whole story."
"Then let's send that reply."
"Alright!" said Lan as he got his PET ready. "Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!"
###
End Program.
Tell me what you think! Review!
The Chibi scouts (except for Rini) Elysian scouts, Crystal scouts and related characters belong to Angel Raye.
MegaMan and all related characters are property of Keiji Inafune and Capcom.
Author's Note: I've read Angel Raye's fiction Runaway and felt that both Tiffany and the little girl Celine used to be deserved to have happy ending together. I'll be using fictions by Deafcat for the Elysian scout's attacks and family. Also for those who've played the battle network series of MegaMan games this story takes place after part three and will have some of the anime (NT Warrior) elements.
Warning: There will be one scene of child abuse so this is best rated PG- 13.
Digital Intervention
A MegaMan Battle Network crossover
By Richforce
It was stormy night in Crystal Tokyo, it wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last, but fate was going to change this night.
A thunderclap from a very close lightning bolt woke twelve-year old Celine from a light sleep, not that she was sleeping well lately.
Her Father had died protecting her mother; Gloria; during a large scale youma attack about a month ago. In Celine's eyes Gloria was responsible for her father's death. {Mom didn't even try} she thought to herself. {He went out there to save her and he died. I thought you're supposed to help those you loved; so why didn't she help Dad?}
Since that day her heart got a little colder. Her schoolmates noticed, her grandmother and the other original scouts noticed, and the other Elysian scouts were beginning to be aware. "You're changing and it scares Me." her best friend Brooke had told her.
{Well who needs the opinion of an overgrown crybaby?} Celine thought. Brooke was so much like her mother Annika. {I can't go back to sleep.} Celine then thought. {Maybe some warm milk will do it; that's what dad always did...}
She went to the kitchen in her grandmother's quarters; not wanting to wake up her mother; only to find a light coming from the doorway. She peeked in to see her grandmother talking to her great-aunts Amy and Raye while the three of them drank hot tea. "It's begun at last." said Mina.
"We all knew what she would become since she was born." said Raye.
"Celine was meant to do this. Looking at the records she's starting to fit the profile." said Amy.
"Still I don't want Gloria to go through this heartbreak." said Mina.
"No good parent can believe that their child is capable of doing anything truly wrong." said Raye. "If someone told me that Annika was going to abuse my grandchild I wouldn't believe them for a second."
"But this is different." said Mina. "We got information from the future that Celine would do those horrible things to her own daughter, and worse allow her stepson to sexually abuse his own stepsister! Seeing Celine grow up knowing what I know; it's made loving her difficult to say the least. And keeping it from Gloria; it turns my stomach."
"We can't disrupt the timeline." said Amy. "I want to stop any of this from happening; but I can't."
"So what do you think will happen to Celine?" said Mina.
"It won't be good." said Raye. "She'll definitely be stripped of her powers; probably spend the remainder of her life in prison."
"It's a good thing Gloria won't find out about this until it happens." said Mina.
"We all wanted to let our Daughters live their lives without letting future events shape them. It must have been hard for you in particular Mina." said Amy.
"It's been hard for me too." said Raye. "My granddaughter considers Celine her best friend, I hate to think that gentle little Brooke; and the rest of the children for that matter; will probably hate her with a passion after all this."
"We have to face it, Celine's a lost cause." said Mina.
###
Celine couldn't believe what she heard. {Am I really going to do all those bad things?" she thought to herself. "Am I going to die old and alone? No, I'll just run away and not have to worry about it! That'll make them all sorry!}
She ran to her room put on some clothes packed some more in her backpack and left a letter to her mother.
Dear Mom,
I know that everyone will hate me one day, so I'm running away forever. This is the only way I can be happy.
Don't try to find me.
Celine
P.S.
I still hate you for letting dad die!
She then ran through the dark palace blindly trying to find an exit purposely leaving her transformation pen behind. {It's because Mom was a scout that she was attacked and Dad died in the first place!} She lately felt that her mother and grandmother forced her to be a scout and she continued to be only because she had to. {Well, no more! Why should I have to be the second in command! I'll just leave this behind forever!}
###
A guard stood watch at the gates of time. It was rare for both Pluto and Cosmic Pluto to take a night off but they both were having dinner with Cosmic Pluto's family, so the guards were watching the gates in shifts. Another guard came by.
"Thought I'd start my shift early." said the second guard.
"Ok, I'm out of this creepy place!" said the first guard.
After the first guard left the youma took its true form; it had pale white skin and sharp dagger-like fingers. "Getting here when both of those scouts had the night off has been just too easy! Now where do they keep those time keys?" he opened a cabinet on the wall. "Right where a crafty youma can get one!" The plan was foolproof now; all he had to do now was go back in time to the big freeze and kill the dormant scouts there. That way none of the current scouts would ever be born and then his master will just have to wake up everyone else and take over! The youma stood before the gates. "Hear me gates! Take me to the time of the big freeze..."
"I want to go where no one here can easily find Me." said Celine as walked in without looking where she was. The gates opened pulling both Celine and the youma in. "What's going on?!" screamed Celine.
"This wasn't supposed to happen!" yelled the youma.
The time key slipped from the youma's hand flew near Celine. The two were then separated and Celine fell in some bushes. "Ouch! Where am I?" she looked underneath her to see the time key broken into two pieces. "Well, wherever I am I won't be going back the way I came." She then fell asleep exhausted by the ordeal.
###
"This isn't where I was supposed to be!" yelled the youma who was in a mountainous region in the middle of spring. "I have to get back that time key! The girl must have it; I felt that she had some negative feelings. I'll use those to find her." He then started to meditate in order to find his prey.
###
Celine was woken by singing birds she looked around to see that she was in some kind of park. "What happened?" then she recalled every thing that happened last night. "Oh yeah, guess I can stay here; wherever here is." She then heard some voices and decided to look. Nearby a girl with pink hair wearing a blue jacket and pink skirt was walking with a boy with spiky brown hair wearing an orange jacket, black shorts, rollerblades connected to his shoes and a blue bandana. On the bandana was an insignia that looked like a red circle divided diagonally by a black line that widened into a wedge at both ends surrounded by a gold ring. The two were talking to each other as they went down the street.
"Come on Lan!" said the girl. "We're going to be late for school!"
"I can't help it if I still oversleep once in awhile Mayl!" said Lan.
"And I'm glad you've improved; but if you have to oversleep, do it on weekends alright!"
"Fine, fine you're always worrying too much."
Celine decided to get some information from them. "Um, Hi there. I'm new here and this may sound weird but can you tell me where I am." She said.
Mayl and Lan looked at her strangely. "Well this is ACDC town, a suburb of Den city." said Lan.
"Are you sure you're alright?" said Mayl. "Looks like you've had a big fall."
"I'm fine, so where are you heading?" said Celine.
"ACDC Academy." said Lan. "And we're almost late!"
"You better come with us!" said Mayl.
Celine didn't feel like it but a girl on the streets on a school day would be noticeable. "Sure, lead the way!"
###
They arrived at the Academy and Celine was brought to a sixth grade class with Lan and Mayl. One unusual thing about the classroom was that the blackboard was a large screen and the desks seemed to double as computers. The teacher Miss Mari spoke up. "Class, we have a new student today! Would you like to introduce yourself?"
Celine didn't like the fact that she still had to go to school while she was running away. "My name is Celine Aino." she replied in a cold voice.
Miss Mari looked shocked. "Pardon me, but I have a little problem with your tone. So do you know what's going to be done about it?"
"You're going to deal with it?" Celine shot back.
Miss Mari wrote something down in a book. "Alright, you've earned yourself a demerit! First one's a warning, after that you have to take a note home for each demerit, get five and you get an afternoon detention! Now take your seat!"
Celine did so grumpily, but on the way she saw a calendar and couldn't believe the year on it. {20xx?} (Author's note: the two x's mean to use your imagination for the rest of the date.) {But the whole world's supposed to frozen right now! What's going on?"
Miss Mari spoke to the class. "First subject today is physical science. I have a teacher's conference right now so read chapter six in your textbooks on your PET's until I get back."
"But my cat is at home!" said Celine.
"Not pet! P-E-T or PErsonal Terminal; all sixth graders are required to have one."
"Well, um..."
"Her PET is at the repair shop!" said Lan. "I was going to help her pick it up this afternoon."
"Ok, you can share Lan's PET today, but I expect you to bring yours everyday from now on." said Miss Mari who then went out the door.
"Thanks." said Celine. "We don't have these where I come from."
"No problem, oh I forgot to introduce myself, my name's Lan Hikari."
"Hi Lan, so what does this thing do?" asked Celine.
Lan looked at he suspiciously but decided to help. "Well PET's evolved from multi-featured cell phones. With them you can read electronic textbooks or newspapers, send and read E-mail and use a digital currency called Zenny."
Celine took Lan's PET; it was device covered in a blue plastic case with one side being larger to act as a handle. "Thanks again."
"I'm glad I can help!" said a voice from the PET. Celine almost dropped it in fright!
"What was that?!"
The other kids in the class started laughing at her. "She has a PET, but doesn't have a Navi?"
Celine looked the PET's screen and saw a boy on wearing a blue jumpsuit and helmet with the same insignia on his chest as on Lan's bandanna. "Who or what are you?"
"I'm a Net Navigator; or Navi for short. My name's MegaMan!"
Mayl went to Celine. "A Navi is an artificial intelligence program; it's sort of like a digital butler who can get you information and data from the net."
"Just don't expect me to get you tea and crumpets!" said MegaMan with a laugh.
"O.K. what do I do with you?" Celine asked MegaMan.
"I'll bring up the textbook program and then you can jack me in into the school network so I can bring up any information you may want later."
"Jack In??"
"What are you, brain dead?" said Dex a big dark skinned boy with a Mohawk wearing a green shirt.
"Lay off Dex she's new!" yelled Mayl.
"Well she must come from a very poor town if she never even heard of this stuff!" said Yai a nine year old with blonde pigtails and a red dress. She was both smart and rich.
{Poor, huh?} thought Celine. {If she knew I ran away from a palace THAT would shut her up!}
"I'll show you how to do it." said Lan. He then took his PET back to his desk and took a wire from it. "Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!" Lan said as he connected the wire to a port on his desk.
###
MegaMan materialized in the computer cyber world and went to some other Navis. "So what do you think about her?" said Mayl's Navi Roll. She wore a pink jumpsuit with yellow metallic ribbons coming from the front of her helmet and a blonde ponytail. Her chest icon was shaped like a heart.
"I don't know." said MegaMan. "She seems cold but there also appears to be a sweet side to her."
"She's weird, Guts!" said Dex's Navi GutsMan. He was a robotic Navi with big fists; a shovel-like jaw and a green construction cross for a chest icon.
"Yes, we must watch her carefully." said Zero. He was also a robotic Navi who was covered in red and white body armor head to toe. His chest icon was a blue letter Z with a blue line across the middle.
"Still the best way to do that is to be polite and she'll come to us." said Yai's Navi Glide. He had a black jumpsuit with yellow gloves, boots, vest and helmet. He also had white wings coming from his back and his chest icon; the insignia for the company Yai's father owned; was a triangle separated into a red diamond and two smaller yellow triangles.
{Why do I have a feeling that Celine is going to make our lives a lot more interesting?} thought MegaMan.
###
It was Lunch and Celine was exhausted. Some of the things taught in class could only be understood by a computer nerd back home. But she did find out about how this world worked. About twenty years ago; in this world's time; the earth had started to form a "Net Society". Here just about every electronic device from supercomputers to coffee makers was connected to the internet. The net was programmed to create a "Cyber world" where Navis and other programs existed similarly as humans do in the real world. But these advances had increased two problems; computer viruses and net crime.
Celine's cold attitude in class had earned her the nickname "Ice Queen" with most of the other students. "I found out why the Ice Queen's PET is in the repair shop. It froze when she touched it!"
"Hey, Ice Queen, my fruit juice is too warm! Can you blow on it so I can have it as a popsicle?"
"Just leave me alone!" Celine snapped. "Maybe running away wasn't such a good idea after all."
She sat down not expecting a silver haired boy with a purple jacket to sit next to her. "Believe it or not I know how you feel. By the way my name's Sean."
"How could you understand how I feel?"
"I've been through a lot in my life. When I was six my parents died in a plane crash caused by a bug in the computer system. I inherited a fortune but it didn't bring me any happiness. I lived with my Aunt and Uncle who--- did things to me."
Celine started to think "That sounds like what grandma says I'm going to do my daughter."
"It seemed like the real world had forsaken me. I was bitter, angry and I took it out on the world by pretending to be adult and forming a syndicate called Gospel."
"You really did all that?"
"Yes, until Lan and MegaMan stopped me. The only reason I'm better now is because he's my friend."
"Your friend?"
"Yes, his dad got me my Navi, Zero; and together we try to take what I feel; my anger and my grief; and make it into something positive."
"And all I've been doing is feeling sorry for myself."
Lan and the others came. "Came to see how your feeling." said Lan.
"Lan." said Celine. "I want to try to make myself a better person like Sean did. Since I'm going to be here for a while can you guys be my friends?"
"No problem!" said Lan.
"We're all here for you!" said Mayl.
"This really is a great place to live!" said Dex.
"You'll have a great time here with us!" said Yai.
"It would be great to know you Celine." said Sean.
"Thank you!" Celine answered almost crying.
"After school how about I take you to my dad's lab to get you a Navi of your own?" asked Lan.
"I'd love it."
The lunch bell rang. "Better get to class." said Mayl. The group then left.
###
{I can't pick her up anymore!} the youma thought. {I just have idea for a general location!} he then clamed down. {I'll keep trying, and if I need to steal human energy to sustain myself I know where to look.} He continued to meditate not knowing that nearby someone was planning a different but nearly as sinister a purpose.
###
After school Lan took Celine to SciLab where his father, Dr. Hikari, worked. "This is incredible!" said Celine. "Do all these people work on Navis?"
"No." said Lan. "There are all kinds of research projects going on here everyday, but Dad's specialty is networks and programs he'll get you a PET and a customized Net Navi!" The two went to Dr. Hikari's lab. "Hey Dad, I brought you a visitor!" Lan called.
Dr. Hikari was kind looking man with brown hair and glasses. He had the same icon; which Celine learned was the Hikari family insignia; as MegaMan on his lab coat. "Lan called me ahead." said Dr. Hikari. "So you must be Celine."
"Yes, can you get me a Navi?"
"Yes, but first I need you to tell me the basic personality and physical configuration you want it to have."
"He means what you want it to behave and look like." said MegaMan.
Celine thought about it, she decided to give it mix of her personality and her father's. When it came to how it looked she remembered a story her Aunt Annika told her about a fairy named Aurora who hid the pearl of friendship in her and decided to use that as a starting point. When Dr. Hikari entered the information in his computer he then turned to Celine. "Now we have to talk about where you are from."
"Where I'm from?" asked Celine.
"Lan told me about you and almost no one can live on this planet and not know about PETs or Navis. So where are you from, really?"
"You're not going to believe me."
"I'm a scientist, I keep an open mind."
Celine sighed. "I come from the future, but not yours."
"What is this, multiple choice?" said Lan.
"Where I'm from in this time the whole world is covered in ice. It happened in an event called the Big Freeze."
"Another dimension." said Dr. Hikari. "Please continue."
"In my time a woman named Neo Queen Serenity thawed out everything and now rules the world in peace. My grandmother protects her so I protected the Queen's granddaughter. For you see I have another name, I'm also known as Sailor Chibi Elysian Venus."
"Sailor Chibi Elysian Venus?" said Lan. "That's a mouthful."
"So why are you here?" asked MegaMan.
"I ran away from home, but I didn't mean to come here!"
Dr. Hikari looked upset. "Running away from your problems won't solve them. Maybe you should go back home."
"Even if I wanted to I can't." she took out the two pieces of the time key. "This is what we use to travel through time, but it broke when I came here so it doesn't work anymore."
Dr. Hikari examined the pieces. "I'll get some of our guys to look at this, see if they can get it fixed."
"Doubtful, It works by magic."
"It's only magic until the scientists figure out what it really is."
"Suit yourself."
"I'm sure your family's worried about you." said Lan. "They'll probably come looking for you."
"That could take awhile."
A chime came from Dr. Hikari's computer. "Your Navi is completed and it's been installed on your PET." said Dr. Hikari.
Dr. Hikari took out a PET like Lan's; on the screen was a girl Navi with an Orange jumpsuit and helmet, her blue hair came down to her shoulders just above her clear butterfly-like wings. Her chest icon was the symbol of Venus. "Hi!" she said in a sweet voice. "My name is Passy; you must be my operator Celine!"
"Yes, I'm glad to meet you Passy!"
"I know we'll be great friends!" said Passy.
Dr. Hikari interrupted. "Remember, the two of you must work as a team or Passy will never work at her full potential."
"Ok, Dr. Hikari."
"Until your family comes or we get this key fixed, I think you should stay at our house."
"Really?" asked Lan.
"I don't think she has anywhere else to go. I'll call Mom and tell her to get the guest room ready. For now I think it would be best to keep Celine's true identity a secret between the three of us."
"Make that the four of us!" said MegaMan.
"Five!" chimed in Passy.
"Alright, five it is!" said Dr. Hikari. "I'll run this key up to analysis, you two better get home."
"Alright!" said Lan.
Celine felt a lot better about herself. {I haven't felt this good in a long time! It's great to have friends!} but then she thought about the ones she left at home.
###
Not far from where the youma was resting was the headquarters of the criminal organization, World Three. Inside it's leader; Lord Wily; was planning his revenge on Net Society. He was an old man with a big grey mustache who replaced his right eye with a cybernetic one. Once he was a respected scientist, but then SciLab; in order to win an international competition and in light of a serious accident that cost Wily his right eye; canceled his military robotics research in favor of Tadashi Hikari's network project. Wily was soon afterward driven insane. Tadashi's research paved the way for Net Society; so Wily worked to destroy it. He formed World Three recruiting the vilest criminals, their Navis and the most evil of Viruses; however Tadashi's grandson Lan and his Navi MegaMan had always foiled his plans.
"But this time is different." Wily said to himself. "This time I will get Lan Hikari and that little blue dweeb of a Navi out of the way! Then World Three will be free to Delete, Delete, DELETE!"
###
Celine got comfortable in the Hikari's guest room. "Are you ok?" asked Passy.
"Guess so. Just feeling a little home sick that's all."
"Why did you run away?"
"I was being selfish; my dad died about a month ago and I've only been thinking about how I felt. I even blamed my mom for it and I love her more than anyone."
"You're sweet; I guess I got that part of my personality from you." Just then a beeping sound came from the PET. "Celine, you've got mail!"
"From who?"
"Mayl, Dex, Yai, Sean and Mailnews!"
"Mailnews?"
"All students get put on their mailing list; do you want to read it first?"
"No, let's read the rest first." Celine read each of the messages; mostly welcomes and hello's then she started reading the Mailnews message. "Factory robots go berserk! Earlier today the robots in a car manufacturing plant went haywire injuring three workers. Eugene Chaud and ProtoMan of the Officials intervened and shut the robots down. Chaud reports that the malfunction was caused by a virus as part of another World Three attack." Celine then asked Passy. "Who are the Officials and what's World Three?"
"World Three's just a bunch of bullies! They use Viruses to cause havoc anywhere in either Real or Cyber worlds. A lot of Navis have been deleted because of them."
"I fought a lot of youmas who are like that. What about the Officials?"
"They police the net to stop criminals like World Three. We'd be in real trouble if it weren't for them."
Celine took a look at the PET's clock. "It's late; I'd better get to bed."
"Would you like me to use my alarm in the morning?"
"Thank you, good night."
###
That night Celine had a dream. She was in a dark room and couldn't seem to get anywhere no matter how much she ran. Just then a woman with the same color hair and eyes as Celine came; the very feel and look of her seemed cruel. "Who are you?" Celine asked with fear.
"You, of course." The woman answered. "Or rather I'm who you will become."
"No! I don't want to be like you!" shouted Celine.
"You don't have any choice! Now come on!" the older Celine grabbed the younger one by the wrist and drug her to a seven-year old redheaded girl with braids who was crying.
"Who is she?" the young Celine asked.
"My worthless fool of a daughter!"
"No! I would never think my daughter was worthless!"
"I never wanted her! I only had her because we would need another Venus scout!" the older Celine took out a whip and put it in the younger one's hand.
"What do you want me to do?"
The older Celine sighed. "I can't believe I was ever this naïve! Take this and use it on her!"
"No, Never!"
"You will because you are me!" the older Celine grasped the younger one's hand closed and began to whip the child who wailed in pain.
"I'm sorry!" said the younger Celine to the child. "I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!" she could only repeat her apology as the older one continued to abuse the little girl.
###
"Ahhh!" Celine screamed as she woke up.
"Ouch!" said Passy. "Any louder and I would have needed a new auditory algorithm!" Celine started sobbing. "Celine tell me what's wrong." said Passy.
"I don't want to go back!" Celine sobbed. "I don't want to be a mean person!"
"Celine you just had a bad dream that's all."
"I can't go back! I can't!"
Just then Mrs. Hikari, a woman with short brown hair came into the guest room. "I heard screaming!"
"Celine had a nightmare Mrs. Hikari."
Mrs. Hikari tried to comfort Celine. "It must have been terrifying! But don't worry you're safe here with friends. Now go back to sleep you have school in the morning." Mrs. Hikari left after it seemed Celine went back to sleep.
"Mom, I miss you so much!" cried Celine. "But I can never come back, please forgive me!" and then she cried herself back to sleep.
###
It was the next morning after the storm in the Crystal Palace; Gloria called for her children. "Breakfast is ready!"
"I'm not hungry." Her son Kazuto called back.
"It's waffles from the toaster!" Kazuto ran in quickly. Gloria was only a slightly better cook than her mother by being able to make anything prepackaged.
"Where is your sister?"
"I didn't see her today."
"Must still be moping in bed." Gloria was still sad about her husband passing away a month ago but had started dating again; Celine had accused her of "forgetting about Dad" but Gloria considered it just part of a phase of mourning, along with wishing to no longer be a scout. "Celine your waffles are getting cold! You can have that strawberry syrup you like!" Gloria went into Celine's room and found it empty. She then found the letter next to Celine's transformation pen and started to panic. "Mom!" she yelled as she opened the door to Mina's quarters.
Mina opened the door obviously still getting ready for her day. "Listen I'll..."
"She's gone!"
"Who's gone?"
"Celine, I went to get her up and she was gone! I found this!" Gloria gave her mother the letter.
"We'll call everyone; search the palace and the city she couldn't have gotten far!"
The day continued with an air of panic. The Original and Cosmic scouts searched, the children asked kids at school if they'd seen her, but there was no sign of Celine anywhere. Before noon Setsuna called every one back to the Palace. "I think I know where she is, but I think she's in danger."
She showed everyone a surveillance tape of the youma entering the gates and Celine stumbling in and the two being pulled to another time. "Where is the guard that was supposed to be on duty?" fumed Mina.
"Back home, the disguise the youma used was very convincing so he's just suspended for a week without pay and he'll never be on guard duty at the gates again."
"This is my fault." said Maggie. "All this happened because I wanted Mom to be a part of a family dinner!"
"If it's anyone's fault its mine." said Gloria. "I should have taken her feelings more seriously instead thinking it as some phase!"
"We won't get anywhere by playing the blame game!" said Artemis. "I'm just as worried for Celine, but the important thing is to find her and get her back safely!"
"You're right." said Mina. "But we also have to stop that youma, it's probably in the past causing damage, find him and we find Celine."
"There is a problem there." said Setsuna. "It's seems that they're both in the past of another dimension."
"Another dimension?" asked Annika.
"And before you ask, we don't know which one." said Maggie. "We'll just have to keep searching until we find them."
"And how long will that take?" asked Gloria.
"There are a lot dimensions so it will take a while, but we feel confident that we'll find her in no longer than three days."
"Three days?! She could be dead by then!"
"It may be sooner." said Setsuna. "Let us work and we'll call you if we find her."
###
Gloria was on the verge of suffering a nervous breakdown, just the thought of Celine with a youma without her transformation pen sent shivers down her spine. Mina walked in to Gloria's quarters as Gloria was handling the Transformation pen Celine left behind. "Feeling alright pumpkin?"
"I keep thinking that I did this. That it was something I did or didn't do; something I should or shouldn't have said. She was in so much pain after Chojiro died and I just started running off with other men as if he never existed!"
"You we're just being you. You're not the type to let bad feelings keep you down. Chojiro would have wanted you and the kids to move on with your lives. Now where is the woman who put Tabasco sauce in the punch at her own wedding reception?"
Gloria laughed when she remembered that prank. "Yes that was funny, wasn't it?"
"I pretended to be mad at you, but inside I was laughing to beat the band. I love hearing you laugh. I couldn't imagine my life without that sound."
"I love hearing Celine laugh; I haven't heard her laugh lately and I'm afraid I'll never hear laugh again."
"Don't think like that, we'll find her!"
"You're right we'll find her even if I have to search all of those dimensions one by one!"
Just then their communicators beeped. "We found her!" said Setsuna. "Head to the gates as soon as possible!" they were out the door before she finished talking.
###
"The gates can take you there, but only six people can cross both time and dimension at once, so we can only send five back." said Setsuna.
"I'm going to be one of them." said Maggie. "Venus and Cosmic Venus will probably be going so we need two volunteers."
"Well, I'm going too!" said Brooke. "Celine's my best friend, I don't know why she ran away, but whatever it is we'll get through it together!"
"Count me in!" said Chelsea. Rini and Helios were a little surprised.
"Why do you want to do this?" asked Rini.
"I remember a story you told me about the good shepherd. He was a man who had a hundred sheep, but if even one got lost he would leave the rest of the flock and go look for it. Celine's been falling through the cracks lately, I thought 'If she wants to be a jerk that's her problem.' After she ran off I realized that I wasn't such a good shepherd."
"Then go find her and bring her back to the safety of the flock."
"OK, we better get going." said Maggie. "Our timing was off so a week will have passed for Celine by now; we better find her fast!"
"I'll take care of Kazuto for you while you're gone." said Annika. "Just be sure you bring both Brooke and Celine back safely!"
"I will." said Gloria. "I just hope that we're not too late, who knows what kind off trouble she could be in?"
###
"Heat blaster, battlechip in! Download!!" shouted Celine as she inserted the chip into her PET. Battlechips contained special data that Navis used in the Cyber world to fight viruses or; like in this case; friendly net battles against another Navi. In battle Passy's mouth and nose were covered by an orange mask. When she received the chip data Passy's arm changed to a gun barrel and she shot fireballs toward GutsMan who blocked them by crossing his arms.
"Your going to have to do better than that!" said Dex. Lan and Yai watched the match nearby the machine in the arcade that was being used for the battle. Lan was concerned that Celine was fearful of something over the last week, but since she wouldn't tell what it was he and the gang thought that it was best to keep her preoccupied with activities both on and off the net. "Guts thump, battlechip in! Download!!" said Dex. GutsMan's already big fist got huge. "Take her out GutsMan!"
"Guts!!!" the big Navi yelled as he threw a punch. Passy dodged the blow and the ones that followed.
"Let's see you handle this!" said Dex. "Shockwave, battlechip in! Download!! GutsMan's hand returned to its original size and changed into a hammer. He then hit the ground causing a wave of force to move along the ground toward Passy. Passy flew up into the air to avoid the attack. "Man, I forgot she could do that!" said Dex.
"Celine I need another chip!" said Passy.
"Try this!" said Celine. "Zap ring, Battlechip in! Download!!" Passy's hand now changed to a pair of u shaped conduits.
"You got to be kidding! Zap ring is one of the weakest attack chips there is!" said Dex.
Passy fired a ring shaped bolt of electricity at GutsMan who seemed to be unable to move after that.
"Uh Dex, you do remember that Zap ring paralyzes whatever it hits don't you?" asked Lan.
Dex had shocked look on his face. "Your stunned silence is very reassuring." said Yai.
"Aqua sword, Battlechip in! Download!!" said Celine as Passy's arm then became a blade that shined blue like sunlit water.
"No! not Aqua sword!" yelled Dex.
Passy slashed GutsMan with the sword. After taking a large amount of damage GutsMan's image was replaced with the words "Logout" and a computerized voice said "GutsMan, Logging out. Team two are the winners."
"We did it!" said Passy after she "Jacked out."
Lan came up to Celine. "That Zap ring, Aqua sword combo was pretty good." He said.
"Thanks, Mr. Higsby suggested it." said Celine remembering the man who sold her the chips. "He was a little weird, but he was a real nice man."
"I think you just got lucky!" said Dex.
"Well lucky or not, loser still buys milkshakes." said Lan.
Dex checked his PET and then looked at Celine with a humble expression. "How about we go two out of three?"
"No way, I won fair and square!" said Celine.
"Come on, my allowance is only 1000 Zenny a week!" (I'm assuming that a Zenny is equal to a yen so this is roughly ten bucks.)
"A bet is a bet." said Yai.
"But tomorrow we were going to Bright Star amusement park. I need the money to break the record!"
"Record?" asked Celine.
"Eating the most junk food then ridding the Sonic Boom roller coaster without throwing up!"
"Everyone, ride on different car from him!" said Yai.
Just then Lan's PET made a ringing sound. "A phone call?" Lan asked.
"It's from Roll!" said MegaMan.
Roll's voice came from over the line. "Something has happened to Mayl! We're on west street, get the police!"
"Dex, Yai, call the cops!" said Lan. "I'm going to get Mayl!"
"Not without me your not!" said Celine. And the two raced off to west street.
###
Celine didn't expect what she saw next. The youma she met before she came to Den City was draining a police officer of his energy, Mayl laid nearby unconscious. "That should do it." the youma said as he threw the officer to the ground. "Now, to continue my search."
"If it's trouble you're looking for, you found it!" shouted Lan as used his rollerblades to rush forward. He then kicked the youma in the face.
"How dare you! Just who are you to attack me!" shouted the youma.
"I'm Lan Hikari, a duly deputized net agent of Den City! It's my job to protect the people and Navis of this city from net crime and lowlifes like you!"
"Well then 'net agent' allow me to introduce your energy into my body!" The youma grabbed Lan who screamed as his energy was drained.
"Lan!" yelled Celine. {This is entirely my fault! If I hadn't come here this wouldn't have happened!} she then thought.
The youma then looked to Celine. "Ah, there you are! I've been looking for you! You'll have to wait until I've finished with your friend here then we have something important to discuss."
The Youma dropped the unconscious Lan. MegaMan spoke from the PET. "Lan! You creep, if you were with me in Cyber world, I'd delete you in fast forward!"
"Oh shut up!" said the youma as he pushed the PET's off switch. MegaMan's image disappeared as the screen went black. "Now for some unfinished business."
Celine reached for her transformation pen but then remembered that she left it behind. {I shouldn't have just given up on being a scout, If I didn't I would have been able to do something!} she thought.
The Youma then grabbed Celine. "Alright give it to me!"
"What?"
"The time key, give it to me!"
"It's broken!"
"You lie!"
"No, see!" she pulled out the two pieces Dr. Hikari gave back to her after he was unable to repair it. "You can't use it, it's broken!"
"Well then guess what? So are you!"
"Celine!" yelled Passy as the youma pointed its knife-like fingers toward Celine.
"At least I won't grow up to be that cruel woman." Celine thought.
"VENUS LOVE ARROW!"
The youma screamed as the arrow pierced the arm he was going to thrust toward Celine.
"How dare you try to harm my daughter! I am Sailor Cosmic Venus and by the power of love I will punish you!"
"Mom!" Celine shouted as she saw her mother on a rooftop.
"You dare challenge me alone?!" yelled the youma.
"She's not alone!" said Sailor Venus as she came with the others.
"We stand for love and justice!" said Chelsea. "I'm Sailor Elysian Moon and on behalf of Elysian and the future Moon I will punish you!"
Chibi Elysian Mars stepped forward. "I'm Sailor Chibi Elysian Mars, and in the name of the future Mars I command you to give her back!"
"Fine then, take her!" yelled the youma as he threw Celine towards the scouts. "Now that you are here, I'll simply take your time key! But don't worry about being stuck here, after I go back to this time in your dimension, none of you will exist at all!"
"Well I'm not going to let you tamper with the timeline of this or any other dimension!" said Cosmic Pluto.
Celine looked toward Sailor Venus. "Grandma..."
Sailor Venus didn't have a pleasant look on her face. "I believe you forgot something." She then gave Celine her transformation pen. "You better help; we'll talk about your punishment later."
"VENUS ELYSIAN POWER MAKE UP!"
"Let's hit him with everything we got!" said Elysian Moon.
"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"
"VENUS GORGEOUS HEART BLAST!"
"PLUTO TIME HURRICANE!"
"MARS FIREBALLS CHARGE!"
"VENUS LOVELY SWEET KISS!"
"ELYSIAN DREAMS OF LOVE!"
The youma screamed as he was destroyed. Elysian Venus then ran toward Lan. "Elysian Venus, don't---"said Elysian Moon.
"It's O.K." said Elysian Venus. "He knows." She then turned back to Lan who was now waking up. "Are you alright?"
"I'll be fine." Lan said groggily. "Just tell the guy with the jackhammer to lay off." He then noticed the other scouts. "Who are they?"
"My mom, my friends, my aunt and my grandma."
"I don't see your grandmother."
"Over there." Celine said pointing to Sailor Venus.
"That's your grandmother!" said a very surprised Lan. "But she looks-- -"
"Young, I'll explain later. Right now we need to restart MegaMan and get Mayl home."
"Then we'll take you home." said Cosmic Venus.
Celine then had a horrified expression on her face. "No, Please! I can't go back, please don't make me!"
"What?" Cosmic Venus asked.
"I don't want everyone to hate me! I don't want to be a cruel person!" Elysian Venus then started sobbing.
"Honey, what are you talking about?"
"I think we better head to my house." said Lan. "We can sort this out there."
###
Meanwhile back at World Three headquarters; Lord Wily examined the footage from his robotic spy cam. "Fascinating, I have never seen such power used in the Real world. "He said as he watched the youma get vaporized. "Still they shouldn't be able to interfere with my plan. Tomorrow, I'll take away what those Net society fools hold most dear." He then turned to a black monitor. "Isn't that right my creation?"
Red eyes glowed from the monitor and a voice boomed. "DELETE!!!"
"Yes, not even MegaMan can stop me now! Muwahahahahahaha!"
###
Back at Lan's house, Sailor Venus and the Cosmic scouts talked with Celine alone while Lan and the others went to his room. Lan's parents were having a romantic night out so it seemed unlikely that they would be back soon. "Ok, Celine." said Gloria. "I read in your letter that you think that everyone will hate you. The question I have is why?"
"I can't tell." said Celine.
"Why not?"
"You would hate me."
"You're my baby, I would never hate you."
"You would after what I'm going to do."
"Going to do? Celine you're not making any sense."
Celine took a deep breath. "The night I ran away, I heard Grandma talking with Great-aunt Amy and Great-aunt Raye. They were talking about something they found out about me in future."
"The future?!" Mina and Maggie had shocked looks on their faces.
Celine broke out in tears. "I'm going to be so horrible! I'm going to hurt my own daughter! I'm going to say very bad things about her! I'm going to let a stepson..."she couldn't continue anymore and just cried.
"Celine, I have to talk with your grandma and aunt Maggie can you go upstairs to Lan's room?"
Celine ran up still crying. Gloria turned to Mina.
"I know that she shouldn't have listened in to your conversation, but whoever it was that came back and told you that garbage was obviously lying!"
"Tiffany wouldn't lie about something like this." said Mina.
"Tiffany?" Gloria said remembering the abused little girl who came when she was a child. "Tiffany's my granddaughter?!"
"Yes."
"Then the mother who did those things to her is going to be..."
"Celine."
"How long? How long did you know it was her?"
"As you now know Celine came back to us before, so when Tiffany came back again and told us about her mother it was pretty obvious."
Gloria cried tears of rage. "And you didn't do anything to help Celine?!"
"You don't know how desperately I wanted to, but we couldn't interfere with the timeline."
"I don't care! As far as my daughter is concerned the timeline can go straight to..."
"Um, pardon me for interrupting this tender family moment." said MegaMan from the PET Lan left on the living room table.
"You're spying on us!?" said Mina.
"It was Lan's idea; But that's not the point! Celine already knows about what's going to happen and the very concept terrifies her! The way I see it Celine's not going to go through with it intentionally, so that timeline you knew was going to happen is now pretty much control-alt- deleted. What matters right now is this; what are we going to do about it?"
Maggie spoke up. "Mother kept this from me as well, but it's pretty obvious that Celine was never meant to find out what was going to happen. Something happened to the timeline; this could be just the first part of an even bigger problem. I have to go back and talk with mother and the queen about this, we'll probably have to set up a scout meeting. I'll come back when we determine a course of action. In the meantime there is a very scared little girl who needs her mother and grandmother." She held up her time key and vanished.
"Well mother?" asked Gloria.
"Maybe the best way to help Tiffany now is to help Celine."
###
Upstairs Celine started to calm down. She told her friends everything. "I just can't believe that my best friend would do anything that bad." said Brooke.
"I feel like I really failed as a leader." said Chelsea.
"No, it's all going to be my fault!" said Celine. "I'm going to do those things; and probably more; so whatever is going to happen to me as punishment; we probably should get it over with now so I don't hurt anyone!"
"You shouldn't be punished for something you didn't do!" said Lan.
"Yes." said Passy. "The future isn't set in stone; you can keep it from happening!"
"But I don't think I can!" said Celine. "I already feel it happening inside me, I've let it happen because it's the only way I think I can remember dad!"
"You don't have to feel bad or take it out on anybody to remember someone." said Lan. "I've lost someone once and I remembered him even though he was gone."
"Who, How?"
Lan was quiet for a short time. "I'll tell you, but what I'm about to say must never leave this room, understand?"
Everyone nodded.
"Then listen carefully. About twelve years ago my dad was working on a new kind of Navi, one that could befriend its operator. But he had a hard time getting it right. Then he had an inspiration. If you had some connection with your Navi, it would respond to your emotions and then create its own. He had a theory that a Navi whose program had the same coding as its operator's DNA would have the same basic values and emotions. But making a DNA based program was tough; he could only complete about 95% of the program. His research came to a sudden halt. It was around then Mom and Dad had a child, a baby boy they named Hub. But their happiness didn't last long; Hub contracted a heart disease and soon became too weak to live. My Dad tried to find a way to keep his memory alive."
"I still don't understand." said Celine.
"Hub was my twin brother." said Lan. "We were born from the same egg; our DNA was identical. Dad used Hub's DNA to make a Navi for me and the results proved that his theory was right. The Navi he made was MegaMan!"
"So your Navi is Hub reborn?" said Chelsea.
"Yes, we were very close until one day; my life was in serious danger. MegaMan scarified himself so I could live."
"Just like my dad did for my mom." said Celine. "But MegaMan is still with you."
"We were able to recover his data about four months later. But only one thing allowed me to make it through those four months, and that was something Hub told me. He said 'I will always be in your heart, so we'll always be together!' So you have to remember that your dad is in your heart too Celine. Remember him, fortify yourself with love and trust against the anger and jealously that would drive you to hurt others, and you wont have to be afraid of that future."
"Maybe your right Lan." said Celine. "I'll try to remember him."
"And we'll help you!" said Brooke.
"All of us!" said Chelsea.
Then Gloria came in. "Celine, your grandma and I would like to talk about what you heard her say."
"O.K." said Celine. "Mom?"
"Yes, honey?"
"If I have to go back can I take Passy with me?"
"We'll have to talk with Aunt Maggie and Great-Aunt Setsuna, but I personally don't see why not."
Mina then asked Celine. "You wouldn't mind if your mother and I sleep with you tonight?"
"I was going to ask you to do that." said Celine.
"We'll be staying here until your Aunt Maggie gets back." said Gloria. "So is there anything you want to do tomorrow?"
"We were all going to go to an amusement park."
"Sounds like fun. Mind if we tag along?"
"No."
"Alright then we all better get some sleep then good night." Celine slept better that night than she had in a long time.
###
"A disruption?" asked Serenity.
"Yes, a disruption in the timeline." said Setsuna. "That's the cause of all this."
"So what do we do to fix it?" asked Amy.
"We can't." said Setsuna. "These disruptions are very rare and usually cause very minor changes, but it's like trying to stop an earthquake; it can't be done."
"So now what we do now?" asked Raye.
"This could lead to a paradox in time and that could cause real damage. We have to avoid it."
"We can't do it by asking Celine to grow up into that person it would be cruel." said Michiru.
"We may have no other choice." said Haruka.
"Let's not think that way!" said Lita. "We now have a real opportunity to change things for the better, I say let's take it!"
"What do you think Setsuna?" asked Serenity.
"I can't see what the best course of action right now is. Celine's decisions will have an impact on the dimension she's in right now, but I can't tell what will happen there. My advice is this. Wait until she comes back then go on forward as if we don't know anything about the future, but now that issues have now been raised by this little adventure they will have to be dealt with.
"Ariel and I can schedule a few sessions with her. Help her to get a handle on her father's passing and anything that may come up later." said Amy.
"I'll help however I can." said Hotaru.
"Alright, we'll tell Maggie first thing in the morning. But right now let's get some sleep it's been a long and stressful day." said Serenity. {First though I'm going to enjoy some chocolates while having a nice hot bubble bath.}
###
The next day Lan brought everyone to Bright Star park; all his friends were waiting for him. "So are these the friends you made while you were here?" Gloria asked.
"Yes, Mom. I'll introduce you. First this is Mayl."
"A pleasure to meet you Mrs. Aino." said Mayl as she reached for Gloria's hand.
Dex then cut in. "Hi! I'm Dex, Celine probably told you about my amazing net battle skills!" he took Gloria's hand and got zapped by the joy buzzer she held. "Yeouch!"
Celine laughed hard. "Serves you right Dex!"
"That worked better then I thought." mused Gloria. She wanted to make Celine laugh but Dex's rudeness had made the prank better. Mina also smiled.
"I'm Yai. I'm in the same class as Celine because I'm smart enough to skip a grade."
"I had a friend in my class who was that smart."
Sean then stepped forward. "Nice to meet you."
"You must be Sean." said Brooke. "Celine said you are little shy, like me."
"Come on!" said Dex. "We're wasting time! First stop, corndogs!"
For the next few hours everyone enjoyed the rides, games, and food. Then Dex was ready to make his attempt to break the record. "Wish me luck!" Dex said then we went on the coaster.
"Sean and I are going too." said Mayl and the two hopped in the car behind Dex.
"Wait for me!" said Yai. She was stopped by the ride operator.
"I'm sorry but you are too short for this ride."
"Too short?! Fine, I'll ride the carousel but I'm going to complain to the manager about this!"
"I'll go on the carousel too." said Brooke. "I never liked thrill rides."
"I'll tag along!" said Chelsea.
"We'll just watch." said Mina.
The coaster did steep dives and loop the loops. As the ride came to end Dex seemed to have broke the record the coaster went past the unloading point. "Huh, what the?!" said Sean. The coaster then started to pick up speed.
"What's going on?!" said Mayl.
"It didn't stop?" said Mina.
"Neither did the Carousel." said Gloria. "It's going faster too."
An announcement came from the loudspeakers throughout the park. "Attention! Due to a computer malfunction the park is now closed. Please head to the nearest exit in an orderly fashion and make way for Officials and rescue workers."
"Rescue workers?!" said Gloria. "What's going on?!"
"They also mentioned the Officials." said Celine. "That means..."
Lan finished her sentence. "A virus! No doubt World Three's handy work!!"
"World Three?" asked Mina.
"A bunch of criminal goons!" said Celine.
"If we don't do something innocent people could get seriously hurt!" said Passy.
Just then Wily's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Attention Net society cretins! The World Three will now take away your precious children! This is part of our ongoing war to delete the society you live in! Muwahahahahahaha! "
"Wily! That creep never gives up!" said Lan.
"Lan, jack me into the park computer system and we can delete the virus causing this!" said MegaMan.
"Right, we should be able to jack in from the manger's office! My net agent status should get us in there!"
"I'm coming too!" said Celine.
"Celine!" said Gloria. "This could be dangerous!"
"Mom, I have to do this my friends are in danger! And besides lately I've hated the fact I was a scout, I forgot its all about helping people, so I should help in any way I can!"
"Alright." said Mina. "But we're tagging along!"
They went to the mangers office and found a place to jack in. "Ready?" asked Lan.
"Yes! I've never had to face a virus before, but anything is better than doing nothing!" she took a wire from her PET and Lan did the same.
"Jack in!! Passy, execute!"
"Jack in!! MegaMan, execute!"
###
Passy and MegaMan materialized in the park's Cyber world. The evil viruses were damaging everything in the system. "Whoa!" said MegaMan. "It's a regular virus convention!"
"Split up!" said Lan. "Take them all out!"
MegaMan went up to some Curse shield viruses. They were tall and thin and could absorb almost any attack. They were gobbling up parts of the Cyber world into their huge mouths. "Sorry, but the buffet's closed! Megabuster!!" MegaMan fired his default weapon at the gapping mouths and the viruses broke into pieces.
"Celine, I'll take care of these Boomerang viruses." said Passy.
"Be careful!"
"Razor fairy wing!!" she flew past the clip shaped viruses that held their weapons in their mouths. Her wings cut them into pieces.
"Passy, lookout, Magnet bombers!" said MegaMan. The grasshopper shaped viruses launched bombs that almost hit Passy.
"MegaMan, please stop them!" said Celine.
Lan took out a battlechip. "Mini boomer, Battlechip in! Download!!"
A pair of bombs appeared in MegaMan's hands. "Here catch!" The viruses were deleted in the explosion.
Wily cackled from his unseen position. "Well done Lan! But then again I shouldn't have expected anything less from you."
"It's over Wily!" said Lan.
"Yeah, we deleted all of your viruses!" said MegaMan.
"Oh, not all of them!" laughed Wily.
"Something's wrong!" said Gloria. The rides aren't slowing down!"
"The door's locked too!" said Mina.
"I've prepared something special, just in case you showed up!" said Wily. In the Cyber world a giant human-shaped virus with blue battle armor and a horned helmet appeared. Its face was just a void except for two glowing blood red eyes. "I'd like to introduce you to my magna virus, Gamma!"
"DELETE!!!" Gamma boomed.
"Haven't you heard the old saying 'size isn't everything'?!" said Passy.
"Yes, but perhaps you've heard of another old saying 'the bigger they are, the harder they pound you into the ground'!" said Wily. Gamma roared as he stamped his foot almost crushing the two. "You can't simply delete this virus!" said Wily.
"Then we'll just try to save as many people as we can!" said Mina. She and Gloria got ready to transform when Wily stopped them.
"I wouldn't try to brake out if I were you. The moment you do, Gamma will active a bomb underneath the park and blow you all sky high!"
"Wily, you coward!" said Gloria.
"MegaMan will delete your 'magna virus' and stop your plans!" said Lan.
"I'd like to see him and that weak little fairy try!" said Wily.
Celine got mad. "Weak?! Passy is not weak; she has the power of love on her side, so you can't win! Ready, Passy?"
"Let's do it!" said Passy.
"Battle routine, set!" said Lan and Celine.
"Execute!!" said Passy and MegaMan as facemasks appeared over their mouths and noses. MegaMan's was blue.
Gamma grabbed Passy. "I'll get her loose!" said MegaMan.
Lan got out two chips. "Air shoes, battlechip in! Download!!" MegaMan's feet changed to have jet boosters on the bottom. "Cyber sword, battlechip in! Download!!" MegaMan's hand changed into a sword.
"Put her down King Kong!" yelled MegaMan as he jumped and cut off Gamma's hand but as soon as Passy was freed Gamma's hand had regenerated.
"Size isn't the only thing to Gamma!" said Wily. "Now witness his awesome power! Gamma, Omega blaster!"
"Omega?" asked Celine.
"The last letter of the Greek alphabet." said Wily. "And like with the alphabet nothing comes after it! When it hits a surface of the Cyber world it will cause the host computer to explode! So dodge it or not prepare yourselves for DELETION!" Gamma's horns sent energy to his fists and they started to glow.
"Isn't there something we can do?" asked Mina.
"Not from where I stand." said Lan.
Passy then had a determined look in her eyes. "Celine, I need you to give me access to all the programs on your PET!"
"What for?!" asked Celine.
"Just do it! I need the energy, this maybe our only chance." said Passy.
"OK."
Passy's body started to glow with a golden light. "Celine, I know that you will grow up to be a wonderful mother. My only regret is that I'll never be able to see you and your daughter happy together."
"Passy what are you talking about?"
"Actually I have one other regret. I was never able to meet you face to face..."said Passy as she closed her eyes.
Gamma slammed his fists together and Passy absorbed the full impact of the beam that came from them. Passy broke apart and vanished. Celine's PET then displayed a message coldly in red letters. "Navi deleted."
"Passy!!!!" Celine broke down. "She gave her life for me and there was nothing I could do!" Mina and Gloria tried to comfort her.
"Celine..."said Mina.
"Celine, remember what you told me about dad being in your heart? The same is true of Passy now. They would want you to grow up and have a future. Don't let them down now. I felt the same way when your father died. If I could have been able to do anything maybe he would still be alive, but he wouldn't have wanted me or you to mourn forever and neither would Passy."
Lan and MegaMan were filled with a righteous fury. "That's it, this virus is toast!" said Lan. "Brunt toast!"
"Gamma!" said MegaMan. "I can never forgive you for this!"
"Let's do it, MegaMan!"
"Right!"
"FULL SYNCHRO!!" yelled Lan and MegaMan. Lan and Hub's hearts and minds became as one, increasing MegaMan's power immensely. Gamma attacked but MegaMan's response time was too fast avoiding every shot and blow.
"That other Navi must have drained Gamma's power!" said Wily. "With MegaMan at Full Synchro, Gamma doesn't stand a chance!"
MegaMan charged his Megabuster to full power and fired. "Full Synchro Megabuster!" the two said. Gamma roared for a brief moment then froze. Light seemed to be escaping from him as he was covered in explosions. Crrrraccccckbooooooooom! After a large explosion and a blinding light Gamma was deleted.
"Lan." said MegaMan. "Jack me out; I don't want to spend another second here."
"Right."
MegaMan's form was replaced by the words "Logout." And a computerized voice said. "MegaMan, Logging out."
###
Back at World Three headquarters Wily was furious. "The Hikari's, they stopped me again!" he pounded fist on his desk. "Sooner or later one way or another they'll pay! I swear it!"
###
After the viruses were deleted Bright Star Park returned to normal. Chelsea sprained her ankle but other than that no injuries were reported, except to Dex's pride; he threw up after the coaster went haywire dashing his chance at the record. Everyone went home to recover from the day's events. Maggie came back that afternoon so the scouts were going back their home. Celine wanted to say one last goodbye at the park Celine first arrived as the sun was setting.
"I really don't want to leave you behind Lan." said Celine. "I wish you would come with me."
"Hey, I probably wouldn't like it there much anyway." said Lan. "Are you sure that you didn't want to say goodbye to the rest of the gang?"
"I would have to tell them about where I'm really from and I want them to remember me as a regular girl."
"Alright then, I'll send them an Email telling them that you went back to your old town that should be true enough." Lan then turned to Brooke and Chelsea. "Be sure to look after her you two!"
"Right!" said Brooke. "And MegaMan you look after Lan."
"Don't worry." said MegaMan. "I'll keep him out of trouble."
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Lan.
"Well you're not the sharpest knife in the drawer."
"Why I..."
Gloria then stepped forward. "Lan, I want to thank you. I think this experience helped Celine."
"It was nothing."
"No, it was something. In a way you and MegaMan intervened for her future on her behalf and for that I'm eternally grateful."
"Well in that case you're welcome."
"It's just about time to go!" said Maggie.
Celine came up to Lan. "I want you to have these."
"Your Battlechips?!" asked Lan.
"I don't need them anymore and you're going to need all the help you can get to stop World Three once and for all! Besides you can think of me whenever you use them!"
"Ok." said Lan. "Oh, I almost forgot! You should have this!"
"My PET?"
"Passy would have wanted it this way. Now you have a memento of our time together!"
"Thank you! I'll never forget any of you!"
"Right back at ya!" said Lan as he pumped his fist.
Then scouts gathered and then vanished. "Gone." said MegaMan. "We'll probably never see her again."
"At least she's back where she belongs."
"I think it's about time we got back to where we belong. Mom's making cheesecake for dessert!"
"All right, let's go!"
###
A warm welcome awaited Celine when she got back to the Crystal Palace. The only ones who didn't go to see her first were Rini and Helios seeing Chelsea's injury. "What happened!?" said a worried Rini.
"The good shepherd went to find one of her lost sheep and ran into a wolf."
"But she got the sheep back to the safety of the flock." said Helios.
"Celine!" shouted Kazuto.
"Kazuto, I'm so glad to see you!" said Celine.
"I missed you so much!"
"Don't worry; I'm staying for a long time."
Nearby Mina talked to Gloria. "Do you think this has changed anything?"
"Right now, I don't care. I'm just glad my baby's back. We'll cross those bridges when we come to them."
They looked as the Elysian scouts welcomed their team member back with open arms.
###
Several years later.
Mina walked to Celine's quarters. Tiffany became a crystal scout recently and she wanted to check up on how she was doing. She opened the door and found Celine talking to Tiffany. "What do we say?" Celine asked. Mina softly gasped.
Tiffany smiled and said. "I'm your precious jewel who you treasure more than life itself!"
"And?"
"I'm a wonderful person who will grow up to do great things!"
Tiffany laughed as her mother picked her up and spun her around. "And don't you ever, ever, EVER forget it!"
Mina breathed a sigh of relief. "Mama can I go play with Rayna?" Tiffany asked after Celine put her down.
"O.K., but remember your great grandma is coming later."
"Its alright." said Mina as she came in. "She can go play for a little while."
"Yippee!" said Tiffany as she ran out the door.
Mina turned to Celine. "For a moment there I thought she was going to say something else."
"What are you talking about?"
"You took something ugly and turned it into something very beautiful. I'm glad that she loves her mother and has her birth father."
Celine caught her drift. "Don't worry, that woman isn't invited in my home. But..."
"What's wrong?"
"Minako. Rose told me that if things went differently she would be Elysian Venus instead of me right now. I can't help but feel that I cheated her and she'll one day die because of it."
"I talked with her the other day and told her about it. She said that if she had the choice between living one lifetime knowing you as you are now and forever remembering you as a witch, she would rather have the big sister that loved her than eternal life."
Celine went to a shelf that had her old PET. For the most part it sat there collecting dust. "When Tiffany went back great-aunt Setsuna told me to write a letter for Tiffany to give to you to warn you about what was going to happen, so we could avoid the paradox."
"I remember that letter now. We used it to let you run away again."
"I want to send another one."
"I don't think she'll agree to that."
"Not that kind of letter and to a different past."
###
Two months after the amusement park incident.
"Done." said Lan. "I can't believe I had 'Comparison and contrast of the American Civil War and Meji Revolution' as an essay topic!"
"At least got to work on it right away." said MegaMan. The PET chimed. "Lan, you got mail! It's from Celine!"
"Celine! Bring it up then!"
"It's a video message; I'll have to be connected your PC to display it."
"Ok." Lan put his PET in the base recharger and opened the message. An adult Celine appeared on the PC and started talking.
"Hi Lan, I know this must be usual for you. Especially since while it has only been two months for you while a considerably longer amount of time passed for me. I just want to tell you how much You, MegaMan and Passy helped me. My mom remarried and had a baby girl two years after I came back. I was jealous at first but then after I remembered what you told me it became easy for me to love her and to stand up for her when I made a mistake when I eighteen. A close friend, Kokei asked me to marry him and when I didn't feel the same sort of love for him I let him down easy before the wedding. He's doing fine and Taylor; his twin sister; and I are still good friends to this day. I married to a husband I remained faithful to and had two sons as well as my little girl Tiffany. Although we didn't plan her, the day she was born was one of the happiest in my life, and the day she became a scout herself was my proudest. All of these events could have ended in pain and suffering if all of you hadn't reminded me of what was really important. You saved my life, if not my soul and I can never thank you enough for it. I enclosed a picture file of me and Tiffany together. I wanted Passy to see it, but I think she'll be happy if you saw it for her. Aunt Maggie arranged for a place in your Cyber world for you to send a reply and I'm expecting it soon so I can show everybody what my two heroes have been up to. I guess this it, goodbye!"
Lan was quite for a moment as looked at the picture and he wrote his reply. "I'm glad that she landed on her feet."
"Yeah, me too." said MegaMan. "Well, what are going to tell everybody?"
"That she's doing real fine now, but we can give dad the whole story."
"Then let's send that reply."
"Alright!" said Lan as he got his PET ready. "Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!"
###
End Program.
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