Navis' Day Out

CHAPTER 1: Surprise!

           Megaman yawned and stretched.  The side of his nose itched so he reached up and rubbed it.  He blinked his eyes slowly and rolled his shoulders.  It was tough waking up in the morning.

          Just as he was wondering what had awakened him, he realized with a start that he had been sleeping.

          Navis didn’t sleep!

          Megaman jerked to full awareness staring at his surroundings.  He appeared to be in Lan’s room.  But that wasn’t possible.  He was a net navi, he lived in Lan’s PET not his room.  He was digital.  It was just physically impossible.  And yet…

          It certainly looked like Lan’s room.

          But where was Lan?

          It was then that Megaman heard what sounded like distant pounding.

          “MEGAMAN!” It was Lan’s voice, and it sounded frantic, but where was it coming from?

          “I’m coming Lan!” he shouted, running around the room uncertainly.  Where should he look?

          “I’m over here!” Lan called, “In the PET!”

          Megaman’s head jerked up with such suddenness it made his neck sore.  “The PET?”  he asked, rubbing his now sore neck.  “How?” He stumbled over to the desk and the PET recharge and download terminal.  Why hadn’t he made Lan clean his room last night?  He stared down at the screen and sure enough, there was Lan.

          “What happened?” Megaman asked.

          “How should I know!” Lan shouted, still sounding distant.

          “You need to adjust your night hours damper.” Megaman told him absently.  Lan frowned as he flipped through some files before he found the right control.  He flipped it, and when he spoke again he sounded normal.

          “I think we should call Maylu.” He told Megaman.

          “Right.” Megaman agreed, then he sat there.

          “Um, Megaman, that would be you.  You  need to call Maylu.  I can’t get to the phone."

          Megaman  jumped up, “Oh, right.  Uh…” he paused, trying to remember her number.  Usually he’d just look it up in the phone directory on Lan’s PET, but he wasn’t in the PET.  Which was why he needed to call.

          The phone rang twice before it was picked up.

          “Lan!?” Megaman started, then remembered that Maylu had caller ID.  Only it didn’t sound like Maylu, maybe this was what they called a phone voice.  

          “Lan, we need your help!” It was Roll!

          “Roll?” Megaman asked incredulously.

          “MEGAMAN!?”

          “It happened to you guys too.” They said in unison.

          “Maylu and Roll switched too?” Lan groaned, “That’s great, just great.  What are we gonna do now?”

          “Shh, quiet.” Megaman admonished him, “Maylu and Roll have a plan.

***

          “I really don’t know how to help you.” Sal had stopped straightening plants the moment the navis had come through the door.  “Except that I can give you some clothes.”

          “Clothes?” Roll asked dumbly.

          Sal nodded, “You do sort of stick out.  Not many people wear spandex onesies on a daily basis.”

          “Oh.” Roll blushed, she hadn’t thought of that.  She looked at Megaman and noticed he had a jacket on.  She wasn’t sure if that made him look better or worse than herself, but at least it meant he had thought ahead.

          Megaman noticed her and smiled reassuringly, “Don’t feel so bad, it was you and Maylu who thought of coming here for help.”

          “A lot of good that did us!” Maylu yelled.

          Maylu and Lan had been pretty quiet up until that point, it had to be a shock to suddenly find oneself inside a PET.

          “As I was saying,” Sal continued, “I’ll get you two some clothes and then we’ll go see Miyu and see what she can tell us.”

          “Yeah!” Megaman grinned, “Wish I’d thought of that, she should know something.”

          “Ha! She doesn’t know anything.” Lan said skeptically.

          “Still don’t believe in fortune tellers Lan?” Maylu asked.

          “No.” He crossed his arms.

          “Well,” Sal quickly intervened, “It won’t hurt to ask.”

***

          “I don’t know-” Miyu began.

          “Ha! See, I told you!” Lan crowed.

          Miyu stared at him coldly, “As I was saying, I do not know how you came to be in this state, but it should pass on its own in a day or so.”

          “How do you figure that?” Lan asked dryly.

          “I have foreseen it.”

          Lan rolled his eyes and Megaman quickly clamped his hand over the screen so Miyu couldn’t see.  “Well, thanks.” He said. “That’s a relief.”

          Miyu nodded solemnly.

          “Yeah, but,” Roll looked down at Maylu in her PET, “What do we do until then?”

          Miyu stood, “I suggest you enjoy this time.  It is a rare experience.”

          “Hey, at least we can be thankful it isn’t a school day.” Megaman chuckled, “can you imagine trying to explain to Ms. Mari where Maylu and Lan are?”

          Roll smiled. Yes, they could be thankful for that.  She returned her attention to Miyu.  “Thanks a lot, guess we’ll be going now.”  Then she stood and grabbed Megaman pulling him out the door.

          As he was stumbling after her he called back over his shoulder, “THANKS!!!”

          Outside Roll stopped so short that Megaman nearly ran into her.  “What’s up?” he asked, “You were in such a hurry to get out of there, and now you’re just standing in the sidewalk.”

          “Megaman!  What are we going to do?” Roll wailed, falling into him and wrapping her arms around his neck.  His eyes widened in surprise and his cheeks flushed, but he wrapped his arms around her waist.

          “It’ll be fine Roll,” he assured her softly, “you heard her, tomorrow we’ll be back to normal, so lets just enjoy today."  Roll sniffed, but gave a nod and pulled back.

          “What are we supposed to do?” Lan demanded.

          “Well, we can get Gutsman or Glide to show you around the net.” Megaman suggested.  You can hang out with them all day.  There are some great places on the net.” <And we’ll just pray World Three doesn’t pull anything today> Megaman couldn’t imagine what would happen if a virus attacked today.  Did Lan and Maylu have any attacks or abilities?  He’d hate to have to find out.

          “That actually sounds kind of fun.” Maylu said.  Though, the truth was she was missing Lan, and Gutsman and Glide could show them how to get to an information hub where navis could meet and hang out.

          “I guess.” Lan mumbled.

          Just then Mesa rode by on his bike.  He rang the small bell.  “Hello!” he called cheerfully, “Lovely day.” Megaman nodded and waved as Mesa passed by.  A few yards past them Mesa screeched to a stop and rushed back.

          “Wait a minute!  Don’t I know you?” he asked suspiciously.  “I can’t figure it out.” now he was scratching his hairless head and speaking to himself, “they look familiar, but I know I’ve never seen them here before.”

          “Mesa,” Megaman tried to interrupt.

          Mesa held up a hand, “Now don’t interrupt me boy, I’m thinking.” He lowered his voice again, muttering to himself, “Couldn’t have been at the school, pretty sure it wasn’t at the park…”

          Megaman sweat dropped, “Mesa!” he tried again, but Mesa ignored him. 

          He snapped his fingers.  “I know!  It was at that competition.  The Grand Prix thing.  You must have been contestants!”

          Megaman and Roll face faulted.

          The struggled back to their feet, “Mesa, we’re Megaman and Roll.  See.” He pointed to his face.

          Mesa just stared at them, “No. Megaman and Roll are net navis, they can’t walk and talk and such.”

          “Mesa,” Megaman shook his shoulders. “It’s us.”

          Mesa stared at him for a moment, “Well I’ll be.” He said quietly, then he exploded, shaking Megaman by the shoulders, “What have you done with Lan and Maylu!?” he demanded.

          “Whoa, easy Mesa, they’re right here.” Megaman offered Mesa the PET.

          Mesa took it and stared down at Lan in shock.  “Lan, Lan!” he yelled, “Oh, Lan, what have they done to you?”

          Lan rubbed his ears in pain, “You don’t have to yell Mesa, I’m right here.”

          “Oh, sorry.” Mesa lowered his voice, “Now, what did they do to you boy?”

          “They didn’t do anything Mesa.” Maylu assured him.  “We just woke up like this.  Miyu says we’ll be back to normal by tomorrow.”

          “Oh she does, does she?” Mesa relaxed, “Well, then I guess everything will be alright.”

          “Mesa!” Lan groaned, “Not you too.”

          Mesa puffed up his chest confidently, “I have every faith in that little lady.” He said firmly.

          Lan rolled his eyes, “Can we go now?” he pleaded.

          “Oh, yeah!” Roll exclaimed, “We’ve gotta get going.”

          “Going where?” Mesa asked.

          “We’re going to find Dex and Yai so that their navis can show Lan and Maylu around cyberspace.” Megaman explained.

          “And so they can show us around Dentech.  Without our databases we’re lost.” Roll added.

          “Speaking of which, how do we get to Dex’s and Yai’s?” Megaman asked.

          “You need to get to Dex’s!” Mesa’s face lit up, “I can help you there!  Hop on!”

          Soon they were off toward Dex’s house.  Roll was seated behind Mesa and Megaman was sitting in the fish basket.  His nose wrinkled. 

          “This stuff smells.”

          “Just be glad there aren’t any fish in it right now!” Mesa laughed.  “That’d be a real sticky situation!”

             Megaman and Lan groaned in chorus.