Navis' Day Out

Chapter 2: Life as A Kid

          They tumbled to a halt on Dex’s porch and then Mesa took off, waving at them cheerily.

          “Mesa, wait!” Megaman shouted after him, but it was too late.  Mesa was gone.  “Great,” Megaman sighed, “Now what?”

          “Now we knock.” Roll said, turning and knocking firmly on the door.

          “Coming!” They heard Dex’s muffled voice from inside.  Then there was the sound of feet, a thump, some muffled exclamations, more unsteady steps and finally the door was opened.

          There stood Dex, his shirt in disarray, a sock across his face.  He blinked, shut the door, opened it again, and blinked some more.

          “Uhhh…” his jaw was dangerously close to the floor.

          “Who is it dear?” a voice called from deeper inside the house.

          Somewhat collecting his scattered wits Dex called back, “Um, no one mom, just some friends, I uh, gotta go now.”  And he stepped outside, hastily closing the door behind him.

          Megaman and Roll stood watching him uncertainly.

          “Uh, hey Dex!” Megaman smiled.

          Dex leaned in closer, studying him, when he spoke it was so low Megaman could hardly hear him, “Megaman, is that you?”

          Megaman nodded. 

          “Then… where’s Lan?”

          Megaman held out the PET.

          “LAN!”  Dex looked at Roll, “And Maylu?”

          Roll nodded.

          “Oh! Maylu!” Dex wailed.

          “I’m fine Dex.” Maylu said dryly, "you can stop crying now.”

          “Look Dex, Miyu says we’ll be fine by tomorrow, but we need a place to stay for today.” Lan explained.

          “You can’t stay here!” Dex said firmly, “my mom would so flip!”

          “Okay, then what about Yai’s?  She’s usually alone, and that tree house is big enough to hide an army!”

          Dex thought about it, “Right!” he smiled, “I’ll take you to Yai’s, just let me get my scooter.”

***

          Yai received them with a little more grace than Mesa or Dex, but she was still shocked.  Glide was rather intrigued, and, as soon as Yai helped Megaman and Roll transfer their ops to the playhouse’s holographic navi system, he began to question them.  They answered his questions good naturedly, but they really didn’t know much.  So the conversation soon turned to what navis did in their ‘off’ time.

          Megaman smiled, “Well, it looks like they're going to be alright.”

          “Yeah,” Roll agreed, then she turned from the holographic navis to her companions “but what about us?  What are we going to do for 24 hours?”

          “Twenty two.” Megaman corrected automatically.

          “If you’re like me you’ll sleep for twelve of them.” Dex told her.

          Megaman stared at him, “You sleep for twelve hours?  No wonder you’re never available when Lan calls!”

          “Hey, I’m a growing boy!  I need my rest!” Dex defended.

          “Nobody” Roll said flatly, “needs that much sleep.”

          “Yeah, well, who asked you anyway?” Dex crossed his arms, sulking.

          Yai rolled her eyes.  “I have an idea.” She interrupted, “Why don’t you try doing some of the things Lan and Maylu enjoy?”

          Megaman quirked a brow at her, “Yai, we can’t net battle – we have no navis.  And I’m not sure we can eat.”

          Yai laughed, “They like other things too you know, like rollerblading and riding scooters.” Her face lit up, “I know! Let’s go to the park!”

          Megaman looked at Roll, who shrugged.  “Okay,” he agreed.  That could be fun…

          “What about them?” Roll jerked her head over her shoulder at the navis and her net op.

          “They’ll be fine,” Yai assured her, pushing her toward the door, “Come on! Let’s go!”

***

          First thing first.  Lan’s feet were smaller than Megaman’s.  Or at least smaller than his boots.  And since they hadn’t been able to figure out how to get his boots off – this posed a slight problem.  Dex and Roll were already working on the basics of scootering, and Yai and Megaman were still sitting.  After about seven minutes Yai got bored.  She stood, pulling Megaman to his feet.

          “Yai?” he asked in confusion, staring down at the skates.

          “Come on blue boy, we’re buying you some skate attachments of your own.”

          “But-”

          She rolled her eyes, “Oh come on, it’s not like I can’t afford them.”

          Megaman had to admit that was true.  She dragged him into a store, and they soon emerged with new skates.  They ran back to the park and found that Roll had pretty much gotten the hang of the scooter.  She waved to them as she rolled past (hee hee! Roll is rolling – terrible pun I know, but it can’t be helped, expect a few more.)

          “Hey!” Yai laughed waving back.  Then she turned to Megaman sternly, hands on her hips, “Now for you.  Get going, we’re way behind!”

          “I thought this was recreation, not a competition.”

          Yai simply scowled at him.

          He raised his hands in surrender, “Alright!” he slipped the skates on just fine, but when he tried to stand, well… that wasn’t so fine.  His right foot slipped, and, with a comical waving of arms, he fell flat on his butt.

          “Um, Yai?” he said unsteadily, “I’m not sure I’m cut out for this.”

          “Oh nonsense!” she insisted, “Get up.”

          He attempted to obey, but fell once again.  Roll and Dex had now stopped to watch them.

          “Come on Megaman!” Yai said testily, “Get up!”

          He tired once more.  “I can’t.” he was starting to sound a little upset.

          “Oh, here!” Yai came closer, “lean on me.” Cautiously and unsteadily, leaning heavily on Yai, he stood.  He wobbled back and forth for a few moments and then Yai decided he had gained his balance and moved away.

          “Good.” She smiled warmly, “now just move your feet forward.”

          Megaman rolled forward a few feet.  “Hey, that wasn’t so- OW!” He had fallen once again.  Roll laughed outright and he scowled at her.

          “I’d like to see you try!” he snapped.  He might have regretted his outburst if it had not been for the fact that it made her giggle even more.  He could feel crimson heat rising in his cheeks.

          Determined, he managed to get up on his own.  His first few tries were a bit wobbly, and once he collided with Dex, but soon he was skating with relative ease.  He and Roll had a few races on the straightaway with Roll generally winning.  Scooters seemed to be way easier to use than skates, at least for beginners. 

          “One more!” Megaman pleaded, laughing as they came to a halt.

          Roll nodded, “Alright, but don’t cry when I beat you.”

          “Right!” he laughed enthusiastically.  His good spirits had definitely returned.  This skating stuff was kind of fun.

          “Let’s skate down that!” he pointed to a path with a slight incline, well, decline from their direction.

          “You’re on!”

          They raced down the hill, neck and neck, but as they neared the end Megaman’s front wheels got caught in an uneven sidewalk seam and he went sprawling.

          “MEGAMAN!” Roll jumped off the scooter and it fell with a clatter.  She ran over to her friend.  “Are you alright?” that had to have been the worst fall yet.  She was even more worried when she noticed that he was shaking, his head down.  “Megaman!”  she leaned down just as he raised his head.

          He was laughing!

          “Megaman!” she scolded, “I thought you were hurt!”

          “Sorry.” He managed to get out, though it was difficult through his laughter.

          Roll rolled her eyes and then reached out a hand to help him up.  He was certainly something else!  He gratefully grabbed it and got almost to his feet when another fit of laughter overtook him.  His left skate slipped sending him to the ground once more – and Roll with him!

          He was still laughing.

          “Megaman!” Roll tried to untangle herself from him so she could stand.  “What is up with you?”

          “I’m sorry!” he gasped through his laughter, “but, it’s just too much!”

          She sighed as he collapsed into another fit of laughter, entangling them further.  Had being human made him nutty?

          “You are not helping!” she told him, trying to pull her leg out from under him.

          “Okay.” He drew in a breath and forced himself to stop laughing.  He tried to move so that she could get her leg out, but one of her arms was in the way.  After several moments of shifting and tugging they collapsed in an even more unmanageable tangle.

          Megaman threw back his head, laughing loudly.  Roll just stared at him.

          “MEGAMAN!!!”

          He looked down at her, “Come on Roll – it’s funny.”

          She blinked at him, once… twice… then she glanced down at the impossible tangle that was them and a smile twitched on her lips.  They did look kind of funny, and they weren’t hurt.  They looked like a pretzel – she hadn’t known that was possible.  She looked back to Megaman and saw humor sparkling in the depths of his eyes, he was trying so hard to restrain himself.

          Then she giggled.

          Megaman’s grin widened, “See!” he laughed, and she laughed too.  Soon they were both laughing hysterically, heads back, almost in tears.

          And it was in that position that Yai and Dex found them.  They had just noticed that the navis had fallen and had run over, thinking they must be hurt since they weren’t getting up.

          Now they just stared at the hysterical navis uncertainly.

          “What’s wrong with them? Did they hit their heads?” Dex asked.

          Yai shrugged. “Um, guys?  Guys!” she finally shouted, drawing their attention. They looked at her, silent, “What’s so funny?” she demanded, hands on hips.

          They blinked at her and then looked at each other and started laughing once more.

          When they were finally calm once again they managed to convince their friends to help them get untangled.

          “I think we should put the wheels away now.” Yai suggested. And, though it had been fun, the navis agreed.

          “So what next?” Megaman asked, his eyes still twinkling.

          “Well, we could-”

          “Dex! Yai!” a familiar voice interrupted them.

          “Uh oh!” Dex watched the approaching figure.  “It’s Higsby, how are we going to explain this?”

          “Maybe he won’t notice.” Yai said hopefully.

          Dex looked at her skeptically.  “He watched the N1 grand prix – he’ll notice.”

          “It’ll be fine Dex,” Megaman assured him.

          Whether it would be fine or it wouldn’t be it was too late now, Higsby had stopped beside them.

          “Hey!” he smiled cheerfully. “I got some new chips to show Lan, have you seen him?”

          “Uh,” Dex and Yai stared at one another, not sure what to do. Then they glanced uneasily at the navis beside them.  It was a bad move, now Higsby noticed them as well.

          He peered closer, “And who are you two?  I don’t believe I’ve – AHHHHHH!!!” he almost fell on his face, he jumped so high.

          “You’re, but you’re,” he stuttered.  Then suddenly he jerked forward, grabbing Megaman’s collar.  “What did you do with Lan!?” he demanded.

          “Hi Higsby.” Megaman gave a weak wave, struggling to breathe.

          “Don’t you ‘hi Higsby’ me – where is he?”

          “Higsby, let him go! He didn’t do anything to Lan!” Yai yelled as she and Dex pulled on his arm.

          “No?” he asked at a more decent volume.

          “No!” Dex said emphatically.

          “Oh, sorry then.” Higsby released Megaman.

          The navi rubbed his neck, “It’s okay.” He assured the older man.

          “So, uh… if you didn’t do it, what happened to him?”  And how are you here?”

          Megaman shrugged, “We don’t know.”

          Higsby eyed him suspiciously, “We?”

          “Roll and I.” Megaman explained.

          Higsby’s eyes widened and his head jerked to Roll.

          “Maylu too?” he said quietly.

          “Hey Higsby.” Roll gave a half smile.

          “B-but, how?”

          “We don’t know, but Miyu says we should be back to normal tomorrow.” Megaman assured him.

          This seemed to ease the man’s mind.  He nodded, “So, uh, what are you kids up to then?”

          “We were skating.” Roll told him, “and we were just trying to find something else to do.”

          “Why don’t you try net battling?  It might be a good experience, you know, see the whole thing from another perspective.”

          “Higsby, we don’t have any navis.” Megaman reminded him.

          Higsby waved a hand, “Not a problem, there’s a game stop down the street from my store, I sell them battle chips and they rent them out.  They have loaner navis and a great mini battle arena.  Give it a try.”

          Megaman arched a brow at Roll, she smiled.  Why not? It was something humans their 'age' – and especially Lan – enjoyed.