Pranara begins slam the ground beneath him twice, causing the ground to erupt over his opponents - an X-shaped eruption over Medicine, and a plus-shaped one over BlizzardMan - following up with a charged ground slam that hits a 3x3 area over BlizzardMan, with Medicine caught in the blast!
Pranara.EXE: Hmph. Without the strength of a Darkloid, you can't even win a 2 on 1!
BlizzardMan huffs.
I don't need to be strong, I want to be me!
BlizzardMan and Medicine both equip a set of chips - Medicine a WhitLily, Hazard, and BioStrm2, and BlizzardMan a Barrier, ColdAir2, and BlzBrt2 - for two Program Advances!
RollingSld250
GasGarden
Both snowballs hit Pranara hard, and even when Pranara drops a 2x2 stone fist to stop the GasGarden's HP drain early, he's left with little enough health to go down from a PoisBoil100!

---

(Battle Network 1-2, Shanghai.EXE) Barrier: (Null, Guard) Summons a shield around the user that protects them from 1 attack.
RollingSld250: (Aqua, Object) A Navi Program Advance that summons BlizzardMan, who encases himself in a giant snowball and rolls forward, passing over and damaging any opponents. If he hits the edge of the screen or a Broken/Empty panel, he will warp to the nearest opponent's row on the furthest available panel (but in front of where he was summoned if possible), and repeat the roll. After the second roll, 5 lumps of snow (or less if the field's not big enough) will fall on the opponent's field, dealing damage if they fall on something or if an opponent steps on them after they can move again. BlizzardMan can substitute the BlizManV2120 chip needed for the PA with a BlzBrt2.
(Shanghai.EXE) WhitLily: (Poison, Object/Terrain) Summons a 20 HP lily in front of the user that drains the health of opponents and causes healing chips to damage them, as if they were inflicted with the Poison status effect. The panel WhitLily spawns on will become Grass upon use, and cannot be changed unless the WhitLily is destroyed.
(Shanghai.EXE) GasGarden: (Poison, Object/Terrain) A Navi Program Advance that summons Medicine, who, in turn, summons a 500 HP flower shaped like herself that drains opponents' health at a rate of 50 HP per second. Aside from depleting all its HP, the flower can be destroyed instantly with a Break-attribute attack, and will despawn on its own after 18 seconds.
PoisBoil100: (Poison, Terrain) A Secret Mega Chip* of Medicine's, where she fires a ball of poison 3 panels forward that creates a 3x3 burst, damaging anyone in the radius and turning any non-Broken/Empty panels in that radius into Poison panels.

---

*Context: Mega Chips are a type of Battle Chip that deal great damage with the trade-off of not allowing multiple of the same chip (not counting variants such as V1 and V2), and only 5 Mega Chips total being allowed in a Navi's folder without extra customization. Most Navi Chips used so far are Mega Chips.

??? - 22XX
A lone man sits on his throne, alone...
???: My dear child Hilda... why must illness befall her...?
???: Because, you neglected to get her that vaccination.
???: She's deathly afraid of needles! My ancestor would actually worry about her unlike you, you... beast!
???: Is that the best you can do Gordon? Or should I call you, King Prideless?
SILENCE! How would you like it when your life is on the line, eh!?
???: ...
Like I thought.
He then sits quietly once more... hoping for the best...
Undernet - 20XX
Axl is... currently setting up a small campsite if you will.
Axl.EXE: Survival, is a necessary evil.

Pranara.EXE: Gagh...no matter...
Pranara.EXE: Perhaps my strength didn't suffice...but I accomplished my main goal.
Pranara.EXE: And with my death...your plight...has only begun...!
With a flash of light and a loud blast, Pranara is deleted.
...
Narumi, I'm sorry I didn't tell-
Don't worry, BlizzardMan, I'm not mad at you. I never was.
I dunno what a Darkloid is, or why he wanted you...but if you don't see that as you anymore, neither do I!
Giving the two some distance, Medicine and Yamame smile.
You scared me for a bit there, Medicine.
Hey, I did what I had to do.
Yeah, I guess so. The way you sidestepped in was neat, though!
Heh...just kinda thought of what a friend of ours would do. Of course, I didn't have any handheld weapons...
No, no, the tornado was a great idea!
(Event Theme) ♫ Shanghai.EXE - Settlement ♫
As Yamame and Medicine share a laugh, BlizzardMan approaches them.
Excuse me, Ms...uh, Yamame?
Thank you so much for helping BlizzardMan.
Yeah, we can't thank you enough! Whoosh!
*soft laugh* Don't mention it.
Hey, uh, as long as we're here, miss...do you know the path to City Area?
Oh! Yeah, you just take either of the north paths, and take another north at the rocky arrow. If you take the northwest route from here, just head up the stairs and back down the ones furthest west. It'll get you straight to City 3!
Hah, small world; I actually live in Central City!
Narumi's eyes widen.
Really? Wow! Maybe we can come and visit some time. Isn't there a code you give friends if you want them to visit your HP?
Wait, you mean a P-Code? Uh...not sure how much I can promise being available, but-
You saved BlizzardMan, I wanna show you that I really do mean thank you!

---

(Event Theme) ♫ Shanghai.EXE - Theme of ROM ♫
Two figures - one wrapped in shadow* and the other rather plain-looking - are standing outside the area's west exit.
Ye hear that? From the sound of it, they took down Pranara...
Well, like I said, they be on the search now more than before. Could be a blessin', could be a curse.
Minamitsu grabs a stray PlnetMnEX100* chip, wanting to make sure nobody else sees it first.
Aye, if nothin' else, we n' Skifree be the only remnants left from ye jumpin' overboard.
The other figure has only one response:
Uh...how long do I have to keep the disguise on?
'Til the next time we find a place where there be no connection. Just remember if anyone tries talkin' to ye, think o' the least suspicious trivia ya know and only tell 'em that.

---

*I don't have enouch space so I'll explain these chips next post

Eien Area 1...
The small blue Navi starts to wake up...
???: ...

Beta Shadow is watching over the restaurant, content of its current activity.

...You ever feel like we're missing out on something?
Eh, I try not to worry about it.
Like you do with those dreams you keep having?
Hey, I've been trying to remember them, but it's like something in my subconscious is trying to make me... not remember.
...But I have been remembering just a little bit more. Which reminds me-
Mr. Shadow, over here! We need a bit of help!
...I'll tell you about it later.

---

Beta Shadow heads over to the sound system, where Olley is waiting.

Alright, I'm here; What's the issue?
It's terrible... The viruses that invaded our soda machine are now in the sound system! I tried to have SurgeMan get rid of them, but there are too many...!
*CYBERSQUAWK*ed pests... They just keep coming!
...Don't worry. I'll admit I'm not quite experienced with NetBattling, but I'm sure we can handle it... Ready, NinjaGhost?
Hmph. Just try not to slip up too much... If I get deleted because of your dumb *CYBERSQUAWK*, I swear...

Beta Shadow quickly jacks NinjaGhost in.

Battle Routine! Set!
Execute!

Undernet 1
Axl, in his little camp, just, tries to relax, reading up on some targets, when a peculiar one catches his attention...
Axl.EXE: iX. A navi made to be a counterpart to the navi of virtues, this navi, is known as the navi of vices, using unique battle chips based off of the 7 deadly sins. Known for making computers around the world unable to boot up permanently. Hm, this target is... interesting to say the least. Though it makes me wonder. What is his counterpart, his twin in my eyes, like?
???
A familiar green navi seems to be preparing something...
???: Soon, my "brother", I will be the one to delete you myself to prove that vices, are the only thing humans are capable of... yes... they shall learn that giving us this... existence will be their own undoing!

With the lights off and the blinds closed, the apartment is nearly impossible to see in, besides a single desk lamp illuminating a pile of tools and mechanical parts...and the screen of an outdated PET model off to the side.
...you're sure you didn't forget rent?
The weirdo in the purple hat gave me enough for the month. I don't care if I'm lucky she did, I'm taking it.
I mean, you're still doing fine with the robot stuff but, uh...something tells me she was desperate. Last time you touched a PET-
Terry slams the desk, the PET jumping slightly from the force of the impact.
I've told you a thousand times. Do NOT bring that up.
...y'know what, I'm not even gonna argue, that was inappropriate of me.
Tch. That's one way of putting it. Gramps almost forced me out on the streets.
Silence and faint tinkering is all that fills the air for a solid five minutes.
...I mean, it's been, what, 3, 4 years? I've lost count. But we're still surviving, we just...uh...
Spark, if you wanna put me in a good mood, the best you can do is shut up.
...*sigh*
SparkMan warps out of Terry's HP, Terry not even giving it a second thought as he tries to make something resembling part of a robot.

---

(Event Theme) ♫ Mega Man Battle Network 4 - The Quiet Darkness ♫
???.EXE: Hey, uh, just callin' because...that wasn't just me, Pranara just got deleted now?
???.EXE: Unfortunately, yes. He attempted to take out BlizzardMan, but an ex-ROM Navi interfered, and they killed Pranara together. In any case, how was the project?
The Heat-type Navi on the other end laughs worriedly.
???.EXE: Uh, right. See, the thing is...ConFuse kinda just flung the li'l thing at the beast, and...well, we dunno where it is now, and it took the beast with it-
???.EXE: Wait. Are you saying the Navi actually fused with Baldrez?
???.EXE: Uh...think so, yeah.
???.EXE: Well, we can make do.
???.EXE: We got the end result we were searching for: replicate the bug, imbue it into a subject, and see if the Beast fusion would apply.
???.EXE: It took a coding anomaly like MegaMan to properly inherit a Cybeast's power, but the Eien Navi's bug* - its Beast Factor† - should suffice in practice.
???.EXE: And when the product goes awry...well, now we have a scapegoat, too.

---

...You have no reason to stay here if you value your life. She was only the beginning of something far greater. It matters not how long history has called you a hero, it will take no less time for me to cut you to-
Even with what my life has been, I suppose this is a strange choice. But I'm not here to battle. I'm here to talk.
Don't even try to fool me. I've seen your world, and all is decided in it through battle. So prepare-
I suppose my body can never truly be unarmed. But I wield no weapons by choice.
What do you call what you're preparing as we speak?
Perhaps to some it has benefit in combat. But at its core, it's not a weapon. Quite the opposite, in fact.

---

(Chips from my last post)
(BN2) PlanetMan (V1 = 70, V2 = 80, V3 = 90, EX = error: battle chip "PlnetMnEX" could not be found): (Wood, Cursor) PlanetMan.EXE's Navi Chip. PlanetMan appears, targeting one enemy with 4 planets of different types (Heat above, Aqua on left, Elec below, Wood right).
(BN 2-3) Shadow: (Null, Guard) Turns the user into a shadowy figure, making them temporarily immune to attacks besides those with the Sword attribute, & changing their charge shot into a StepSwrd-esque attack. The duration of the effect depends on the chip's number.

---

*Reference: Shanghai.EXE - HakutakuMan - the Navi of Keine Kamishirasawa, a resident of Eien Town - has the ability to Beast Out. The most explanation this ability gets is that he fell ill at some point.
†Name Reference: Rockman.EXE Beast

---

(BN2-6, 4.5) Snctuary: (Null, Terrain) A Mega Chip that turns all panels on the user's field into Holy panels.

Eien Area 1
The small blue navi is currently barely managing to walk... seemingly in pain...
???: L...Lett...y... he... help... m...e...

(Area Theme) ♫ Mega Man Battle Network 4 - Global Network ♫
As SparkMan wanders aimlessly on the top path, a gray blur nearly crashes into him, the invisible railing at one of the ends just barely catching it!
Agh! Watch it!
You watch it! I'm in the middle of something important!
Can you at least not almost get someone killed doing it?
No! I mean, yes! I mean, not you!
I gotta find something to take out that stupid purple dude...
That's...am I supposed to know which purple dude you mean?
I saw him in Hill Top! He's like one of those crazy guys from Genso, but a different kinda purple, and...uh...vegan?
How did you catch that the guy was vegan but not his name?
He was handing out some dumb papers when I came in and was rambling 'bout how someone named Byakuren came up with a vegetarian thing!
...and you fought him because someone told him to hand out flyers?
What? No! He was in my way! And he only had like 5 Battle Chips but I still lost, so I gotta do something to get better!
Wait...you're Terry's Navi! That guy knows tech! He could hack me stronger!
...there's a lot I don't wanna talk about, but the Navi stuff really isn't-hey!
Didn't ask, let's go!
DanganMan locks SparkMan's arm with his and drags him along as he flies to Area 1!
...as well as a Navi without hands can drag another Navi without hands, anyway.

---

After the incident with the beast the day before, Darren is sprawled out in his bed, having gotten maybe 2 winks of rest before now.
Yo, Darren! Wake up, dude, you got some mail, and it says some funky stuff...
Darren Selache: Mm..Mrgh...
Darren turns to his PET, his head still anchored to his pillow.
Darren Selache: Just give me the text-to-speech thing...I can't feel my arms yet...

Darren's eyes slowly open.
Darren Selache: Wait...the guy from...?
I'm guessing he was the dude who threw that big Virus Ball-looking thing. Since, y'know, there weren't a lot of others there before he left with the-
Darren Selache: Gimme a sec to get dressed. We're gonna find out what's goin' on.

---

---

*Elec Town's Internet Server; called "Town Area" in Battle Network 4 but that name seems ripe for potential confusion so I went with this name instead

The second Peony looks away from Plumeria, she is greeted by a sour Omega, who's face is inches away from hers.

What business do you have with me?

Peony keeps her smile even when Omega is right infront of her,Plumeria watches the two, concerned at the speed of omega

Peony.exe : Heyyyyy! its you! thought it might have been you, heard your still climbing up the ranks! congrats! I was just,wondering what your plans are after you come out on top,annnnnd whats your whole battle strategy? also this is plumeria, my coworker!

Omega begins to speak, but BeastMan steps in.

Hey, how dare you speak to the future ruler of the Undernet in such a casual--

Omega slowly turns around and without warning places a a hand on BeastMan's chest, which glows red before shortly releasing an explosion thereafter, knocking BeastMan to the ground (though no actual damage seems to have been done.)

...?

He then looks back to Peony.

Firstly, I couldn't care less about any of your weakling companions. Furthermore, I hold no interest in any of the hodgepodge cowardice you address by "strategy". If there is something that needs conquering, it shalt be conquered.

BeastMan dusts himself, getting back up, but also watching from a distance.

He... hasn't lashed out at them? Strange. To willingly walk up to someone like him so informally and not be attacked. Such idiocy is unbearable...
...Or wait... That glorified clown... could it be that he's actually managed to form some sort of tie with that other Navi? Or perhaps they are of some use to him... either way, this is certainly unexpected.
Do you think we could use this to our favor?
Perhaps. But that's not what we're here for, are we?

Peony turns to beastman, before turning back to omega

Peony.exe : So whats with beastman over there? you two in some kind of alliance where one of you will inevitably backstab the other?

Equipping a BgRedWav220 from what's left of a recent opponent as she tosses a RockCube off the edge of the map, a Navi hears the commotion from across the area...
(Enlightened? For *CYBERSQUAWK*'s sake, that zookeeping chump's trying to suck up to wannabes to get on their good side...)
(Holy crap, that whole gang is nothing but wannabes! I swear, if I had a CopyBot and the address of whoever thought to give Rank 5 to a stupid sunshine puddle...)
Magma's hair begins to flare up, before melting back down over her shoulder.
(...no, y'know what? I want 'em to die as they all want each other to, but if it boils down to who kills who, I'm better off scavenging from Mr. O-M-G than I am taking his blood meal.)
Magma leans up against a railing...
('Course, if I'm gonna finish the job on the little kid toys, I might as well wait a sec to watch 'em break before I melt what's left...)

---

Still a little groggy, Darren keeps adjusting his PET's brightness to find the right balance between "actually visible" and "like staring into the sun" as SurfWave warps into a rather...barren area.
Yikes, this place is a mess...
Don't have to tell me twice.
Whoah!
SurfWave jumps back a foot or two.
Just gonna cut to the chase: Name's ShadowDigital.
That thing from yesterday? Long story short, the Gospel beast wasn't a one-time thing, but it's not like it was a hundred-time thing, either.
SurfWave and Darren notice that one of the few light sources in the area is the green specks and blue flame from the same dragon beast from before, seemingly in a dormant state; what they'd call "sleeping" if they were sure how much of a mind it had.
Darren Selache: ...wait, no, there's no way-
Multibug Organism. Dunno why, but if M-FF here's a sign, they're actually a lot easier to keep steady than a Cybeast. Yesterday was only the second time it pulled a stint like that, and-
Darren Selache: Why do you have a Multibug Organism with you? And did you just call it something?
Yeah, dumb name, I know, but I had to think of something that sounded like words to Jacred, and all I could get from looking at it in the Custom Screen was an M and an overloaded hexadecimal.
...oh, yeah right, should probably explain that, too. Dunno where he lives, but whatever he did, Jacred managed to hobble together that big Virus Ball so we could actually lug the monster around next time it did something like it was doing when we found it.
Darren Selache: ...a Multibug Organism was flying around for that long and you two were the first to notice.
I mean, everyone's eyes were on the whole Nebula liberation thing, not to mention it was pretty close to the Data Sea...it's where Jacred and I met, actually.

---

???: It's called a "Battle" Chip just the same, and yet it provides...divine protection?
???: Its true divinity, I am unsure of. But it serves as a beacon of hope, and I carry it with me out of respect.
???: Respect for whom?
???: ...my Internet Operator was a great scientist of his time. Even in the stress of the Internet Armageddon and Alpha Revolt, he held strong.
???: He...is no longer with us. But despite me being a NetNavi of his time, I've survived using the technology he left behind to keep myself updated.
???: But I'm not here to talk about myself. If it is no bother, I would like to know what you're seeking.
???: ...
???: ...Do you know the story of ROM's leader?†

---

*Just to be safe: this is not an actual message to the reader.
†I'm not actually going to provide heavy plot details from Shanghai.EXE, out of respect for those who haven't played it (as, at the time of this writing, a version with the full story is easily available).

Shion dodges to the side, and attacks with an EleFang1! Then, Shion charges their buster whilst waiting for the Custom Gauge to fill!

---

EleFang (1 = 80, 2 = 110, 3 = 140): (Elec) The user conducts forked, piercing lightning bolts, attacking the column in front as well as the rows on both adjacent sides.

The fang actually manages to deal the final blow!
ENEMY DELETED
YOU GET: BesrkSwd1
Beserk Sword (1 = 60 2 = 70 3 = 80) (neutral) The user pops up at one virus at a time and slices once. Will hit one virus twice if two targets, will hit one virus thrice if there's only one target.

After a short glare, Omega scoffs.

There are no complexities. Simply put. There is I. And across from me, there is my enemy.
And as follows... I crush the enemy with my overwhelming power. It is as simple as the switches in your inadequate minds. And nowhere near the rudimentary cowardice that rudimentary trickery involves.

Darren Selache: Wait, "met"?
Mhm. Was just kinda by myself before that. Not that he's my Op, he's still thinking about if a PET's in his budget-
Step back a bit, man, kinda getting curious, if it's okay...where did you come from, then?
...well, it's no horror story, I'll tell you that up front. Ever year about that NumberMan guy who's like some sorta mascot?
Darren Selache: ...well, yeah, but I think there's more to him than that-
Well, someone thought taking away the "more than" was a good idea, and started some sorta Navi-making business. Think they called it "DecorNavis" or "DecoNavis", can't remember if they did the character limit thing...
Anyway, basically they made Solo Navis for people to use to show off stuff or look fancy in their Comps. Basically what a Mr. Prog, a Sprite, heck, a signpost could do, but with a bunch of thinking skills that just couldn't be used.
Yeah, people were already seeing red flags the moment they opened up; took maybe four months tops until the whole thing went down from the uproar over Navi rights, and everyone they made was allowed to just kinda...live their own life.
No way I saw all of them, but I remember they had some old Eurican-style fairy, some tiny fella with huge missile-looking arms, a demon-looking thing who was also a pogo stick or something...basically, you'd think they had a NetOp, but nope.
So, yeah, I came from there. Wanted me to be like a knockoff kid's playground version of that one assassin Navi. Y'know, with the same scarf, but not covering his mouth and not with a color scheme like a 5-year-old who dressed himself, and...yeah.
For ten seconds the room is nothing but awkward silence.
...dude, that's, uh...man, I dunno what to say.
*sigh* Yeah, I need to stop trailing off like that. Well, if you need anything else, I'm here, and so's the giant bug dragon.
Darren Selache: Well, uh...thanks for letting us know about...uh, M-FF.
SurfWave warps out, and Darren just lies back down on his bed, eyes wide open, just kinda staring at the ceiling in thought.

---

???: ...I truly am sorry for how your world treated you.
???: You had no part in it. Regardless, I find myself at something of an...impasse.
The red figure looks down at her hand.
???: ...my body is not meant for this world, and without making a choice, I'm living on borrowed time.
???: If I am to live, I am left with using what little unnatural power I have left to either attempt to return to my old home, and risk being outcast again...
???: ...or to throw that life away, attempt to become a being like you, and risk being no more of a misfit in this world...
???: ...
???: ...I suppose ultimately, the choice is up to you, and I won't stop you from making it.
???: But if nothing else, I can suggest that there may be hope for you to be accepted wherever you wish to go.
The smaller figure slowly hovers away, carefully ascending half-broken stairs.
???: ...Robot.ROB?
Robot.ROB: ...yes?
???: You have my thanks.
Robot.ROB: Think nothing of it, Konngara. I simply wished to understand a lost face.
As Robot.ROB leaves, Konngara ponders more, her hand beginning to swirl with energy...

---

(From last post)
(Battle Network 2) BgRedWav220: (Heat) Summons a wave of lava on each row in front of the user, all moving forward one panel at a time.
(All Battle Network games except WS and possibly The Medal Operation) RockCube: (Null, Object) Summons a stone cube in front of the user with 100* HP. Can be pushed by most Wind-attribute attacks for a 200-damage projectile, or destroyed instantly by Break-attribute attacks.

---

*I am unable to find any details on RockCube's HP in any mainline game from BN2 onwards; BN1 is the only game that I know its HP value in.