Part 73: Objection!

So it turns out I just managed to slip my fingers and disable a background layer last update. As everyone else was quick to guess, while it had never occurred to me. A bastion of competence I am not.



Oh lord no. It's everyone's favorite program!



But this is the reason I'm using TenguMan right now. Back in Undernet Zero, there's surely a worthwhile prize behind this cyclone!



Well, I was expecting an awesome chip, I guess. This is still good.



Getting back on track, here's what this scene is supposed to look like! Yuuichiro was doing maintenance at the school.



However, going to bed to start the next chunk of plot can wait. Right in this here square is CircusManEX!



CircusMan gets much, much harder on his higher versions. So naturally, I'm releasing him as a random encounter to up the game's difficulty for me.



His NaviChip uses the infamous Tent Rape attack. Man, compare how I did with CircusMan to all those S-ranks against BlastManSP.



And because we got TenguCross, The Stuffed Toy Zone has new stuff! This zone is quickly becoming my favorite part of the LP due to the challenges it offers. First off, though, let's face the Gregar LinkNavi equivalent to TenguMan: SlashMan!



I will, as usual, offer no details about the scenario or characterization of the Gregar content. In the future, maybe someone else can LP the game.

Anyway, meet SlashMan for real! Everyone thought BeastMan from MMBN3 was supposed to be SlashMan, but nope.



First of all, the Stuffed Toy Zone has a new regular encounter with more enemies you'd normally only run into late in the game.

Nightmare: You could think of these as the old Shadow viruses remade. After a few seconds, that portal will condense into the Nightmare virus, which will begin warping around MegaMan's side of the field and generally being an obstruction. If it corners MegaMan, it will slash with a WideSword. Nightmares, like Shadows, can only be harmed by Sword attacks.

ElementDragon: These come in all 4 primary element varieties. Wood, Aqua, Elec, and Fire. They'll slowly warp around their side of the field, before roaring/oinking (it really sounds like a mix of the two) and disappearing. They'll then charge down one of our columns and into the one behind it in a U shaped attack.

Oh look, I got LifeSword in the first turn.



And now for the rematch against the TestVirus group! The DarkMech has been upgraded to an ElecMech, there's a WoodDragon, and a MuteAnt. MuteAnts blind MegaMan while playing. The TestVirus V2 is still just an immobile HP wall. 1000 HP, no holy panel. Arguably tougher to deal with since the last one was easily dealt with thanks to panel-cracking.



Doop de doo.



Huh, I thought these were only supposed to be awarded from S-ranks. The NeedleArm chip makes our charge shot behave like an AquaNeedle chip. Due to AquaNeedle being an auto-targeting attack, this sounds very useful. And look, it's in V code! Into the folder with ye!



Anyway, continuing on with the plot. The next day at school, Mr. Mach is all fired up (as usual) due to the blackboard having been upgraded the previous day. So he can teach with even more gusto!



There's a reason the game is hammering this into your face. Pay attention!



Unlike Lan here. Amusingly enough, this isn't the blink animation having its usual magic sense of timing. The game is programmed to freeze the blink animation here so Lan's eyes are closed while he dozes off. This is the only time the game does something like that, so it's a nice touch.



MegaMan is not amused.



There's a noise like something pounding metal.



Well, MegaMan can't wake Lan up no matter how much he tries, so this'll go uninvestigated for now.



After class, MegaMan berates Lan like you'd expect.



However, he gets interrupted by something drastic.



It's an email from Lan's mother Haruka. Well, spit it out, MegaMan!



Okay, maybe it's more serious than it looked.



Well, that's certainly a surprise! I don't think anyone expected that one.



Stage 1: Denial.



No point in panicking in this kind of situation. We have to hurry straight home!



And nothing's going to make us pause for an instant!



Well, we all knew we'd be heading back there. Standard for the series, if you visit it, it will need your help in some way.



And yeah, speaking of crime...just what kind of motive would there be here?



Off we go, then!





As you can see, the JudgeTree is especially bad about text spacing due to speaking in all caps.



And here's what the punishment procedure is in the MMBN world, or at least Green Town: hours and hours of electrical torture!



Unlike Blackbeard, Yuuichiro is resigned to his unjust fate and cooperatively follows the SecurityBot.



As you can imagine, this situation is a chaotic mess for Lan and MegaMan. Thankfully, MegaMan is ever the voice of reason.



First of all, let's try and get Prosecutor Ito to help. He knows about the legal system, after all.



Yeah, we only came in at the moment of sentencing after all, we didn't see the actual trial.



The JudgeTree itself identified Yuuichiro as the hacker. Well, that's...evidence of a sort. This situation just got even more suspicious. Ignoring the whole 'conflict of interest' thing! Shouldn't they have brought in another judge, since the Tree was the alleged victim?



At least they have their crooked facts straight.



Ito kind of reminds me of MegaMan Juno due to his perpetually closed eyes and smile. The haircut doesn't help.



And here's why the game kept reminding you about what Yuuichiro was doing the day before!



Right as he was leaving the school. So we know for certain now, as if it wasn't obvious, that Yuuichiro is being framed.



Remember, Prosecutor Ito is a fan of Yuuichiro's. He doesn't exactly WANT all of this to happen.



Welp, that's our mission. Prove Yuuichiro innocent!



Prosecutor Ito will do what he can, in the meanwhile.



First off, let's see if we can't get Mr. Mach as a witness. He was all excited about the blackboard being updated, after all.



Shoot! Mr. Mach was working at the same time. However, that doesn't mean he can't provide us with a useful lead.




There we go. More evidence, even if it's circumstantial at best. Mr. Mach apologizes for not having seen anything.



Remember the crayfish? What in this school sees everything?



The cameras!



We're on a roll here, now we'll be sure to have proof.



Guess again!



And in its place, a virus.



As if that wasn't obvious. Still, this is certainly a problem...