Yep, today is the inevitable Undernet Mission. If you're familiar with the previous two BN titles, you'd know the 8th chapter of the game invariably involves running wild goose chases in and out of cyberworld all for the nefarious and mysterious Undernet that nobody knows anything about...even though Megaman's ripped through the place twice already. It's been renovated again, and full of new mind-numbingly tedious tasks for you to perform. Sure, you may be saying, "Hey, didn;t the last chapter end in the undernet?" Well, this is the OFFICIAL Undernet mission. The last one was just Capcom being too lazy to give Flame his own level. Overall, I'd say this Undernet chapter is slightly less painful than BN2's, but definitely more painful than BN1's. With that in mind, let's get started.

In the transition, we see that Wily didn't JUST need the tetra-codes to complete his mission. He needs to get Alpha from Sci-Lab. I don't suppose Alpha is that thing in SciLab1 that's right out in the open, just blocked by a few doors? I wonder why a flying navi doesn't just go over and around those doors. Ultra Tight Security my ass. Whatever. Wily gives Drillman the job of getting in and out with Alpha.

In the last chapter, Lan was tricked by the WWW into hospitalizing his own father. We now find him right where we'd expect to find him after all that, curled up in a fetal position on his bed for three days straight. After politely turning down some cheering up from Mayl and Yai, he runs into Chaud who's got a proposition for him. Alpha may be awakened and there's one thing that can stop him. A Forbidden Program in the possession of some guy named "S" in the Undernet. Chaud would be happy to go get it himself, but he and Protoman are just too well known as officials in the Undernet. Rrriiight, and Lan and Megaman are just nobodies even after rampaging through the Undernet twice, singlehandedly defeating the WWW and Gospel, and appearing on national television several times for various reasons. Oh well, we have to do this mission for some reason, it might as well be because Lan's so unrecognized. At this point, Lan decides that of all people, he should tell his greatest rival how he unwittingly helped Match. I'm sure Chaud's excited about the idea of getting Lan imprisoned on a more real charge than "Getting In My Way" or "Making Me Look Bad", but he decides to let it go. I guess he really wants Lan to do this mission instead of him, he's probably being chicken. He then suggests you visit you dad in the hospital before giving your decision at the Virus Lab.

Doc Hikari's in the room where Yai was before, when you get there, it turns out he's already got a visitor. It's Sean, AKA: Shoryu Gospel, The Netmafia Kingpin, Big Daddy G, Don Netorio, the G-Spot...okay, I'm getting carried away. Anywho, it seems he's atoning for his sins by going around telling his story to people...um...okay...This is helpful for some exposition anyway. We find out that Wily is the one that got Sean to form Gospel. Wily was also the one to suggest cloning Bass. Interesting. Lan sees this and figures out what he must do. So it's off to Sci-Lab!

Before going there, you might as well do the stuff you'd normally do at the beginning of a chapter. There are new messages on the boards and new jobs at the Sci-Lab. The first row of teacher's lounge desks at school now hides a RegUP1. Tamako has now fully upgraded Metalman, so you can battle him whenever you want as many times as you want to get all his chips. There's a lady hiding behind a pillar on Beach St. that will give you SpinPrpl for finding her. The QuizMaster has appeared behind Ura Inn and you can win an HPMemory from him. The reason you might as well do this stuff now instead of before visiting Dad is because AFTER visiting Dad, the Virus Breeder becomes available, and with it, one more job on the BBS. You can also start hunting down all your virus friends now.

At the Virus Lab, Chaud tells you the Undernet has a system called the Ranking, and "S" is part of it. Chaud gives you the Black Mind program which when equipped basically gives you an Undernetter's scent. Think they're too smart to see cute n' cuddly ol' Megaman as an evil punk just because of some navicust program? Well, you'd be surprised. Head to the Undernet, and once over the thin path while going through Hades Isle, just replace your Press program with BlackMind. There are no tiny walkways in the Undernet you have to worry about. Speaking of Virus Breeding, you can pick up your Swordies while in Undernet 1, so you might as well grab them before going onto UnderSquare. While hunting down Flameman, you probably passed a navi in Undernet 3 blocking the rest of the area. With Blackmind, he'll get out of the way. Once past him, it's just a short walk to UnderSquare.

Check this place out, they've got a message board with some cryptic stuff on it. A chip shop sells some more HPMemories and some other rare chips. There's a Program Shop too you should invest in. You can win 30 BugFrags by playing SimonSays too. Once you're done buying all the crap you want, talk to the navi on the eastern platform to get the info you need. You wanna get ranked, you gotta stand next to the statue. So go to the central platform and let the games begin. Ten other navis will teleport in and the statue will tell you you all gotta fight eachother across the Undernet to even get a chance at being ranked. It's not like you could just sit back, wait until the other ten are done killing eachother and then take on the winner, naw that would be too realistic. Instead, you're the only one moving around, and you gotta find each of these stationary idiots and beat them to come out on top. Might as well get started.

The first 4 are waiting for you just outside the square. Talk to any one of them to initiate a 4-round battle against them their virus bombs. In the Blue version, you fight 2 Canodumb2 and a Mettool Omega, then 2 Momogra and Shrimpy Omega, then Swordy, Swordy2 and a Canodumb Omega, and finally two Beetles and a Swordy Omega. Don't be too afraid of the Omega class viruses, but get used to them 'cause they show up a lot from now on. Head back to the short path in U-Net1 that connects U-Net2 to U-Net3, (getting confusing yet?) when you get there, fight contestant#5(2 Beetle Omega). Keep backtracking to the greater U-Net2. When you get to two teleporters that are close together, go over the conveyer belt to find the sixth(2 Slimey and a Spiky Omega). Keep going, down the stairs, head right, take the first conveyer belt, and there's number 7 next to the teleporter(2 Mettool2, Ratty Omega). The eighth is at the exit to Undernet1(Mettool Omega, MeteorRod Omega). Back in the greater Undernet1, the next guy is waiting at the top of the middle staircase(MeteorRod Omega, Dominerd Omega). Head down those stairs to find the last guy(Bunny, Yort, Canodumb, all Omega!).

Mysterious Omniscient Statue voice tells you to find Rank#10 "where evil fall". You know what that means, go to hell. I mean, Hades Isle. Not the little bit connected to the Undernet, you'll have to jack-out, go to the Beach, take the boat and jack-in to the console where you fought the first round of the N1. (weee, the wild goose chase has begun) You'll have to re-equip press now. You won't need Black Mind when talking to the Ranked navis for some reason. Take the right thin path upon entering, then the conveyer belt, then go up. An eerie looking cloaked navi awaits you. You'll have to fight a Snowblow Omega backed up by a Trumpy. Not too difficult, but you still get special boss music for some reason. Afterwards, he gives you Rank10 and a nice "Current Ranking" window will pop up in the upper-right corner in case you forget at some point. He leaves, forgetting to give you the hint to find Rank9.

So what next? As if on cue, you get an e-mail from Mayl. Apparently, Roll is suddenly lost in ZooArea2. Also, Roll has taken to calling you "kiddo". Hmmm, suspicious much? It's not like it could be anyone from the Undernet, Lan and Megaman are just too unknown there, how could they know to use Mayl and Roll to trick him? The answer? It IS a trap from the four guys you trounced in Undernet 3, and Capcom just can't keep their facts straight. It also means we have to walk into this trap to progress the story, and drag on this lousy mission even more. Jackout, go to the Zoo, Jackin, Go to ZooArea2, not far in, you'll be ambushed. It's a four round battle.(1: Viney and 2 Canodumb3, 2: Gloomer and 2 Ratty2, 3: EleSphere and 2 Shrimpy3 4: MegaBunny, Geetle, Trumpy Omega).

Once they finally learn their lesson, you'll conveniently get an e-mail from the old #10 giving your next hint. "Where Science gives Life" That could apply to just about anything in this world where people would make their navis breathe for them if they could, but specifically, we're talking about the Hospital. If you jack-in to the tree of life and head to the right, you'd see a green navi looking to a separate platform where another cloked guy is floating. green guy mentions the weird one came in from beach area. Remember HospCode that Mamoru gave you in the previous chapter? This is what it's for. Head to Beach1 and unlock the security cube if you haven't already. Go through the teleporter and wind up in the hospital net. Rank#9 sympathizes with me and speeds things up by skipping the battle part and handing over the Rank.

Your next clue is Rednu3. Oh gee, that's cryptic, how can I ever crack that complex code? Lame clue aside, head to Undernet3, the same place where Flameman was hanging out before. There's another cloaked guy here, but surprise, it's actually Beastman! I certainly didn't see that one coming. How the hell does a navi like Beastman wear a disquise like that anyway?

WWW Navi Battle: Beastman.exe Beta
HP= 900
Speed= quick
Defense= low
Movement= random teleport
Attacks= sideswipe(60), pounce-slash(60), savage beast(60x3)

If you've already fought this guy in Lan's doghouse, he shouldn't be too hard. Good chips are Slasher to guard against those unpredictable pounce slash attacks, and Gutsman will make his own speed and mobility work against him, confining him to a single, easily targeted panel quickly. If you're Heat Style, use LavaStage and he won't even be able to get an attack off, every time he moves he'll step on lava.

Turns out Inukai and Beastman were trying to get the Forbidden Program so it couldn't be used against Alpha. So much for that. Beast Jacks Out and Megaman picks up the Rank8 he dropped. The former Rank8 will then come in and tell you the next clue, but he'll also attack you, because he's stupid and doesn't realize that he can't beat the guy that beat the guy that beat himself.(Spikey, Spikey2 and Fishy Omega)

"Head of Learning", sounds like the Principals PC. Go to school, Jack-in, and as you reach the end of the first area, you might as well capture the KillerEye Virus family here, gotta catch 'em all! Once in the second area, head to the southwest corner to find the next mysterious cloaked guy. This guy doesn't want to fight either. Worse. He sends you on a quest to find "one of many birds". Oy. Jack-out, go to Mamoru's room in the hospital, and pick up an origami bird from the wall next to the bed. Head all the way back to ol' 007 and he'll hand over the rank. Seems the guy that values intelligence over strength isn't too bright though, and he's forgotten the clue to find #6. As if on cue, you get an e-mail from Chaud telling you to head to ACDC Square.

Too bad Dex's house is locked or you could use his shortcut. Instead, go through Yai's PC. At the Square, check the left board. It seems Rank#3 is already interested in you. Bottom of the slope in Undernet 4. Great! The journey suddenly seems a little less ridiculously long! Undernet 4 was blocked off before by a navi in Undernet 2 that didn't think you were strong enough. He'll let you by now. If you haven't found this guy before, go left after entering Under2, go straight at the next fork, ignoring the path that leads to the staircase, then step on the next conveyer belt you see. Go through the teleporter here. Follow the path, ignoring the first conveyer belt, but step on the second. Go up at the next fork and there's the exit to Under4. Once in here, the path will split again. The meeting place is left, but good optional stuff lies on the right path. Plantman Alpha hides at a dead end along this path, it's about time you got a chance to get his chip. Further on through a teleporter is a Speed+1 program, Go on through to Undernet 5 where Desertman's Cube guards a SandStage C. Go back and take the left path, you can pick up a Recov200 N along the way. You'll eventually come by a security cube locked by Beastman. Oddly enough, this one never opens for me on the first time even if I beat Beastman in the doghouse plenty of times, I think fighting Beastman as Rank#8 resets the damn thing so you have to track him down in the doghouse again. Marvelous. Further on, you'll find a Netdealer you can get some more HPMemory and rare chips from. Your meeting place is at the bottom of the staircase at the next fork. If you keep going around to behind the pillar, you can find the "Hidden Demon" who'll tell you an Error Code if you have Black Mind equipped. Just make a full circle to get back to the staircase. As you may have expected, it's a trap. 3 nasty navis will teleport in and throw a boulder at you, but Gutsman pops in at the nick of time to save you. Dex came back just to cheer you up. Aww, how sweet. Apparently he wasn't slacking off when he said he'd train hard, 'cause he deletes the three jerks with a single hammer. Well, Dex and Lan have some stuff to catch up on, so Gutsman jacks out..then jacks back in. Ah, hold the phone, it's actually the Copyman you may have heard about at UnderSquare. He's Rank#3, the three others were his cronies, 4, 5, and 6. Now he's using the power of the guy that knocked them all out with one blow. Sounds challenging? Even though it's just Loser McGutsman? Possibly.

Ranked Navi Battle: Copyman.exe (Gutsman Beta)
HP= 900
Speed= medium
Defense= high
Movement= random teleport
Attacks= Hammerwave(100), Area Crack(100), Rocket Punch(150), Zeta Punch(150x17?)

He's got some powerful attacks, and if he uses area crack twice you can be pretty screwed. You may wanna pack some repair or terrain chips. He uses Z-Punch after the battle drags on for a while. You'll see it coming when he starts teleporting very rapidly. He'll then start tossing Rocket Punch after Rocket Punch at you while invincible. Unlike YOUR Z-Punch PA which gives you 5 seconds to work with, Guts's version lasts quite a bit longer, it'll annihilate you if he just used Area Crack twice before using Z-Punch, so watch out. Still, his HP isn't that high, if you're quick you won't have to worry about it.

Copyman accepts defeat and gives you your rank and clue. Then he leaves, so you jack-out too. The penultimate ranked navi hides at a "place of battle", that's gotta be the vaguest clue ever. That applies to pretty much every place in the game. Well, it specifically means the battle console on the DNN stage, so head to the beach, into the building, jack-in, and head northeast. Rank#2 waits there. This is where Blue and White versions differ greatly. If you're playing the White version, you'll face Mistman, if Blue, you face Bowlman. Freaky alternate dimension stuff, I guess. Though I have experience with both navis, I'm writing this while playing the Blue Rom, so I won't have any stat values for Mistman's bio. Here goes.

Ranked Navi Battle White Version: Mistman.exe
HP= (unknown)
Speed= medium
Defense= medium
Movement= random teleport, but never enters the leftmost column
Attacks= MistDash(??), Poison Mist(poison effect), GustPunch(??), Soul Gang(paralyzing effect)

Your target is the lamp, which hops around like silly. When lined up with you, Mistman will charge out and dash at you, and after a while the lamp will stop an a puff of smoke will come out, then Poison Mist will start, which makes a bunch of poison clouds appear in your area that move back and forth in the row. If one of these clouds is in front or behind you, Mist will pop up from it and punch you. A good way to avoid the troublesome PoisonMist is to hit the lamp hard just as that puff of smoke preceeding PoisMist appears, it'll stun him and cancel the attack. SoulGang will show up once he's been weakened, and two ghosts will try to hold you in place for Mistman's own attacks, not too much to worry about.

Ranked Navi Battle Blue Version: Bowlman.exe
HP= 1000
Speed= medium
Defense= medium
Movement= strategic teleport
Attacks= Pin Cannon(40x15), Pin Set(40), Strike!(40)

It's can be hard to dodge the Pin Cannon. There are openings to step through, but it gets hard to keep up the pattern for a while. You can also shoot the pins as they fly at you, but that just knocks them off course and they may still land on you. After a couple rounds of that, he makes three pins pop up randomly in your area, though you can guarantee at least one will try to pop up underneath your feet. He'll then start rolling bowling balls at you. Pins hit by balls will fly up and try to land on you, beware. You can use holes to stop the bowling balls, but you still gotta watch out for those pesky pins. You get 2000 Z as a prize.

Afterwards, Mist/Bowl finally tells you that "S" is really a navi called Serenade. He also repeats what every damn ranked navi has told you so far. Stay away from him, he's too powerful, you can't begin to fathom his awesome, spectacular, fantabulous powers, you should be quaking in your boots, blah blah blah blah blah. I GET IT!!! He's frackin' strong! Just tell me where to get the Forbidden Program so I can get this mission over with! He then gives you Rank 2 and tells you Serenade can be found in the Undernet's server, hidden behind a boulder in the real world. Alright.

Before leaving, you can battle this guy again. It's the exact same battle, you can win another 2000 Z. This is just the official optional V1 battle. Jack-out when you're done and head to the bath at Ura-Inn. Some jars that were stacked at the right end of the room before are now gone, and going past that point will reveal a new door hidden in the rocks. I wouldn't call it a "boulder", but it's not like any of these clues were great. The Secret Cave down there has the Undernet's server alright. In cutscene mode, Megaman jacks in, finds himself behind the statue in UnderSquare, and is greeted by Serenade (well, Serenade's voice, anyway). Apparently, only a chosen one can use the Forbidden Program. When Megaman grabs the program, he'll either be a chosen one, or he'll be frozen for all eternity. Hmm, tough choice. Not much for thinking things through, Megaman just grabs the thing, and after a very suspenseful several seconds, it flares up in blue flame, indicating Megaman is chosen. You now get Giga Freeze, a program capable of freezing the entire internet. Probably made by Microsoft.

After jacking out, Lan is greeted by the admin of the Undernet Server. It's Mamoru! Ah, that makes sense. No wait, it's so unexpected my head explode. Mamoru explains that the Undernet was actually made by his father, a Sci-Lab scientist. (There's a bit of a hint in the japanese version, since the Undernet is known as "Ura Internet" there, and if you read the nameplate on Mamoru's door at the hospital, you'd see his last name is Ura.) Since Giga-Freeze could freeze the whole net, they had it stored deep in the Undernet so an accident would be isolated there. The fact that criminals hang out there was just because it WAS isolated from the regular net. Turns out Sci-Lab created Alpha too...

Before you can get any more info, a siren starts blaring from nowhere and we switch to Sci-Lab1, where we see Drillman using the TetraCodes to break through Alpha's awesome security. He escapes through a hole in space. Waitaminute, Drillman can make holes in space to transport, why didn't he just drill directly onto the platform without using the tetra codes? Ugh, of course he coulda always flown around the doors too, aw hell, no use trying to make sense any more.

Finally back in control of Lan, you can jack back into the server for a moment and learn more about the big hole there. Apparently holding a start and knowing 100 fragments of power will get you into the sacred land, keep that in mind for later. Now go to Sci-Lab, jack in, and head to the spot where Alpha was. It seems all the officials are cowards that won't go in the hole, but they're happy to ask YOU to go through. You'll ebd up in Undernet 5. This hole remains for the rest of the game, so it's a handy shortcut to the Undernet. Follow the path to the right, veer off onto the dead-end underneath the staircase you see right away and search around for an HPMemory. Then keep going, ignore the exit to Undernet 6, then when you reach a staircase and a conveyer belt, take the conveyer belt and take the path in the southeast. At the end of this path you can find Flameman Alpha, so beat him and get his chip if you want. Then take the conveyer belt, and the northwest path right next to it. Keep going straight until the path spilts again, take the left path. You'll eventually wind up at Drillman, who really should be heading back to Wily's instead of standing around there, huh?

WWW Boss Battle: Drillman.exe
HP= 600
Speed= fast
Defense= high
Movement= shoots straight into the sky then goes into attack mode. Returns to the ground momentarily when hurt or stunned.
Attacks= Drill Missile(80), Drill Spread(80x a lot), Subterranean Strike(80), Rockfall(60)

His HP may be low, but that's because he's hard to hit. He never stays still. It's also hard to hit mim directly since whenever he appears he's behind his Drill. Shockwave type attacks can get through this. A really helpful chip is Slasher, just press and hold the A button as he begins his attack and you can hit him with your eyes closed. You still gotta look out for his other drills though. Subterranean Strike is a 2-stage attack, he first drills up from 3 random panels in your area, though one will be under you. The panels he goes through turn into holes. Rocks then fall onto 3 more panels, but again, one is meant for you. The rocks are slightly weaker though. Drill Spread is when 3 space-holes open up simultaneously in his area and each shoots Drill Missiles repeatedly at you. You can stop this attack if you find out which hole Drillman is hiding behind. Shoot each one with your buster and the one that sounds like it's taking damage is the one. Hit that hole with a strong chip to knock Drillman out of the attack. You get 4000Z for winning.

Now that Drill's gone, you can just pick up Alpha and leave, right? Oh crap, it's Bass again. Megaman uses GigaFreeze in a moment of desperation...but Bass is a chosen one too and he catches it and dispels it. So guess what? The whole mission to find GigaFreeze was a big, fat, stinking waste of time, you know, besides advancing the plot and stuff. I can still bang my head against the desk in frustration though. *BANG* Oww...

Bass leaves and your mission is a failure. What good fun this chapter was! Well, just because this mission sucked doesn't mean it's all lost. The final chapter is upon us, and it's a whole lot more satisfying. Onward then, to the final battle! Until the secret mission...and until the next game...