Evil Empress Roll! (Part 2)

'''Evil Empress Roll! Part 2 '''(Horror! Devil Chip! in Japan) is the 22nd episode (19th in the dub) episode of the MegaMan NT Warrior anime.

Summary
''In the previous episode, heroes Lan, Maylu, Megaman, and Roll go up against World Three's Maddy, Mr. Match, Wackoman, and Torchman in the N1 Grand Prix. But little do our heroes know that they only got the Lucky Loser Wild Card because Yahoot ensured their entry with his plan. Disguised as Higsby, he gave Maylu a "Super Great White Angel" Chip which was actually a corruption chip! As expected, Lan, Maylu, Megaman, and Roll started out strong, but the second Maylu downloaded the corrupt chip into her PET, Roll became evil and turned against Megaman! And she sided with World Three, as Count Zap was controlling her via his mutant guitar!''

On a side note - before the match started, based on Lan's words, he and his NetNavi partner are finally getting close to perfecting the Program Advance...

Picking up where we left off, Megaman is struggling to free Roll from her corruption without killing her. Ms. Mari can't watch another second of it, and Maysa asks her students sitting with them about the problem. Yai then recalls Higsby (who was Yahoot in disguise) giving the "Super Great White Angel Chip" to Maylu. The trio is furious and decides to go find Higsby.

After they leave, Maysa encourages Lan and Maylu to keep fighting while Yai, Tory, and Dex "find the varmint that turned Roll rotten." While that happens, Yahoot makes his escape from Ribitta. Then, Yai, Tory, and Dex catch Yahoot removing his Higsby skin mask and he runs off. Tory suggested to report it to the judges, but Yai instead suggests they find Roll's puppet master. Glyde volunteers to help by teaming up with Iceman and Gutsman and locating the rouge datastream that's required to dominate Roll.

Torchman and Wackoman keep attacking Megaman. He tries to strike back, but Roll keeps getting in the way of fire.Maylu then suggests the unthinkable and unwilling: to attack her NetNavi! She knows that Roll's dark actions caused by the corrupt chip are beneath the real Roll her friends know, care, and respect. Lan neglects to harm Roll. Megaman also refuses to hurt his crush, but his feelings for her are a weakness in this battle.

Sal and Miyu arrive at some point during the match and converse in the audience. Sal is growing doubts and fears that Megaman's only way out is to attack Roll. But Miyu knows Lan is strong-hearted and quick-thinking at the same time. She and Maysa keep believing in the boy.

Remembering Maysa's words of encouragement helped Lan come up with another solution: use Area Steals and other methods of evasive action to buy them time until the one behind Roll's corruption is found and stopped. But as Maysa said to himself, that strategy won't work for long.

Glyde, Gutsman, and Iceman eventually find the rouge datastream. At the same time, Wackoman and Torchman try to corner Megaman "ring-around-the-rosies" style. Unfortunately, that hilariously backfired. Torchman blasted Wackoman by accident; then the two of them battle each other while their NetOps argue with each other as well. Torchman and Wackoman create an area of smoke around them, which gives Megaman a fighting chance. He quickly strikes Wackoman out of the competition. "Later, Joker."

As the smoke clears up Torchman reappears into the scene after a brief moment of hiding, along with Roll. Maylu tries to get Roll to come to her senses as she bursts into tears and heartache. Megaman also tries to get her to remember who she really is - as he told her, "someone who's kind, brave, and strong... someone who has friends who want her back to the way she was before this whole mess happened."

Roll was finally coming to her senses...

Or so they thought. Roll bamboozled Megaman! She was still under the chip's control! Yai, Tory, and Dex finally find Count Zap and the boys try to stop him from making his getaway on his hot-air balloon, but they fail and crash into the men's room. The good news: their landing also woke up the real Higsby.

He walks over to Maylu and Lan. Upon his arrival, he was immediately confused. Maylu accused him for the rare chip that caused Roll to betray her teammates. But Higsby stated he would choose selling his Chip Shop over giving away a rare chip any day. Higsby has a brief look at Maylu's PET and immediately says it's not a good sign. He tells the kids that the chip is a twisted chip that turns a NetNavi into a being of intense evil; it also lets that NetNavi be controlled by another NetOp. Hisgby then told them to use a Cyclone chip to free Roll and eject the evil chip, leaving the kids surprised as they thought it was more complex.

Torchman tries to burn Megaman, but Maylu quickly inserts a Cyclone chip and the twisted chip breaks as it hits the floor. Roll regains her true form and feelings and sends Torchman flying out of the tournament. Megaman and Roll win the match!

Overseas, Count Zap finds out he no longer has control over Roll. Suddenly, Maysa appears as Commander Beef and teaches him a lesson. He sends a fish skeleton towards Count Zap's hot-air balloon. Count Zap vowed payback once he returns to shore.

Roll asks for forgiveness, but before her hero can respond she passes out. She's about to fall, but Megaman immediately catches her. Higsby tells Lan and Maylu that being out of the twisted chip's seducing left Roll worn out. So for Roll's sake, Higsby recommended Maylu that she and Roll drop out of the competition so she can recover. Maylu feels a bit sad, but Lan volunteers himself and Megaman to battle in Roll's honor until she was better. Maylu likes the idea and thanks him.

Next up, it's Chaud's turn. Protoman defeats his opponents, but he also defeats his NetNavi partner on purpose in hopes of the duo teaming up with Lan and Megaman in the next match and then taking him on in the final match.

(N1 Grand Prix Arc: to be continued...)

Trivia and Changes in the Dub

 * The twisted chip is considered to be a prototype of the Dark Chip that would be introduced in the Axess season.


 * This episode was greatly edited for the dubbed version since the original version had some errors in the animation.


 * In the Japanese version, the twisted chip is called the Devil Chip but was renamed to avoid obvious conflicts. Also, Higsby said inserting any chip would've freed Roll; and Maylu uses the Cyclone. In the English version, the Cyclone Chip was the specific remedy.
 * In the Japanese version, Mr. Match called Meddy middle-aged (oba-san). In the English version, Meddy called him "dog breath" and Mr. Match said he'd rather smell like one than look like one. That was changed in the Latin Spanish version, where Meddy called Mr. Match a chimpanzee and Mr. Match called Meddy a witch.