Annihilation

A distant crackling hiss drifted down from the sky as it flashed rapidly in a haze-covered noise pattern. The occasional colored flash briefly illuminated the dilapidated soot-covered walkways suspended over an inky void. Twisted shapes darted between the shadows on these forsaken platforms, and ghostly cries echoed across the seemingly endless expanse of ruin and decay. There were few netnavis foolhardy enough to venture into this corner of the Undernet...

"No - look out! There's more coming from the rear!"

"Log out! Log out!"

"Wait! We've come too far! We're close, I can taste it!"

...Without good incentive, at least.

"V5, I'm sending Flameline3, target those spiders, quick!"

A white Normal Navi stuck out like a sore thumb in the smokey depths. He was thrashing madly to get the Arachy viruses away from him. He began to wave the flame-throwing weapon around haphazardly as soon as he received it, incinerating some of the oversized arachnids.

A blue navi of the same design backed away from the flames while firing quick charged-shots at the Dragrit viruses dancing around them. "Hey, watch it! I've got enough fire to worry about from these seahorse things! Geyser!"

A stream of water burst from a hole, clearing away many of the fierce creatures that plagued the embattled pair of netbattlers. The two navis that remained of a once-formidable party gave everything they had to finish off the predators and gain themselves another moment of respite.

"Good job, guys. You've earned some FullEnergy for that." One of the operators praised his soldiers.

The navis were not so upbeat. The V5 was still shivering from the sensation of giant spiders crawling over him. "Hurgh. The loot we pick up in this place had better be worth at least twice the value of all the SubChips we've wasted here! If I ever get my hands on the midget that sent us here, I'm going to shove that dumb fedora of his right up hi-"

"Well, we've already racked up a lot of Zenny and some rare chips. I'd say we've got enough for one day..." The A-Type interjected nervously.

"That little navi said there were PowerUp packets around here." The A-type's operator said. "We can get the Zenny anywhere or buy the chips, but do you know how hard it is to find a PowerUp these days? The companies don't sell them any more because they wanna push their stupid NaviCust blocks. You guys aren't leaving until you find those PMDs or the viruses delete you, whichever comes first!"

"Heads up champs, there's more incoming." The V5's operator warned.

The navis braced themselves and looked around, but there were no viruses in sight, only the dust-covered rubble of their previous battleground. Although with every flash from the overhead static, the shadows were placed slightly different, almost like the ground itself was shifting around them.

"Craaap, this better not be more of those Sunorm things." The A-Type muttered.

"With our luck it's probably a NightmareSP. I hope you still have some swords left, boss."

Just then the ground dipped beneath the startled navis. A whirlpool of dust had formed under their feet. With the aid of some DoubleJump chips, the highly-skilled and upgraded models escaped from the trap and targeted the swirling vortex with a Magnum and Quake. Upon impact they heard a strange sound in response, like a living thing growling in pain and anger, but not like any virus they had ever heard, and definitely not human-like enough to be a navi. What followed sounded to the duo like an alien language.

"Zshzshhashhrrcchrr zzrachh hrrash krurruszh!"

"W-w-what was that!?" The A-Type trembled.

The V5 was stricken cold. "Don't ask me how...but it sounded to me like...'lost chance...no pain...?"

"Rrrraaaaahhhhhhh..."

The navis spun around. The sound came from a different unnatural voice, and this one they could see. A round figure sat in the middle of a raging inferno that was quickly surrounding them.

"That's no virus! Send me everything we got!" The A-Type pleaded to his operator and received a BubbleSpread Advance mere seconds later. The V5 pulled out a LifeSword alongside him. Valiantly, they charged into the flames.

Before the operators could prepare their next transmission, the horrific sounds of their navis' screams pierced through the speakers of their PETs, and moments later, utter silence. The connection was lost, along with the two navis.

The humans could do little but stare in shock at their blank screens.

* * *

In a more hospitable area of the net, a less menacing conflict was taking place.

"You can't do this to me, I didn't do anything!" A panicking orange normal navi screamed, edging his back as far into the corner of the room as a large drill spun dangerously close to his head.

"Is that so?" A raspy voice from the other side of the drill responded in mock ignorance. "Sorry then, I guess I just singled you out because an orange navi was recorded at all twelve of the stores hit yesterday, and you happened to be an orange navi at the last five today. Including this one."

Drillman gestured his other drill arm behind him towards the counter of the square's chip vendor where the clerk and some customers stared transfixed at the spectacle taking place in the small shop. Another custom navi in green and black was attempting to herd the lolygaggers outside while her associate handled the sole suspect.

The orange navi started to grow irate. "What do you mean 'this one'!? I just made my purchase a minute ago, you couldn't identify copied zenny right away!"

Drillman nodded. "Right, it usually takes a while to run the registry check, but thanks to you that won't be necessary now."

"What's that mean?!"

"It means you basically confessed. You're the first one to mention the counterfeiting you're suspected of."

The navi's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in rage. "That's not-...Why you-...Damnit! Now what!?"

Overdrive, having finished evacuating the room, stepped over to Drillman's side and answered his question with a smirk. "Now you tell us where your operator is proxying from so our operators can go arrest him...or my partner digs in."

Drillman snickered and inched his weapon a little closer to his captive's face to emphasize the point.

"Grr...you can't make me talk! Go ahead and delete me, I'll just end up back in my PET and we'll escape anyway!"

Overdrive wagged her finger and shook her head. "Afraid not. For the same reason you can't jack out right now even though you've been trying. Our ops have already contacted this system's admin and got them to block all transmissions in and out of this building."

Drillman reiterated with a more sinister tone. "When I gore you, your data isn't going anywhere except all over these walls. No getting backup from that fall."

The suspect whimpered like he was just grasping the concept of "deleted" for the first time. "D-don't do it! I'll tell you, he's not far. He's in the cyber-caf� at...hold on, if transmissions are blocked, then none of us can get battlechips, right?"

Drillman scoffed. "Yeah, but that's more of a problem for you than us. My primary is spinning in front of your face right now, she's got a sword she can draw really fast, and as a Normal, all you got is that crappy buster on your arm that you can't even point at us."

The orange navi was unsettlingly calm once again and even chuckled a bit. "Stupid cops. What do you think I was buying in a chip store with a small fortune in illegally duped credits?"

The navi didn't even have to move as he activated the chip data he was holding. Then the room came alive. The store counter, the display shelves, the clerk's stool, and numerous boxes all lifted into the air and hurtled at the shocked Officials.

"Poltergeist! Damn!" Overdrive cursed. She used her enhanced speed to zip between the heavy projectiles until a box caught her off guard from behind and struck her dead on. Drillman couldn't dodge even if he tried so he tried to destroy the objects before they collided with him with the drills on his arms and head.

While his opponents were focused on the sudden barrage, the culprit slipped around Drillman and dashed for the door. Overdrive was just picking herself up when she noticed him about to escape. "No! If gets outside, he can just log out!"

The orange navi cackled. "You should be so lucky, bitch! For threatening me, I'll show you what my new collection can do! Give me the best, boss!"

By the time the Poltergeist attack was over, the Official navis had no time to follow their suspect outside before he activated a Meteor Shower from outside the confines of their own carefully laid trap. Multiple flaming rocks bombarded the shop's exterior, reducing it to pixellated rubble.

It was only a few seconds before a spot on the surface of the wreckage erupted and a small tank with drills forced its way to the top. As it transformed back into the figure of Drillman, Overdrive leapt out from the hole it made. Both navis prepared themselves against the increasingly confident criminal.

"Heh, you pigs had no idea who you were messing with! BigWave!"

The Officials braced themselves, but the orange Normal tripped over himself and no attack came.

"Whaddaya waiting for boss? BIGWAVE!...Boss?"

"...Take him out, now." Drillman said with some strain. Overdrive was taken off-guard by the command, but it was said with enough deciciveness that she found herself dashing in to attack without hesitation. The navi didn't even see her coming until after the sword sliced through his midsection. His face was frozen in surprise as his top half toppled to the ground and his lower half crumpled. The two pieces burst into fading colored dots seconds later.

The deed done, Overdrive grimaced and shot a glare at the exhausted Drillman. "What good did that do? Now he just lost the perp!"

Drillman was bent over. The new upgrade attachments to his armor seemed to weigh him down, but he was really just overtaxed from the quick succession of strong attacks. "I...don't think it's a problem...Moe?"

"Yeah, we got him. You two can jack out now."

Out in the real world Cyber-Caf� in downtown Helsinki, Moe Fortis was putting a seedy man in handcuffs and Tricia Oscar was unplugging his PET from the terminal he had just been sitting at. "Your navi stopped himself before he could give away your exact location, but lucky for us, 'nearby caf�' was all the hint we needed." Tricia casually explained as she dropped the PET into an evidence bag and fastened it.

"Even luckier we were in the right area to begin with." Moe droned with little enthusiasm. "But I guess this guy's stupidity helped. All the stores he used his copied zenny in were quickly accessible from ports in this town, so narrowing down the search was pretty easy in retrospect."

Drillman's voice groaned from Moe's PET. "Fat lotta help we were in there. Can't believe I let that punk get the drop on us."

"Don't worry about it. We got the guy, so you did well enough." Moe reassured his navi. He rubbed his neck in discomfort, loosening the high collar of the Official uniform he was wearing. He felt about as good as Drillman did after that long day. Neither of them were yet used to their new outfits.

Later that evening, the netcriminals were in custody at the local Official Center, and Moe and Tricia were officially off duty. The two young law-enforcement officers sat in the quiet Center lounge and refelcted on their journey thus far.

"Seems your navi forgot who was the senior officer out in the field today." Tricia remarked.

"Oh? Sorry, I didn't notice..." Moe mumbled, half-interested.

"Seems while we were nabbing the operator, Drillman gave Overdrive an order to delete the navi." Tricia recollected. "It was the right move, she admits, but she's pretty annoyed that her deputy was the one to suggest it."

Moe didn't even look over. "Oh. Well he might as well have suggested it. Overdrive may be fast on her feet but she can be slow on the uptake."

The insult to her navi took Tricia aback. "Tsk! You're lucky she's in sleep mode right now, if she heard that you'd really be in trouble."

"Eh, sorry. I'm just a little disappointed. I almost thought this lead was going to have something to do with...him." Moe clutched his recently healed arm wound at the thought.

"Oh right." Tricia leaned back and sighed. She felt sorry for what her friend had gone through, but his single-minded desire to track down the one responsible was getting to be a downer, not that she remembered Moe as much of anything else. "Well, this counterfeiting case could have gone on longer. You're lucky you only lost two days. Now you can continue the real search. Bringing the fugitive 'Blackbelt' to justice is still a highly-ranked Official mission and thanks to you, our unit is assigned to it. So we might as well put our all into completing it!"

Moe looked up and a smile appeared on his tattooed face for the first time all day. "Heh, thanks. You know I really feel like it's my cross to bear, but I appreciate all the help I can get." He skimmed through his notes on his PET, nodding. "I think we should transfer to New Mexico next. I want to follow up on the reports of chess-themed navis spotted around the area's networks."

Tricia was a tad incredulous. "Weren't there at least three different areas with such sightings?"

"Well, the ones in west Electopia check out at least. That's the original Kingman with his legit operator. The two uncorroborating strings in Netopia have me concerned, but might as well start with one of them. Fifty-fifty chance of running into Sam's Kingman, I figure."

The young woman shrugged. She didn't mind the excuse to travel. "Well, don't forget to follow up on the Acid Hacker angle either. There's a good chance he sided with them after all."

"I'd love to, if only there were more evidence of AH activity. If they're still around, they're sure laying low. I'm meeting with another Official tomorrow who's been investigating them. I think his name is 'Smith'. Maybe he can help narrow the field."

A brief beeping noise came from Tricia's PET as they were talking. She took it out to check her inbox and shook her head upon noticing the message she just received. Moe didn't like where it was going. "Another mission? Already?"

Tricia frowned. "Undernet business. Just came up. Navis are going missing right in our back yard. We'll have to start investigating tomorrow."

"Typical." Moe lifted himself up and stretched out. "Well at least it's tomorrow, because I am finished for tonight. See you in the morning." He waved his partner as he began to head for the guest barracks. She got up shortly after and followed suit.

"Yeah, we'd better rest up. I have a feeling things are going to get real busy from now on."

* * *

On the outskirts of a western Ameropean network, a lone small navi wandered about icy blue passageways heedless of the dangerous terrain. There was a Net Square high off in the distance, covered by a misty haze in the white sky. Most of the online visitors to this area were concentrated there, where things were safe and warm, but this one was headed in the opposite direction against her better judgement.

"Are you sure you're headed the right way?" The curious voice of the navi's operator rang in when she noticed her partner did not seem to be making any progress with their mission.

"Hey, you're the one who can see the PET's compass. Am I in the north side of the area or not?" The little navi responded with a carefree tone.

"Y-yeah...but I have a bad feeling all of a sudden. You didn't just get lost on purpose so you could play in the snow, did you?"

"'Course not!" The girl in the parka asserted while quietly brushing out a picture drawn below her with her boots. "'Sides, the snow isn't fresh enough, it's all ice around here. At least it seems like the right place for the scavenger hunt."

The girl watching her PET became suddenly upset. "Argh, don't call it that! You make it sound like a game!"

"Well, that's what it is, isn't it?"

"It's a serious Official test! If we don't find the Snowball Data and return it to the proctor with the Riceball, Baseball, and Butterball Data, we'll never get that Maroon License that will let us...um...access the Maroon Level areas and accept the B-Coded missions...and stuff." The operator tried to recall the specifics of their challenge.

"I just don't get why we gotta do this anyway. They already made us Officials, didn't they? We passed the psych evaluation, beat their survival battles, even managed to recite the oath without tripping over our lines. This just feels like a hazing ritual."

"Be that as it may, we're not declining missions lightly. We're going to show everyone which side of the law we're really on someday, aren't we IceChan?"

"Of course, Ku-uh-Hoshiko. I came this far, I'm with you all the way. I'm just saying though, if I get back there and those guys ask me to grab any other 'balls', I quit."

"Right. Just as long as you quit um...lawfully." Hoshiko smiled.

"Lookin' for somethin'? Brrblrbl..."

IceChan yelped and spun towards the sound of the creepy and unexpected voice. It was deep and gutteral while somehow also high and nasal, like two people speaking at once from the same mouth. She stood on a thin, iced-over walkway suspended over the abyss, and the one that approached her was not in front of her or behind here on the path, but floating through the mist from over the edge. He did not quite come into view, but through the white haze Ice could make out a short figure, about the same size as herself, wearing some kind of long garment that hanged below him like a cloak. She didn't like the looks of things at all and pointed an ElemIce cannon at the ominous figure. "Don't try anything buster, you don't wanna find out how much tougher I am than I look!"

"BrgllBlrrglBlrr." The obscured visitor gurgled something like laughter. "Relax toots, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I was just passin' by and I don't see too many other navis roam these parts brgl. If they do, it usually means they're tough, and they're lookin' for somethin' special. Bglrr..."

IceChan eyed the shadowy figure suspiciously. "Um...yeah...I don't think I'm supposed to get help with what I'm looking for, least of all from someone like...you."

"Like me? What, helpful? Glbrll. It just may be that I have what you're lookin' for blrlrlrl." The eerie navi reached a stubby hand into the folds of his coat while glancing around carefully. He pulled something out just far enough that it peeked around his lapel and let a small purple light glow through the thickening mist. "If that thing you're lookin' for is...power?"

Hoshiko's nervous voice interjected. "IceChan, if that chip is what I think it is..."

Ice nodded and shot a cold glare at the pusher. "Shouldn't you remember to ask if we're Officials first? Because you just made a big mistake, pal."

There was the sickening gurlged laugh again. "What does it matter who you are? Everyone could use a little extra power in today's world blluglru. I can tell you think you're strong enough already though. I'm sure you're aware of the Undernet entrance nearby, I think you know where to find me if you change your mind. Bggllrlhhh..." The dark navi then floated backwards into the mist.

"Ohh no, you're coming with me!" The rookie Official finally fired her ElemIce at the retreating figure. She heard the shot connect and could see the stream of bright blue flame flaring against something solid, but the only sound she heard in response from the target was that disgusting laughter fading into the distance.

"We lost him, IceChan, sorry." Hoshiko sighed.

Ice was irritated that she missed her chance to make her first arrest. "Darnit. We may want to omit this encounter when we report back to the Officials."

"Afraid not, we can't be sure this wasn't part of the test! We'll just have to be honest. We did everything by the book, didn't we?"

"Um...I think so. Maybe I should have fired sooner though." IceChan judged herself with uncertainty.

"I don't think it would have mattered. He had some kind of advanced barrier. I'll fix up our folder for next time though. I guess as Officials, we'll have to face creeps like that on a daily basis. Better be ready!"

"Read you loud and clear, Hoshiko! Now I'd better get back to finding that last ball thing..."

As IceChan resumed her appointed search, the fedora-topped Darkchip dealer hovered somewhat dejectedly back towards the Undernet. Then another navi caught his eye from a lower platform. This one was staring right back, expectantly. Spirits raised a little, he floated down to meet the potential customer.

"Well well welllrrlbl. Don't see many Normals around these parts." He greeted the plain-looking Normal Navi that stared back at him blankly. "Now why do I get the impression you're a repeat customer? Blhh blhh bl."

The Normal Navi did not speak, but the frigid female voice of its operator responded in its place. "Cut the small talk twerp, tell me where the Darkchips are."

"Hmmblgl, I like a woman who's direct. Why not try this on for size?" He tossed the Normal Navi the chip he showed to IceChan earlier. The Normal examined it, then tossed it back.

"I'm not interested in samples." The operator stated impassively. "Tell me where I can find what I'm really looking for. I've heard some things about the local Undernet recently and you had better be connected to it."

"You don't mean the disappearences, do you? Why, of course I have nothing to do with that." The sleazy figure stressed unconvincingly. "Though if you're after a real premium stashhhgl, there happens to be a spot in the Undernet known only to yours truly. I could give up the directions for a small price, bllghhglrlrrr."

"Just tell me already." There was no sign of fear or doubt in the woman's voice, only impatience.

Somewhere deep down below, creatures of the dark hungered, and there was at least one person willing to feed them.

* * *

The next day, in a quiet online midwestern suburb, a young boy navi was walking his pet virus when his quiet morning was shattered by a sudden crash right in front of him. The black-furred Spikey crouched down and growled as its owner held it back on its leash and looked ahead in shock at the authoritative visitor that had landed in his path.

Kingman folded his arms and looked at the pair sternly yet calmly. "Are you sure this is the one?" he said to someone approaching the frightened pair from behind.

A female navi came storming up and pointed an accusing finger at the two pinned between her and Kingman. "That's them all right! That awful virus burned my prize garden to ashes with its breath! Delete that nuisance and his awful dog too!" she shouted at Kingman impatiently.

The boy panicked, "Woah! I never saw this lady before!" he stammered at the still-stoic Kingman, then immediately turned to his accuser. "I can't believe you would hire a mercenary over this you old dingbat! It was an accident!"

"He confessed, you heard him! Now do what I'm paying you for!" The woman screamed her orders again.

Kingman held his hands out and spoke softly, "Now just calm down, both of you. I do not think this is a matter to delete anyone over. I am certain we can come to a mutual underst-"

"Just kill the darn dog, Kingman. It'll take two seconds." the voice of King's operator interupted.

Kingman winced in frustration. "Leave me alone. I can handle this. My way."

Nijubu was taken aback. This wasn't the first time his circumstantial partner had expressed that wish, but he was getting more direct and insubordinate every time. The young man was not in the mood for another argument so he just set the PET down on the table and stood up to stretch his legs. If the legless wonder got into trouble, he could get himself out of it, Nijubu thought.

He walked slowly around the bench at the lonely bus station. Out the windows he could see regular people making their way to work on a busy weekday with suits, jackets, briefcases, and everything. He could see his own reflection in the window as well, slumped and aimless, decked out in a wrinkled grey and black outfit with some spiky leather accessories. His face was twisted with annoyance over Kingman's attitude, but as he saw a familiar look on the worthless people rushing past the window, his signature smile slowly crept back. Despite all the things that had happened to him lately, something about the situation felt right.

"Nijubu!...Nijubu!" Kingman called out from the abandoned PET. The reflective operator considered ignoring the cries, but soon gave in and picked up the device in case the navi needed something important.

"Well? What happened?"

Kingman held up a data packet and gave Nibubu a dry look. "I completed the mission. I can jack out now."

Nij was a little surprised. "So you actually deleted the dog like the lady wanted you to?"

Kingman scoffed. "Of course not. Low as I have fallen, I do not waste my strength on mere children and domesticated viruses. Instead, I convinced the boy to do the right thing and donate his time over the next while to help her repair her cyber-garden, as well as neuter the Spikey."

By this point Nijubu had accepted navi-children and even cybernetic flower gardens that were apparently more complicated to maintain than simply activating something like a GrassStage chip, but the passing comment about neutering a virus nearly shut down his brain. "...Huh?"

"The important thing is the client felt compensated in the end, we were paid, justice was served, and there was no needless loss of life." Kingman summarized.

"What about all the puppies the poor dog is never going to have?" Nijubu muttered. He shook his head and jacked Kingman out as suggested, then headed straight out the door and aimed his body towards the nearest convenience store. "Whatever, at least that's over with and I'm never taking a ridiculous mission like that again."

Kingman rolled his eyes from within the PET, holstered to Nij's side. "I figured you would be pleased with this mission. There was nothing you had to do, and you seem fond of doing nothing."

Once again, the smile was lost. He continued to walk down the sidewalk, more briskly and bitterly. "There is a lot I would like to do, you just refuse to help me do it."

"You would have me hack ATMs and steal zennies from innocent navis that would glady pay us willingly if we just help them, like that woman and the other people on the Request BBS."

"Look, I have to eat, and this path of justice of yours is barely covering that requirement! After dealing with that shrill client I fail to see how innocence means they don't deserve to be robbed blind." Nijubu didn't put these feelings to words often, even when he was with the Acid Hackers, but then again the AH rarely provoked him like Sam's navi could.

Kingman was not happy with the arrangement either. He felt bound by servitude, and abandoned by his previous operator. He had no choice but to go with Nijubu, and it was all he could do to struggle to put the boy on the right path, but there was resistance every step of the way. "If you don't like relying on me, you could always find a real job..."

"With 'netcrime' the only thing on my resume? Yeah right."

"Weren't you some kind of bodyguard before that?"

"Can't get any useable references for that, either."

"Well don't just give up so easily. You have potential! Moreso than your former teammates at le-"

Kingman was finally cut off by a forced sleep-mode. Nijubu continued to hold down on the button white-knuckled until his anger faded back to the point of reason and he re-holstered the unwanted hardware. Few operators would use such a feature if they wanted to keep the trust of their partners, but Nijubu knew that was already not an issue.

Alone with his own thoughts once more, he thought about what he really should do, and what he wanted to do. With his departure from the last of the Acid Hackers, he considered finding Cam again, but was still worried about the reaction he would get. His thoughts would constantly jump back to his old teammates. It had been weeks since he parted ways with Jake, and Stuart was long gone. Jeremy and Matt were in hiding and didn't want to be found, and Johnny...Nijubu couldn't stop wishing things didn't end the way they did with him, or with all of them. He had been so close to them for so long. But more than any of the other AH operators, he missed his own navi. Desertman was taken too suddenly, too unfairly. The others chose to break up, but he and Desertman had no choice in the matter.

As Nijubu spent a portion of the zenny Kingman had just earned on sustaining junk food, he wondered why after all these months, that one navi stuck out in his mind and seemed to call out to him? Was he just dwelling needlessly on the tragedy, was it a feeling simply accentuated by his dissatisfaction with Kingman, or was he sensing that his long-lost partner was really still out there? Something told him he would need to figure it out soon.

* * *

In an suburban network of the midwestern hub known as Plains City, another cyber-garden was flourishing on a platform off the beaten path. This garden was no imitation flowerbed, but a miniature virtual jungle with grass, trees, flowers, vines, and other exotic wood-elemental constructs. The sight brought much admiration from passersby on the walkways across from it, but few actual visitors due to the naturally increased presence of KillPlants, Vineys, Shrubbies, and other dangerous wood-type viruses within the vicinity of the natural wonder. It would almost be considered a viral hazard, except the garden's position did not impede traffic, and its groundskeeper kept it from spreading any farther, so the Officials left it alone.

Occasionally, intrepid navis did brave the dense foliage and hidden viruses to visit the garden's interior, and to an outside observer it only seemed like they were seeking to collect rare wood-elemental battlechips, but most often these navis had an ulterior motive.

One such navi, a weary F-type, staggered his way into the center of the platform and looked around desperately, calling out with a raised whisper for the one he expected to be there.

"Yes, hello. Can I help you?"

The F-type was startled to find the groundskeeper standing just a few panels in front of him. This navi unsurprisingly blended into his surroundings, a green and red plant navi with a flower for his head. He turned and looked at his visitor with a gentle expression. "You must have had some trouble getting here, do you need something?" he said, unbothered by the heavy pollen haze or the lurking plant viruses.

The fire-elemental normal navi looked about nervously and rubbed his face with a sniffle. "Uhm, yeah my op read about this place on a BBS. You're Plantman, right? You're good at making plants grow in both worlds?"

"Why yes, correct on both counts. Beautiful work here, no? I wanted to set up a place like this where people could see it, rather than on a homepage navis would never visit." Plantman answered with pride.

"I heard you set it up here so's they couldn't trace it back to your op..."

Plantman gave his visitor a sly look. "Now why would we do that? It's not like we have anything to hide..."

The red navi chuckled a bit. "Yeah whatever. Soo...we hear your op's got...special plants? Is there a place where my op could...uh, purchase some?"

Plantman smiled. "Certainly. Just give me your e-mail address and I will forward you the directions. Our operators can discuss price when they meet."

"My addy!?" The navi was unsure about giving that information out to someone like this.

"I assure you, it will be used in the strictest confidence." Plantman said soothingly. His customer was still nervous about it, but through some combination of the seductive plant navi's charms and the will-eroding effect of the pink pollen saturating the air, he soon surrendered the address and left quickly and quietly. Plantman laughed and relayed the information back to his operator.

Stuart was hard at work in his dimly lit basement, a table with flasks and bunsen burners in front of him, a rack with rows of leafy plants to his side, loosely assembled security monitors to his other side, and a variety of weapons, plastic bags, locked metal boxes, and other supplies behind him. On the nearby desk, his PET hooked to a wireless laptop beeped to alert him of Plantman's customer. He smirked and rolled his chair over to meet his navi. "Well, what do you have?"

"Seems like a genuine customer to me. He had too much trouble getting through the viruses to be an Official." Plantman reported.

"It's not the Officials I'm worried about though. If Black Storm ever figures it out..."

"Well hiding in plain sight seems to be working nicely for now, and we can always relocate quickly if we're found out."

Stuart nodded. "Of course. Hmm, imsohigh999@heatmail.com...a little obvious, worth a background check anyway. Run it then send him the directions to the usual spot, 11:30pm."

Plantman sighed. "Right away Stuart. Things are a lot more...challenging these days, aren't they?"

"Of course." Stuart replied grimly as he wheeled his chair back to his lab table. "Having Black Storm looking for us is much more threatening than the Net Guardians ever were."

"Yes. Plus, we also had some extra help back then...Have you considered searching for the others again?"

Stuart slumped his shoulders and shook his head. "Can't afford it right now. They could be anywhere, and either trying to let them know where I am or tracking them down myself will just make it easier for Black Storm to zero in on me. Maybe when I build up enough funds with our business here or the Black Storm thing dies down...then we can try searching for them."

"Understood." Plantman bowed his head and went to initiate his task. Their business so far had consumed all their time and effort and as traffic increased, they were only getting busier. He quietly wondered how much longer they could hold out like this, and whether their pursuers would arrive at any time to end it even sooner.

* * *

The cold stone hallways of an aged Sharoan citadel were dark and quiet this night, but they merely hid the hospitable light and warmth of one of its modernly renovated inner chambers. The room featured a well-made bed, a closet filled with mostly black and red clothing, shelves with gadgets, trophies, photos and other assorted memorabilia, and a whole wall of computer equipment with the whole building's sole inhabitant drifting asleep in her chair in front of one of the monitors.

Kalinka Cossack was startled awake by the sound of the phone ringing. Fretfully, she answered it, expecting her nightly call from her father at the lab, warning her a bit late of his intentions to put in overtime. She was pleasantly surprised to find an old friend on the other end of the line.

"Hey Kalinka, it's Moe. How are things at home?"

"Moe, good to hear from you." She answered cheerfully, but wearily. "The reconstruction up here is pulling along. Dad and I are both pretty busy, you know."

"Sorry, I hope I'm not interrupting something important then." Moe apologized. He had always been a little nervous about bothering Kalinka back from when she was his boss.

"Not at all. We do need to rest sometimes...though my father needs to be reminded about that a lot. What about you, isn't it early morning there?"

"Yeah, I have a couple assignments to get to today, but one of them...well it almost seemed like a Net Guardian job to me. When was the last time you spoke with David and the others?" Moe asked uneasily, wondering if he was venturing into uncomfortable territory.

The breakup of the team and less-frequent contact didn't seem to bother Kalinka at all though. "Oh, progress reports every week. They've been taking up Request Board jobs that need extra manpower but haven't gotten into anything too serious. What happened? Did the AH finally surface again?"

"Actually, no. When I said this could be a job for them, I was actually thinking of...well I called you first for a reason. You haven't found our extra navi a new operator yet, have you?"

Kalinka came to a small realization and turned a concerned gaze to the purple PET hooked into the charger at the far end of the table. "Ahh, no. I've interviewed a few applicants, but you know her..."

"Scared them all away?"

Kalinka nodded even though Moe couldn't see it. "On purpose, I think. I don't think it's that she misses Adrienne. It's like she would prefer to go solo again, but...I'm not sure I should set her loose like that, there's no telling what she would do."

Moe was surprised by the serious tone. "Huh? It's not like she's a villainess or anything. She was a Net Guardian, you trusted her back then."

"Yeah, that was before I had her in a lab though. I never realized what kind of...thing...she was. She's a Darkloid of some sort, but none of the data we have on them completely matches up with her. She's an abnormality, and I don't know how much of it has to do with the original Darkman or with Adrienne's tampering. One thing's clear though, her powers tie in closely to her personality, just like with other Darkloids on record."

This made Moe's blood run cold. He had always thought of Darklady as a powerful, trustworthy ally. Psychotic maybe, but somehow working with the Net Guardians had led him to view psychosis as mere rambunctiousness. "Well...maybe this isn't the best thing to ask after all..."

"You wanted Darklady to do something for you? What is the mission anyway?"

"Can't say for sure yet. It involves the Undernet, navi disappearances, and in all likelyhood, Dark Chips. Could be a search and rescue or a search and destroy depending on what the investigation turns up, but given the threat of Darkness possession, I thought it would be safer for all involved to conscript her to go in first since she's immune to corrpution."

Kalinka sighed. "That's an interesting way of putting it. Well, she's my responsibility right now, and she's been bugging me to let her out so she can get some action. Send me the coordinates and I'll operate her through the search myself."

"Really? If you're not sure about her, I'm sure Overdrive and Drill would be okay on their own..."

"No, it'll be fine. I've rigged her PET with a forced return function. I'll just call her back if she...gets too carried away."

Moe chuckled. "Well, that should give you all of five minutes if you're lucky. Better hurry. I'll e-mail you the directions now. Let me know what you find in that sector...and I can't belive I'm saying it for Darklady's sake, but be careful."

"Don't worry, I'm not about to lose her before I can find out what makes her tick. Good luck with your missions."

"Thanks Kalinka. Take care."

After they both hung up, Kalinka got up and reached for the sleeping PET, the dormant navi inside seemed to pull at her with its power and intensity, begging for release and battle. The clock on the wall weakly suggested that this task was best set aside until the morning. Kalinka ignored it. She didn't need sleep anyway, she told herself.

* * *

Moe stood up from his chair and started to head for the door. His work had been somewhat dull since both his own comrades and their enemies, the Acid Hackers had dropped off the radar. Still...it didn't mean he wouldn't be needed sooner or later. He was halfway through the door when he heard the phone ring. "Why would anyone be calling this early?" he asked himself while he picked the phone up. "Hello?" He said, only noticing how tired he was when he heard his own half-asleep voice.

"Good, you're still there Moe." a somewhat distorted male voice came from the line. Moe kept on edge, but he was fairly sure he knew who it was. The Official Netbattler called Smith. He figured Smith wasn't really his name. Nobody had seen the guy or even heard his voice unaltered. It seemed odd but Moe just figured he was a shut-in that liked to lay on the melodrama. Moe wasn't about to hang up, but he wasn't sure he'd like what Smith had to say either. He'd heard some...questionable rumors about his Netbattling tactics. Putting his Navi through frequent Darkchip use was one of them.

"It's kinda early Smith, do you need to cancel the meeting?" Moe replied. He was starting to wake up a little. It appeared Drillman was too. He'd been in sleep mode for the past hour or so, waiting with Moe for anything they might be needed for. But now the screen of the PET attached to Moe's leg was lit up. Drillman went to speak, but then remained silent when he noticed that his operator was in the middle of a call. He half hoped that something on the net had imploded, and they'd be needed to go catch some criminal.

"Actually this is the meeting. I don't know what you've been told, but I won't be able to be there in person. Now about the Acid Hackers." Smith said. The tone of his voice made it unclear if he was being serious, or just using the name to get Moe's attention. "It seemed like they'd dropped off the face of the planet. I was starting to wonder if they could run from us forever."

Moe held his breath. Though it wasn't the kind of correspondence he was expecting, it was starting to sound like this was the breakthrough they had been waiting for...

Smith continued. "Maybe not. Our agents actually apprehended one of the Acid Hackers a few days ago." He pointed this out with little enthusiasm.

Moe nearly jumped. "What!? Who!"

"Johnathan...erhm...Funkyhouse." He recalled, showing some uncertainty about the name.

"So...why wasn't I informed?" Moe demanded, feeling somewhat cheated to find out about this now.

"Because he was alone, had no Flameman, and had no idea where the other members were. He quit the team." Smith summarized curtly. "We couldn't even hold him, and the find didn't tell us anything new except that he quit the team. At least we now have more evidence to support the theory that the AH are no longer. I've stepped up on the attempts to track each member individually in case they did break up."

Moe wasn't sure what to make of it. If the AH were no longer a threat, then what was? What about Blackbelt? "I don't get it, if you couldn't hold Johnny, then what are you going to do with the rest of them? What's the point of the search now?"

If Moe could see through the phone, he'd have seen Smith shake his head and give Moe's reasoning a disgusted look. "'Johnny' as you call him was ancillary, there just wasn't enough evidence that he even committed crimes with them. Now if we could get our hands on the actual hackers from the group, like say...Matthew Gemini...then we might have something to convict them on. There's also a better chance that if Blackbelt allied himself with any of the team's remnants, it would be the more competent ones."

If anyone had bothered to look hard enough into Smith's past, then they'd know that odds were he didn't really believe that.

"So you think Matt's the best lead right now?" Moe asked, spirits rising a little. He was eager to catch the rest of the hackers, and he knew Smith would be able to help.

"Well I'm pursuing all options, but...you wouldn't have any more information that could help lead us to him, would you?"

Moe took a few seconds to look through his own files. He didn't think he had anything that this investigator didn't already know, until he noticed the brief on the newest mission he had received last night. The news of navis going missing was accompanied by sightings of people walking around like zombies. Almost as if they were in a trance.

"Maybe, but you're not going to like it." Moe said to the Official. "There's a recent possible MO match in...the Undernet." Saying it sent a chill down Moe's spine. Not because he was afraid of it, but because so much was revolving around that one place latetly. He'd barely gotten off the phone with Kalinka, and now this.

"The Undernet?" Smith's distorted voice asked curiously. "What would he be doing there?"

"Who knows what anyone is doing there? Probably laying low while still trying to gather information on whatever he's working towards now. All I know is he can hypnotize, and there have been sightings of navis in a trance in the area."

Smith was lucky this was a phone call. Moe would probably start to get suspisous of him if he could see the wide grin spread across is face.

"Pacific sector, you need directions?" Moe asked in an almost sarcastic tone. Judging by rumors about Smith, any Undernet was the last place he'd need directions to. He had to be buying those Darkchips he subjected his poor Navi to using somewhere.

"No. I know of a few ways in. I believe the connection you mean is on the edge of the western Ameropean network." Smith said nonchalantly.

"Yeah. I'm sure you do. Alright. Good luck finding...anything." Moe said as he pushed the "end" button on the phone and placed it down in the charger. Now that the call was over, Drillman finally spoke up.

"What was that all about?" He asked, having only heard Moe's side of the call.

"That Smith offical. Acting as odd as they say. He had some interesting news. They found one of the Acid Hackers. He'd broken off from the group and they couldn't charge him though." The thought of one of them getting away with all they'd done would be upsetting at most times. But Moe had other things on his mind. "Anyway... He's looking for Matt. Said he was the best lead on the others."

"Do you believe him?" Drillman asked, noticing Moe's tone.

"Do I believe him..." Moe said, more to himself than Drillman. It was a good question. he supposed if nothing else, he gave him the benifit of the doubt. But he'd see after they were all done in the Undernet.

* * *

When much of the world hears the word "Undernet", the pacific sector is what they think of. Every city on earth had its illegally-run servers and well-hidden access points where the scum of the internet gathered, but only one such area was supported and maintained by the very society its inhabitants abhored. This massive multi-tiered conglomeration of Electopian and Netopian networks represented the lawless international waters between them. Its busiest locations housed the homepages of criminals and filesharing hubs. The deadliest viruses known to navi kind infested every corner of an infrastructure long abandonded by its architects, left to crumble and decline into a hazardous maze of dust and shadows. Somewhere deep within were hidden areas accessible only to a select few, some of these places guarded the greatest secrets of the Network Scilabs. Deeper still, one could find gateways to worlds within the cyberworld such that Scilab never even conceived of. These secrets in the darkness brought fear and uncertainty to the denizens of this artificial world. Yet there were some that would brave these mysteries in the search of knowledge or power.

A lumbering steel giant plodded slowly along the floor of a remote area here. Each step shook the foundations of the system, kicking up plumes of black dust from the aged structure beneath his feet. Deep cracks remained behind, surrounding its oversized footprints. A safe distance away, another navi less than half the monster's size watched its movements carefully, hidden by the effects of a Dropdown chip. The spy did no more than scan the unusual creature as it moved about unaware of any presence other than itself.

The inconspicuous navi examined the readings it gathered from its subject. The results coincided with what had been detected earlier. There was the presence of a NetNavi ID code, but the structure of its body and soul were heavily corrupted with the same energy signature of Dark Chips. This was a Darkloid. That revelation did not come as much ofa surprise, but what the spy wanted to know was how such a massive Darkloid surfaced so suddenly. It couldn't be a regular Dark Chip junkie, someone had to be behind its creation.

The surveilance would have to wait though. A faint signal from a detection device hidden at one of the distant entrances to the area alerted the navi like an insect landing in a spider's web. It was the third unexpected visitor in the last hour. If any of the new arrivals found their way into plain sight of the Darkloid, things could get messy.

Then again, the navi considered that seeing the Darkloid vent its violent desires on an unwitting subject could provide valuable data in its investigation. The question was just how wide could the spider allow its web to spread? Creating another tracer to watch over the Darkloid, the navi quickly left to get a mark on the intruders.

* * *

Moments after arriving through the teleporter, Dark experienced a troubling sensation from her emotional simulators, the navi's equivalent of a quickening heartbeat. At the moment, she wasn't sure if it was a resonance with the dark energy she had already contracted, or if it was just her subconscious telling her how monumentally bad an idea this trip was going to be.

Alia had a more positive perception. "I can tell from here there's definitely an energy signature that popped up only recently. Head downward. I'll find it here, I can taste it!"

Dark wanted to protest, but she knew enough about her operator to know that was pointless, and she would be a lot better off facing the dangers lurking in the obscure depths. She wasted no time moving out. It took a while to find a walkway heading down. The Undernet roadways were notoriously maze-like due in no small part to many of the possible paths succumbing to decay. Alia might have simply demanded her navi jump down to the next level at the expense of potential broken limbs except that there was so little light penetrating distance that neither she nor her navi could see what lay below them. They had no choice but to follow the paths they could, pushing through all the viruses that waited for them around every corner.

Ten minutes later and three levels down, they met with their first real surprise. The viruses Dark was fighting began dropping like flies, and she had nothing to do with it. Amidst the poor light, she couldn't make out exactly what was happening. She could only tell that the attacks were dropping off, and she could hear the distinct sounds of viruses dying, along with an unidentfied flapping and screeching sound...Bats?

As the violent noise died off, the navi instinctively backed away from the source of the carnage, or so she thought, as she quickly bumped into something...or someone that was not there a moment ago.

"Lost? You look lost." A chipper female voice asked from directly behind the petrified explorer. When she realized her throat hadn't been slit, nothing was devouring her head, and there was no buster pressed into her back, she slightly relaxed and slowly turned around.

Dark found herself facing another female humanoid navi, about her own size but hovering some pixels above the ground so she was still looking down on her. She smirked playfully and inspected Dark with glowing green eyes. Her cute and innocent face was betrayed by her demonic purple attire and the large black horn protruding from her forehead. Though the woman made no direct threat, Dark was still greatly unnerved.

The floating lady spoke again. "I guess what I mean is, are you one of the navis that's gone missing around here in the last couple of days? Because I'm supposed to rescue you or something."

"So she's a good guy after all?" Alia noted with some surprise. She was as convinced of her navi's imminent deletion as the navi herself. There was still somethign suspicious about their unexpected heroine though, so she took the opportunity to get some scans of her.

Dark slowly backed away, but managed to speak. "Thanks for your...uh, help. I'm not 'lost' or 'missing' though. I'm here...for research."

The other nodded knowingly. "Ahh, you're just here for the fun and atmosphere. I know what it's like. I've been cooped up for ages. You know how great it feels to get to fly around this place again, even for just a little while? I don't even care about the mission, but I'm hoping I can prolong it."

Dark started to realize her would-be rescuer was a few chips short of a full deck. "...Good for you, but I meant I'm actually here for research purposes. I'd really rather not be here."

"Oh don't be so dishonest. A Dark Chip user ought to feel right at home here, don't you think?"

She was suddenly hit with a twinge of guilt and shock. "Wh-what? How did you-"

"How cute, you must be new to this. What's your name, honey?" The woman said alluringly, floating down to meet her face-to-face.

"Um, it's...Dark." Great, that threw any ideas of denial out the window, she thought.

"Hah! That's my name too! Small world. Small, unimaginative, predictable world." Darklady laughed and patted her new friend on the head, much to Dark's chagrin. "Well if it's more 'dark' you're researching, why don't you stick with me? I know my way around and I'd be happy to share whatever I find. You look like you could use the help - you can't become this corrupted and chaotic overnight!"

Before Dark could respond to that, Darklady was back in the sky, cackling gleefully as she soared off, resuming her search. Since she couldn't get any more scans, Alia finally spoke up. "Stay close to that one! It's a Darkloid. A peculiar one at that."

"Her?" Dark wondered as she set out to follow Darklady's flight path on foot. "She was a lot more agreeable than the last Darkloid we came across."

"Precisely. She could hold the secret to avoiding Dark Chips' negative effects. This excursion is turning out better than I'd hoped."

* * *

One moment it was white and misty, the next it was black and murky. Ice Chan had found her way into the infamous Undernet after all, and was drawn deeper inside despite her misgivings. Hoshiko couldn't make out why. From her perspective they were just hopelessly lost. "Come on Ice, there's no way the snow ball is around here. If you can't find your way back, just jack out."

"It's okay. I just can't shake the feeling we're missing something important here. That little creep wanted us to come here, not just to sell Dark Chips." IceChan answered with determination as she moved down a thin walkway.

"So he probably wanted you to walk into a trap...and that's what you're doing?"

"I don't think he realized we were Officials when he approached us. We have power and skills that ensure we don't suffer the same fate as the kind of victims he did have in mind."

"Yeah...and with power and skills comes responsibility, or something like that." Hoshiko admitted hesitantly.

"You want us to be heroes, right? You're going to have to learn to say it with conviction! Throw a 'great' or two in there! Anyway, I can find my way back when we're ready, but right now I feel like we can't turn our backs on a potential threat." IceChan continued forward but stopped when she almost lost her footing. A small piece of the walkway broke loose from under her foot and fell into the pit below. She listened for the sound of it hitting the bottom, but no sound came.

"I get it, no more running away. That doesn't mean you can't be careful." Hoshiko pleaded.

IceChan rolled her eyes and was about to brave her way onward when a distant grunt from below caught her attention. "Wait...did you hear that?"

"What? I didn't-uh oh. The PET is detecting something coming your way from below, fast!"

IceChan could hear something else now, a rumbling hiss growing louder and louder. She could now see the light of a jet stream over the ledge. "Is that a missile?!" she exclaimed.

"Get out of there, now!"

IceChan ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. For a moment she was relieved when she heard the explosion a good distance behind her. The shockwave she felt did no significant damage. However the relief quickly turned sour when the remains of the bridge she was running on fell to pieces from the impact, leaving nothing beneath her feet but the seemingly bottomless darkness.

"Jack out!" Hoshiko ordered frantically. Navis couldn't jack out safely while moving, and certainly not while falling. It would hopelessly fragment her structure to be transferred without a clear coordinate lock, they both knew that. Panic overrode logic and common sense, but not the PET's safety features. IceChan tried to log out but nothing happened as she plummeted into the abyss. The navi's scream grew faint in the PET's speaker as she fell out of the transmission area.

Hoshiko tried to think. If she was going to be deleted, there was still a chance that the deleted remains would automatically return to the PET, provided nothing interfered with the transmission, but maybe that's why navis aren't supposed to wander into the Undernet in the first place, and why the ones that do often don't come back. As she tensely watched her PET for any sign of IceChan, she prayed they hadn't already made the fatal mistake of their new career.

* * *

"Shchrach shizzra hachhrmm."

"Yes, she is here. I feel it as well. I never before realized how...peculiar her nature appears."

"With all that influence on her, she should be with us, blblgll. It's like her soul's in the right place, but her mind isn't quite there yet. Grullglbrr, I wonder how much it would take to push her just over the edge?"

"WRAAaahhhhhh."

"This is a rare opportunity. We should try to recruit her. Alternatively, it would be best to destroy her."

"She'd be more receptive to a former ally, don't you think, bglrlr?"

"I am preoccupied here at the moment, but fortunately we have a perfect emissary already in the area...I believe she would find her way to him more quickly with your guidance, sir."

"Achha. Zshourrya, Shcheehara Zsacchm!"

* * *

Darklady and Dark had arrived in a familiar battle-ravaged area of the Undernet. The less-customized navi inspected the gound, picking up interesting readings for her operator in the scorched and decayed rubble. The other surveyed from the air and let her operator in on what she could see. "Yeah, this is where the last victims were supposedly seen last, and there was some kind of a struggle here recently, and Darkloids were involved. Moe was right to send me!"

"And you're sure you're not just saying that so I don't recall you now because you still haven't found any trace of the victims?" Kalinka asked listlessly.

"Hey, I know what I'm doing. There's a trace. There's trace all over the place. My new sidekick is picking up some trace right now."

"That's not your sidekick, it's just some darkchip junkie tagging along. You can't keep it." Kalinka yawned. "Anyway, you've done well enough for tonight. We'll stop for now and send the readings to Moe."

Her op may have been exhausted, but Darklady felt like she was just getting started. She nervously thought of other excuses to keep going. "Now hold on, there are navis in danger here. They're still alive, I can feel it. But every second counts!"

"Oh really?" Kalinka said incredulously.

"We've got the trail. Just sit tight and we can be heroes!" Darklady began to hover down another walkway. When Dark noticed, she rushed to catch up with her.

"Hey, where are you going? I thought this was the place."

Darklady kept moving. "Patience, trusty sidekick."

Dark shot back an annoyed look. "What did you just-"

Darklady stopped when an unusual feeling swept over her. "Huh, was this road always here? I thought I'd been this way lots of times..."

"Now you're lost!?" Dark exclaimed. She knew following this navi was a bad idea.

"I know exactly where we are...or I did a second ago at least. Uh Kalinka, you got a map handy?...Kalinka?"

The other navi threw her arms in the air. "Never mind. I'll just go back to scanning the battlefield." She turned on her heel and ran a few steps before noticing the damaged platform that should have been right in front of her was gone. A walkway stretched into the distance in its place. "How in the...A-Alia?" There was no response.

Outside the Cyberworld, both Kalinka and Alia experienced the same thing from different sides of the world. The signal to their PET was lost, replaced with static. Kalinka tried the forced retrun function she had rigged up. Nothing happened. Alia was about to throw her PET against a wall. For some reason, both of their navis had just unexpectedly disappeared.

Back where those navis had mysteriously found themselves lost, Darklady crossed her arms, feeling stumpedand for the first time since she jacked in that day, she wasn't eager to stick around. "Yeah okay this is new. Let's go...this way." She pointed down one of the two directions the seemingly endless walkway stretched, the way she was headed originally.

"Shouldn't we go back? Maybe this is just an illusion." Dark suggested.

"You tried going back. You would be back now if that worked. That leaves forward." Without waiting for a response, Darklady floated on ahead.

"...Following you has gotten me in enough trouble already." Dark muttered and began to run in the opposite direction. After a few seconds of running, she noticed something moving towards her. It didn't take long for the object to come into view. It was Darklady.

"Wow, you're faster than you look." Darklady commented as she flew on by.

"What? Wait! Were you flying in a straight line?"

"It works better than flying in circles." The demoness answered, stopping to talk for a moment.

"But you took off that way, then started coming from that way..." Dark tried to explain, pointing in both directions.

"So, you're not faster than you look."

"That's not...what is happening here!?" Dark clutched her head in frustration.

"Well, maybe they know."

"Who's they?"

"The really big navi and the really small navi fighting on the platform behind you."

"There's no platf-" Dark turned around and stopped in mid-sentence when she saw that there was indeed a new platform where previously there had only been more endless walkway a second ago. She noted with a double-take that the walkway they had been on had now disappeared entirely, and she was now standing on the same platform which spread in all directions. Other walkways were now barely visible up above.

More attention-grabbing than the new locale was the sudden presence of other navis. As Darklady noted, one was very large - at least three times their own size, and it was swinging its oversized fists wildly at a half-sized girl navi jumping around trying to dodge and occasionally firing an ineffectual cannon back at the behemoth. Every step the giant navi took made a ground-splitting crunch, and both combatants' grunts and cries were clearly audible now. It was as if they were there the whole time.

Dark was flabbergasted. "When did they...or when did we...did you see what happened?"

Darklady shrugged. "I looked up, and here we were. At least I recognise where we are now. We didn't go far lengthwise, but somehow we made it all the way down to the bottom of the area. Guess we walked through a wormhole or something."

The small parka-clad navi noticed the spectators and desperately ran towards them. "Hey! Help me! This guy's gonna kill me and I lost contact with my op!" She slowed her pace a little when she noticed the dark attire of her would-be saviors. She suddenly considered the possibility all three Under-dwellers were on the same side.

Darklady took a judgemental stance. "I dunno, are you sure you didn't start it?"

Dark responded more plainly. "We just found ourselves here, and we've lost contact with our ops too. Do you know-" Before she could speak any further, a series of missiles began crashing down between them and the large navi, who was slowly but surely chasing down his prey.

"Aaah! No time to chit-chat!" The little navi yelped and fired more rounds of her cannon back at the pursuing mountain of metal. "No chips so if you're gonna help me, HELP ME!"

Darklady summoned a swarm of bats to tackle the missile-launching menace. "Well, if I get to fight someone, might as well be the one that looks like it can put up a fight. I don't suppose YOU'RE one of those missing navis I'm supposed to be looking for."

"Eh? I don't think so. I was fine until this guy shot me off my walkway higher up. That was just a minute ago. I'm IceChan, an Official. I was...searching for a suspect in the Undernet." IceChan explained as best she could while providing cover fire with her SnowCannon.

"Oh, so you're probably with Moe and Drill then. Guess we are on the same side." Darklady grinned and charged the enemy with her ShadowAxe.

IceChan didn't recognise the names, but thought it best to keep quiet while she had the crazy one on her side. While the two custom navis fought bravely, the uncustomized Dark kept a few steps back, knowing her NormalBuster would be even less effective than IceChan's snowball-launching weapon. Without her connection to her PET's scanning equipment, she couldn't learn much from this encounter, but she didn't need detailed scans to tell her the giant was another Darkloid, and that this one was a lot meaner than usual. She knew she had to do something, but unless Alia could reacquire her signal with her, there was little to nothing she could do.

Darklady swung her axe into the Darkloid's leg, where it stuck. The hard-bodied creature showed no signs of pain but it did notice her, and with a deep grunt made motions to grab her with its all-encompassing hands. She managed to avoid this but did not have time to free her weapon before she took to the air. IceChan was now slicing into the other leg with a small IceSword while its owner was focused on Darklady. The giant continued to swipe at the flying target but stamped its foot occasionally at the other pest without even looking at it.

Darklady flew low, shifted to her fire-elemental form, and began launching FireTowers at the Darkloid. The flames covered more of its body but caused no change in its demeanor. IceChan leapt back and switched to firing her SnowCannon. Darklady noticed this and rolled her eyes. "Hey, shortstuff! If you don't have anything stronger than that, stay out of it and help my sidekick find an escape route!"

"Are you sure you can deal with this guy on your own?" IceChan questioned.

"Well no offense but you're not exactly tipping the scales here!"

IceChan didn't like it. Her supposed ally was obnoxiously rude and she didn't want to admit weakness after all her talk about becoming a hero. Still, she had to admit there was some wisdom in Darklady's suggestion to help the other navi seek an exit. So with a reluctant turn, she fled the battlefield while Darklady switched to Elec and zapped the raging behemoth with a Killers Beam. At first the Darkloid actually seemed to be paralyzed, but then suddenly multiple serrated rings errupted from its body and arced through the air in myriad patterns, forcing Darklady to abandon her attack and put all her concentration into dodging.

Her efforts nearly paid off, but after nimbly avoiding five blades, the six and seventh hit home and cut deep into her leg and back. Darklady cried out in pain and began to fall, but was caught in the outstretched palm of her attacker. Its segmented steel fingers clasped around her damaged body before she could recover and squirm free. The blades spun in a series of orbits around them before finally embedding themselves back in the giant's arms, shoulders, and head. Darklady struggled in spite of the pain, but was helpless in the monster's tightening grip. She expected an imminent deletion, but was surprised to find herself instead brought eye-to-eye with the overpowering death machine. The Darkloid's face was grimacing with non-specific rage and glared into her with empty grey eyes. It wasn't a pretty sight, but she sensed no immediate hostility from her captor.

"Urgh...great. The big monkey thinks I'm the pet damsel. Well, if you're going to climb to the top of the Undernet and let me go, get it over with."

The giant made a low growl and began to slowly speak. "Nnnnet...Guaaaarrrrdiiaaaan..."

"Ah? So you know who I am?" Darklady began to get worried. This encounter wasn't as random as it seemed.

"Llllooooook....aaaat...mmmmeeee..."

Then, for the first time Darklady noticed some of the details of her opponent's appearance she hadn't in the dim light and hectic action of the battle earlier. The gears on the arms and legs, the sawblades sticking out of its back and head, the navi icon depicting a metal cog...he looked and acted so different, but was it really him? "M-Me-Metalman!?"

"Thhhiisss powwwerrr...Yoouuu haaave iiit aaalllssso...Jooiiin ussss..."

This was not the reunion with her long-lost teammate she had in mind, and she definitely didn't like the sound of his creepy offer. "Um, if this power means 'roiding up and talking in slow-motion, I think I'll pass. Thanks anyway. Nice seeing you again, by the way."

"Jooiiin ussss...orrr DIIIE..."

Metalman's threat was punctuated with a heavily tightening grip that began to crush Darklady's already injured form. She tried to scream, but couldn't get the air. How could this be happening? This couldn't be the Metalman she knew, could it?

* * *

All of the gloomy wonder of the Undernet is home to few. It attracted many and destroyed almost every last one of them from the inside out. The psychological molestation alone was glorified with the pity and fear of pedestrian gossip. Others who came back alive, finding themselves in the abyss, had learned all the things that they don't teach in school. At the expense of their souls, they had succumbed to the darkness of humanity and its hideous tortures.

Sometimes there would be one of a rare breed isolated far and in between the filth; people that reveled in the misery and nihilism. Lawlessness beckoned these people and twisted their minds to saturate the world's knowledge...all to use it to their advantage. But it's not often that one can exist within this world and follow a thin understanding of right and wrong. Blackmind Navis are produced with the purpose of having a malicious persona. It is a natural trait, oozing a body of terror. They possess a dark aura, but not necessarily reside within the all-consuming darkness.

The spy existed there as a rumor. He was the eyes and ears of the Undernet, hidden away like a phantasm and crushing those that defied him. Rumors of a sacred world within the darkness of the Undernet existed since the genesis of the Cyberworld as it is known to this day. The fabled "Shadow of the Wind" and the "Ear in the Wall" weren't taken seriously, but the idea of the divine world lashing out and punishing the hell that had surrounded it was a sensational concept to what few outsiders could be close enough to believe it, to think that one could make it so that the devil cried.

It wasn't intelligent to attribute it such fantastic notions. Spiders crawled the web, and in the dark they lay in wait. Assassinations were common to the Under dwellers. Nothing was different about a routine extermination. It was always the desired outcome: felt but never seen nor heard to those nonexistant souls intended to survive. Nobody was much informed on the indetity or existence of this killer. His orders came from above, where the lawmakers reside, tucked away in their executive mansions of operation.

The spy had none of the supernatural, warm aura of Valkyrie. He took orders and did freelance work for the Officials, most of whom didn't even know he existed. He was much unlike Shadowman, the notorious assassin with an impossible reputation. This spy was without a shred of that notoriety. The fears and legends referred to a phenomenon for which he made no acknowledgement. It kept things simple to stay detached, there were no others coming after him like there were for those Ranked navis. He was just a hitman and a recon expert away from sight where he had nothing to fear...but for the first time in his career, he was uneasy.

Metalman stood with his hands held high, the now comparably frail Darklady trembling within his fists. Apprehension of impending death overcame her as her structure was slowly crushed by the trash compactor grip. IceChan had returned to help her unlikely ally despite what she said moments ago. The smaller, ineffectual navi hacked and slashed away at the monolith in vain. The standard navi in the distance stood frozen with nothing to do but watch.

The spy had left earlier to search for these very same victims, and did not suspect they would all end up in the worst possible position so quickly. Sensing the unexpected development, he quickly returned only to find it may have already been too late. He knew what was going to happen next. If he stuck to his directives, then all these innocent bystanders would be deleted without recovery. The Darkloid Metalman had proven itself to be every bit as dangerous as he appeared. A split second and one of the former Net Guardians would be eliminated. Never to operate without expert opinion, the spy remained stationary. The interference did not wear off. At this rate, it was obvious that it never would.

Anger found the beholder grinding his teeth in frustration. This was only supposed to be an information gathering mission. He knew that any intervention on his part could jeopardize everything he had worked for. What was he to do? Save the pretty little girls and give up critical secrets to his enemies, or let them die and never get over the feeling he was just as reponsible for their deaths as the giant? It aggravated his short temper without much, if any provocation.

The decision came to him as Darklady let out a final, horrible scream. Her voice piercing time, it was within a split second that he acted. To the spy, it was an hour of deliberation that had just processed itself within his head, cut off prematurely by instinct. Although he had his orders, he had no confidant at his disposal. Wasn't it obvious, that which he must do?

The behemoth suddenly growled, its fists loosening just barely enough to allow the damaged, unfortunate Darklady to slip free. Engulfed in what appeared to be cyan-colored electricity, he flailed his arms about wildly, clutching at his head. Momentarily regaining focus, he saw his prey squirm free and reached out again, his arms knocked asunder by repeated blows of searing, origin-defying plasma. It was without hesitation that IceChan took advantage of the situation to save the battered Darklady.

From under the giant's shadow, the monster now howling in more annoyance than pain, she noticed small bolts of electricity making their way down an unseen wire. Staring in awe of the spectacle, she was reawakened to reality and its dangers by a gravelly voice shouting down from space, "Run away, NOW!"

Questioning the miracle was a fool's choice. Darklady was now grasping at Dark by the shoulder, leaning and coughing as they escaped. The three girls vanished in an undetermined direction and immediately, the reluctant hero had come to regret his reckless, albeit lifesaving decision. He knew what they were in for, and with the large frame of his adversary, he would have to use his wits to make this fight quick. Time was of the essence, he knew that they didn't stand a chance against it.

* * *

Without an irate metal monster trying to crush her every two seconds, IceChan found the nearest stairway leading upwards rather quickly. She led the way while the pair of Darks followed slowly behind. "Come on! I doubt these walkways could support that guy, but he could just shoot missiles at us so we fall back down to him!. Trust me."

Darklady was dragging limp on Dark's shoulder. Dark wondered why she was even doing this. This was hardly part of her mission aside from Alia's last command to "stay close to that one!" She ignored IceChan's insistence of hurrying as long as IceChan was ignoring the option to help carry.

"Uhn...Dark...stop f'r a sec..." Darklady struggled to say. Her frame was becoming pixellated as her structural integrity broke down.

"What? We have to get out of here, fast!" Dark protested, but stopped anyway, letting her lightweight load lower slowly to the ground at the foot of the stairs.

"No time...'sides, I don' wanna go back wi'h K'linka...after this...she'd nev'r let free again...I wanna go wi'h you...Yer op und'rstan'...Yer just...like me..."

"You're not making any sense...I mean yeah, my operator would like you...but as a test subject, not the way you...it doesn't matter! I'm sorry, but if you can't last until we're back in signal range, there's nothing I can do."

Darklady smiled weakly. "But there's somethin' I c'n do...I said I'd help ya find what yer lookin' for...well this'll help us both..." With that she closed her eyes and her shadow began to grow into a circular shape around them. She was using up the last of her energy to generate a Dark Hole.

"Hey, w-what are you doing?" Dark asked nervously, looking beneath them as a strange energy poured out of the ground and surrounded them.

"Th' doc's program...with our dark power...shoul' be th' perfect match. Thanks..fer setting...me free..."

The two navis glowed briefly and sank into the Dark Hole. IceChan turned around to see what was happening in time to watch as they both vanished from sight. "What in-hey! Where did you go!?" She received no answer. She looked around in vain for a few moments until the nearby roar of Metalman reminded her she was better off making a break for it. "...I don't know what was up with those two, but wherever they are, I hope they're okay..." Wasting no more time, she climbed upwards as fast as she could.

* * *

The revealed spy was already having more trouble than he ever should have encountered. Once Metalman noticed the energized wires entangling him, he made short work of them with the same Metal Blade barrage he used to fell Darklady. With the web eliminated, the spy could only barely hold the juggernaut at bay with bolts of plasma. The Darkloid seemed determined to lumber right past - or through the minor obstruction to reach Darklady again.

Then it stopped. They spy's gunfire continued, but Metalman ignored it and only stod still, looking off into space, as if listening to a sound only he could hear. Taking the opportunity to line up a good shot, the smaller navi fired a strong bolt of plasma directly into the monster's face. Metalman's head lit up in bright fire for an instant and when it cleared, he had turned to glare directly at the spy with a look of pure hatred.

At least that got his attention. He thought. Unfaltering, he prepared to fire again, but the Darkloid had other ideas. A single punch to the ground with his disproportionately large fist shook the foundations of the system like an earthquake and kicked up a thick cloud of dust and debris. The other navi moved quickly, using the cloud for cover and grappling a higher platform as to not lose footing. However much to his surprise, Metalman's footsteps could be heard growing more distant in the opposite direction. He was just leaving...as if there were no more reason to be there.

As the dust settled and the spy found himself alone, he decided to follow the example and leave for a more hospitable location. He was concerned about what he had just given up, and for what reason? He would probably never see those women again, and Metalman had both gotten a good look at him and left alive with that. He wasn't even sure he could delete that monstrosity before it could do any more damage, but it was now his greatest responsibility to do just that. It seemed his simple life was about to become much more difficult.

* * *

Hoshiko was pacing in her room for what felt like an eternity trying to figure out what to do about her missing partner. The Official guidelines and operation handbooks on her desk were worthless - the only solution they offered was to not go into the Undernet in the first place. She felt so stupid for letting this happen.

Then the PET made a beep. Her heart jumped. The screen displayed a brief message reading "Transmission Acquired" then the text box disappeared to make room for the view window showing IceChan back in the snowy network just outside the Undernet.

"Um...Hey, Hoshiko! Guess I'm ready to jack out now." She said, trying to sound nonchalant.

The operator was not amused. "Are you alright? You had me worried sick!"

"It's cool, I just fell out of transmission range. It uh...took me a while to find my way back, but I'm fine." After all that happened, she thought it was best not to add to Hoshiko's worries, especially since it was her own fault in the first place. "Oh by the way, look." IceChan held up a small data block. "It's the snowball data. It was right around the entrance here. Looks like we finished the mission."

"Oh." Hoshiko sighed, quite relieved. She had forgotten all about the stupid mission though. "Well, there's no time limit on the test, so we'll report in tomorrow. I've had enough Official stuff for one day."

"Y-yeah, me too." IceChan nodded uneasily and jacked out.

* * *

"Gone!? What happened?" A petrified Moe asked through his PET phone. He was sitting in the passenger seat of Tricia's car as they drove out of town.

Kalinka's voice was weary and despondent. "I don't know...One second she was fine, there was no danger anywhere. Then I just lost the signal and couldn't find her no matter what I tried. I lost her...I'm so sorry."

"No...this is my fault. I shouldn't have asked you to..." Moe could barely even formulate his profession of guilt with his mind focused on the implications here. He figured Darklady was the safest one to send to the Undernet to investigate the disappearances, and she disappeared herself. Now it fell to Drillman, Overdrive, and possibly Smith's agents to look into the same phenomenon, and if Darklady didn't come back, what chance did they have?

"Kalinka, don't worry. I will do whatever it takes to find her. She's too tough to die, so I know she's still out there somewhere. This was my responsibility to begin with."

"Moe, I...just be careful. I mean, even more careful than I was...and I was pretty careful. This could be something that gets you no matter how careful you are, but still...be careful." Kalinka was babbling with confusion, regret, and sleep deprivation. She had never sounded more like her father.

"I have the Officials backing me, we'll figure this out, it's what we do. Just don't worry about me...and get some sleep, please."

As the call ended, Moe just hoped he could back up his own talk this time. The truth was he didn't have the luxury of turning down this task. Even without the Officials hanging overhead, he had friends involved because of him, and he couldn't let them down now. He had to remember though, Drillman was the one he would be risking, and this wasn't Drillman's guilt, it was his own.

"Well, what's the word?"

Moe snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Tricia, who was waiting expectantly for some explanation of the half of the drama she had to overhear while driving. "Oh, there's...been another victim of this Undernet disappearances thing. The operator couldn't keep the signal."

"Hm...maybe we need to jack in directly to the server." She suggested in a calm manner.

"...Where IS the Undernet server?"

"Maybe we should start our investigation by looking into that."

* * *

Alia sat hunched over in front of the computer monitor, her elbow propped on the desk with her hand holding up her listless tilted head by the cheek while her other hand moved and clicked the mouse as the sole sign of life in her otherwise motionless body. Her eyes were fixed in a grim furrow of frustration as she scanned the same online discount navi catalogue she had numerous times before. She really thought she was onto something with the last one, but she was growing accustomed to the thought of just trying to find some place that sold these things in bulk.

beep!

"Alia...Alia! I'm jacking out."

Alia didn't move right away. Instead she just stopped moving the mouse and shifted her look into a raised eyebrow of utter disbelief. "No...#@$%ing...way."

She slowly turned to the previously useless PET she was surprised she didn't bother to unplug and/or throw out the window yet. It was now back online and her navi and indeed returned to it...or had she?

"What the f-...Where's my navi?"

"Alia, I'm...I'm right here." The navi on the screen professed.

Alia leaned in closer to scrutinize the unexpected sight. "...Dark?"

"Yes, Dark." She nodded, and then looked down at herself once more. The Normal Navi armor she was used to was gone and replaced with a more human-like feminine form dressed in a demonic purple outfit, the same appearance she recognized from its previous owner. "Well, I guess it's Darklady now."

Her bright green eyes glinted with hidden madness. In one fatal move, three women had gotten more than they bargained for.