Location: Scilab, Electopia

"Whatcha looking at there, Chaud?"

"The footage that was salvaged from the Genjibo military base."

"Why? All the WWW members are behind bars."

"But what of Viral Infection?"

"Bah. You know we got the best officials out there looking for them. Why waste your time?"

"Would you consider this a waste of time?"

Chaud brought up two pictures. One was a shot a security camera in Genjibo took. The other was from the Peace Day Tournament in Yumland.

"...Well I'll be damned. It's that Kung Fu guy"

"And I've been able to obtain his personal information, courtesy of the Yumland government. Including his current address."

The official Chaud spoke to was silent in awe"

"Sir, with your permission, I'd like to apprehend him myself."

"Permission granted. You may leave immediately. Take any other men you see fit to help you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go correct the blacklist."

Location: GoNuts Donuts, the next day

The Net Guardians are sitting, watching the TV. Except Sam, who was currently grocery shopping. That's what he gets for not saying "Not it" fast enough. That, and the other Net Guardians weren't very happy with his "Yoink" comment when he took the tickets to Yumland.

"Why must every day be so boring? I mean, there's nothing on TV" Said Jonathan as he channel surfed.

"So why are you watching? Asked Adrienne

"There's nothing else to do"

"I agree with Jon. Something needs to happen." Said David.

It was then that 2 people came into the room unannounced. They were both adults wearing official uniforms. The NG's were blissfully unaware of their existence until one of them cleared their throat loudly and deliberately. It got everyone's attention.

"What? We already got vigilante licenses. Now go away, we're watching TV." Cyros said.

"...How did these guys get licenses again?" Asked one of the officials.

"I have no idea" said the other.

A third person walked into the room. It was a child with white hair atop his hair, red shirt, green pants, and a look that said, "I'm better then you are." His name is Eugene Chaud.

"Hey! What are you guys doing, disrespecting the Officials!?" Chaud yelled.

Everyone stared. They had heard of him, and his reputation. And the fact that he had so much authority that he could get them in jail if he wanted to.

"How can we be of service, Chaud?" asked Carlos.

"I wish to speak with the member of your team that participated in the Yumland Peace Day Tournament. Where is he?"

"He's on a food run. He should be back in a few minutes."

"We shall wait then."

"Donuts?"

"No thanks"

"Yes please." Chimed the two officials."

There was much conversation from everyone, except Moe, who stayed out of the conversation.

Meanwhile...

Sam was walking down the street, minding his own business. And attempting to not drop the 12 12-packs of soda in his hands.

"Man, why do I have to do this? It's not my fault they're not fast enough to grab the tickets by themselves...ah well, at least I'm almost home."

Sam walked across the street, and into GoNuts Donuts. He walked pass Ms. Stake and the customers who currently occupied the tables, and walked up the stairs. He opened the door with great difficulty, then began to talk.

"Hey guys. I'm sorry, but they only had 2 12-packs of Jolt Cola, so I had to get a pack of......"

It was at that moment he noticed Chaud and two other officials there. He laughed nervously.

"Why....hello there Eugene....hehe....how have you been?"

Sam's eyes darted around the room. He then did the first thing that came to mind.

He dropped the sodas and ran out of the room.

Chaud pulled out a walkie-talkie and simply said "Kung Fu is fleeing. Repeat, Kung Fu is fleeing. All units capture."

Sam had made it outside without incident. "Ok Sam" Sam thought. "They found you. You knew this was gonna happen eventually. Just stick with the plan." Sam ran across the street, heading east.

Unfortunately, he was soon stopped by a squad of officials, each one carrying a stun gun.

"Move out of the way if you don't wish to be hurt." Sam said.

"Never! Everyone, Attack!" the squad leader replied.

Every squad member fired their stun guns at the same time. Sam jumped over the blasts, and proceeded to knock them all out in the short recharge time of the stun guns.

"You'd think they'd learn by now...." Sam commented before continuing to run.

Back at the Donut Shop...

"Sir!" a voice said from the radio. "He's taken out several squads already, with no signs of stopping! Requesting permission to use extreme force!"

"Negative" answered Chaud. "We need him alive!"

"Uh, excuse me" said Moe "But what's going on?"

"Hmmm...." Chaud wondered, and then sighed. "It may be against my better judgment, but I suppose I will tell you, considering you know him." Chaud sighed again, and began talking.

"Samuel Jeffries, AKA Blackbelt, is a member of the Net Terrorist group known as Viral Infection. Viral Infection has been involved in several incidents, most notably the Genjibo military base incident and the Navi materialization incident. He is the link we need to capture the other members of Viral Infection and bring them to justice."

The NG's were silent. Most of them had a look of surprise on their face. Moe looked as if he just had an epiphany.

The silence was broken by the walkie-talkie. "Sir! Kung Fu is has been captured! Repeat! Kung Fu has been captured! He even had his PET on him!"

"Excellent. We'll be right there."

The officials left without a word.

"Who would have thought?" said David.

"Yeah. He was always so kind to everyone." Said Cyros

"And he was honorable in battle" said Carlos.

While this was happening, Moe thought.

"Blackbelt......ironic."

2 days later, at a Scilab in Genjibo City...

There are two parts of Scilab. There's the normal part, where everyone gets to see. In this part there are talks of projects to further man and navi alike.

And then there's the underground part of it. Access to this part of Scilab is highly restricted. Only two types of people are allowed down here.

High Ranking Officials and Criminals deemed too dangerous for the public prison system

And it was in this place where Blackbelt was currently being held in a prison cell.

He had been there for the last 2 days. In this time, the memory of when he was caught continued to reverberate in his head....

"Open fire troops!!"

"Look" Blackbelt said as he avoided the blasts "those didn't work for the last 12 squads, what makes you think they'll work for you?"

"This does" said the sergeant, who pulled out a small gun from his coat pocket. He fired the gun in the air, and it released a VERY bright flash. Blackbelt was momentarily blinded by this flash. That moment blindness was all the officials needed. They fired again, making direct hits. Blackbelt fell to the ground, unable to move. The sergeant was saying something in his walkie-talkie, but Blackbelt could not hear it. The officials from the squad were binding his hands and legs in his current weakness. Minutes later, Eugene Chaud showed up, and talked to Blackbelt.

"Hmph. You are lucky we need you alive. Otherwise you would have been dead back at the donut shop. Now then, has anyone searched him? What items have you found?"

"Sir, I found three PETs."

"Three? Why would anyone carry around three PETs?"

"What's more curious sir is the fact that two of them don't respond."

"Interesting. Take them to the boys in Research. We're done here people. Take the prisoner!"

The rest was a blur to Blackbelt. He had been sitting in the cell ever since.

"Blackbelt." A voice said.

Blackbelt looked outside the cell to see an Official guard. "You are too come with me." The official said, as he unlocked the door. Blackbelt went without question.

He was taken to a small room with only a few chairs and a table. Both Blackbelt and the official sat.

A minute passed.

The door of the room opened, and Eugene Chaud walked in, holding a suitcase. Blackbelt decided to speak.

"What do you want? You have me here in this stupid prison. What more could I offer?"

"A few things. First off, I want some explanations." Chaud said, opening the suitcase. He pulled out three PETs, and set them on the table. Blackbelt recognized them immediately.

"Those are mine."

"I know. I just wish for some explanations of them. First off, this one." Chaud pointed to the PlugIn PET with King Man's Emblem on it. "We questioned your navi about your past activities. He said he knew nothing. We scanned his data, proving this. I find it odd that the navi of a criminal would know nothing about the criminal's activities. Explain this."

"Simple. I bought him after I left Viral Infection."

"Oh.....now then, what about this one?" Chaud pointed at the PET Mk1 with the VI emblem on it. "It doesn't respond at all. All there is in here is some strange program running. What is that program, and why won't the program respond?"

"There is no navi in there. That's why there is no response. As for what the program does.....well, that's none of you god damned business."

"What?!"

"Sir, calm down." Said the other official sitting there.

Chaud sighed. "Very well then. We'll just find out ourselves. Now then, what of this third one?" He pointed to another Mk1 with the words "Vengeance Server" written on the cover.

"That PET houses a navi made specifically to fight one Navi. A navi, I might add, you all wouldn't mind having deleted either."

"Which navi?" Chaud asked.

Blackbelt was about to answer, but then the lights in the room flickered. It was only for an instant, but it got the attention of everyone in the room.

"You, go check on what caused that." Chaud said to the other official in the room. The official got up immediately.

"I take it that doesn't happen very often."

"You shut up."

The lights flickered again. Then the official walked back into the room, out of breath.

"Sir!" the official said, gasping for air. "The Scilab net area is under attack!! A virus has broken out, disabling the security! They're just walking in, not being stopped!!!"

"What about the official navis? Why aren't they stopping the intruders!?"

"Most were affected by the virus! The few that weren't are being deleted left and right!"

"Very well then. You" Chaud said, pointing at Blackbelt. "You stay here."

"Actually, sir, Agent Black wants Blackbelt brought up so he can help us."

"What!? WHY!?"

"Because of whom the intruders are."

"Who are the intruders?"

"The Acid Hackers."

"The Acid Hackers!? What are they doing here!?" exclaimed Blackbelt. "I've seen what they can do, and this is outside of their abilities!"

"What would you know?" said Chaud.

"I know a lot more then you do. And as much as I would love to continue this verbal sparring match, we have bigger things to deal with right now." Blackbelt stood up. "Now then, I believe I will need my PET to be helpful to you?" Blackbelt held his hand out, waiting for Chaud to hand him his PET.

Chaud grabbed the PET with King Man's emblem and held it in his hand. "I don't like you. If it were my choice, you'd be dead. I don't know why Agent Black wants your help, but I'll go along with it for now. You're very lucky." Chaud handed the PET to Blackbelt. "Where's Agent Black want us at?" Chaud asked the other official.

"Follow me" the other official said.

A few hallways, an elevator ride, and two flights of stairs later led the three of them to the main server room of Scilab.

Standing in the room was a myriad of Officials. Most stood with their PETs jacked in, slotting in chips, obviously in battle. A slightly smaller number sat in chairs, monitoring computer screens, reporting the progress of the Acid Hacker's assault; And in one corner of the room stood one person, doing nothing. He was an old man who looked like that he would have been able to do amazing things if it were about 10 or 20 years earlier. But he still looked as if he could do many things, even in his old age. When Blackbelt, Chaud, and the other official approached him, he spoke.

"Ah, you've arrived. Good. I assume you've been briefed on what's going on?" He said.

"I've only heard that there's a virus, and the Acid Hackers are attacking."

"That's about the size of it. I understand that you're an expert on the Acid Hackers."

"I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I thank you for the flattery, Mr..."

"Agent Black is my name, Samuel, and I ask you address me as such."

"Of course."

"Agent Black, Sir" Chaud said. "Permission to speak freely."

"Permission granted."

"Why are you putting your trust into this criminal? The officials can handle this on their own. We don't need their scum to do our job."

"I understand your frustration, Chaud. However, we have not dealt with these Hackers. Samuel here has. Experience is a powerful tool, and we must use it whenever we can." He cleared his throat. "Now then Sa-" Agent Black would have finished, but Samuel was pushing a few buttons on his PET. "What are you doing?"

"I'm calling the rest of The Net Guardians. If the Acid Hackers are here, then that means that The Net Guardians must come and stop them. Besides, there is strength in numbers." Samuel finished pushing buttons, and a ringing noise came from the PET. "Come on, pick up already....."

Location: GoNuts Donuts, Crescent City, Netopia

The morale of the Net Guardians had gone down since what happened two days ago. They all just kinda sat around. The new donuts weren't even being eaten at the ravenous rate they used to be eaten at, they were so depressed.

"So....what do you wanna do?" Carlos asked.

"I dunno. What do you wanna do?" answered Adrienne.

RING....RING....

"Someone get that." They both said at the same time.

RING....

"I'll get it." David said. He stood up and trudged towards the phone. He picked it up and dully said "Hello."

A few seconds past. David's eyes suddenly got very wide. He then turned to the others just sitting around the room. "Guys! Sam's on the phone!!"

All the Net Guardians stood up and gathered around the phone, listening intently on the conversation.

"uh huh.....yeah.....what?......Don't worry, we'll be there." David then hung up the phone.

"What'd he say?" Said Cyros.

"He said two things. He said that he's doing fine, and we shouldn't worry." Said David.

"And the other thing?" asked Moe.

"The Acid Hackers are attacking the Genjibo net and we should go over there and help. Now are we just gonna stand here, or are we gonna do what we were hired to do?"

"Let's do this!!" They yelled in unison as they rushed to the computer and jacked in.

The Net Guardians immediately headed to Genjibo with great haste. Five minutes of traveling later, they were there.

What they when they got there was a mess. It looked as if a bomb hit. And a strange multicolored mist hung in the air.

"Come on. It may look bad, but we'll still win. Let's go." said Serenade. The others nodded in agreement.

After walking for a short while, they came upon the entrance to the lower parts of the Genjibo net. It was usually guarded by a large door, but that door lay in pieces on the ground. They passed by it, and turned a corner.

What they saw at that instant in time was something that made both navis and humans want to throw up.

Navis. On the ground. Dead. Not even deleted, but ceased of all functions and left unremoved from the system. Obviously infected by a very fierce virus before their lives ended.

There was silence for a few seconds.

"Such dishonor....they must be avenged." Yamato Man said. He then started walking forward, his spear ready. The others followed.

Every step they took only made the scenery worse. More and more navis were along the path. No one spoke while they walked along the trail of death. There was nothing to be said.

They eventually found what they were looking for. The Acid Hackers. They were huddled together, discussing. The Net Guardians heard part of their conversation.

"Don't you blubs know how to read? We take a left!"

"No, we go right!"

They started yelling at eachother. The Net Guardians took this opportunity to attack. Unfortunately, the Acid Hackers looked up at the last minute and saw the Guardians heading straight towards them. They jumped out of the way at the last second.

"Didn't expect you losers to show up here." Said Punk.

"What are you doing here, Hackers?" Yelled Drill Man.

"What we always do: Annihi-" Flash Man suddenly stopped talking mid sentence. He looked at the Net Guardians for a second. "Where's the hell's the giant chess piece?"

Before anyone of the Net Guardians could answer, Flame Man answered. "Mr. Checkmated was probably too afraid of us and didn't come!"

The Net Guardians remained silent for a moment. They looked pissed.

Punk spoke. "Well, since I don't want to be unfair to these losers, I think I'll just go on ahead so it's a nice even six on six. Later, nerds!!"

Punk began to walk away, followed by a normal navi the Net Guardians hadn't noticed before. "You!" Serenade yelled. "Stop!!" He then charged up. "Holy Shoc-"

He was unable to launch the Holy Shocker because at that moment Serenade was hit in the shoulder by a well aimed harpoon, courtesy of Bubble Man.

The rest of the Net Guardians lashed out at the Acid Hackers.

"Where's he headed too?" Asked Samuel.

"We believe he is heading towards the data room." Answered Agent Black

"What's the data room?"

"The data room is just that: a room filled with all sorts of files."

"I take it most of those files aren't even meant for civilian eyes."

"That's only the tip of the iceberg."

"....well crud. We have to delete Punk before he manages to get a hold of those files. How many navis can be deployed to the data room?"

"King Man and Proto Man are the only ones left."

"Not as much as I would have hoped for, but it'll have to do. Come on Chaud, we got work to do."

Chaud growled at Sam. "You will not order me around, criminal."

He went and jacked in Proto Man anyway. "Well? Hurry up, Mr. Strategist."

Sam jacked in King Man. They were inside of the data room.

"You touch anything and will be deleted, Understand?" said Proto Man.

"Such manners! I wouldn't dream of touching anything in here. But right now, we must plan a strategy."

"You have an idea?"

"Yes I do. Samuel, would you be so kind as to send me 4 rockcubes, 4 pawns, and 2 rooks?"

"Heh. I think I understand what you're planning. Excellent."

King Man set the Rockcubes in front of the door. One would have to climb over them in order to get in. He then set the pawns in the corners of the room, and the rooks he put at that back of the room.

"Well now what?" asked Proto Man.

"You are going to go outside of the room and make sure Punk doesn't get in here."

"If that's your plan, then why did you set all of these objects?"

"This is the back up plan in case Punk gets in here."

"You doubt my abilities?"

"No. You overestimate your own abilities."

"..."

Proto Man left the data room, leaving King Man alone. King Man waited silently, thinking of what's been happening the last two days. Why accuse Sam of being a criminal? King Man has not seen Sam do anything evil....

King Man's thoughts were soon interrupted by noise outside of the room. Apparently Punk and Proto Man were fighting. The fighting lasted only a minute. Then silence. King Man thought it best to hide in the corner of the room.

The doors opened. Punk, obviously damaged, walked into the room. He destroyed one of the rock cubes in the way and staggered onward.

"Sam" King Man whispered. "Send me the Geist."

Sam slotted in a chip. King Man activated it immediately.

The rockcubes, pawns, and rooks rose into the air, and flew directly at Punk.

"Oh shi-" Punk's words were cut off by the sound of teleportation, and then the thunderous collision of the objects.

King Man sighed with relief. It was over.

Then he was hit with a Zap Ring. He was stunned.

He saw a normal navi walk into the room. The navi walked to a section of the wall, and put his hand on it. The panel on the wall opened to reveal a blue data crystal. The navi took it and left.

Location: GoNuts Donuts, 2 days later.

The Net Guardians had tried their best to defeat the Hackers. But the virus ultimately stopped them from doing that. The had received no news from Genjibo, and the News Reports on TV made no mention of Genjibo.

Then news arrived in the most unlikely form. An odd looking navi suddenly appeared in the NG webspace. At least the NG's thought it looked odd, as all it did was appear, drop a data crystal, then disappear all in the same one second time frame. Drill Man, who was currently in the NG Web, opened the crystal to reveal a letter. He read the letter to himself, and then he brought it to the attention of the Operators.

The letter read:

Dear friends and comrades,

I admit I have been involved in things the law would disagree with, but I know you would understand that I had a good reason for everything I have done and have yet to do. In the future I know I could count on all your help for my unfinished business, but if the Officials have their way I will not be around that long. In that event, I put my trust in all of you to take care of things for me. The locked data crystal I have attached is set to unlock when the time comes, and contains all the information needed to find and use my Server. Until then, I hope you don't mind me leaving you in the dark about all the details. Just understand that it is for your own protection, and the protection of my other friends involved. As for my own protection, well you'll find out when I get there. Now I would request you hide this all in your private files and don't discuss it at all after I'm back. The Officials just aren't as understanding as the rest of us.

Sincerely, Blackbelt Sam

A timely glance out the window informed Jon what the end of Sam's note meant. "Uh guys? Sam's about to enter the building...there's an Official following him."

The others glanced at each other. Cyros spoke up, "So do we hide the note like he said?"

David nodded, "Sam's secrets are annoying, but I don't feel like getting back at him by getting the Officials involved."

Moe spoke to his PET. "Drillman, put the Data in our own private files and encrypt."

Drillman was a bit skeptical, given what they now knew about Sam. "You sure about that? After all..."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll explain later." Moe answered back dead seriously. Drillman complied.

A moment later, Sam and a very bored looking generic Official officer came upstairs. Sam had a rather excited expression as he greeted his comrades merrily. "I'm back guys! Did 'ya miss me?"

He was answered with some fairly confused faces. There were a lot of questions, few of which they were allowed to ask. Adrienne went first. "So why aren't you in prison or something right now?"

Sam simply smiled and held up his PET. "I got myself a good lawyer."

Kingman took it from there. "I analyzed the situation, and convinced the Officials that even though they had proof Blackbelt was a member of Viral Infection, and proof that Viral Infection was involved in several serious criminal activities, there was no proof that Blackbelt himself was directly involved in any of them. At the moment he can only be convicted of being an accomplice to Net Crime. I also pointed out Samuel Jeffries is currently leading an honest life in the pursuit of justice and that he played an integral part in protecting vital Scilab data from the Acid Hackers' attack. With all that in mind, his sentence was reduced...to parole."

Sam nodded and pointed to the Official. "So for the next few months, this guy will be hanging around and monitoring me until it can be determined that I have no more connections with VI and have no additional information that could lead the Officials to them."

"So, does that means he's allowed to sift through all our stuff and scan all the data on our computer and webpage?" Carlos asked with growing concern.

"Only the stuff I had access to, and only for the first couple of days. After that, it'll mostly be surveilance equipment they'll keep on me at all times."

Cyros was the next to ask a question. "Why just one guard watching you? From what it seemed like before you could kick this guy's ass easily."

The parole officer just rolled his eyes and went back to standing around looking bored. Sam answered the question by lifting his left pantleg revealing a snug metal band around his ankle. "Shock Collar. If I get the least bit incompliant, he gives me a few thousand volts."

"Well, you seem pretty upbeat for a guy that's become a naked prisoner in his own home." David commented.

"Yeah, well it's a lot better than the punishments they originally had lined for me. Besides, I'm tough, not to mention innocent. Just have to put up with this for a couple months. I'll be home free in no time. And I'm sure we won't even notice this guy after a day or two, he's pretty dull."

The parole officer rolled his eyes again and lit a cigarette.

Later that evening, the Blackbelt was on the roof of the building, practicing his fighting moves in the air over the background of the sunset. The parole officer was sitting on the raised ledge on the far side of the roof, smoking. Moe climbed up the fire escape ladder to find them there. He gave a mock salute to the guard as he walked over to meet Sam, who stopped his training as his friend approached.

"So, how bugged are you at the moment?" Moe asked casually.

"They may be watching me from a satelite in space, but they can't hear me, not yet anyway."

"Well, it doesn't really matter, the Officials pretty much already know what I'm about to tell you."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "What's this about? Trying to make me feel more at ease about my shameful secret by sharing one of your own?"

"Sorta, this doesn't go beyond us, anyway. I wanted to inform you that before NG, I was with the Officials for a brief period. My first and only mission was to take down the small NetCriminal factions known as Viral Infection and WWW while they were clashing in Arc City."

Sam suddenly had a flash of anxiety and the feeling of betrayal. It was like one of his most trusted friends was spying on him the whole time, it was like he just gave his enemies the information needed to take him out for good. He didn't know what to say, he just clenched his fist, ready to use it at a moment's notice.

Moe noticed this and continued. "At the time I thought both organizations were pure scum, the bottom rung of society. When I met the WWW, my initial conception of them was justified. And although I never met VI, I noticed just how they were fighting the WWW. It didn't occur to me at first, but I eventually realized anyone fighting against the WWW couldn't be all that bad."

Sam was a bit surprised, "Are you suggesting VI was a bunch of good guys?"

"I wouldn't go that far, but you were a part of them, and you I know. If the rest of VI are anything like you, I know for certain now they're not 'all that bad'. So don't worry, you can count on us for whatever."

Sam relaxed and smiled, "Thanks. You don't have to worry either. My unfinished business is all a waiting game. For now, I'm a full time Net Guardian, nothing more."

"That makes two of us. Let's just put this Viral Past of ours behind us."

"That was the plan from the start. I just wish the Officials would let us." Sam went back to his training, thrusting a kick in the direction of the parole officer, who had been ignoring the whole conversation. As Sam continued punching the air, Moe smiled and nodded, and left the way he came. The sun disappeared over the horizon as the night began.

The End

Stories main