The minute she stepped through her apartment door, it took every ounce of willpower Hoshiko had to not collapse into a ball on the floor. It had taken around three hours after the occurrence in the Undernet before she had finally been sent home. Various higher officials had instructed her to not let any mention of the incident get out, and to report back first thing tomorrow to investigate the new occupant of her PeT, which had been in standby the entire meeting. In truth, the only reason they hadn't confiscated the thing from the foreigner right then and there was Hoshiko's begging and pleading them to let her keep the small machine, and its mysterious occupant. Initially unsure, the superiors had relented and sent the now emotionless woman home.

Now Hoshiko was leaning against the door, body shaking with stress as the lavender-haired girl forced herself to not cry. It wasn't the time for an emotional breakdown. Retrieving the handheld terminal from the strap of her bag, the Japanese woman started pressing every button she should think of, trying to get some sort of reaction. The only response was a flickering light, as the terminal screen lit up for a brief second, before dying once more.

"Chikusho..." Tears began to well up in her eyes, knuckles turned white from how tight her grip was on the small machine. This couldn't be happening. "There has to be a way to connect to her..." She paused for a moment, as brown eyes widened at the idea.

"Wait a minute..." Connect. Of course. She could connect the PeT to her normal computer, and try to at least get at the navi's coding. It could probably run from the PC, if nothing else. Calming down at the thought, Hoshiko rushed towards her room.

Rows upon rows of text interrupted the otherwise black screen on the monitor, as Hoshiko typed furiously. Suddenly, the young woman was thankful for her knowledge in coding, even if it was a bit outdated. Typing in a few more commands, she took a deep breath, before pressing the 'compile' button. In theory, this would allow her access to the navi's coding, and then run it on the PC emulator. Then she'd be able to at least find out from IceChan, or whoever was in the ice-based navi's place, what the hell at happened. The compiling seemed to be working fine at first, with the occasional error that apparently corrected itself before the Japanese girl had to.

Suddenly, however, a mass of errors appeared on the screen all at once, followed by a horrific grinding noise coming from within the PC's tower. Swearing again in her native tongue, Hoshiko yanked the PeT's connector out, watching a large mess of jumbled letters and numbers appear on the monitor, before the system finally gave up. Sighing, she glanced at the small device in her hand, wondering what to do next, before the realization that its own screen was glowing fell upon her. Whatever had happened, the PeT was working again, apparently. The lavender-haired woman began going through the motions, pressing buttons when asked, and occasionally filling in new information. Odd. Eventually, she came to the first screen that featured the new navi.

"Ice...?" It was almost a whisper, but the mask-wearing navi seemed to have heard her.

"Good evening, Miss." her voice was almost robotic with how monotonous it was, "How may I be of service to you?" Hoshiko had to pause at this, studying the PeT curiously. Something seemed so wrong about this whole thing.

"Er...you can start by telling me who you are." The navi adjusted her mask idly, and for the first time, Hoshiko noticed Flameman's Navi Mark on her forehead.

"I...apologize, Miss. I cannot give you my name, it seems..." It took a moment to process that the navi seemed more curious than secretive, according to her body language. The voice never seemed to change.

"Well, fine. Can you tell me how you got into this PeT, then?" A head shake, along with a soft cough, from the navi, and an annoyed sigh from the operator.

"I apologize again, Miss...but I am not capable of telling you that, either. In fact, I am not capable of telling you a lot of things you may have questions over." Though there was still no emotion in the navi's voice, Hoshiko could have sworn it was giving her an attitude. She glared at the terminal, and wondered if shaking it would draw a reaction from the program.

"First of all, it's Hoshiko, not Miss. Secondly, why the hell can't you tell me anything?" She did not just nearly destroy her PC, and potentially lose her best friend, just to put up with this navi's apparent dislike of revealing information. The program seemed to consider this for a moment, before giving a barely noticeable shrug.

"I can tell you nothing, because I know nothing. My only memories are of a terrible burning sensation, and waking up here." There was a long pause from both parties, as Hoshiko fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Oh...wait," her eyes widened again, "Terrible burning sensation? Like...being burned alive?" If so, then there was a sudden possibility that this odd navi was IceChan after all. She shook her head to clear the thought away, as the navi coughed again, a little louder this time.

"I suppose so..." The navi's voice seemed a bit weaker, causing a concerned look to form on the programmer's face. The only time she ever remembered IceChan having a cough, was when she'd been infected with a minor virus.

"Hey, are you alright in there?" The navi started to nod, before pausing. A few seconds passed before the action was completed, and Hoshiko knew something was up.

"Right...humor me for a minute, and bring up your coding, will you? I just wanna check it out...maybe it'll help me figure out who you are." Another slow nod, before the navi's hand jerked to the side, poking at seemingly thin air. A box appeared beside her, and slowly began to fill with lines of coding. One quick glance told Hoshiko all she needed to know.

"Okay, you are bugged like all hell," the Japanese woman noted. Scrolling through a few more lines, she frowned. Some of the coding looked familiar, but for the most part, it was far more advanced than anything she could do.

"Am I?" The navi didn't seem at all concerned by this, and Hoshiko wondered if that wasn't because she was reacting too slowly.

"Severely. Right, c'mon...back to work with us. Maybe they have someone who can take care of all this..." Standing, the lavender-haired woman ignored the Navi's weakening protests, and made her way into the living room. Grabbing her bag and starting to head out the door, she looked down at the PeT once more.

"...You need a name." The navi nodded once.

"Your programming...er, what little I could read of it, anyway, indicated you have a basis in fire attacks...so I guess FlameChick will do for now. Sound good?" The question was more of a courtesy than anything.

"That...sounds fine with me," FlameChick replied slowly, as Hoshiko marched on, out of the apartment building, and into the city streets.

* * *

Within the deserted wastelands of the Undernet, the mission to track down twenty-three missing navis continued after a night's rest. Drillman, Overdrive, and Shademan composed the search team, following rumors and testimony selected from the barely trustworthy locals at the Rom Square where they jacked in. They decided not to call in the Magister they met the previous day, though she seemed helpful and innocent, her concern for her missing friend was getting in the way of their progress and Tricia was trying to move the operation back within the manageable realm of regulations. It was a difficult task considering their forced tagalong, the mercenary Shademan. At least he was proving to have interesting insights.

"Your encounter with your former teammate may have been a false lead, but she gave me an idea about what is really behind this case." The vampiric navi explained to the Officials as he led them down a winding path, stopping at each intersection and focusing to sense a trail his comrades could not detect.

Overdrive folded her arms and trudged along bitterly. "It sounds like you're going on a hunch, and I would normally frown on that, but it's not like we have anything else to go on today. Besides, navigating this place is a nightmare. We might as well follow the guy that's familiar with the area."

"Assuming we can trust him..." Drillman muttered.

Shademan turned his bat-like head. "Did you think these ears couldn't hear that?" Drillman glared back unapologetically. Shade scoffed. "Be that way, but I am only doing the job your superiors hired me for, and I pride myself on a job well-done. Wheeee-ee!"

"Could you at least explain what you're tracking?" Drillman pressed. "What is it, the scent of the victims' innocent blood?"

Shademan grinned. "Close. Minus the 'innocent' part. Darklady made me think of it. Your earlier reports and our recent questioning support the theory. Navis seen wandering trancelike, as if hypnotized. New aggressive DarkChip dealers popping up. It all makes perfect sense to me."

"Are you saying DarkChips have something to do with this?" Tricia asked through the comm link. She and the other operators were monitoring the system activity from the library basement server and Darklight was being just as cryptic as his navi on the details of their plan.

"I believe so. Does it bother you that I am exercising my affinity with Dark Power to aid you in this situation, my dear?"

Shademan had addressed the elephant in the room. He was a Darkloid, one of the most inherently evil navis on the net, yet he and his former-Nebula operator were free and sanctioned by the Officials. Darklady's status was much the same, only the other Net Guardians tended to ignore the moral implications of her DarkChip use as long as she wasn't hurting anyone. Now as an Official, Drillman and Moe felt more conflicted about the connection, just as Moe had felt about the government support of Undernet servers. Either way, it seemed they had to put up with it.

"What's the implication if that's true?" Overdrive pondered. "The victims were all clean as far as we could determine, and if you're saying they were attacked by DarkChip users...well, how does an ambush by a bugged-out junkie explain why they didn't return to their PETs upon deletion?"

Shademan shook his head. "There is much you do not yet understand about Dark Power and Darkloids such as myself...My operator and I will explain later. For the moment, it appears I have found what we were looking for."

Shademan stopped the group and pointed to a platform below. A Heel Navi was alone down there, looking around for something.

"H-hey, I got the message!" The nervous UnderDweller called out. "You'd better be here with the chips! I'm not sticking around to end up like those other guys!"

Moe, Tricia, and Darklight got their chips ready, preparing for the worst. Their navis ducked down, expecting a possible impromptu stakeout, but it seemed like for once they arrived just in time to see the action. A series of spires materialized around the Heel, forming a cage. The ops noticed that an unusual jamming signal sprouted up at the same moment, not cutting off contact with their navi entirely, but it would make jacking out impossible until they either escaped from the area or removed the source of the block.

A deep voice spoke to the Heel as a figure rose from the shadows behind him. "Like you had a choice."

The newly arrived navi was tall and heavily armored. A dark green helmet obscured his face and a plated crimson coat wrapped his bulky frame. A large cylindrical object was strapped to his back. There was something eerily familiar about him to Drill and Overdrive, but Shademan recognized something more important. "I was right, that's a Darkloid, and an unusually powerful one at that."

"You can tell that just by looking at him?" Overdrive asked incredulously.

"More from his scent, the energy he exudes. I know power like that all too well. I have possessed the same level of Darkness...after exceptionally satisfying feedings. I suspect the victims on your list were devoured by this Darkloid to increase his own strength. That would make capturing him a challenge."

As if confirming what Shademan surmised, the Darkloid approached the screaming Heel Navi, reached between the spires caging him, and tore it out by the neck. The comparatively small victim's struggles were quickly stopped as a black fog enveloped them and the Heel's energy was rapidly drained, leaving him a limp grey husk.

A Drill Missile suddenly erupted from the ground beneath the Darkloid's arm, separating him from his meal. Overdrive zoomed in to catch the Heel and carried him to safety as quickly as she appeared. Shademan sent a flock of bats to swarm the Darkloid while he was stunned, but he was more on-guard than they gave him credit for. He turned toward the fluttering creatures and with a wave of his hand, more black spires shot up from the ground beneath them, impaling the bats and removing the threat.

"You're too late, Drillman. That waste of filespace belongs to us now." The Darkloid spoke, his voice booming through his helmet.

Drillman popped up from the ground and converted back to normal mode. "So you know me and you're not surprised to see me. This was a trap after all?"

The Darkloid turned to Drillman and held up his hand again, creating several tall spikes between the two navis. "Not quite. We knew you were looking for us these last couple days, so I decided to give you the reunion you craved. Who knows when we'll get another chance with these interlopers showing up everywhere?"

"Reunion? Interlopers? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Soon, old friend. Bösergeist!" A spherical projectile launched from the Darkloid's hand and burst within the field of spires, causing them to rise from the ground and fly towards Drillman like missiles. Drill transformed to flight mode to avoid the spikes, but they tracked his movements and shot him down from the sky. His returning partner caught him and set him down to recover.

"I don't think he's kidding. That navi he drained is completely out of it. No consciousness, no PET signal." Overdrive explained.

"Crap. Well from the sound of things the lowlife was trying to score DarkChips, maybe he got what was coming to him." Drillman rationalized. "Not sure what to do here. If this guy is as tough as Shademan thinks, we might not be able to take him."

Overdrive couldn't think of running away when they were so close. "We need to find out if the same thing happened to the navis we're looking for, and then how to find and restore them, if possible. Next time don't try to dodge those spikes, just drill through them!"

"Uh, right. Easy for you to say." Drillman groaned and converted to flight-mode again.

Meanwhile, Shademan de-cloaked behind the Darkloid and attempted to give him a taste of his own medicine, but found his fangs to be useless against his target's armor. As the alerted Darkloid reached back to grab the vampire, Shade transformed into a bat in an attempt to escape. More spires began to sprout beneath him.

"Shademan of the Darklight Mercenaries...We've been waiting for you." The Darkloid spoke ominously. "Darklady may have slipped through Metal's oversized fingers, but I will not fail to bring you back into our fold."

"So you do have something to do with Darklady, fascinating. Pulsar3! WHEEE!" Reverting back to his normal form With a quick screech, Shademan launched a beam of sound that collided with one of the spikes and resonated between the rest of them, hitting the Darkloid from multiple angles.

"Your effort is as weak as your Dark Soul." The warrior scoffed at the attack while removing the object from his back and affixing it to his arm. "Surrender to us and reclaim your birthright!"

The cylinder opened and revealed itself to be a massive arm cannon. With machine-gun speed, the weapon began to fire missile after missile in a widespread grouping mowing down the remaining spires. Shademan attempted to dodge the large, black, spike-shaped bullets while preparing to fade into the darkness again, but the onslaught was too quick and all-encompassing. The mercenary navi shouted in pain as he took several hits, holes punched right through his lean frame. One projectile wedged into his chest, pixels away from being the stake in this vampire's heart. Shade fell to the ground, helpless.

"WOAH!" Drillman yelled angrily as his flight mode speared into the Darkloid's back, digging through the formidable armor and bringing the monstrous warrior genuine pain. Spires appeared in a defensive effort but Drill transformed back to normal mode and kept close to his target with DrillArms spinning. "That's enough out of you! Now that I'm ready for ya', I'm not letting you get a shot off! Overdrive, help Shade!"

The operators were just beginning to grasp the gravity of the situation. Samuel Darklight's nervous look betrayed his usual stoic demeanor. "Shademan is heavily damaged, if we don't get that transmission block down..."

Moe nodded gravely. "Yeah, he won't be coming back. Don't worry, he may not be our favorite ally, but we won't let that happen to him."

"Actually it's not deletion I'm worried about." Darklight clarified. "Shademan's an Immortal, he'll just regenerate somewhere in the Undernet if he can't return to the PET, but there was something unnerving about what the Darkloid said..."

"whatever we do, we'd better do it quick!" Tricia interrupted. "I'm picking up another signal and this one's all around them!"

Drillman continued to thrash away at the armor of the powerful enemy who was now using his large arm cannon to block and to attempt to club the smaller orange navi away. "You'd be wise to escape while you can. Shademan is the only one we want right now, but that doesn't mean I'll show you any mercy!" The enraged Darkloid threatened.

"Well thanks for the advice." Drillman responded sarcastically while puncturing a DrillArm into the large gun barrel and pushing it down and out of the way so he could aim the drill on his other fist at the slits in his opponent's visor. "What makes you such a considerate villain, anyway?"

The Darkloid twisted his head to avoid the possibly fatal blow, but the tip of the drill still caught the edge of his mask, tearing half of it free from his helmet and revealing part of his white, wooden face and piercing yellow eyes. His head turned back to his attacker with a contemptuous glare and Drillman fell back in shock when he recognized the Darkloid's cold, pale visage.

"Bowlman? How in the hell...?"

"You're just recognizing me now? Typical. For teammates we were never very close to begin with." Dark Bowlman sneered and kicked the stunned digging navi several panels away and into a group of spires, which Drillman now recognized as stretched and twisted black bowling pins. "That much was obvious when you, the other Net Guardians, and our own operators didn't lift a finger to search for us after Gamma was destroyed!"

Drillman activated a Mole chip and burrowed underground to avoid another dark Pin Cannon attack. "But you came back!...As Jon's original navi..."

"And what do you suppose happened to the Bowlman component? Well here's the answer to the question you never bothered to ask. We found a new home in the Darkness, and soon the rest of the net can join us there."

Overdrive meanwhile had her hands full trying to escape the range of the transmission blocker, carrying an immobilized Shademan over her shoulders. Since the vampire navi was larger than she was, she couldn't run at her top speed with his long legs dragging awkwardly behind. "Damn, I'm out of Recovs for you." She hissed, straining under Shade's burden. "You have to move! Whatever came along with the big guy is catching up with us!" Overdrive looked nervously back where she could see ominously rippling terrain between them and Drillman's fight.

Shademan groaned, barely conscious. "I...could heal...if...I could...just a taste..." He then began to move his fangs toward Overdrive's neck.

"Woah! Knock it off!" She yelled, pushing his face away with her free hand. "I think you could recover without resorting to bad habits!"

"It's not a habit, it's what he is." Darklight explained through the comm. "He won't suck you dry or turn you into an entranced servant, he'll just borrow enough of your energy to get moving again."

"Yeah, I'll believe that after seeing the kind of restraint he's shown on any of his victims I've seen these last couple days!" Overdrive caustically shot back.

Tricia chimed in apprehensively. "Look 'Driver, we're out of options. I think you'll have to bite the bullet and...let him bite you."

"You can't be serious!" Overdrive looked back at Shademan uneasily. He was fading fast and the pitiful drained look on his face was a far cry from the creepy leering smirk she was used to from him. She grit her teeth, turned her head away, and closed her eyes. "Alright, just...do it quickly."

There was a brief delay, then she felt the pinching pain of fangs puncturing her throat, followed by the rapid decrease of her life force. It was much more sudden than she expected, and after just a second she wanted it to stop, but before she could say anything, she was overcome by a sinking feeling that didn't have anything to do with her falling HP.

The mysterious ripple had made its move. Shademan and Overdrive were being pulled underground by an unknown force and dark energy began to envelop Shademan even as he was regaining the strength to struggle against it. With her own strength fast disappearing, Overdrive only found the power to scream.

The cry caught Drillman's attention. He abruptly broke off from his standoff with Bowlman to rocket towards his partner's location. He could hear the Darkloid's laughter mocking him from behind as he flew, but he ignored it. When he saw that Shade and Overdrive were being drawn underground by some kind of purple whirlpool, he prepared to dive underground to stop whatever was down there, only to have it stop him. A giant hand shot out of the ground and clamped around Drillman like a vice, putting a halt to his would-be rescue.

"Skrraschh iiraachhazhaaaahhh." proclaimed a ghostly demonic voice from all around them. Straining against the sandy grip, Drillman caught a glimpse of a grinning face glowing beneath the ground. The entire terrain was shifting and pulling at the three helpless navis.

"I had it under control, you didn't need to intervene." Bowlman stated while walking up to join the group. "Just as well though. You can have Shademan, and the others are fine for dessert."

"Is that...?" Drillman gasped. His drills were gradually churning through the hand's rocky composition, but he wouldn't make it in time. Shademan's body was almost completely consumed by blackness, and it was beginning to spread to his companion in the dark hole.

The situation was hopeless, but then something changed in Overdrive. Her desire to live and her need for freedom awakened something she didn't know was there. She stopped screaming as she felt a resurgence of energy waiting to be harnessed. The thought of being silenced, that the secrets they uncovered there would be lost with her incensed her with a feeling of duty. She had to survive this for the sake of everyone depending on her, at any cost. It seemed for a fleeting moment something was telling her that cost, but she didn't care. She latched onto that power and began to move. The Darkloid's vortex gave her no room to gain leverage, so she twisted and squirmed, faster and faster. Dust began to fly from the hole as every vector in her frame began to vibrate at the speed of light.

"Hhsshchhrrr?" The all-encompassing Darkloid muttered quizzically.

"Overdrive, what-" Drillman started to ask what was happening, but as he spoke she blurred and faded from sight, leaving a small explosion of sand from the hole to indicate that somehow she broke free.

Shademan's enclosed form was not so fortunate, once Overdrive was gone, the black cocoon that held him sank rapidly into the vortex, which subsequently disappeared along with a satisfied guttural hiss from the sand beneath.

Drillman finally broke free from the hand and quickly flew upwards out its reach. He then stopped in a hover, turned, and trained his missiles back on the two Darkloids on the ground. "Enough! Release Shademan at once! I won't let you get away with this!"

Bowlman responded by taking aim with his arm cannon, but a sound from his invisible companion stayed his trigger. "Echhrach. Smuucsh chra rrechhsss."

"Hmph. I know we have what we came for, but this one doesn't stand a chance. We should take him now."

"Macshh...Szeechh rhl chhrlleh fshihh."

"...I see. Then we'll settle this later, Drillman." Bowlman lowered his weapon and turned away, walking off into the shadows. "Perhaps by the next time everything will be out in the open."

"Where do you think you're going!" Drillman launched his Drill Missiles into the ground where Bowlman and the other Darkloid were standing, but the distortion in the terrain had vanished and Bowl along with it. The entire system seemed to become slightly brighter with the Darkloids gone.

"Drillman...the area is empty." Moe reported. "Shademan, those Darkloids, even that Heel navi from earlier, there's just no trace of them."

Drillman began to sink into despair once again. "No...and Overdrive?"

Tricia responded. "Actually, she's back in my PET...I don't know how to explain it but one second she was trapped by the Darkloids and the next she was collapsed in the next system over, outside the blocker's range. She's drained and stuck in sleep mode, but I think she'll be fine."

"Uh, yeah." Moe affirmed, just as confused as everyone. "The blocker went down when the Darkloids vanished by the way...you might as well jack out too."

"...What the hell just happened..." Drillman sighed before returning to his PET.

Moe and Tricia harnessed their PETs and turned to the silent Darklight, still staring at his own dead Terminal, lost in thought. At one point he took a hip flask from his pocket and took a quick chug.

"Darklight...Sam...I'm sorry, we did everything we could." Moe apologized uncomfortably.

The mercenary sighed and closed his PET and his flask. "I'm not sure what those things intend to do with Shademan, but there may yet be a chance...Either way we have something more important to worry about right now. We need to get to an ONBA lab in this city."

Moe and Tricia were taken aback. "You just lost your navi. I figured you'd...be done now. What do you have in mind?"

"I may not have a navi, but I still have something you need for this case." Darklight explained while leading the pair of Officials back up the stairs. "I'm going to tell you everything you need to know about Darkloids."

* * *

"Nuh uh. I told her last time. Bitch damn near took my head off."

"But you gave her good news yesterday."

"My point exactly! You do it."

The Jester and the Dragoon paced back and forth outside the doorway to their mistress' inner chamber. There was bad news to report and dispute over who should do the reporting.

"YOU were the one on monitor duty. I was just passing by. If anyone deserves to get punished for this, it's you!" Dragoon stated angrily.

Jester crossed his arms and pouted. "It wasn't my fault! There was no warning thanks to that sneaky mercenary. Besides, if you're so sure you don't need to be here, why don't you just fly away, chicken-wings?"

"Because YOU tied my tail to an anvil! I'm still not sure how you did it." The reptilian warrior gestured furiously to the large metal object tethered behind him.

"So you'll do it? 'Kay thanks!" The Jester then kicked open the door and ran off in the other direction.

"Hey! Get back here you backstabbing clown!"

"You have something to report, Dragoon?"

The voice from within the chamber made Dragoon freeze with terror. He looked back for a moment to notice the anvil had conveniently disappeared, though his tail was now tied in a bow for some reason. He would worry about that later. Flying away certainly wasn't an option any more, and a broken tail would be the least of his worries if he couldn't figure out how to deliver the news just right.

"Uhm, yeahhh. I just had to inform you...daaamn, you're looking extra-hot today, ma'am! You did something with your hair, am I right? Drillman's team met the Darkloids, by the way but oh man, you are one fine matriarch, my lady."

The Dragoon froze up again as eight swords jabbed at him from every direction, each one just slightly digging into his scales and gradually pressing in further. "Never waste Our time. When We desire transparent flattery, We will demand it! Now go back to the part about the Darkloids!"

Dragoon took a deep breath and delivered the news straight. "W-we thought they were on another aimless patrol, but Shademan quietly led them right into a confrontation with Desert and Bowl. The Darkloids devoured Shademan, but the other Officials got away. It-it all happened too fast, there was nothing we could do to stop it!"

"Worthless Children!" The guards shifted positions and herded the Dragoon off to the torture chamber by the tips of their blades. The lizard's pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears as the woman had once again turned to her monitors to begin planning her next move. "If those do-gooders learn the Darkloids' secret, it will be only a matter of time before they go the way of Flameman. We must accelerate our plans!"

"I suppose it was inevitable as soon as the Officials began their investigation." The disembodied male voice accompanying her surmised. "The Darkloids have been getting bolder as well, and I think they're aware of us now. I will do what I can to complete preparations in time."

The woman smiled. "Meanwhile, We shall personally reclaim the final member of Our court."

* * *

"What in the UnderKing's name happened here?"

"Pff, it's the Undernet. What more explanation do you need."

Three Heel navis had just entered a devastated sector of the deep Undernet. The numerous smoking craters dotting the landscape suggested they had come upon the site of a recent highly-destructive battle. One with a lighter purple shade of armor began kicking at the looser rubble, unenthusiastically looking for remnants of value; Chip and Zenny data that may have been left behind by the combatants. "I dunno man. Under's been gettin' more dangerous by the day ever since we lost the old order. Haven't ya noticed?"

The grey Heel that answered the first question shook his head. "Quit talkin' like you have that kinda perspective. I've been around since the early days and everyone else is always whinin' about how much worse it's gettin'. The way I see it, all our previous troubles just seem softer in retrospect, 'cause we survived them and don't have to worry about them no more. Every new, unexplained thing that comes our way scares us on account of that 'unknown' factor."

"Yeah, yeah, you got it all figured out." The third, blue Heel commented, sarcastic, but aware of his comrade's seniority. "So you've seen battlegrounds this damaged before?"

"Well...not as such...no. Still! It's been known to happen."

The purple one dug up a small, disc-shaped object from the dust and picked it up to inspect it while continuing the conversation. "The boss is worried, isn't he? He sent us here to find out what's going on because everything's goin' to hell!"

"Shaddup, willya?" Grey grumbled. "We're here fer salvage, that's all. The boss already knows what's goin' on in his Undernet. He's got to now."

"What if he doesn't?"

The grey navi threw up his arms and barked at the blue one. "Will you just appreciate a good deal already!? We survived this long thanks to the boss. If you wanna question him and get thrown to the Spikeys, that's your funeral!"

The blue Heel was taken aback. "Whatcha barkin' at me fer? I didn't say anything!"

"I didn't..." The purple navi said, suddenly much more nervous. His core nearly jumped out of his chest when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. "YAAGH!"

A custom navi with silver dreds wearing a suit and shades stood behind him, calmly holding out his hand. "Hey, I'm gonna need that." He said, nodding toward the unidentified object the Heel had dug up.

The purple navi looked back and forth between the stranger and his find, then backed up while converting his hand to a buster. "Hey, finders keepers, buddy! You want it, you gotta take it! Them's Undernet rules!"

The man smirked. "Yeah, I'm familiar with the rules..."

"Just give 'im the thing, you moron!" The grey navi whispered loudly to his underling.

Purple turned to his cohorts, expecting to see them backing him up with their own gun-arms, but was unnerved to instead see them backing away and waving their arms to signal him to stop.

"Don't you recognize him? That's Spider!" The blue Heel warned with utmost seriousness.

"Sp-Spider?" The purple navi turned back to the man, who was still holding out his hand expectantly. "Um...which number were you again?"

"Does it matter?" Spider responded, impatience rising in his voice.

"...Nope, guess not." He fumbled a bit as he handed over the disc. "Here's your...whateveritis."

"Thanks, now get out of here, all of you."

Spider watched as the three mooks scurried and ran off, leaving him alone to survey the battlefield and pick up the rest of his discarded anchors. This was the same spot that just a couple days prior he had been drawn into a fight with Dark Metalman along with those three female navis. Things had gotten hectic since then, and only now did he find time to come back and clean up after himself, and apparently not a moment too soon.

Every anchor still functioning was easy enough to recover. The small objects were invisible upon initial placement, but the disruption of the terrain during the battle made it so even schmucks like those Heel navis could find them, and potentially uncover their secrets. Broken, they would evaporate like any temporary digital construct, but as long as a thread remained, he would always be connected to them. Having anchors discreetly placed all over the Undernet gave Spider a decisive advantage in information gathering.

Yet there were still corners of that world closed off to him. The mystery of the Darkloids was currently his primary concern. From the sound of those three navis' conversation, it was also becoming a concern with the rest of the Undernet community, but it was clear they didn't know any more about it than he did.

One thing was certain: this had escalated beyond a covert fact-gathering mission and into all-out conflict. Those women, the Officials, and now the Under-Dwellers...curiosity was drawing everyone towards a slaughter. He couldn't help thinking this was the Darkloids' aim all along. They certainly weren't trying very hard to keep a low profile. In any case, he had no choice now but to take the fight to them, before it got any more out of hand.

That was the other reason he came back to this spot. There was something particular about the areas the Darkloids stalked, something that set them aside from the rest of the Undernet. It was nothing that could be measured or identified, just a feeling of deeper isolation, of looming, sinister pressure from all directions. Spider had used his anchors to study the pattern as far as he could, but if he really wanted to hunt a Darkloid, he would need to do it in person.

With the remainder of his old anchors recovered, Spider simply stood there in the vast, shadowy ruin. He attuned his keen senses to his surroundings, taking in the sound and the sensation of the air. The Darkness was out there, it wasn't far. He knew it was looking for him as well.

Following his gut, Spider turned to the south. Equipping his Dropdown chip, Spider set off, not sure what he would find, or if there was anything to find at all. If trusting this feeling didn't work, he didn't know what else to try. He climbed the steps to the next level, followed the bridge, dipped back down into the pit, weaved through narrow corridors, back out into the craggy, open terrain. The sense of dread was growing, the darkness was intensifying. He stopped when he came to an open field and received a much more credible signal to his senses: a sound. A booming, echoing sound. A thud, followed shortly by another, getting closer. A sound he was already familiar with from following it days earlier.

Footsteps of a giant.

* * *

Feet moved quickly through the Rom Official Center. Nobody took much notice when Darklight, Moe, and Tricia arrived, until Darklight put out the word for an impromptu meeting in the nearest computer lab on the hot subject of the day, Darkloids. There was a subtle gravity in the young man's proposal. While he retained his usual stoic demeanor, everyone could tell there was a new purpose there that went beyond his obligatory paycheck. He had information to share, and he was prepared to share it with every Official that was interested. This was going to be big.

As the curious agents trickled into the room, Darklight stood pensively at the front, staring at the wall, carefully planning how to deliver the news. Moe paced near the entrance until Tricia rushed in, worried she might have missed something. Moe immediately met up with her. "Hey, how's Overdrive?"

"Not sure yet." She shook her head solemnly while catching her breath. "I left her PET in the repair lab charger. The diagnostic already revealed some weird faults I'll probably have to spend a while fixing. I think she's going to be out of commission for a few days at least."

Moe's face fell in defeat. "Damn. Just when we need her most. I doubt the Darkloids are going to wait a few days to make their move. It sounded like Bowlman said they intend to consume the whole net like they did Shade and that other navi. With the progress they've been making over the last couple of days, they could be very close to pulling that off."

His partner looked around the room, taking note of how popular Darklight's venue turned out to be. "Well it looks like you won't have any trouble getting new help. The other Officials are taking the mission seriously now."

Darklight turned around. The room was about full enough. Some in attendance weren't even Officials, they just looked like the people that were standing around in the lobby. Whatever. It was time to get it over with. "So...how much do you people know about Darkloids?"

Darklight stood at the front of the small room, fishing various papers from his briefcase. The other gathered Officials, mercenaries, and odds and ends sat in chairs, on the floor, or stood. A passerby could easily mistake the scene as some manner of lecture, or class. Which, in a way, it was. At least one random Official seemed particularly interested in the subject.

"It's a navi who uses Dark Chips too much and gets taken over by darkness, right?" One said.

"Yeah. And?"

Silence.

Darklight sighed. "What are they teaching you people these days." He fished out a bottle of what appeared to be whiskey and took swig. "Anyway, what you're describing is only a Type 1 Darkloid. Hardly worth the effort, honestly."

"There're different types?"

"Yes, there are, but I'm not done explaining the first. (Ahem) A Type 1 Darkloid, as said, is just a normal navi who comes into contact with Dark Chips too often and gets subsequently 'tainted', for lack of a better word, and begins acting irrationally. Eventually a dependency for Dark Chips begins, much in the same way a human builds a dependency for drugs and other subjects of addiction."

"Like alcohol?" Tricia remarked. Darklight ignored her and took another swig from his bottle.

"Why this occurs, though, is not yet known. The best theory is that Dark Chips have an effect on the personality data of a navi. Though there are some who believe that it affects a navi's "Soul" or something."

A silence filled the room, leading Darklight to note that everyone looked bored and contemptuous, with a look of 'we know this already' on all their faces.

"Anyway, moving on, we have a Type 2 Darkloid. They are very different from Type 1s. They are quite literally born from Dark Chips, and are able to tap into the Dark energies at will"

Darklight immediately noticed the fact that everyone was paying attention now.

"The first type of such a Darkloid was our very own Darkman. Many criminal syndicates attempted to duplicate this success, until a certain thing became apparent: 99% of all Darkloids created out of Dark Chips would die within the first 24 hours."

Gasps around the room.

"Well, perhaps 'die' is too kind a word. More like the collapse upon themselves. See, due to this type of creation, they are inherently unstable. I can understand Darkman remaining alive, due to his constant merging with navi data, though the other known Darkloid of this type is nothing short of a miracle."

"Umm...you mean Shademan?" Tricia said with a hint of sympathy.

"Yes." Darklight confirmed, a mixture of regret, sadness, booze, and hope in his voice. "Anyway, I at first believed that these new Darkloids we're investigating were Type 2, though based on the fact that they are older navis, yet showing no other Type 1 characteristics, I must conclude that we may be looking at a new type. A Type 4 Darkloid, if you will."

"Wait a minute, what happened to Type 3?" Some random Official asked.

"The Type 3 Darkloid is irrelevant to our current problems, and any data on that particular navi is a national secret, upon punishment of death."

An older agent that had been listening intently the whole time scoffed. "A secret from the Officials? Oh I'm so sure. Can you at least tell us what makes this navi a third type?"

"Hmmm...." Darklight thought for a moment, aware of the fact that withholding information could cause trouble down the line. Hell, he had enough trouble getting people to not be afraid of him, much less nice to him.

"This navi, due to the uniqueness of its coding, somehow has the Darkness existing within it as a separate entity, rather than as a fundamental transmutation. The navi is able to, under specific conditions, call upon Dark power with no ill effects."

"Okay, and you're sure that's got nothing to do with this case?" Moe questioned.

"The classification is pretty specific. It's really not applicable any more. Could we just move on, please?"

The audience mumbled and groaned in reluctant approval. The Officials were making a mental note to look up the story with the Netopian archives. Not everyone in the room was a government agent with clearance, so if it really was classified then they acknowledged that this wasn't the place to be discussing it.

Darklight nodded and resumed talking. "So back to the matter at hand, my associates and I have just run across these new types of Darkloids in the Undernet, Pacific area. They were recognized as the former Net Guardian Bowlman...and the former Acid Hacker Desertman."

Moe chimed in. "Both were among the navis that fought Gamma last year. They were also two of the ones that were directly absorbed by Gamma during the battle."

"So Gamma made these Darkloids?" Another Official asked.

Moe shook his head. "I don't think that's how it happened. There were other factors they had in common anyway. The Dark Bowlman said that after Gamma's destruction, they 'found a new home in the Darkness'. If that includes the others Gamma absorbed during the battle, then besides Bowl and Desert, we may also be facing...Metalman...Bubbleman...Flameman...maybe even Serenade." The list made everyone else in the room uneasy, especially the last possibility.

"Did you say Flameman could be one of these Type 4 Darkloids?" The older Official asked while standing up.

"Huh? Well yeah, but I'm just guessing about the pattern. Two examples isn't really much to go on."

The same Official followed up. "Does this Flameman by chance look like a burning ball with long, wiry limbs?

"Pretty much..." Tricia confirmed, as both she and Moe drew in closer to the man, becoming intrigued. "Are you saying you've seen him?"

The man took a deep breath, coming to a significant realization himself. "My unit was on a mission in the Undernet earlier today to investigate what was rumored to be a Darkloid sighting. The navi we encountered fit that description."

Darklight perked up. "You've encountered one of the Darkloids? Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

The grey-haired agent crossed his arms. He didn't look happy having to answer to a bunch of young upstarts. "Look, we didn't make the connection before. We didn't want to jump to conclusions, and I wanted to hear what supposed information you had on this matter before grasping at straws. I suggest you meet us here tomorrow morning after our debriefing. One of our agents has something that will probably be of interest to you."

"Well, if that's the case..." The young lecturer began to pack away his items into his briefcase. "I think we should postpone this little talk until tomorrow after all. It seems we have more information to piece together than I thought."

There were frustrated groans throughout the room as the audience picked themselves up and piled out, continuing on with their day. Some would proceed to try and look up the accounts Darklight gave to them, others would contact other interested comrades that were not present for the impromptu gathering, a few would go back to their other duties and hope the Dark Chip epidemic really wasn't as bad as it was made to sound. Darklight, Moe, and Tricia caught up with the old man that claimed to have seen Flameman.

"Well, I'll tell ya that you probably don't have to worry about Dark Flameman any more. It looked pretty dead when we were finished with it."

"Unbelievable. How did you defeat it?" The incredulous Darklight asked.

The Official coughed and glanced around, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Well...my navi was already deleted by that point...but it was a group effort...erm...at any rate, the girl with what we think are the remains was sent home. As soon as she gets back though..."

At that point, as if contrived, a lavender-haired young woman rushed into the lab, clutching a PET. "Oh, um, is this the right place? I think something is wrong with my...with this navi."

Darklight's eyes went wide when he noticed this girl, as did hers when she spotted him. The older Official was just grappling with the unbelievably perfect timing. "Well, alright then. This is Hoshiko Yahari, you can examine her navi and let her tell you everything that happened. I have other work to get back to, so if you'll excuse me..." He then took his exit, leaving the four younger Netbattlers alone in the lab.

Darklight was now eyeing the nervous-looking girl with confusion and contemplation. "So...Hoshiko Yahari, is it?"

Hoshiko trembled, noting the suspicious glances of the two unrecognized Officials standing alongside this familiar face. "...Yes. That is my name...and you are...?"

"Oh, pardon my manners. I am Samuel Darklight. Please, call me Sam." He then gave her a quick wink to let her know that he'd go along with whatever ruse she was trying to pull. 'Hoshiko' became visibly more at ease by this.

Moe and Tricia failed to notice the subtle exchange and focused on the matter at hand. The other female Official stepped in. "I'm Tricia Oscar and this is Moe Fortis. We're from a different Center out of town, but we're out here investigating navi disappearances in the Undernet. We've just recently come to learn a new type of Darkloid is involved, and your unit apparently encountered one earlier today...Flameman. Can you tell us what happened?"

"Actually..." Hoshiko held out her PET. "I was hoping I could get someone to look at Flamechick as soon as possible. I think she's sick."

Moe's jaw dropped. "FlameCHICK!?"

* * *

Spider de-cloaked. There was no more point in hiding. He came to this area of the Undernet to confront the Darkloids, and that's what he got. With slow and thunderous footsteps, Dark Metalman emerged from the shadows. The giant's hunched form plodded straight towards the smaller navi, his deep-set eyes peering contemptuously at the one that attacked him so brazenly two days ago. Spider, for his part, stood calm and purposeful, staring right back from behind his shades. The Darkloid felt confident about this encounter since Spider did not have the element of surprise this time, nor the help of any other navis. Spider felt confident because he did have a substantial amount of time to prep the battlefield to his purposes before deactivating his Dropdown. One had strength, the other had speed, and neither had any doubts about coming out the victor.

The Darkloid finally stopped approaching a few panels from Spider's position. After a moment of awkward silence, Spider decided to open a dialogue. "Well, hello again. Since you've come to meet me, I guess you volunteer to be deactivated, sealed, and studied." He brought out his sword. "I'll make it quick and painless. Just stay still...shouldn't be too hard for you."

"Giive thhemmm baaack, puuuny mannn." Metalman commanded in a low, rumbling tone.

Spider backed up to a point and raised his sword defensively. "I don't have anything of yours. What are you talking about?"

"Daaarrk annd Flaaame. Thhe wommmennnn belllonng tooo ussss." The Darkloid's threatening words were accented by plodding, ground-shaking footsteps advancing on the much smaller navi.

"Huh, so you know about Flamechick already. Well if you know so much, what makes you think they're mine to 'give'?"

"AASSSK YOOURRSELLLFF." The slow-talking giant finally roared and lashed out with a surprisingly quick fist brought down on Spider's head, leaving a deep crater where the panel used to be.

Spider stood several panels away unscathed, still watching closely in a defensive stance. He took a moment to think about Metalman's strange statement. Was it just a dim-witted attempt at a comeback? Or was there somehow more to his involvement with those surface-navi girls than even he realized? He impulsively opened his journal.txt file to make note of the idea.

Metalman was busy inspecting his knuckles and the crater for signs of Spider's remains when he spotted the open Notepad program out the corner of his eye. He suddenly turned and lumbered towards his target's new location. "WHAAT AARRE YOUU D-"

"Doing?" Spider finished the sentence, sighing impatiently. "I'm 'asking myself' as you suggested. If you don't give me time to contemplate it further, I may have to set the question aside until after I capture you."

"YOUUU DAAARRE TOOO-"

"Right, by all means keep talking. I could use the time to work on this." He scoffed and continued to type out his thoughts in the floating text window.

With an enraged growl, the Darkloid swung his fist in a wide arc with the force of a runaway locomotive, but once again there was no feeling of connect, and Spider re-appeared several panels away looking completely casual.

"Grrr...METAALLL BAARRRAAAAGE!"

Burning with a black aura, Metalman pounded his fists on the ground, simultaneously opening every artillery bay throughout his body. Missiles launched from his back, blades detached from his arms, machine guns fired from his knuckles, lasers from his ears, bombs from his mouth. It was the very expression of offensive overkill, and it was directed primarily at Spider, with plenty left over for everywhere else on the battlefield.

For once the stoic warrior's calm attitude was shaken. He kept his eyes intently on the projectiles, trying to predict the trajectories in several areas at once, and rapidly warping between points all around Metalman, never being able to stay in one panel very long before it exploded. After just a couple seconds, he stopped warping entirely, and resorted to dodging the barrage on foot. That didn't last long before the shockwave from a bomb threw him into the air where a saw blade sliced through his left arm and vulcan-fire riddled his suit before his body fell back to the ground where a missile dropped directly on him with seemingly definitive blast.

His DarkTech complete, Metalman rose up and surveyed the wreckage. The entire platform had been churned up and leveled into a field of smoldering rubble with the occasional charred black crater. One particular pit of smoke ought to have been Spider's final resting place, but Metalman knew by now to not underestimate his opponent's evasive capabilities. He leaned forward and peered into the hole, looking for signs of Spider's remains. Unsurprisingly, the crafty warrior was alive, protected from the final blast by a high-level barrier, which had already begun to collapse from the damage. Behind the barrier, Spider stood up shakily, one arm missing, and obviously heavily damaged in spite of the last-moment save.

Metalman glared angrily for a moment, but cracked an unsettling smile when he put the pieces together. "Knnowww yoouuur seeecrrret."

Spider grit his teeth and tried to hide his mounting panic. The giant brute was apparently smarter than he appeared. Slowly raising his fist to deliver the finishing blow, it was clear he had figured out Spider could no longer warp away to dodge. He may have figured it out even before the barrage, as destroying everything in sight was the perfect strategy to remove the anchors from the equation. The timely intervention of the barrier even as the user was reeling from multiple attacks may have also tipped him off to his other major secret, and the creeping static interference confirmed it.

There was still at least one trump card Spider could pull at this point, and with the massive fist bearing down on him and no means of escape, there wasn't a lot of choice. With his good arm he yanked on an invisible wire leading up out of the hole and to the ground underneath Metalman's feet. There was a brief beeping noise that caught the Darkloid's attention, but it was too late to do anything about it. A bright cyan flash erupted from beneath the towering destroyer, throwing him off balance and sending him crashing on his side like a toppling redwood, landing with a thundering crash.

Having bought himself a moment, Spider hurried out of the pit as fast as his injuries could allow him and readied another strategy. He didn't have time to set down any more anchors. The only one that Metalman's attack didn't destroy was the one he was standing on and now that Spider detonated it as a landmine he was stuck moving on his own feet again. Since the cat was out of the bag about his chip usage, he figured it was time to let loose with his backup arsenal.

Metalman lifted up his heavy body with the help of his seldom-used rocket thrusters. At one time he could fly freely with his jets, but his Darkloid form was too massive to get off the ground. The weight also made him quite slow and Spider was not going to pass up the opportunity to exploit that lack of speed. The first thing Metal noticed as he regained his footing was that his energy was decreasing rapidly. He had to look around, but he finally found the PoisonFace behind him spewing toxic fumes from its mouth. He tried to destroy it and the navi behind it with one crushing fist, but the mask disappeared just before the fist landed and Spider quickly moved out of the way.

The Darkloid seethed. He could tell the smaller navi was on his last legs, just one hit was all it would take to just finish him off already. Every second the battle continued frustrated Metalman further. He began to lunge out at Spider as fast as he could to land that final blow, but even with his injuries Spider managed to stay just out of range of every swipe and keep taking potshots with battlechips.

Spider lacked an arm and his own combat abilities were hampered by the accumulated damage, but he had access to an arsenal that was capable of doing his work for him, particularly useful against a slow opponent. He summoned a GaiaHammer statue to create small quakes that caused rubble to rain down on the distant Darkloid. No sooner had that worn off than Spider laid down a Meteor wand to distract the giant with fire raining from the sky. Metalman ignored the minor annoyances and continued to chase down the source. That was until Spider set down a GigaTimeBomb. Metal roared with rage, knowing he couldn't afford to ignore a weapon that powerful. He deviated from his pursuit path to crush the explosive Program Advance beneath his fist just as the timer reached '0'. He then turned around as quickly as he could to get another bead on the little bastard. With any luck that cancelled PA marked his last-ditch attempt at fighting back.

No such luck. A perfectly-timed CustomSword attack sliced through Metalman's right leg before he got a chance to turn completely around, causing the great beast to topple over once more. Propping up on one of his fists, Metalman glared down at Spider, now closer to eye-level. The skilled battler showed no less resolve, and as the sword disappeared from his one good arm, a DashCondor materialized in its place. Breathing heavily, Spider reared back the jet-powered, razor-sharp arm weapon, aiming it straight for the Darkloid's chest. Metalman knew dodging was impossible now, and even his tank-like arms could not block a Condor strike at that range.

So he didn't even try to dodge or block. Metalman just frowned, raised his chest, and beckoned for the finishing blow. "Commmme onnnnnn thhhennnn...Dooooo iiiiiiit..."

Spider clenched his teeth, took a deep breath, and launched the Condor, shooting himself like a golden bullet through the Darkloid's cog-shaped navi mark, resulting in an explosive howl of pain and a cascade of crackling sparks and pixels as energy began to release from the dying monster. The area shook with sound and force to accompany Metalman's death rattle.

Spider was unable to secure his victory however, as his final attack did not end with the expected result. Rather than exiting out Metalman's other side with the Condor, some impossibly strong force was holding him inside the Darkloid's chest cavity. Spider struggled to dig himself free but could feel the force tightening around him, making it impossible to move. His vision began to fade to blackness. He could hear Metalman's voice in his head, unencumbered by his usual speech impediment.

"Congratulations, fool. If I cannot destroy you, then I will devour you. The injuries you inflicted will cease to be as the Dark Power integrates your being into my own. Then, this fate awaits any navi you care about. I will personally hunt them down to spite you."

Metalman's triumphant laughter echoed from every angle. Spider was being consumed and he couldn't do anything to stop it. His brief yet colorful life was flashing before his eyes. He could feel life energy squeezing out of him at an exponential rate.

An instant of panic was all his mind would allow before he stamped it out and focused. After everything he had survived in the Undernet, he refused to go out like this.

That girl. She had the answer. Spider wondered if he had what it took to tip the scales in his favor as well.

If not alone, then perhaps with help...

Metalman lifted himself back to his feet. His leg was once again in one piece and the hole in his chest had begun to seal up. It was more of an ordeal than he expected, but that was one less threat to the Darkloids' goals to worry about. He would also need to hunt down Darklady and Flamechick as soon as possible.

Just as the dark giant started to lumber off, he staggered and doubled over in pain once again. Something was wrong. The navi he consumed was not going down without a fight. Spider's body was already dissolved, but his consciousness struggled for dominance of Metalman's massive frame. This shouldn't be. Dark Power was made specifically to conquer the minds of lesser navis...but there was something else happening. Metal could feel his Dark Power slipping away. Bit by bit, his karma value was incrementing, with no action on either part by himself or Spider. It had to be hacking. But how? There had to be a connection of some sort.

Then he noticed it. The link he had not experienced since his conversion to a Darkloid. A link that even now was overriding his DNS data and latching firmly onto his connection control system. The voices of the Dark faded from his mind as he cried out to them for help, only to replaced by another, singular voice of authority.

"Metalman...jack out."

Without a chance to protest, the Darkloid automatically teleported out of the Undernet, out of the Cyberworld, and out of existence. The next time Metalman would appear, everything would be different.

* * *

Inside the Official Center's data recovery lab system, Drillman stood with his missiles trained on the mysterious figure in the middle of the platform. The masked female navi made no move to attack, and didn't even acknowledge his presence. She just stood there trembling, but it was enough to put the heavily-armed warrior on edge, especially considering she was wearing the mask of his old enemy. He didn't know what to expect, and after the last few days, he wanted to be ready for anything.

Outside in the physical lab, Darklight watched the screen output on Flamechick's diagnostic with great interest. Hoshiko, Tricia, and Moe hovered behind him, trying to make sense of the bugs being spat out one after another. Hoshiko leaned in over his shoulder in a nervous, uncertain attempt to help. "Yeah, I think those are the same messages that popped up when I hooked her up to my computer. Any clue what they mean?"

"Yes..." Darklight droned as he turned to look her in the eye with a deadpan expression. "You'll need to get a new computer."

"Wait, what!?"

"These are the signs of a Dark Soul forcefully reformatting everything it touches. As I suspected, the Darkloid Flameman is not yet dead, it's possessed Miss Yahari's navi's body and soon enough she'll be the new Darkloid."

The expert's prognosis caused a variety alarmed reactions among the others. Drillman tensed up further, beginning to see the black aura forming around the eerily silent navi. Hoshiko's only reaction was of sadness, she felt like she was losing IceChan all over again. Flamechick herself made no move, seemingly unaware of what was being said about her.

Moe stepped in. "So you recognize these errors, does that mean it's not a new type of Darkloid after all?"

Darklight shook his head as he proceeded to type something into a separate program. "The errors are consistent with Type 1 subjects who attempted to have their karma values reset through programming. The cleansing would only work momentarily before the infection would return in force. There's just no getting rid of the Darkness. No easy way anyhow. Like I said, it's probably already infected Miss Yahari's personal computer. The Center's mainframe should be equipped to keep itself clean, or at least quarantine the Darkness if it gets loose, so I don't think we have much to worry about besides Drillman's deletion."

"Gee, thanks." Drillman commented sarcastically.

Hoshiko sunk down into her chair. "I don't care about the computer...I just wish there was a way to save her." She prayed softly.

"Well..." Darklight started as he continued to type away. "Here's what has me thinking this is a fourth type of Darkloid...there were no Dark Chips involved. An ordinary navi doesn't become a carrier like this without some means of direct transmission."

"Didn't you just say she could be infecting a system just by being jacked into it?" asked Tricia.

"The effects are different for systems. Darkness infecting a computer generally means virus-spawning, and Darkloids of any type have a way of spreading viruses anywhere they go. For a navi though, direct interface such as the insertion of a Dark Chip is required for their code to be rewritten. At that point it sticks with them indefinitely."

Moe winced. "Geez, the way you describe it makes it sound like an STD. Though considering the old Flameman's personality, that would make a lot of sense."

Darklight rolled his eyes. "In all seriousness, if we could figure out how Dark Flameman forcefully interfaced with this navi, we could probably figure out the key to he Type 4 Darkloids, and possibly how to reverse the effect."

Hoshiko perked up. "Wait, you CAN save her!?"

"I don't know yet but I'll do what I can...I will note that Type 1 initial Darkloid transformation is a gradual process, but this was a very sudden navi generation typically associated with the Type 2, a process known for backfiring and killing the subject. So if I had to guess, if the transformation continues, she'll either explode messily or turn into an unstoppable rampaging monster."

Drillman spoke up. "Uh...I think I know which -"

Before he could finish his thought, the sound of a large explosion blasted through the speakers and the lights and screens in the room flickered. Everyone's eyes were back on Flamechick. She was now surrounded by a dark red aura of fire. Her stance remained still, but her shoulders were tensed and her head was lowered as if she was inwardly fighting the transformation that was taking place, but losing. The kinetic energy emanating from her body whipped her ponytail around as red sparks shot forth from her flame in all directions.

"Okay, I think I'm ready for some backup!" Drillman shouted over the roar of the blaze. "Go outside and get a few dozen Officials, would ya!?" Holding his drills out in front, he began to advance on the burgeoning Darkloid.

"This can't be happening!" Hoshiko screamed. "I did what I could...why is it all going wrong? Ice! You have to be in there! Please stop!"

Tricia moved for the door to get backup while Moe prepared his chips. Darklight slammed his fist on the counter to grab everyone's attention from the chaos erupting in the system. "Hold it! We need to focus on the solution while there's still time! Now what was unique about Flameman's programming? Desertman! Bowlman! Metalman!"

"I'd like to help you, but right now I want to focus on keeping my navi alive!" Moe shouted back. "Geez, first Darklady, now this. The hybrid girls are giving us a lot of grief lately."

"Hybrid?"

"It's the name of the program Cossack made to let us combine our regular navis with higher-level navi ghost data. Darklady was the combination of Darkman with a female navi. I guess we got Flamechick when Flameman did the hybrid thing with another girl navi."

Darklight threw his arms up in the air. "You idiot! Why didn't you mention that sooner! You're saying this program is something all the former Acid Hackers and Net Guardians had in common?"

Moe was taken aback. "Well yeah, but we had lots of weird stuff in common! What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything!" Darklight quickly resumed typing away at the program he was writing earlier. "A navi customization that allows the merging and consumption of separate navi entities...THAT'S how the Darkness was contracted. That's the interface that would have been impossible with a regular navi. That's also the interface that will let us reverse it. The Darkness can't be erased, but we can put it where it belongs."

"WWRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Flamechick screamed with murderous fury as she now reared her head back and spread her arms out. The aura of flame expanded and the sparks became full-sized fireballs, spitting out and ravaging the system with explosions. Drillman popped up from underground beneath her to deliver a critical blow, but found himself immediately pushed back by the burning force field before he could deal any damage. His armor was scorched and he could feel his vitality slipping away, but he was not down yet. He launched his missiles, and they detonated against the aura. The roaring woman of flame didn't even see him or his pitiful attacks, she was completely absorbed by her own intensifying torture.

"I'm accessing her functions!" Darklight pointed to an odd icon on his screen. "Fortis, is that the Hybrid program?"

Moe was trying to concentrate on his PET commands, but took a second to glance at the monitor. "Yes, but if you're thinking of reversing the merge, it won't work! Trust me. Hybrid fuses things together, it's no good at separating them."

"That's fine, I have something else in mind." The young man then pulled out an innocuous blank chip from a pocket on his black coat and quickly slotted it into Hoshiko's PET, hooked up to the computer. "Now just do something to hold her for a second. Don't hold back!"

"Are you suggesting that all Drillman can do if we don't hold back is hold her...for a second?!"

"She's bursting with Dark power, how much damage do you think you can do?"

"...Alright fine. Drillman, that hole you made to try and get under her is still there, right?"

Drillman was doing all he could just to keep from burning up in the inferno. "Y-yeah..."

"Then let's hope this will take out the aura long enough to get in a hit."

Drillman's right arm switched from drill to hand and a blue ball materialized in it. "It'd better..." Braving the incoming fireballs, the orange navi charged forward, leapt up, and chucked the ball into the small hole beneath Flamechick's feet. As with everything else going on, she ignored it, and so took the full brunt of the Geyser attack that erupted forth. The water and fire met and extinguished each other in an explosive cloud of steam. Drillman didn't stop. He dove underground to avoid the mist and once again resurfaced right next to the girl. She was still standing, still screaming and overflowing with power, but for the moment the flames surrounding her body were mere wisps and embers. Without another attack prepared, Drill did the first thing that came to mind and grabbed her in a chokehold. "Uhm...does this count as 'holding her'?"

Moe groaned. "I don't think so. She didn't really need to move before when she spreading fire all over the place. She doesn't seem very concerned now either. If I could find a paralysis-type chip like ZapRing or something..."

"Hm. Here!" Hoshiko tossed Moe a battlechip. He didn't even stop to look before slotting it in.

In a flash, Drillman sprung backwards as Flamechick was encased in a solid cube of ice. Drill sunk to his knees and noticed the sizzling, partially-melted parts of his armor where he had grappled with her. He chuckled nervously. "Yeah...IceCube. That's a much better idea."

"Better get up, she's already melting free!" Moe shouted.

Darklight activated his program with a flourish of the keyboard. "I'm on it!"

From within the ice, Flamechick's body turned inky black, then blindingly bright for a moment before the cube shattered and a wave of heat spread outward across the platform. The girl moaned softly and collapsed to the ground in her normal red, yellow, and orange colors, which seemed brighter than before. Drillman scrambled to his feet and approached her warily.

"Is she...?"

"...She's fine." Darklight smiled and sighed with relief. He then removed the chip from Hoshiko's PET and looked it over. The standard blue casing had somehow turned purple, and a new image of a black-and-violet-hued flame along with the writing '+???' had adorned the label. He set the chip down on the counter next to the PET.

Drillman tentatively poked the apparently unconscious Flamechick with his drill arm and jumped back when she stirred.

"Uhhn...what happened? Where..." The masked woman slowly picked herself up and looked around. Her demeanor was noticeably more gentle, to say the least. "My last memory...Miss Hoshiko had named me 'Flamechick', I accepted...then the burning sensation again? I'm sorry, have we met?"

Drillman was taken aback. Among other things, she had acknowledged his presence for the first time since they jacked in. He didn't know what to say and just stared back at her for a few awkward seconds, then snapped out of it. "Oh. Right. I'm Drillman.exe. I just helped...uh...cure you, I guess."

"Ah, the bugs. I am recalling my poor condition during my last activation. I feel much better now. Thank you, Mr.Drillman.exe."

"Y-yeah. Don't mention it. 'Drillman' is fine, by the way."

Watching the screen from the real world, the humans smiled. Tricia poked her head back in after noticing the light in the building stopped flickering. Hoshiko turned to the man of the hour, beaming with gratitude. "You did it! I knew you could do it, Darklight-san! Thank you!" She then tackled him with a very enthusiastic hug.

"How did you do it, exactly?" Moe asked, bewildered.

Once Hoshiko loosened her grip enough for him to breathe, Darklight laughed and explained. "I used the Hybrid thing to run a Dark Chip synthesis program through Flamechick's body. The excess Dark Soul energy was sucked into that..." He pointed to the new Dark Chip on the counter. "It's called 'Hellfire', according to the program output. Flamechick can now continue to function as an ordinary navi, not a Darkloid, or a mess of unconstituted data. As long as she doesn't overuse the chip, of course."

"Woah, a Dark Chip? Well that's easy." Tricia commented. "It's going straight to contraband."

"Just smash it!" Hoshiko blurted out. "All this trouble was because of that stuff. I don't want to see it again!"

"Actually, I think you should hold onto it and keep it safe." Darklight suggested.

"WHAT!?" The girl immediately stopped hugging him.

"Don't get your hopes up thinking she's been instantly purified. Like I said, Darkness doesn't just go away. It's still lurking within her, just buried and contained with the help of that chip. You'll need it regularly connected with your PET to keep her stable."

"I don't think the Officials would be okay with an agent carrying around a Dark Chip like that." Tricia warned.

Darklight shook his head. "It's been cleared before. Me. Adrienne of the Net Guardians. The Type 3 Darkloid's operator. This setup would actually make Flamechick similar to the Type 3 in a few ways. These Type 4s really are a mixed bag, aren't they?"

Hoshiko picked up the Dark Chip and looked at it with disdain. "I have to use this cursed thing?"

"You don't have to use it, but it will be there to use in a pinch. It might be tempting in a tough battle. Good news is you should be able to get away with a Dark Chip activation or two without destabilizing Flamechick's karma. Like I said, just don't use it too much or we'll be right back where we started."

"What about my old navi? Can I still get her back to the way she used to be?"

Moe stepped in. "Well, it's not impossible. Some of the Hybrid navis on my old team were devoured by Gamma, and when Gamma was destroyed, some of the originals were recovered, and as we just learned today their other halves went on to become these Darkloids. Gamma must have broken them down while digesting them, allowing them to reconstitute separately."

"There ya go, honey. We just need to find you another world-devouring monster and your navi will be right as rain." Tricia joked.

Her partner shook his head and smirked. "What I was getting at...was that there may be other means of reversing the Hybrid's effect. The same ought to be true for removing the Darkloid part of both halves."

Hoshiko looked around sheepishly. "Well, you guys know more about this Hybrid thing and Darkloid stuff than I do...so I hope you'll let me keep in touch, in case you figure out the answer."

"I think we can do you one better." Tricia offered, putting her hand on the other girl's shoulder. "My navi is going to be out of commission for a while, Moe needs a partner, and Drill and Flame seem to be hitting it off. So, welcome to the team!"

"What, really?" Hoshiko blinked and looked at the screen where Drillman continued to explain the situation to the amnesiac Flamechick. She hadn't even yet considered the possibility of taking her new navi into the field as a replacement for IceChan. "Um...what would I be doing?"

"Our original mission was to investigate disappearances in the Undernet. As of today, that transitioned into a quest to stop the new Darkloids. You in?"

Tricia held out her hand. Hoshiko wondered for a moment what this meant. From that shady dealer, to Metalman, to Flameman, to here. She had only been an Official for a few days and already she found herself being thrust into the big leagues. The pressure was overwhelming, and the reality of her situation was still sinking in, but one connection was sticking out in her mind. Thanks to those Darkloids, she may have lost her best friend forever. Those Darkloids could hold the secret of bringing her back, and if not, they could pay for what they did. Either way, she wanted to be a part of that. She took Tricia's hand and shook it. "I'm in!"

* * *