Chapter 4: Sky-flying Dirty Rascal!
22:22 PM (Japan Time), Tuesday June the 2nd…
Hum. I picked up a signature around here… We've been slightly busy ever since the debut of "Asteroid" Beast Man… "Asteroid" Plant Man came next and they caused a nation-wide vegetables' crisis which had to be halted by Rock Man and Blues… The savage used a human hostage but even so they defeated them again… This one didn't last past their debut. And to think it was granted to a student younger than Hikari Netto…! Slur will deliver them to anyone as long as they have a selfish desire to fulfill…
A museum had closed for the night: it had a large exhibit consisting of various objects: a crown, a feather and an ancient parchment were some of them: Freeze Man had come to check the place out.
Huh? Someone's coming!
An unidentified Navi came into the system and its eyes glowed with a red light: the museum was filled with sand thus disabling the security systems and a man walked in: he looked at a exhibited crown while a security staff member spotted the patches of sand with his flashlight.
"Huh?"
When he tried to open the main room's doors, a mass of sand came out and propelled him backwards.
"Uwa~h!"
When he was able to come in later he could spot that the feather had been robbed.
Let devil bite me if I didn't know who that Navi was. But why would they rob a feather? I know that it's part of some exhibit but why didn't they pick the crown while they were at it? Odd.
He shrugged and his "diamond" warped into the base: it hissed, expulsed water steam, and the upper half climbed upwards using hydraulic pistons.
Time to write a report… Odd, very odd!
11:03 AM (Japan Time), Wednesday June the 3rd…
"… Mariko – sensei!"
Mariko was standing the yard and someone was recording her from behind: she turned and smiled.
"Hai! O.K.! Nice! It was nice, Mariko – sensei. I'm really glad. Thank you very much, ma'am." The cameraman told her once he'd finished recording.
This camera man was a man on his late 20s or early 30s with abundant brownish hair and brownish irises who was over a meter and seventy in height or close to a meter and eighty.
He wore a reddish ten-gallon hat, a simplistic unadorned yellowish shirt, brownish pants with a teal stripe running down their sides and circling the ankles, and shoes of two tones of brown.
He carried a TV camera as well.
"No! Don't mind it! But… Is filming me for TV really alright?"
"Obviously, ma'am! I, Sunayama Noboru, DNN Director, assure to you that you're fitting to be introduced in the sunset wide famous corner "Our Madonna Teachers"!"
"Hey! Film us too!" Netto requested.
"Wait a min! Sorry. Today's just sensei."
"Whatever! Just a little bit! Will you?"
"Hah, hah… I lose! Good!"
"We did it!" Everyone exclaimed.
Trying to get a second chance at showing up over TV, Mr. Hikari Jr.? No wonder. "K. S." looked at his PET while inside of his car behind the school.
A sudden wind came in followed by the sound of a helicopter's engine: a small two-seater chopper colored orange descended there without warning of any kind.
You're not gonna tell me Cousin wants to make a dramatic entrance right here and now. "K. S." gasped.
The chopper softly touched down and the pilot stepped down.
Phew. It ain't Cousin.
"Who…?" Netto wondered.
I'd like to know too.
"Dunno…" Meiru muttered.
The pilot was on his late 20s or early 30s: he had blonde hair and brown irises.
He was wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt with cyan dots and patterns on it, a red scarf, a teal brown coat wrapped around his waist, jeans and brown boots along with smoke sunglasses over his eyes plus gloves.
He looked in high spirits and he took out a comb to fix the right side of his head before he looked at the group.
A show-off or…?
Everyone looked on, surprised, while the man's smoked glasses shone in a "cool" manner.
"Target: Locked On!" He announced.
What! An assassin…?
He suddenly presented Mariko with some roses while he crouched next to her in a chivalrous pose.
Guess not.
"I offer roses to the Goddess."
He suddenly stood up and softly turned her around while making her lean on his outstretched right arm: the whole thing looked like some clichéd love movie scene: the students were dumbfounded.
What the heck does this man want, anyway?
"I fall in love with your eyes."
"HUH?" Everyone gasped.
"I'm Charlie Airstar. I'm pilot circling across the world. I give out flowers when I happen to have fallen in love, you see."
"I s-see…"
Netto looked rather skeptical and the other students apparently didn't know what to do.
"What is your name, ma'am?"
"Oozono, sir…"
He glanced at her folder which had her full name written there.
"Hum… Miss Mariko…"
"Huh? Ah! Ahem… Charlie – san! This is a school, sir!"
She brought up the folder to block his face.
"If you've got no business here then… Leave!"
"Miss Mariko! Now's not the time for words: we're staring lovingly…"
"HUH?"
"Well… I'll be leaving… Send my greetings to sensei, will you?" Sunayama excused himself.
"Y-yeah."
Sunayama climbed into a brownish car and departed the grounds while Netto faced Airstar.
"Oi! You!"
"Huh? What, boy?"
"I'm Hikari Netto! Behave and let go of sensei!"
The students looked at Airstar with annoyed faces.
No – one comes and says they can flirt with their teacher during school hours.
"You kids can't understand adults' love! Right, Miss Mariko?"
"Please leave!" She snapped with an annoyed face to her.
Airstar gasped and stood back, taken aback: he fixed his smoked glasses and sighed.
"I am not suitable for the princess… Well then… Next time I'll treat you a sky-high date…"
He made a chivalrous kiss to her hand: the students were taken aback by now and Mariko blushed.
This man… Just leave them in peace! "K. S." wasn't amused in the least at Airstar's behavior.
He climbed back into the chopper and turned it on.
"My princess, Miss Mariko! Arrivederci!"
He blew a kiss towards her but Netto did a gesture which meant to say he was intercepting this kiss and stomping it with his right foot.
"Take this, this, and this!" He grumbled.
The chopper finally left.
"What the heck was up with that guy?"
Dunno. Saito admitted.
That wasn't funny.
Yeah. It wasn't. That guy shouldn't have bothered sensei.
Luckily sensei showed that guy that they aren't welcome here! Take that, you jerk!
Yeah. Well. Let's focus back on the school stuff.
Don't come back, you moron!
20:11 PM (Japan Time)…
… The same signature… The Painting Exhibition Venue…
Freeze Man watched on as a mass of sand broke through the doors and flooded the room: the staff recovered the paintings from within the mass of sand a while later.
"It's missing its frame!" One member of the staff exclaimed.
Now… The Money Memorial Hall…
The vent cover jumped off and sand flooded the room: the culprit picked something and fled.
They don't get tired? The Art Gallery next!
The CCTV camera was disabled using the sand method and the room was flooded with the sand mass: one statuette seemed to be the center of attention.
"… Heh… Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah…" The Navi inwardly chuckled in a creepy tone of voice.
"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh…" The thief chuckled next.
Laugh while you can… Back to the base!
Freeze Man warped back into the base and opened the diamond: he jumped out and brought up a screen into which he began to type a report while attaching photos of the locations.
"Insofar the stolen items don't seem to be that valuable… Normally one would steal the most valuable item but maybe these ones are harder to track down and there are collectors ready to pay a fortune for them to begin with… And I already know who that "Asteroid" is but I don't know their Operator's ID yet. But the "Net Saviors" will eventually be brought into the picture so… They'll handle it."
He finished typing the report and stored it.
"Time for a well-deserved sleep… Tomorrow will be a busy day!"
07:33 AM (Japan Time), Thursday June the 4th…
"… The series of worldwide robberies have finally reached Japan..."
Manabe was briefing both Netto and Enzan in the Net Police HQ and in the presence of Commissioner Kifune.
"The main trait is that large amounts of sand were left at the robbery scenes… The Cyber World is illegally entered and then the security systems are destroyed to allow for the intrusion. Apart from the sand we've got no other hints: the culprit is unknown. The items stolen in Japan were these: a quill, a frame, a coin and a sculpture. There a lot of them stolen overseas as well. The reason why we can't identity the robber is this: all the robberies had the same circumstances."
She'd brought up a screen showing the four items before focusing back on the quill.
"For example, on the museum… The quill despite that there are other valuables. There was a piece of old paper stolen even though other items were present. The same thing happened in the other places: barely anything was taken in each robbery. We can't grasp the culprit's motive as of yet."
Netto was blinking and seemingly trying to process this briefing while Enzan looked like he was starting to form an idea of the whole deal given his determined look.
Heh. Mr. Ijuuin is starting to think of a method to check if there's any connection between these items? I'm surprised, too, and totally agree with Mademoiselle Manabe… Who'd be crazy enough to steal all that rather worthless stuff when there was more valuable stuff nearby? Unless that they're targeted by some lunatic collector who wants to form his own crazy collection… This is beyond logic, even… "K. S." was thinking about the briefing too.
He sighed and stretched inside of his car as he looked up and towards the building.
Can you unravel this enigma, gentlemen?
15:01 PM (Japan Time)…
"… A quill, a frame, a coin and a sculpture… A~H! I don't get it!"
Netto was working with his school terminal seemingly trying to piece something together: he clutched his head in exasperation and dropped it on the table, defeated: Meiru walked up the aisle and stopped next to him with a surprised look.
"What are ya doing, Netto?"
"Guess ya know about the serial robbery cases. The criminal steals random stuff from museums and exhibits…
Maybe he wants to make a collection out of them. Saito suggested.
What the heck? Why would you make a collection of such pointless things? The guys who make collections show expensive and valuable things over the TV…
Maybe the guy wants to be a weirdo to begin with. Saito suggested next.
I'm gonna get another nerve attack at this rate.
You're too pessimistic, otouto!
Go your own something-way, niisan. Netto grumbled.
Don't you mean my "half'- way?"Saito asked with a hint of amusement.
Whatever… Netto replied: he was feeling out of energies.
Heh, heh, heh…
"It's a big deal for the "Net Saviors", isn't it…? Huh? I think I know this quill from somewhere…" Meiru commented.
"Meiru – chan… Have you been to the museum?" Netto asked her while looking interested.
"N-no… That's not it… Ah! TV! It was on a TV talk show of some sort." She admitted.
"TV, huh…" Netto looked back at the data.
The stolen items must have a common point: the maker, the age, the monetary value, the owner…
Enzan was also running his searches.
"Huh? This is…!" He gasped.
"… Akihara Elementary's Hikari Netto - kun?"
Sunayama was standing in the lobby of the DNN building and he'd seemingly been told Netto wanted to speak with him.
"Good afternoon!" Netto greeted.
"Ah! It's you!" Sunaya politely greeted back.
He guided Netto towards an elevator.
"Our news material data…?"
"Some hints regarding the serial robbery cases might show up there."
"If that's the reason then I'll be more than happy to give you a hand."
"K. S." suddenly walked over to them all of a sudden while keeping both hands on his pockets.
"Excuse me." He called out.
"What is it?" Sunayama asked.
"Is Matsuda – dono here today?" He asked.
"Matsuda – san… The Network Security Chief, you mean to say? You'll find him in his office by going down this corridor." Sunayama replied.
"Excellent. By the way… Did you know that your Cousin is plotting to recruit you for a show starring two half-brothers?" The man suddenly told Sunayama with a hint of amusement.
"My Cousin…? You mean Cousin Yuuden? You know him?" Sunayama sounded somewhat surprised.
"I was told about him. If you shall excuse me… I shall be going."
The man whistled a tune as he stepped away but something had been triggered on Netto.
Cousin… Half-brothers… Where have I heard that before?
It rings a bell somewhere… Saito admitted.
That man… I've seen him somewhere before!
I get the same feeling, too.
They climbed some floors and entered a server room.
"All of our data is in this room. Not only edited for broadcast files but also the news material data as well. I got a viewing permit so check out anything you wish to." He instructed.
"Thank you, Sunayama – san."
"Yeah! See you around." Sunayama replied before leaving.
"Let's do it, niisan."
"O.K.! Otouto!"
"Plug In! Rock Man EXE, Transmission!"
Rock Man came in and examined the huge server behind him.
"Whoa! It's this big…! It'll be troublesome to have to search it all…" He complained, for once.
"Just look for anything fishy. We'll analyze it afterwards."
"Yup."
Rock Man approached his hand to the server and started a search in a calm manner.
"The museum… Maybe this will do?"
He sent some data to the PET: it displayed a picture of the museum's entrance and of the most prominent items.
"The quill! This is it!"
"This is footage recorded before the theft." Rock Man announced.
"It doesn't look like the culprit set anything up beforehand… And there doesn't seem to be anything weird either…"
"Is there anyone fishy?" Rock Man asked.
"Hum… There isn't that type of…"
The camera was spanning to the right and Netto suddenly spotted a familiar face.
"Huh? I think I've recognized someone…"
He zoomed in to recognize Airstar.
"Charlie! Why is he over there?" He wondered.
The guy was talking with a lady in the scene.
"I wouldn't mind signing a deal with the Demon to be worth of your love, ma'am." He flirted with her.
"This guy… He keeps on flirting with ladies even in that kind of place…" He sighed in defeat.
Some electricity travelled through some wires and got inside of the DNN's basement parking: the fluorescents flickered and electricity fell on Sunayama's car antenna, making it frizzle: a silhouette entered a car's computers and it smiled.
"Hmpf."
It put a beacon inside of the car's computer before it fled the scene while Rock Man kept on browsing.
"Netto – kun! I'm bringing up the next one."
The picture of another building appeared: the painting exhibition hall.
"This is the Art Exhibition Hall from which the frame was stolen. This was filmed 2 days before the theft."
"There aren't any outstanding spots here either…"
Netto brought up the footage recorded inside.
"Miss! Wouldn't you like to paint your love onto my canvas?"
"Huh? It can't be!"
Netto zoomed in.
"Charlie!" He exclaimed.
"We can paint our mutual love together… Brilliant colors of happiness!"
"Otouto!" Rock Man showed up his face in a corner of the display.
"Yeah! This is too suspicious! Niisan! Check out if Charlie was present at other scenes, too." He requested.
"Roger!"
Saito brought up the footage from the Money Memorial Museum.
"If your love could be caught on film I would instantly buy it."
The Fine Art Museum came up next.
"What a cute angel! It's like it has had descended from the heavens!"
There's no mistaking that: Charlie is the culprit! He came to investigate security in advance!
Maybe.
Let's keep at it!
A beep sounded inside of an office and one screen which happened to be displaying graphs and the name "Sunayama" on it suddenly frizzled: multiple screens were brought up: Saito then spotted a section of the server which was frizzling.
"What's going on, I wonder…? Otouto! Someone is accessing a TV station's terminal!"
"Ain't that a TV station employee?" Netto asked.
Saito suddenly spotted a figure reflecting in his eyes.
"Wrong! A Navi!" Saito exclaimed.
"A Navi?" Netto wondered.
Rock Man warped into another section to find the Navi.
This Navi could be over a meter and sixty tall maybe closer to a seventy in height and his main color was bright yellow.
His overall body shape was that of a man-helicopter hybrid: his face's "skin" was a dull brownish tone: his eyes were plain cyan pyramid-like shapes aiming downwards with black edges surrounding them: two black stripes ran down in a parallel manner down his face marking the boundary between the section with the nose and mouth and the rest of the face.
Their helmet a reddish front with a curved black vertical cavity having a small yellow dot set there: the rest of it was yellow in color and his ear-pads' edges were black in color: two white circles split by thin lines were drawn there.
Their upper chest included a protruding windshield shape which meant to be the front of the chopper: their shoulders had yellowish "X" letters over black backgrounds set on them.
Their arms had a stretch of grayish "skin" and ended in a round base: a bright thin band marked the boundary between both sections: the forearms were yellow in color and they covered the top of the hands: a white extension looking like a chopper's skids' was attached to the outer side of each arm.
The lower body was unarmored and simply had blackish "skin" over it: some device was set on his crotch before the legs began: they were attached to the sides of the body as if wanting to remind the viewer that that they were mechanical: the upper part of them was colored yellow but there was a white stretch stopping at the knees: a bluish stripe marked the spot where the knees would be at: the legs were very thin and included some outer flaps close to the ankles: a white circle with a blue ring inside of it was set on the middle of the foot frame while a white stripe travelled across its length.
As if it was essential, a four-blade-rotor had been attached to a yellow protruding piece of armor set on his back.
"You! Over there! What are you doing?"
The guy turned and looked surprised: he made a grimace.
"I've never seen this Navi before!" Rock Man muttered aloud.
"Hah!"
The Navi activated the rotor on his back and flew to the top of the data tower: Rock Man examined it next.
"This is… Sunayama – san's personal data…!" He exclaimed.
"Che."
The Navi jumped into the air and spread his arms and legs: they suddenly compacted to the form a chopper's skids: his legs fused into the tail with the second rotor, and the head was hid inside of the compacted body with the front now being occupied by the windshield: the shoulders became side-cylinders while the piece on their crotch was now located below the start of the tail: they had, in essence, become a toy chopper.
What! A Navi capable of transforming into another shape…! Who are they working for? Are they an "Asteroid" or…? Freeze Man gasped as he showed up close by.
"He transformed!" Netto exclaimed.
"Hold it right there!" Rock Man yelled as he ran after him.
The chopper veered around and shot a missile to Rock Man's feet from a small compartment just slightly behind the windshield: the missile made him fall into the ground.
"What speed he has!"
"Do your best, Rock Man! Don't lose sight of them!"
Chase them, Rock Man! We need to get to the bottom of this: I'm late for trying to catch the signature of the "Asteroid"…
Netto skated down the streets and stopped next to a hanger standing inside of a small airfield compound.
"Otouto! The guy is inside of that hangar." Saito reported.
Airstar was talking to the Navi who was inside of his PET III.
"You couldn't beat them and they followed you all the way here… Gotta be a strong Navi…"
Netto entered and Airstar turned.
"Huh? Welcome! Hikari Netto."
"Charlie! That Navi is yours! Right? You accursed serial robbery culprit: return the stolen goods!"
"The stolen goods…?"
"It's useless to pretend! You were filmed by the DNN Director in the scenes of the crimes before they happened!"
"The Director, huh…"
"You were inspecting the TV Station's info to avoid being caught, right?"
"And what are you going to do about it? Do you wanna catch me and Gyro Man?" Charlie asked with a smile.
"That's obvious! Let's go! Plug In! Rock Man EXE, Transmission!"
"Interesting! Let's play around, Gyro Man! Plug In! Gyro Man, Transmission!"
Both Navis logged in: Gyro Man smiled.
"Heh, heh, heh."
Gyro Man… And their Operator is named Charlie Airstar, a private for-rent-chopper pilot… Maybe they're an accomplice.
"We'll definitely apprehend you! Go for it, Rock Man!"
"Rock Buster!"
Gyro Man easily dodged the attack by flying around.
"Hah! This stuff…" Charlie smiled.
"How's this, then? Battle Chip, Element Flare! Slot In!"
Netto manually slotted the Chip in and Rock Man shot the attack towards Gyro Man.
"Gyro Form!"
Gyro Man transformed into the chopper and dodged.
"Gyro Man! Let's play with them for a bit."
"Gyro Air Force!"
He shot a missile towards Rock Man's feet and the shockwave sent him flying.
"How's this instead? Soul Unison: Blues Soul!"
Netto activated "Blues Soul" and Rock Man gained Blues' form.
"You're gonna let me see the rumored "Soul Unison", huh?"
"Gyro Air Force!"
"Variable Sword!"
Rock Man cut the missile in half and jumped upwards.
"Not yet!" Gyro Man exclaimed.
Gyro Man shot a string of missiles and Rock Man cut the three of them: one of the explosions' shockwaves reached Gyro Man and a cloud of dust ensued.
"Well done! However! You can't know Gyro Man's location because of this smoke!" Charlie sounded confident.
"Soul Unison: Search Soul!" Netto announced.
Rock Man switched to the "Search Soul" next and Charlie immediately caught the grace of that form.
Catching up?
Rock Man scanned and the "lock on" symbol appeared.
"Shoot!"
"Gyro Man!"
Gyro Man dodged just in time.
"He dodged!" Rock Man exclaimed.
"Gyro Form!"
Gyro Man de-morphed into his normal form before he grabbed his rotor and threw it towards Rock Man: he jumped to dodge and the "Soul Unison" was cancelled.
"Sword, Slot In!"
Gyro Man picked the rotor and dismantled it into two pieces to use as swords while Rock Man headed towards him: they clashed and both Operators gasped.
Stalemate? Freeze Man wondered.
Interesting! "K. S." grinned.
The two Navis broke apart and each one landed in the ground: they each had a wound on their left shoulder pad.
"Hmpf." Charlie smiled.
"Agh." Netto hissed while sweating.
Charlie, however, eyed a radar screen.
"Huh? He's moving out? Gyro Man: Plug Out!"
Rock Man gasped upon seeing him leave and Netto was baffled.
"What the heck? Hey! Hold it right there! What the…?" Netto demanded.
Netto tried to chase him only to find him inside of his chopper which was already ready to take off.
Were they monitoring someone's movements? "K. S." wondered.
"My bad! I've got something to take care of!"
He flew away all of a sudden.
"Hey! Don't run away!" He yelled.
Netto looked about to explode before his PET beeped.
"Huh? Enzan?" Netto asked.
"I know what the culprit plans on robbing next." Enzan went straight to the point.
Oh! Is that so? Good, Mr. Ijuuin!
Netto headed away while "K. S." drove away from the scene before he parked next to a shopping center: he brought out a laptop and began to type into it to bring up the "Le Monde" website.
"MONSIEUR SHADOW SCHEMER & COMPANY DO IT AGAIN"
"Heh. As expected. Let's see… "After 5 consecutive strikes in the radius of Paris the action switches to Marseille and Toulouse: this mysterious organization has a simple methodology yet their criteria for picking places to hit seems to be none and more like they're picked at random thus making it impossible to properly allocate defending policemen because they might wait the whole week and nothing would ever happen. This group has some enigmatic Net Navi the figure of which has never been witnessed and it's powerful enough to disable all security in a breeze and leave no trace of their presence save for some monetary transactions which become damaged during tracing and their destination remains unknown: then some real-world agents pick up the coins, bills and gold before pulling out. The police are overwhelmed because sometimes several places will suffer a Virus assault at the same time which keeps them busy. Where are they going to strike next?" … Hmpf… Cousin's put up quite a show… As expected… Well. You stay there, Cousin… I'll handle Japan myself… And one day… We'll settle the score. I didn't chase you all the way here for nothing!"
03:48 AM (Japan Time), Friday June the 5th…
The signature is close by…
Freeze Man looked on as the Cyber World of two twin tower buildings was normal for the time being: the "figure" came in.
"Heh, heh, heh… Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah…"
A large detached hand loomed over the Cyber Core and gripped it: the environment became a cybernetic desert next.
"Hrum…"
A CCTV camera met the floor and the thief stood in front of an exhibition case having a box with two pendants inside of its cushioned body: they grinned.
"Heh."
Something suddenly exploded on the ground where the "figure" was at and Freeze Man gasped.
Who did that?
Gyro Man's chopper form flew across the air: the "figure" emerged and it turned out to be "Asteroid" Desert Man.
Wasn't it obvious to begin with?
"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh…"
The thief had picked the box.
"That's as far as you come! I've caught you red-handed!"
The thief happened to be Sunayama and Airstar had showed up there: Sunayama grumbled.
"Gotta be kidding me… Desert Man!" He commanded as he drew a brownish PET III.
Desert Man lifted his detached hands and formed some kind of sandstorm which blew Gyro Man's form away.
"Uah!"
"Gyro Man! What power! This is not comparable to any other type of Navi!" He gasped.
"Did ya really think that ya could match Desert Man? I'll have your Navi sink within a sand-sea!"
"Uwra~h!"
Gyro Man had lost his compact form and Desert Man had grabbed him while extending his detached hands and exerting pressure: Desert Man growled something while Gyro Man was agonizing.
Che. Savages. Eat medicine!
Freeze Man swung his right hand in a wide arch: some smaller diamonds formed in front of the bigger one and shot forward, plunging into Desert Man's "hat" from behind and getting absorbed.
They'll emit a sound which will make you feel dizzy for about 15 seconds: enough time to turn the thing around.
A sonic slice suddenly cut through the air coming from above and behind Desert Man and hit the arms.
"Wruo ~h!"
He let go of Gyro Man who fell into the sand: Sunayama gasped.
"What!"
"That's…!" Gyro Man gasped.
Rock Man and Blues were standing atop a column of rock and Rock Man had an uninterested look to him tonight, for once.
Ah! I like that look: not impressed anymore, eh? So maybe you're maturing a bit, Rock Man? Shuryou would be amused to know.
"Don't move!" Netto commanded.
"Huh!" Sunayama gasped.
"The "Net Saviors" came!" Netto announced.
"Hikari Netto! You chased me again?" Airstar asked.
"What's going on? Charlie ain't the culprit?"
"These incidents' culprits is Desert Man's Operator: Sunayama Noboru!"
"Che. Hmpf!"
"Sunayama – san! But why would the TV Station Director do that?"
Good question. Freeze Man admitted.
"All of the stolen goods had a common trait!" Enzan let out.
"Really!"
"And that's… Wily!" Enzan revealed.
"Wily…?"
Dr. Wily? How is he related to such crappy goods?
"The culprit targeted works of art which Wily used to own: the "Wily Collection". The castanets you've picked are one such item!"
"Back then… That gal showed up…" Sunayama admitted.
Slur. That woman. Freeze Man inwardly grumbled.
Sunayama had been working on something with his PC one day when it'd suddenly shone: he'd gasped in surprise and Slur's live transmission had popped out there.
"I shall grant you Duo's power…" She'd told him.
Several menus had popped out while she'd cut the transmission: Desert Man had then appeared on the computer and he'd kept on gasping in awe and surprise.
"… Now that I've gotten this much power… Wouldn't it be a waste to not to use it?"
"… "Use it"…!" Netto made a grimace.
"Hmmm?"
"Use it! Navis ain't power! They're friends!"
"Don't say crappy stuff! Power is there to be used! Dimensional Chip: Slot In! Desert Man!"
"Whoa!"
"Uowo~h!"
Desert Man materialized and created a lot of sand which broke out of the building and began to push them back: Enzan managed to hold on by using an exhibition pedestal as cover.
"Science Labs! Deploy the "Dimensional Area"!"
Meijin deployed it: Desert Man appeared at the base of the tower and left Sunayama on the street just as the "Dimensional Area" finished forming: Sunayama was stuck out of its encompassing space.
"Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"
The two "Net Saviors" performed the maneuver and prepared to face the "Asteroid": Airstar was baffled.
"This is "Cross Fusion"…!" He gasped.
A sand wave hit him and both "Net Saviors" dodged just in time: they did not see the diamonds hitting Desert Man's hat from behind again: he did growl and looked dizzy for a few seconds.
"Crap!" "CF" Netto uttered.
By the time they'd landed back Desert Man was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is he?" "CF" Blues wondered while looking around.
A punch of sand came out and hit them thus sending them flying and they landed in the sand: "CF" Netto drew the Rock Buster.
"Beat 'em, Desert Man!" Sunayama ordered.
"Lion Head!"
They barely dodged the incoming attack.
"I know your weakness! Battle Chip, Bubble Shot!"
He shot but the water got absorbed.
"Nuoh, hah, hah… It ain't gonna work…" Desert Man proclaimed.
"Water's no longer his weakness!" "CF" Netto realized.
"That guy's now an "Asteroid" of Duo: he's not the same Desert Man he was before!" "CF" Blues guessed.
"CF" Blues jumped and made a slice on Desert Man's right side: he sank in the sand.
"… Huh…! He's totally erased his signature… He's powered up in several aspects… All of these are possible for the "Asteroids"…!"
Desert Man suddenly popped out behind him.
"Lion Head!"
They both barely dodged it and both stood with their backs glued while looking around.
"We won't be able to hit Desert Man at this rate!" "CF" Blues cursed.
"And water-type attacks don't work… Water… Weakness… I see! Enzan!"
"Good!" "CF" Blues confirmed.
"Battle Chip, Geyser, Tornado!"
"Mwoh, ho, ho, ho… Where are you aiming at? The attacks of you lowlifes are just soaking the ground!" His voice echoed around the room.
"That's our aim! Battle Chip, Elec Blade!"
The wet sand conducted the electricity and it hit Desert Man, thus giving away his position: his face emerged and he roared in pain.
"Water can conduct electricity… Now we can attack even if we don't know your spot!"
Desert Man fully emerged into the surface.
"Now! Battle Chip, Long Blade!"
"Wide Blade!"
The two swords left a visible cut on the" Asteroid" just below his nose.
"Guo~h! GRUO~H!"
He was forced to "log-out" and re-appeared inside of Sunayama's PET III.
"Che." He cursed.
The "Dimensional Area" faded: both "Net Saviors" retrieved their PET IIIs and Sunayama ran for his hide.
"Hold it right there!" Enzan exclaimed as he and Netto gave chase.
"You won't get away!" Netto added.
They chased him into one of the top floors of the adjacent tower.
"I've got ya!" Sunayama exclaimed from somewhere nearby.
"What?" Netto gasped.
They noticed sand raining down from the ceiling: the mass propelled them out of the skyscraper, but, luckily, Airstar's chopper deployed a special triangle-shaped thin mattress to pick them up: Sunayama looked on from the street.
"What lucky dudes." He grumbled.
Hmpf… I've set my dragonfly on you too… Now we'll see if you're really the one interested in the "Wily Collection" or not… "K. S." grinned as he looked on from close by.
The sun began to emerge and both "Net Saviors" chatted with Airstar about what had happened.
"Thanks, Charlie!"
"But Sunayama Noboru ran away… There goes my ransom!"
"Pay check?"
"Even if I'm a higly prideful "love" pilot… I accumulate ransoms from time to time! A work of art got stolen from some rich family and there was a reward if the culprit was caught. I thought that the guy reeked so I've been chasing him all the time." He explained.
"What… You could've said that from the start!" Netto slightly blushed at the news.
Airstar shrugged and prepared to leave with his chopper but Netto felt uneasy as the guy took off.
"… Huh… But… I wonder why Sunayama was targeting the "Wily Collection"… Speaking of "Wily Maniacs"… Could it be…?"
That rings a bell! Freeze Man gasped.
"No. Gauss and Magnet Man are in prison by now." Enzan quickly shot down Netto's hypothesis.
Ah! I thought as much. Well. Gauss and Magnet Man did do a good job when in "Gospel", directing all attention to them and protecting Shuryou's existence… There was some mess with Rock Man infiltrating their computers and then Magnet Man being deleted after which Gauss was left to save his hide… Commander Beef caught him a few months ago…
"I almost succeeded, but… the "Net Saviors" got in the way…"
Sunayama was reporting to someone in an office somewhere: the floor had the blue letters "WWW" on it and portraits of Wily occupied the walls: someone was sitting in a revolving chair and looking out.
"I apologize, President Gauss."
The "someone" happened to be the woman spotted during the Earth Erasure day: they sported a red skirt, purple stockings and black heeled shoes apart from the blouse: they turned to the right to look.
I've got a bad feeling about this… Sunayama is but a pawn of someone else… Who are they? What do they seek? I don't know yet…
