Kaita didn't understand it at all. The day had been bright and sunny, ideal for a day outside - if not for the heat and the fact that there was no going inside when he and his friends got tired of it. The Operators had been a bit worried about what Black had said after going for a day without running into a key or another person, but Ring and Turboman had convinced them that they couldn't give up after just one day. Besides, they'd found lots of viruses, and Ring was positive that if there were viruses, there had to be a key sometime soon. The viruses and lack of keys weren't what was odd to Kaita, though. He'd always associated fog with cooler weather, so finding some curling around his shoes seemed very strange.

He wasn't the only one who noticed. "How odd!" Ring said, kicking some and sending it swirling around.

"I know," Kaita agreed. "I thought you only got fog in winter."

"You can get it all the time, just depends on where you are," Ring explained. "But it's caused when the temperature's about as low or high as the dew point-and it's the middle of the day, how's that supposed to happen? Just because the dew point might be high doesn't mean the temperature won't be higher." As if to prove her wrong, the fog started getting thicker.

"It was hard to believe before, but this is ridiculous!" Turboman's boots had disappeared under a blanket of fog, and most of the scenery was starting to follow. "This can't be human-world stuff." Kaita and Mary had their arms out in front of them, trying not to bump into any shrouded trees. "Kaita-kun, stay close. I have a bad feeling about this."

Ring looked around, just as worried as Turboman was. Then, she shrugged. "Well, it's just as bad behind us as it is ahead of us. Nothing we can do but keep on go-oh!" A blurred figure was walking out to meet them, keeping its feet close to the ground. Kaita could understand-there were plenty of roots waiting to snag a foot. "Hello there! I'm Ring, this ravishing young lady is Mary-chan, and those two are Kaita and Turboman. We're lost, and I was thinking maybe..." The figure finally neared them enough for the fog to let its features through. Its skin was pale, discolored by bruises on the side of its face. "...you could..." It looked very dead.

"Turbo Wheel!" But the two wheels didn't come off of Turboman's shoulders. He straightened his arms again, puzzled. Meanwhile, the zombie came closer. Another one was close behind it.

"Wha-" Ring spread her arms and focused, trying to activate her Ring Boomerang attack. "Our attacks aren't working? But why..."

"It's the fog," Turboman realized.

"If normal attacks don't work, try this! Battlechip: Shotgun!" The gun formed on Turboman's arm, but began to flicker almost immediately. More zombies lurched closer from behind them as the Shotgun, little more than a blue blob, finally reverted back into Turboman's bronze hand. Kaita and Mary both backed away, but they bumped into their Navis after a few steps. The boy asked, "Now what?"

"I think we run," Ring said. There was open space to the left, and the Operators and Navis headed for it. Mary shrieked as a zombie touched her with a clammy hand, but Ring scooped her up and continued on before it could get any closer. A zombie dove into their midst, parting them.

Kaita looked about and could only see three blurry figures instead of his friends. The vaguely Turboman-shaped one called, "Guys! Come back, we need to stay close!"

"Don't you think we're trying?" Ring shouted. Kaita tried to head for her voice, but what he took to be Ring turned out to be much paler and more tattered. The zombie swung around to face him, and he wasted no time backing away. A branch rustled as he backed against it. Its leaves were turning brown; being in the light-obstructing fog didn't seem to do wonders for photosynthesis. Kaita ducked under it, then pulled it back as far as he could and waited. The zombie lurched closer and closer.

"Now!" The branch knocked the zombie to the ground. It didn't seem to know how to get up, instead seeming to be trying to walk into the sky. Kaita stared at it for a moment, then ran to catch up to the group. "Guys? Guys!"

"Over here!" Mary called. Kaita ran over to see her and Turboman. All three felt even more relieved when Ring stumbled into their midst, though that didn't last.

"There're a bunch of 'em on my tail!" They didn't wait around to see if Ring was right. In the fog, there was no telling whether they were going in circles or really getting further away. Sometimes, they'd stop only to hear something rustle, spooking them into continuing on.

"I think we've lost them," Turboman said after they'd gotten completely turned around. Something small and blue suddenly hurtled out of the fog and into Turboman's face. His "Yikes!" was barely audible over its screech of terror.

"There're viruses out here, too?" Kaita wondered. The 'virus' squawked indignantly and shook his head-but since his limbs were all attached to the head, he just seemed to jerk from side to side in midair.

"Lemme see this," Ring said. Her two pigtails lifted up to touch the bird on either side of his head. She made a number of faces before she got her answer. "He's a support program," she reported. "Named Beat."

"Pi!" Beat agreed. A groaning from nearby alerted the group to the incoming zombies, but their newest member's ability was as good as dispelling the fog-the zombies were lit red and the trees blue, showing a clear path away from danger. When the zombies approached, Turboman and Ring were ready to fend them off, though nothing could make their enemies any weaker. Still, Kaita and Mary remained unharmed. They were surprisingly close to the exit, passing through a thick cloud before seeing the rainbow light of the Dimensional Area, grass, and trees again. Kaita looked back to see that the fog was like a solid wall behind them.

"Piiiii..." sighed Beat.

"At least that was the last of it," Turboman said. Mary knocked on a nearby tree.

"Why do you think that fog was there, anyway?" Kaita asked.

"There must be a key in there somewhere," Mary said. "I don't know who could get at it, though."

The word 'key' seemed to have restored Kaita's confidence. "Maybe I could."

"Maybe not," Turboman said firmly. "You can't just shrug off how close they got to you guys. Ring-chan and I may be able to take whatever hits they dish out, but you and Mary-chan can't. If we keep going, I'm sure we'll wind up finding another key."

"But what if they're all like this?" Kaita countered. "The zombies don't move fast-this could even be the easy one."

Before his friends could argue, the group heard the crashing sounds of something humanoid pushing through the forest. "Someone's coming!" The Navis tensed, ready for another attack, and their Operators were quick to get behind them this time.

From out of the bushes came a girl in a red-and-brown dress. A Navi with golden hair and a grass skirt followed her. "Other people! Hey, guys..." The girl froze. Directly in her sights was Beat. "Whoa!" Before Kaita and Mary could even return her greeting, she was peering down into Beat's face. "Oooh, nice." The dark-haired girl grabbed Beat by the head feathers and yanked him up, ignoring his squawks of pain. As she examined him, lifting his wings up and even hoisting him overhead to check his claws, she noted, "Hmm... definitely not unintentional... not really a virus, he's too smart for that. Some sort of support program, I'd say." Beat's squawking was cut short when the girl's tan hands abruptly released him and he fell to the ground. He quickly scurried behind Kaita and Mary, occasionally squeaking indignantly to himself. He didn't have anything to worry about; the girl's earlier enthusiasm was completely gone. "Not the sort of thing we usually look for. Sorry for bothering you."

Mary picked up the little bird, patting him on the head to calm him down. "Just who are you, anyway?" she asked, sharing Beat's annoyance.

"I'm Kalama, that's Pele, and we're virus wranglers!"

Kaita blinked. "Huh?"

"Cool!" Ring gave them an approving smile. "I always wanted to do that!"

"I don't even know what that is, Ring-chan," Mary said weakly.

"We capture viruses after school and tame them so they can be sold as pets," Pele explained.

"I don't know if I'd want a pet virus..." Turboman told Kaita.

Kalama just smiled and shook her head. "You'd be surprised. Cute Molokos, cool Garuus, Killer's Eyes for spying on your friends..." She sighed happily. "But they're not for nonbelievers. Someone as straight-laced as you wouldn't even begin to consider the possibilities!"

"Hey!" Turboman quickly amended, "I'd just like to see one before getting one, that's all!"

"I brought some in my PET, but they all got away," Kalama muttered quickly. More loudly, she said, "They were new ones, anyway. If we would've known about the Dimensional Area, we would've brought older ones." A hissing sound cut her off; the fog was swirling around the bushes, closing in on the group. "What's that?"

Ring immediately answered, "Bad." From behind them, trees and bushes were shaking as something crashed through.

Pele smirked. "I don't see what we have to worry about. Set fire to the trees, and whatever's coming goes down with 'em!"

"Navi attacks and Battlechips don't work in the fog," Kaita explained. "Besides, setting fire to the forest'll hurt us, too!"

Kalama sighed. "I guess you're right." A thick branch ripped away from one of the trees, exposing the monster responsible. The tanned Netbattler nearly backed into her Navi. "Eeek!"

Ring turned around to see if they could escape, but found more tattered bodies blocking the way. The group was surrounded, and the distance between the living and the undead was growing smaller. "Uh-oh."

"I guess we'll have to clear a path," Turboman said.

"Right over there!" Pele commanded. "Ready?" The three Navis charged forward, knocking the undead aside. A few of them dissolved into pixels as other zombies landed on top of them. One of the zombies closing in from the side lurched forward, and Kaita tried to duck under its swing-but another blow came from behind, sending him sprawling into the thick clouds clinging to the ground.

The other two Operators and Beat were staying as close as they could to the Navis; Kalama and Ring were practically carrying Mary between them. With three Navis at work instead of two, the group burst out of the fog faster than before. After putting a little more distance between themselves and the curtain of fog, in case it moved forward again, the humans sat down to rest.

Ring was kneeling next to Mary, trying to comfort her. One of the Navi's pink mittens was slowly rubbing circles on the girl's back as she took short, shallow breaths. "Mary-chan, we're okay now. Everything's going to be fine. Just calm down, okay?" Her breathing began to return to normal. Mary looked up to see Ring smiling reassuringly. "That's the way."

Kalama assumed Mary's breathing was just from panic. She gave the other girl a grin and a thumbs up. "Nothing to worry about! I think that's all of the fog." She next looked over at Turboman. "Hey, what's wrong?" He was looking from her to Ring to Mary to Pele, eyes wide.

"Kaita-kun-we lost him!" Turboman ran over to the edges of the fog, looking around frantically. "Kaita-kun, can you hear me? Kaita-kun!"

"When we were surrounded, just before you guys cleared the way," Mary remembered. Turboman's head snapped around, his full attention on her. "They got really close. One must've been able to knock him out or something..."

"I think I remember where that was... yeah. Thanks, Mary-chan," Turboman said quickly.

"Turboman, wait!" Ring called, but it was no use. The red Navi had already been swallowed up by the fog.

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The smoky gray fog seemed even thicker and more oppressive now that Turboman knew Kaita was lost somewhere in it. Though he was going at a fast clip, the red Navi was trying his hardest to remember exactly how far they'd gone. But the fog disguised distances and landmarks well, and soon Turboman was almost completely lost. "I swear it was somewhere around here," he said. The sound seemed muffled, like the fog was swallowing his voice up. "Kaita-kun, where are you? Come on, Kaita-kun..." He tripped over something and was sent sprawling to the ground. At first, he thought it was a root, but it had too much give and it was warm to the touch... "Kaita-kun?" He'd stumbled upon Kaita's legs, with the rest of him thankfully still attached. Keeping close to the ground, Turboman inched forward to see that the boy was face down, unconscious. The red Navi turned him over, careful not to hit his head on the ground. "Kaita-kun, wake up."

"Ow..."

"Kaita-kun!" He was rubbing his head; frantically, Turboman tried to remember how to check for a concussion. "Tracking! That's it! Kaita-kun, follow my hand," the Navi blurted, moving a gold-plated hand from side to side.

"I think you're supposed to do it slower," Kaita advised.

"But you're following it okay. That's what matters," Turboman said, jumping up to his feet and giving Kaita a hand.

Kaita laughed, "It's just a bruise. I'm fine." He took a few steps forward. "Are we lost?"

"Looks like it." Turboman looked around-nothing there but fog-then back down at Kaita. His Operator looked worried, and he remembered Ring comforting Mary; he had to at least try doing the same for Kaita. "Let's try this way," he said with more bravado than he felt, pointing to the southwest.

The black-haired boy grinned. "Sounds good!" The zombies seemed to have given up on their area. The forest was quiet and gloomy, with nothing but mist and the occasional bit of brush in their way. The fog was too dark for it to be anything but eerie, though. "Turboman, d'you see that?" Kaita asked suddenly, pointing ahead. Turboman squinted at the spot his Operator was indicating.

"I... Yeah, I do!" Taking Kaita's hand so they wouldn't get separated, Turboman strode ahead, saying, "That light, right? Maybe it's some kind of control center, so we can turn the fog off." Kaita had to jog to keep up with his Navi's pace, but they still didn't seem to get any closer to the pinprick.

"Everything looks a lot closer in this stuff than it really is," Kaita panted. "I dunno if it's gotten any bigger."

"No, it definitely has," Turboman said, still going ahead. "We just need to keep this up for another minute or two, and then we'll be crossing that finish line before you know it!" Before long, they had made it to a clearing dominated by a lighthouse. It looked like it was made from stone. There were stairs that led to a platform on the lower level and a huge, white bulb on the higher one. They weren't alone in the clearing, though. At least seven zombies were pacing around the lighthouse, and their attention had been drawn to Kaita and Turboman. "Over there!" They wasted no time climbing up the stairs. When they reached the platform in the middle, they saw their pursuers clustered a few feet away from the lighthouse's base, either unable or unwilling to come closer. "Looks like we're safe here," Turboman said.

Kaita's attention wasn't on the zombies. He'd found something more important: a smoky gray card sitting on a pillar in the platform's center. The '15' and inscription were a rusty red, and when Kaita picked it up, the beam of light that pointed to the northwest was the same color. "I knew it!" He turned the card over to see what was on the back. "Hey, Turboman, how do you think someone'd be able to copy it?" he wondered.

"Kaita-kun, what did you do?"

"Wha-nothing! I just picked this up, that's all."

Turboman looked from the stairs to the empty ground below. Every zombie had apparently gotten over its fear of the lighthouse. "Hang on!" Kaita yelped as his Navi grabbed him. His grip on the key tightened as he hung onto one of Turboman's tires for dear life. The red Navi wasted no time running to the edge of the platform and leaping off, leaving dents in the grass behind him when he sped away.

Over the wind whipping past them, Kaita yelled, "That was awesome!"

"Glad you liked it!" Both Operator and Navi had their eyes peeled, ready to avoid any branches or trees that leapt out of the gloom. "Is it me, or is the fog getting thinner?"

"It looks like it to me." Kaita looked back to see if that was true in the other direction as well. "Aaaaah!"

"What?" Turboman asked frantically.

"Fast zombies!" It was easy to see the zombies running after them now that the fog was little more than a faint mist. Turboman tried popping off the tire Kaita wasn't clinging to and succeeded.

"Turbo Wheel!" The tire tore through the zombies, leaving behind scorch marks in the dirt and flurries of pixels. Not long after, the mist vanished completely. "I guess all we need to do now is find Ring-chan and the rest."

"Yeah!"

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With the fog gone, the area seemed much smaller. It wasn't hard for Kaita and Turboman to find Mary, Kalama, and their Navis. Beat was still around, just as worried as the others. He spotted them first, alerting the others with a squawk. In moments, Kaita and his Navi were surrounded by their friends.

"Kaita!" Though she was last to come up, Mary looked the most worried of anyone. "I'm glad you're okay."

Ring noticed what was in Kaita's hand first. "And they've got a key, too! Go on, Kaita, show it off for us!" With a grin, Kaita held it high. Kalama narrowed her eyes.

"You need those for something, don't you?" she asked.

"Probably to get to the next round," Pele clarified.

Ring nodded. "Got it!"

Kalama's head tilted a bit as she thought. "Well, if we stick with you, you'll want the next key, and then you won't find any until it's too late for us..." Her head snapped up. "That decides it! We'll see you in the finals!"

"No, Kalama-chan, wait!" She and Pele were plowing ahead, the girl even sticking her fingers in her ears to emphasize her point. Mary sighed. "Well, I guess we'd better move on, too." The blonde looked at Kaita's key with a smile. "Congratulations!"