duskrider: Great to hear that! Family relations are going to be one heck of a problem soon.

Ai Star: Yep, Netto's a part of WWW now! It doesn't change much though, other than that now Netto knows the WWW members and maybe what they might be planning.

Guest: That's not what you're supposed to do with top secret information.

nixus fury: Well, here you go.

While I'm back from hiatus, updating will be slower than before. Hopefully not as slow as it had been before I updated, but it's not going to be as fast as I had done it previously.

Editor: kaffinee

I don't own Rockman EXE.

Prediction

Netto whistled in appreciation at the yellow dots on the screen in the secret base, swinging her legs back and forth. She was sitting on the couch, sandwiched between Dekao and Meiru as they watched the dots that represented the incidents that occurred around town. There was a single blinking orange dot that represented Numberman, which disappeared every few seconds. "You really did a number on him, Higure. That upgrading really improved his statistics."

Forte coughed, torn between wanting to groan and laugh at the same time at the bad puns.

"Numberman isn't acting normal!" Higure said, scratching at his head from where he was standing behind the couch. "There must have been a bug with my customization!"

"Then do something!" Dekao exclaimed, turning to him. Netto and Meiru did so as well, and all three cried out in disgust, Dekao and Netto leaping away from the man. "Keep your dandruff to yourself, dandruff freak!"

'I was never this bad at taking care of myself.'

'That's because you have me and Allegro. He only has his navi, who was being upgraded the entire time.'

"Is there anything that Numberman likes?" Meiru asked. "For example, attracting him with rare chips."

Higure lowered his head, glasses shining. "Rare chips…"

"Forget it!" Yaito waved the suggestion away. She sat on the chair adjacent to the couch. "The one already here is the chip otaku operator!"

Meiru nodded, sighing.

"Haahhh…" Higure exhaled loudly, attracting everyone's attention. "Rare… rare chips… sent from the heavens… so refined… Muramasa… such power…"

"But Muramasa's attack power is defined by how many hit points you lose," Netto couldn't help but point out. "It should be used as a last-resort weapon, unless you want your navi to get really close to deletion at the start of the battle for a one-hit kill that might not even work."

'Please stay on topic.'

"Oh, er, I mean…" Netto stammered. "Um, get a grip on yourself, Higure! What does Numberman like!?"

Higure cleared his throat. "Numberman loves numbers, particularly calculations."

'Of course. Numberman loves numbers. Who would have thought.'

"Calculations?" Yaito repeated, briefly closing her eyes in thought. She then smirked, pressing a few buttons on her PET.

"Eh?" Meiru blinked, staring at the screen. "Numberman changed direction."

"You're right," Dekao affirmed. "He's headed this way!"

"Looks like it really got his attention!" Yaito had a satisfied smile on her face. "I started the calculation of pi in the mansion's supercomputer."

"Pi?" Netto blinked. "Huh. So that's Numberman's type?"

"Glyde, shut down the mansion security," Yaito addressed her navi. "We're going to invite Numberman in!"

"Understood."

Netto, Meiru, and Dekao took this time to plug their navis into the network in case force was needed to stop the out-of-control navi. Then they settled down to wait.

Very soon, Numberman arrived, staring up at the supercomputer's frame in wonder. Several security navis spawned, jumping down from the frame to dogpile on top of Numberman. They were, however, blown away by the navi's next attack, causing a mass log out.

Rockman and Roll hopped down as well, landing in front of Numberman. "Numberman, return quietly to your PET!" the blue navi shouted.

"Go back so you can be repaired!" Roll added.

Gutsman landed behind Numberman so that the green navi was surrounded. "There's…" Numberman began, "…there's nothing wrong with me!" He shot out a dice bomb, which landed on a two. As it exploded, Rockman and Roll quickly leaped away.

"That punk!" Dekao yelled.

"Rockman, it looks like you're going to have to fight him!" Netto picked out a Shotgun chip. "I'll send you battle chips!"

"N-n-n-no!" Higure ran forward, blocking the brunette's view of the screen, and spread his arms out. "He'll only get damaged more!" He grabbed Netto's wrist. "If this continues I won't be able to participate in the tournament!"

"This isn't the time to worry about that!" Netto argued, annoyed.

While she wasn't looking, Numberman threw more dice bombs at Roll and Gutsman. They were blown away by the resulting blast, and Numberman laughed manically at the destruction.

Rockman crept up behind the navi, then grabbed his arms, trying to keep Numberman from moving. "Stop this, Numberman! Open your eyes!"

"Don't get in my way!" Numberman snarled, shoving Rockman away. He pulled out a metal stick from out of nowhere, charging at Rockman.

Netto quickly switched out her battle chips. "Area Steal!" Rockman warped away just in time, avoiding Numberman's attack.

The blue navi looked at the spot he was in previously, spotting binary code rising out of the small crater that was created from the impact. "What destructive power… he's a lot more powerful than before!"

"Yeah!" Higure cheered, throwing his arms up in celebration. "The version upgrade was a success!"

"This isn't exactly the time to be impressed," Meiru snapped.

"I don't have the patience for this!" Netto growled. "Fight him, Rockman!"

Higure glanced down at her in shock, spotting another battle chip in her hand. "N-no, you mustn't!"

"Battle chip, Sword, slot in!"

"No, you mustn't!" Higure wailed, tears running down his face. "Stop!"

Numberman brought out another metal stick as Rockman's arm formed into a sword. The blue navi sliced at his opponent, only for his attack to be blocked by one of Numberman's weapons. Numberman laughed, swinging his other stick down and forcing Rockman to guard with his sword. The blade cracked into two from the impact, dissolving into data. Numberman then raised both of his weapons, about to strike Rockman.

A gust of snow and ice blew toward Numberman, and the navi screeched in surprise as he froze into an ice cube. Rockman blinked, glancing at the source of the attack.

Iceman grinned, waving at the blue navi. "Yo, Rockman!"

"Iceman!"

"Tohru, you made it!" Netto said, recognizing where Tohru was. Ignoring Higure's quiet sobs, she continued, "I'm glad Iceman could come!"

"Besides that, hurry!" Tohru interrupted. "The first match is about to start!"

"That's right!" Meiru gasped in realization. "Dekao-kun and Gutsman are in the first match!"

Dekao paled, having lost track of time. "Shoot!"

"Thank you for saving us, Iceman." Rockman smiled.

"You're welcome!" Iceman replied cheerfully.

Suddenly, Numberman broke out of his ice prison with a battle cry. He raised his weapons above his head, about to attack again, when a spinning something struck the stick and cleanly broke both of them in half. It landed on the ground, and a glow transformed the sickle into a hand.

Numberman trembled, looking down at what was left of his weapons in shock. He then stiffened, turning around to look behind him, where a lavender flame had appeared. It grew, and everyone present could hear a low, eerie laughing coming from it.

"Who's there!?" Rockman asked, a hand on his arm in case he needed to use his Rockbuster.

From the fire, a skeleton-styled navi stepped out. He raised his arm up, the one that was missing a limb, and the fallen hand flew to him as if it was drawn to a magnet.

Numberman screamed in panic, deciding to charge at the strange navi. He threw a punch, which the other navi neatly avoided. The skeleton navi slammed his heel into the back of Numberman's neck, knocking the navi unconscious.

"Numberman!" Rockman shouted, running forward as the unknown navi disappeared from the network. "Wait!"

"Who in the world was that navi?" Netto wondered, ignoring Higure's crying yet again.

"Dekao-kun, you'd better hurry and get to the first battle!" Meiru glanced down at her PET. "There's only five minutes until it starts!"

"There's no way I can make it!" Dekao cried. "Five minutes isn't enough!"

"Five minutes is plenty of time!" Yaito exclaimed, pressing buttons on a remote control. "Sit down!"

The other three teenagers did as told, leaving Higure alone. Netto wasn't even startled when the couch began descending. However, she was surprised with the mode of transportation they were using to get to the tournament. 'What is this, a fighter jet?'

'And in pink, too.' Forte scowled. 'Why is she like this?'

They were soon on their way, flying just below the clouds to their destination. Netto decided to take this time to view the live footage of the tournament happenings.

"—challenger Oyama Dekao doesn't show, he will be disqualified from the match."

"No chance of that happening; we're right above the stadium now!" Yaito smirked, then gestured to a rope tightly wrapped around a hook. "Dekao-kun, use that to get yourself down there as quickly as possible."

"Good luck!" Netto and Meiru called simultaneously as Dekao grabbed onto the rope and was lowered down.

As the jet made its landing, all three teenagers quickly exited and joined Mariko, Masa, and Tohru.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Meiru said with a relieved sigh.

"You had Mariko-sensei all worried, you idiots!" Masa yelled.

"Oh, it's all right." Mariko smiled. "I'm just glad Dekao-kun didn't get disqualified. Besides that…" She turned around, looking out the window, where the jet had landed. "That's amazing, Yaito-chan! Is that your father's?"

Yaito shook her head. "Nope, it's for my own personal use."

'You would think that the pink coating would give it away.'

"Plug in, Gutsman, transmission!" Dekao shouted from his side of the console. Cheering started up when the audience realized that the fight was about to commence. "Defeat him!"

"Hurray, hurray, Dekao!" Masa yelled, waving around a giant fish flag. "Hurray, hurray, Gutsman!"

"The N1 Grand Prix Tournament has finally begun!" the reporter, Midorikawa Kero, announced.

Gutsman threw a punch at his opponent, sending the navi flying and crashing to the ground.

"Go, Gutsman!" Dekao exclaimed as his navi used his Gutsman Hammer move, easily logging his opponent out.

"What a surprise!" Kero said. "Oyama Dekao's Gutsman has caused his opponent to log out within thirty seconds!"

Dekao laughed, then stopped in surprise at the second set of cheers. Turning around, he spotted the screen that showed the match going on in the subdome.

"We've just received reports from the subdome," Kero stated, looking at the slip of paper that had been given to her. "Ijuuin Enzan's Blues has…" she suddenly did a double take. "… has forced his opponent to log out in just three seconds?!"

'I wonder if his navi has the ultimate program…'

'Don't know… it's still just the preliminaries, anyway. I wonder if he manages to reach the finals.' Netto squinted, noticing Enzan saying something even though the screen didn't transmit sound. "I… and… Blues? Disappoint… don't disappoint?" Trying to read lips from a long distance was starting to give her a headache. "Hikari Netto… Don't disappoint me and Blues, Hikari Netto… is that what he said?" She grinned. "I definitely won't!"

"I finally found my way back here!" Netto exclaimed in relief, plopping down next to Meiru, who handed Netto Rockman's PET.

"Honestly, Netto. I could have gone with you so you wouldn't get lost for so long!" Meiru chided. "How did it take you—" She checked the time. "—over thirty minutes to get to and from the bathroom!?"

Netto pouted. "But the stadium's gigantic! Even when I looked at the map, I still couldn't find my way around!"

"Amazing!" Kero shouted, a round of cheers starting up. "Challenger Ace's Forte has caused his opponent to log out in merely three seconds!"

The overhead screen showed a recorded video of the fight, a video of Forte charging forward, a hand plunging into his opponent's torso, and the log out that followed.

'Not even worth my time.'

'I just had a thought. What if you had the ultimate program? We don't really know what it does, other than being able to give a navi very unique abilities. You know, like your Get Ability program?'

'No way.' Forte dismissed the thought. 'The old man wouldn't tell us to look for it if I already had the thing. Besides, the Get Ability program came from a mutation when…'

A navi with a flaming sword, raising his arm up to delete him. A standard navi rushing forward to defend him. The sword—Heat Blade—slicing through the standard navi, through his emblem. The worried cries of a child, who was an inexperienced operator. Raw hatred for the navi, for nearly deleting him, for telling him that his creator abandoned him to the fate of deletion. The need for power and revenge warping and mutating his restraints so much that they became a new addition to his programming. A bloodthirsty smirk as he summoned up his own Heat Blade, instantly deleting the navi. A shriek of surprise from the child as she was discovered by the scientists, and he—

'… Ignore that,' Forte muttered, 'It isn't relevant now, anyway. I don't have the Ultimate Program.'

Netto bit her lip, nodding slightly.

"Only a few matches remain for the tournament preliminaries!" Kero announced. "Now, let's meet our new challengers! From Akihara High School, Hikawa Tohru and his navi, Iceman!"

"You can do it, Tohru-kun!" Meiru called out, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Mariko sighed happily, placing a hand on her chest. "My heart is racing; I can't believe my students are actually here!"

"Mariko-sensei…" Masa began, prompting Mariko to look at him. "I am deeply moved by how much you care for your students! I will cheer for them alongside you!" He stood up, pulling out a giant flag with a fish on it and waved it around wildly. "Hurray, hurray, Hikawa! Do your best, do your best, To-oh-ru!"

"From the Densan Battle Academy, we have the navi, Breakman!" Kero introduced. "Equipped with thirty-two missiles, he is one strong navi!"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Netto said, turning to Meiru. "I met Miyuki when I was looking for a way back. She predicted that Tohru's battle would be over in one minute."

"Eh, really?" Meiru blinked, looking over to the big screen. "I don't think Tohru-kun and Iceman would lose in one minute, no matter how strong their opponent is."

"Well, she said that the loser would be Breakman."

The buzzer sounded just then, and Netto faced the screen as well, watching as Breakman unleashed his missiles on Iceman.

"Whoa!" Kero gasped. "Only the first attack and Iceman's already in trouble! Perhaps this level is too much for him!"

After reloading, Breakman attacked again, but Tohru slotted in Ice Cube to defend Iceman. The child navi then counterattacked with Freeze Bubble, effectively freezing Breakman into a block of ice. Unable to move, Breakman lost, and the battle was over.

"Tohru-kun won!" Mariko cheered, clapping her hands together.

"That missile idiot!" Masa smirked. "Didn't even look at where he was aiming!"

"What a surprise!" Kero announced. "After being on the verge of losing, Iceman turned it around and won!"

"Wow…" Rockman gaped. "The battle ended in one minute after all!"

"Tohru and Iceman were great!" Netto agreed with a smile. "So was Miyuki's fortune telling!" She paused, tilting her head slightly in thought. "Does that mean her other prediction about rain is going to come true, too?"

"Rain?" Meiru repeated, looking up at the bright blue sky. "Really? The weather report said that it would be sunny all day today, though…"

"We're going to do great, right?" Netto grinned as she talked to Rockman. It was after the brief intermission that had served as a lunch break, and the dome roof was closed because of sudden rain.

"Right, Netto-kun!" Rockman agreed, nodding.

"Netto-kun!"

The girl blinked, looking up. "Oh, Higure. Is something wrong?" She paused. "Oh yeah, how's Numberman doing?"

"He's fine," Higure answered. "His damage wasn't too serious."

"That's a relief," Netto replied with a smile. "He got beat up pretty badly, so I was a bit worried." 'I still wonder who that navi was…'

"I was able to come to the tournament because of you!" He took Netto's hand and gave her some battle chips. "Here, this is for you."

"Eh?" Netto asked. "I can't accept this!"

"Please take it," Higure insisted. "It's a show of my appreciation. They're battle chips of friendship!"

"Then… I guess that's fine?" She glanced at Rockman, who only shrugged.

Higure scratched his head. "Well then, I'll see you later at the tournament." A wave of a hand, and he walked away.

"Battle chips of friendship, huh?" Netto murmured. "I wonder what kind of chips those are. I mean, they're from a chip otaku." She raised her hand up, looking at the gifts. "… They're just Mini-Bombs." she stated flatly. "And ten of them, too. That's, what, ten thousand zenny?" Looking at the direction that Higure had gone, she spotted him poking out from a corner.

"Netto-kun, good luck!" He waved again, then disappeared.

"Of course," Netto muttered. "Why would I expect a chip otaku to give me a rare chip? That's like trying to get a dragon to hand over a piece of its hoard." She groaned. "What do I even do with these?"

"Now, the match is about to begin!" Kero announced, prompting cheers from the crowd. "What kind of battle will they give us?"

"Ah, I should get going," Netto said, looking around. 'How do I get down there again?'

Forte sighed. 'Take the hallway to your left and go down the first set of stairs that you see.'

Miraculously, Netto actually managed to reach the battle area in a matter of minutes. As she walked over to the console, Kero continued the introductions.

"The challengers from the D Area—from Akihara High, Hikari Netto, and her navi, Rockman!" The big screen switched to the two's images when mentioned. "And Hikari Netto's first opponent is…" The screen showed nothing but static. "Huh? What's wrong? The monitor seems to be broken… wait, someone's in front of the monitor? Could it be her opponent?"

"My first opponent is…?" Netto squinted, spotting a hat with a skull-like emblem and a crystal ball. "Oh, that's Miyuki!"

"D Area, Challenger Hikari Netto's first opponent is…" Kero flipped through the list of the Grand Prix contestants. "A fortune teller from Densan Town… Challenger Kuroi Miyuki! And her navi, Skullman! However, there is no data on that navi. Just like the operator, they're a very scary—no, a very mysterious navi!"

Miyuki stepped up to the console. "I can see it…"

"Huh?" Netto raised an eyebrow. "See what?"

"This battle will be over in five minutes," the fortune teller predicted, then smiled slightly. "Of course, the loser will be… you."

"She's telling her fortune!" Kero gasped. "Kuroi Miyuki is foretelling Hikari Netto's defeat!"

"Sorry, but I'm going to prove that fortune wrong!" Netto declared. "Plug in, Rockman, transmission!"

Miyuki set her crystal ball down on top of the console, taking out her PET. "Well then, Skullman, shall we get started?"

When Skullman appeared on the battlefield, Rockman inhaled sharply in surprise. "You're that navi…!"

"Oh! You're the navi that knocked out Numberman!" Netto grinned. "This is going to be fun!"

As the buzzer signaled the start of the fight, Skullman dashed away.

"Wha—" Netto blinked. "He's fast! Rockman, behind you!"

Rockman spun around and leaped backward, dodging the spinning arm that flew at him.

"He's disappeared from sight!" Kero reported. "Challenger Kuroi Miyuki's navi has become invisible!"

"No," Rockman disagreed, "Skullman's just moving at an incredibly fast speed!" He avoided the next attack and shot toward the direction that it had come from. The shots, however, were too slow to be able to hit Skullman in time.

"If he's too fast to hit with the Rockbuster, then how about this!?" Netto pulled out her selected chip. "Battle chip, Shotgun, slot in!"

The instant Rockman received the chip, he shot in Skullman's general area, completely missing him. The shots struck the ground, sending up large amounts of smoke and dust. He waited, searching for any sign of movement, and spotted a cloud of smoke that was moving faster than the rest.

"There you are!" Returning to his Rockbuster, Rockman fired again. This time he managed to strike his opponent, forcing the other navi to stop in his tracks.

"That's it, Rockman!" Netto cheered. "Keep it up!"

'Shotgun to create smoke and to track Skullman's movements, huh?' Forte hummed in thought. 'That won't last forever.'

"Yeah, but we can attack now!" Netto pulled out some more chips, but paused when Miyuki began to speak.

"Four minutes is all you have left." Miyuki warned, "Your time is limited."

'Would that mean that the conditions for winning this match are either to defeat Skullman or to survive for more than five minutes?'

"Challenger Netto and Rockman's smoke attack was a success!" Kero announced. "The previously unstoppable Skullman has now shown himself!"

Skullman chuckled slowly. "You're pretty good…" He raised his arm up, letting his hand fly back. "However, I won't be holding back any longer!"

He disappeared, reappearing in front of Rockman and throwing a punch, which Rockman barely managed to avoid. He repeated the attacks, with Rockman being unable to counterattack due to Skullman's agility.

"You're too slow!" Skullman taunted as he struck Rockman, knocking him down.

"It looks like Skullman's too fast!" Kero exclaimed. "Rockman's in a pinch!"

Netto gritted her teeth, picking out two chips. "If Rockman can't match Skullman's speed by himself, then how about this? Battle chips, Area Steal and Sword, slot in!"

The Area Steal warped Rockman away just as Skullman tried to attack him again. He ended up behind Skullman, his right arm a blade. With a battle cry, Rockman slashed at Skullman, only to miss when the navi dodged, and got punched in the face.

"Three minutes left," Miyuki murmured.

Netto grumbled a minor swear in Sharoian, then inserted another Area Steal. That attempt failed as well, Rockman having gotten a knee to the gut this time.

"Why!?" the blue navi choked out, trying to regain his bearing.

"What's the matter?" Skullman asked smugly.

"So even if Rockman matches Skullman's speed, we can't beat him, huh?" Netto muttered. "Rockman, try to keep your distance until I can think something else up!"

"Right!" Rockman dashed away, only for Skullman to easily catch up to him and attack him.

"Shoot, I forgot about that!" She bit her lip in worry. "They're anticipating all of our moves! Are we that weak to be easily read like that?"

'Calm down, Netto. The more you panic, the easier it is for you to make a bad decision.'

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Netto smiled uneasily. 'It feels like I'm a beginner all over again. Now let's see what I can come up with…'

"It's time to end this, Skullman." Miyuki held up a chip. "Battle chip, Demon Fire, slot in."

"I'll show you the flames of hell!" Skullman declared, unleashing a purple fireball from his hands. Having been struck by the attack, Rockman collapsed onto his back.

"Rockman's in trouble!" Kero exclaimed. "Could this be the end?!"

"Come on, Rockman!" Netto yelled. "Stand up! The match isn't over yet!"

"Netto-kun!" Rockman smiled, getting back up in time to dodge another Demon Fire.

"Wow, Rockman got back up right at the last second!" Kero cheered. "But will he be finished off by Skullman?"

"There's no way I can get Skullman to stop moving with the battle chips I have, so that plan's out the window." Netto pulled out her remaining chips. "Two Area Steals, and… all the Mini-Bombs that Higure gave me. Hmm, if Skullman can predict where Rockman would be after using Area Steal, then…" She grinned. "Hey, Miyuki! How many minutes are left until your fortune's supposed to come true?"

Miyuki sighed, closing her eyes. "One minute."

Netto nodded in acceptance. "That's going to have to be good enough. Rockman, I'm going to send you the battle chips I haven't used yet!"

The fortune teller raised an eyebrow as a blue ball appeared in Rockman's hand. "Mini-Bomb? Is that the chip you've been saving?"

"Let's have fun right up to the very end, Rockman!" Netto shouted, smiling.

"Alright, Netto-kun!" Rockman said as he threw the bomb at Skullman, who dodged it. The bomb exploded as it hit the ground, sending up dust.

Netto inserted more Mini-Bombs, and Rockman threw all of them at Skullman as the skeleton-styled navi ran until she had three of the chips left. The battlefield was full of smoke and dust that had been created from the explosions.

'Miyuki and Skullman are probably thinking that I'm using the smokescreen strategy from the beginning of the fight again,' Netto told Rockman through their link. 'They have no reason to think that it will be different.'

'If I use an Area Steal, I can match Skullman's speed, but he'll be able to predict my attack,' Rockman pointed out.

Netto had to struggle in order to keep a blank face. 'That's why the two Area Steals and three Mini-Bombs that I still have are going to be my strategy.'

'Two Area Steals and three Mini-Bombs? How would tha—oh, I understand now! Let's do it!'

This time, Netto smirked. "Battle chip, Area Steal, slot in!" As Rockman disappeared once again, she inserted the Mini-Bombs, followed by the last Area Steal she had.

"It's useless!" Skullman rushed toward where he thought Rockman would be. "I can predict each and every one of your moves!" He punched at where Rockman had been warped to.

Only it wasn't Rockman who appeared there.

It was the three Mini-Bombs.

"Rockman, now!" Netto yelled as Skullman was blown away by the ensuing explosion.

Regaining his bearings, Skullman quickly threw a Demon Fire at Rockman. "Quit fooling around!"

A single shot from the Rockbuster destroyed the attack, and another managed to strike Skullman in the chin.

He stumbled back, growling. "Y-you destroyed my Demon Fire! Unforgivable!" He charged at Rockman.

"He lost his cool!" Netto blinked in surprise. "Let's take advantage of this! Battle chip, Elec Sword, slot in!"

As soon as the crackling of electricity was heard, Rockman ran toward Skullman, brandishing the sword and slicing at Skullman—or rather, where Skullman had been before Miyuki logged him out. Then the buzzer sounded, signaling the end the fight and Rockman's win.

Netto scowled, glaring at Miyuki. 'She let me win, didn't she? Skullman hardly took any damage.'

'At least try to be happy that you didn't lose in your first match.'

She sighed, then attempted a smile. "Rockman, we won!"

"Yeah!" Rockman beamed, practically glowing with happiness.

"The battle is over!" Kero announced. "D Area's winners are Hikari Netto and Rockman! What a fantastic, action-packed battle!"

Netto turned to leave after plugging Rockman out, but stopped when she saw Kero rushing up to her, microphone in hand.

"Challenger Netto!" the announcer began. "That was certainly a great battle, wasn't it? How do you feel right at this minute?"

"H-huh? Er…" Netto stammered, not expecting to be interviewed right after her match. "I'm, uh…"

"Excited about my victory," Forte answered for her, not having the patience for the interview. "Skullman was a difficult opponent." He paused for a moment. "If that answer satisfies you, may I leave now? Rockman needs to recover from the damage he sustained during the battle."

"Of course!" Kero answered. "We look forward to seeing how you'll do in future matches!" With that, she left.

'The next time this happens, I'm not helping you.'

Netto groaned as she walked out of the arena. 'Fine, I'll be more prepared next time.' Then she stopped, remembering something. "Wait, where did Miyuki go? I wanted to ask her a question."

Rockman shrugged. "She might be at the other side of the stadium, since that's where the other arena entrance is."

Nodding, Netto followed the hallway until it opened up to a lounge area. There, she spotted the person that she was looking for.

"Ah, Miyu—" Netto began, but stopped when she saw who Miyuki was with. '… I don't think I should interrupt them.'

'Hmm?' Forte took a look. 'The fortune teller and the flower shop owner? Why not?'

Netto backed up and turned away, then walked in the direction that she came from. 'It looked like a scene from one of those romance movies that Meiru and Yaito showed me. And I think you should learn their names. It's easier to just say Miyuki and Saloma.'

'I'll learn their names if I ever have a need to,' Forte replied, which was his way of saying 'probably never.' 'I don't remember anything about movies. When did that happen?'

'It was during one of your day-long trips to the Uranet. You know, those trips where you see how the Uranet is doing, checking if anyone tried to make a larger-than-allowed territory, deleting any dissenters who show up to try to delete you, and maintaining your status as the Uranet's god?'

'As well as checking up on the Secret Area,' Forte added. 'So that was when it happened. Speaking of which, you should find your way back before the others get worried.'

"Oh, right." Netto looked around, realizing that there were two hallways to take. "Rockman, how do I get to where Meiru and the others are?"

"Well, you passed a hallway a while back that would have led to the spectators' seats," Rockman said, pulling up a map.

"Oh." Netto turned back, pausing when she spotted the WWW members walking around. 'Do they know that we entered the Grand Prix as Ace and Forte?'

Forte scoffed. 'With the exception of Mahajarama, I doubt that they managed to figure it out unless they saw our match.'

"Netto!"

Said girl blinked as she saw Meiru running toward her. "What is it, Meiru?"

"Don't 'what is it' me!" The redhead huffed, crossing her arms. "I've been looking for you for the past fifteen minutes! Did you get lost again?"

"No." Netto shook her head.

"Yes," Rockman answered after he greeted Roll. "Netto-kun almost wandered outside."

"Huh." Netto looked at the hallways behind her. "Is that where those lead to?"

Meiru sighed. "Come on, Netto. Dekao-kun's second match is about to start. And I'm here this time, so you definitely won't miss it."

"I don't get lost that often!" Netto protested, pouting.

'Sure you don't.'

Yes, Netto learned how to read lips.

So I'm thinking that Netto's tendency to get lost is going to become a running gag because it's so fun to write.

And yes, I am implying the possibility of Miyuki and Saloma being in a romantic relationship with each other. They were the mystery speakers in the Game chapter.

And there's a sneak peek at Forte's point of view of the event that caused the two to run away!

Editing highlights:

("So that's Numberman's type?" –Netto)

kaffinee: 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808…. that's all I remember.

Me: For what reason did you memorize all that. Just wondering.

kaffinee: lol so I can beat this one boy

Me: That's a cool reason. You're still a nerd tho.

…

("Unable to move, Breakman lost, and the battle was over.")

kaffinee: that was ridiculously simple.

Me: To make it fit into a minute, I guess.

…

("You're too slow!" –Skullman)

Kaffinee: sanik!

Me: Gotta go fast.

Kaffinee: gross

Me: You're the one who said 'sanik'…