"Arthur, wake up or I'll email your father to wake you up!" Shouted Treble.

"I'm up... I'm.. ahhhhh... up."

"We're gonna be late for the tournament! Get down to the chip shop, quick!"

"OH, NO!" Shouted Arthur, suddenly awake for real. "How long do I have?!"

"It's like ten AM, you have to be there in twenty minutes!"

"Aaaagh!" Arthur quickly grabbed his chips off the computer's table. "How did I oversleep so much?! I never oversleep!"

"You were up kind of late worrying last night." Said Treble. "But for now, we have eighteen minutes! Go go go!"

"Going!" Arthur sprinted down the stairs two at a time, and exited the house as fast as his legs would carry him, shoes stuffed on haphazardly. "Treble, how long left?!"

"About fourteen minutes!"

Arthur kept running for another five. "Haa... okay, we're here..."

"Wow, eight minutes to spare. You could have had breakfast!" Said Treble.

"Breakfast is overrated. Come on, maybe there'll be a good chip for sale before the match starts." Arthur stepped in. The counter was closed. A few other people were already inside- a pair of technicians, a cameraman and Joe.

"Hey Joe!"

"Hey, Arthur. William couldn't make it, he has drill practice. And Denny is tied up keeping track of 'those' three. But we're all cheering for you!" Encouraged Joe.

"Well, I'll give it my all." Said Arthur.

The store's owner walked over. "This way. We've linked our netbattle machine to a corresponding machine, in another shop. If you send your navi through the link in the centre, you'll arrive at our online arena. Oh, and think of a few good lines to say for the cameraman over there! Best of luck, you're representing all Copperhill town."

"I'm ready. Treble, hunt!"

Treble logged into the machine. "Ahh, it's been too long since I've had a proper fight against a strong enemy! Let's do this, I'm starving for battle!" He set off at a run, following the link added to the machine's centre. It brought him out in a waiting area.

"Hey... we've got your health up to 745. One more BugFrag and you'll be halfway to the max." Noted Arthur.

"Oh yeah! Hey, I do feel pretty close to being able to spit out another chip, too... I wonder what it'll be?"

"I just hope it's one we can use. Honestly, we need to go and search out a lot more Bugfrags. We kind of fell behind with all the stuff going on."

"Get ready for me to give you a NaviRecycle." Said Treble jokingly. "The Giga chip that we literally couldn't be worse at using, since we don't use many attack plus chips and we can't use SP chips."

"Eh, a giga chip will still sell for a lot of money. We could use it to buy more bugfrags."

"Good idea!"

The exit to the waiting area opened. An announcer called "Contestants, please enter the arena!"

"You're up." Said Arthur. "Don't worry, I've got your back."

Treble stepped onto the warp. Instantly, he was on one side of a giant arena, thousands of navis in the stands around him. The tiled floor expanded out in a clear circle, curving around to his foe. Zero was, without a doubt, the one who'd fought with ProtoMan in the square so long ago. He'd lost, but the fact he'd even been able to put up a fight said he had enough skill to blow a regular navi off the map. He had sharp red armor covering his shoulders, alongside a protective chestplate, and a long yellow cape- wait, or was it meant to be hair? But what grabbed Treble's attention was his head. Aside from his helmet with a thorn-like crest towards the back, there was something... unnerving about his eyes. The irises glowed yellow with an almost familiar light.

Treble pointed at him curiously. "You smell... like a virus? But you're clearly a Navi."

Zero carefully formed his blade, focused. "And you are a virus. That spends time as a Navi."

"How did you-"

The announcer drowned out whatever Treble had to say. "And now, from Copperhill town, we have TREBLE, and from Eastfall city, we have ZE-ROOOO! The battle begins in THREE!"

"TWO!" Shouted the crowd. "ONE!"

"FIGHT!"

Zero lowered his center of mass. "Ciel, watch over me!" He called, dashing forwards with his blade ready.

Treble was the faster Navi, but Zero was upon him first. His fighting style was best described as merciless. It took the best elements of MathMan's calculated swordplay and seamlessly melded them with the ruthless bloodlust all viruses had. Treble weaved past the long triangular arm blade, trying to get a cut in, but Zero's defences were absolute. Treble felt like he was looking for a hole in a brick wall, and even with his amount of speed Zero was already closing in on his space, making it difficult to keep moving.

"Guard, Thunder, and LongBlade in!" Said Arthur.

Treble raised the guard instantly, as Zero brought down his blade, but to his horrified amazement Zero managed to stop his swing before it conected. The guard disappeared after a second, and in desperation Treble launched the Thunder. Zero's blade cut into him, but he was able to get the Thunder out even as he flinched. At point-blank, Zero couldn't hope to avoid it, and had his follow-up attack cancelled by the paralysis. Treble wasted no time in forming the LongBlade, and put all his strength into a cut at Zero's chest. While it clearly hurt him, his armor was far too tough to go down to one blow. Treble backed off, as Zero broke out of the paralysis and made a swing that would have devastated him if he was any closer.

"Phantasm!" Shouted Zero, and he quickly swung his sword forwards. A powerful sonic boom detached from his blade, soaring towards Treble. It was exceptionally wide , without any hope of sidestepping. Treble just snarled and did the only thing he could think to do- he swiped at the arc, hoping to break it. It was weakened by the attack, but most of it hit Treble with enough force to sweep him off his feet. Zero was already off at a run, leaping into the air and suddenly kicking off nothing to launch himself down towards Treble, sword outheld.

"BugAura, in!"

Treble activated the Aura just in time to prevent Zero landing on him. Zero nimbly kicked off the aura, landing across, and dashed for Treble fearlessly. Treble was wary, using the Aura to try and find a weak point while Zero found a way to break it. He tensed, and sprung just as Zero mde an upwards slash at him. To his amazement, the Aura held, while his claws managed to find their mark on Zero's waist. A HP bug was created.

Zero backed off. "An Aura's large size makes it easier to hit with multiple attacks at once, shattering it. Nonetheless... I need more attack!" There was a slight rumble as Zero's red armor suddenly changed colour, to black. Treble had already been moving for him, trying to capitalise on Zero's moment of vulnerability, but then Zero sliced with his blade. A stationary arc appeared, and Zero sliced again to form a cross shape. Both suddenly moved off and even though Treble dodged to one side, the Aura was too large. The two powerful cuts broke it.

"Treble, his health halved when he changed colour! Sword, WideSword, LongSword! Program advance: SoulSword!"

Zero engaged Treble immediately, faster and deadlier despite the reduced health he'd taken on. His blade flashed, and Treble suddenly staggered back, a deep gash on his shoulder. Then the program advance registered. Zero was already moving in to make a finishing blow, and Treble didn't try to dodge this time.

The crowd went wild when at the last second, Zero's attack was knocked away by a ferocious SoulSword, cleanly hitting him as well. Treble had suddenly broken through Zero's barrage of attacks and in a single, decisive blow, swung the battle to his side.

Zero staggered. Halved health was not playing in his favour, and he'd finally lost the oppressive advantage he'd been holding that forced Treble to play defensively. But he still held himself with deadly poise. Treble was upon him within the blink of an eye, and it was all he could do to fend off the nearly invisible strikes. He tried to use a shield to block and slash, but Treble was on a roll, even when the shield stopped his attack and Zero slashed, he was able to counter and hit Zero again. Zero stepped back, and made one desperate thrust with his blade.

Treble felt the Z-saber pierce his chest, but he'd already won. He was knocked back a little by the force, but Zero was far worse for wear, the attack his thrust had let through having ripped through his last lot of hit points. Zero dropped to one knee. "I am beaten."

Treble kept a hand over his stab wound. "Haha... you fought well! I really enjoyed that." He said, sounding genuinely happy.

"...You are... perhaps not a virus. You have far too much emotion." Said Zero. "Urgh... Can someone remove this HP bug? I cannot resist it forever."

A couple of healers ran over, and started repairing the wounds on each navi. The announcer cheered with the crowd. "And we have a victor! Treble has triumphed over Zero, and will proceed to the next round!"

"You did good out there." Said Arthur, walking out of the shop. "Whoever that Zero was, he was really tough."

"Yeah, but..." Treble looked around. "I can still smell him here! And I don't know why."

"Um... but why?"

"It's like there's something in the PET that's a part of him..." Treble kept looking around. He eventually looked at one of the corners, narrowed his eyes and grabbed at thin air.

A red orb became visible.

"What on earth?!" Said Arthur. "Where did that come from? What is that?"

"I think it's Zero's. It's what smells of him, anyway. It's some kind of virus... but not one for actually disrupting things. I think... it's some kind of camera? Or maybe a microphone?"

"Maybe he was trying to spy on us. I'm not sure what for, but until then, don't destroy that. Maybe we can use it somehow."

"Okay. So... wow, you know I really DO feel a lot better after that. Maybe we should go do something fun before the cybeasts make another mess for us?" Said Treble jokingly.

"You'll jinx it. Anyway, let's go and see how Ember and Blaze got on. Maybe we couldn't watch live or anything, but I bet someone will have posted a video already. And maybe we should just go and hunt for some BugFrags? You enjoy that and it makes us stronger."

"What first?"

"Well, you won the fight, so I'll let you choose unless you don't want to."

"Let's go grab some BugFrags while we can. They'll show Ember's match on the TV later."

"Got another one! Wow, normally we wouldn't have two by now!" Said Treble, sending a fourth BugFrag to the PET.

"Today has been a pretty good day, honestly. We won our tournament match, you've found a couple of BugFrags, and the beasts have been quiet. Maybe I should go and use the chip trader? We have a bunch of C-coded reflectors, and I'm literally never going to use them."

"What's the difference between Reflector and Guard, anyway?"

"Guard is an older edition, you can't actually get it anymore. Also the shockwave it sends does less damage and travels slower, but has the Break element."

"Huh. Neat. Are there any other outdated chips?"

"Not that I know of. I just got curious myself. Speaking of curiosity, why aren't you eating the BugFrags as soon as you get them?"

"I want to see how many I can fit in my mouth at the same time." Said Treble happily.

"You'll give yourself a- wait, you can't get a stomach ache. Well, go ahead then I guess."

"Aw yeah. Hey, look over there! Some more viruses!"

"Go get 'em!" Encouraged Arthur.

Treble had an easy time tearing apart a few Craggers. They were defensive, and defence was a great counter to quick foes, but you had to be able to actually hit your enemy to do damage.

"Meh, a bit too easy. Let's go back to the Undernet for a bit. The real Undernet, not the old one. Maybe get some directions off Denny to go to one of those places PlugMan mentioned?"

"You've given me a better idea." Said Arthur. "Now that the fights are over, Denny will have a break from monitoring the beasts. And William should be getting back from drill practice, and Joe's available anyway. Lets get everyone together and try to get into the next room of the secret area. All of us have improved a lot since we first set foot in there."

"I like it! You message them, I'll get over to the warp pad."

Twenty minutes later, all four of the friends were stepping into the secret area.

"How long has it been since us four got together?" Said Treble.

"Too long, my ally." Said ArsenalMan.

PlugMan looked around and sighed. "This place don't feel right to me."

"Don't fret. We'll work as one." Said MathMan. "So... you mentioned you defeated another of this place's guardians while we were gone. In that case, there's only one left if what we know is correct."

"It's probably over there!" Said Treble, pointing at the area he had yet to explore. "I wonder what kind of virus it'll be?"

"I theorise it's going to be some kind of cannon. We've had a Mettaur and a Swordy, two common viruses. The last of the most common three are cannons. While there are a few variations, like the CanGuard and the Gunner, Cannons are still a thing." Said ArsenalMan.

"A cannon would be kind of lame though. I mean, how's it even going to be worse than a regular old cannon? It can't actually turn to shoot at us." Said Treble.

"Hey now, I ain't gonna complain about it being easy." Drawled PlugMan.

"There's no need to act dumb right now." Reminded MathMan. "I'm going to guess it'll be a ranged attacker, since the other one was melee. So... maybe a Bunny?"

They filed along the marble walkway. A few times the path branched, but ultimately there was only one way to follow. Treble had taken the front, as the most likely to detect a threat.

"Hey, I smell something."

"Is it the virus?" Asked PlugMan.

"Hmm. Maybe?" Said Treble.

"Whoever's most durable should go first. Are you going to transform?" Said MathMan. "If not, then I have the best defences of us four."

"Like I'm passing up a chance to transform." Said Treble. "You know what to do, Arthur!"

The three navis took a step back as Treble transformed, filling up almost all the available space.

"Mind your tail!" Called MathMan, narrowly avoiding getting batted away.

"HEY, YOU TRY SQUEEZING INTO A CORRIDOR MEANT FOR NAVIS WHEN YOU'RE THIS BIG! ANYWAY, I'M GOING FORWARDS!" GS-Treble put one paw forwards onto a square, and immediately a shiny golden Heady appeared, with a pure white aura. A pair of rubies were set into its eye sockets.

MathMan crouched to get a look at it. "HeadyL. L for life, I suppose?"

ArsenalMan gave a test shot, that harmlessly bounced off the aura. "Well, the aura's above 80."

MathMan kept analysing. "I estimate it at... 200. PlugMan, have Denny load NorthWind-"

Arthur was already slotting it in. "Way ahead of you guys."

Treble roared at the HeadyL, blowing a powerful gust of air over it. The Virus responded in kind by delivering a flying headbutt. Treble snapped his mouth shut to defend against the shot, and then was given a nasty reminder that Heady heads are Break element, the vaporwave-esque face slamming into him with enough force to hurt through his armor.

Arthur watched Treble's 1490 health plummet down to 990.

"DESTROY IT! QUICK!" Yelled Treble. "ARTHUR, GIVE ME SOME ATTACKS!"

"On it! Thunder, CornShot1 in! Converting to breath weapons!"

PlugMan floated over the top of Treble, and threw a few arcs of electricity. ArsenalMan started firing, spraying the area with damage. Joe loaded MathMan's Pi gun and let him fire away.

Treble appreciated the support, but the Heady was far from deleted. He took a deep breath and let loose a whole storm's worth of electricity, the Heady unable to dodge. It was left in bad shape, but being a virus attacked again without any caution. PlugMan shot it with a ZapRing, and that was all the time Treble needed to take another breath and blow a gale of green, leafy fire over the virus.

It did the slow-deletion thing the other two viruses had done, dropping a chip and yet another golden BugFrag.

"OOOH, LOOT!" Said Treble. "WHAT'S IN THE CHIP?"

MathMan carefully crawled underneath Treble to get to the front where the other navis were. ArsenalMan slid down Treble's head, and PlugMan just floated down.

ArsenalMan picked it up. "AuraHead3 *."

"That chip is a good fit for you." Commented MathMan. "There aren't that many good ranged break attacks, and you can't fight in close-quarters. Besides, me and Treble have already had chips from these 'great' viruses. And PlugMan has an almost complete library."

"...Yeah. Still missing WoodDragon and NeoVariableSword." Said PlugMan. "Anyway. Treble, open up." He picked up the gold BugFrag, and pitched it like a baseball.

Treble did manage to open his mouth in time for the high-speed data to fly in. It caught on the side of his mouth, taking some coolness out of PlugMan's throw, but it made it in. "HEY, WHO WANTS A CHIP?" He sat, and looked down. "HUH, I FEEL KIND OF WEIRD ACTUALLY." He made a small coughing motion. All three navis stepped back, again. "H-AHH!" He spat, the chip coming out fast. "WOW, THAT FEELS MUCH BETTER! AND I STILL FEEL A BIT DIFFERENT. LIKE I JUST REMEMBERED SOMETHING..."

MathMan picked up the chip and looked quietly.

"Huh?" PlugMan leaned over to see what MathMan had seen."

ArsenalMan walked around to get a look at it, and just sighed. "Well, what do you know."

"WHAT IS IT, YOU GUYS?"

MathMan turned it around. "BugCurse. We can't use it."

"OH. WELL THEN, I GUESS THAT'S FOR ME!"

"Yeah, just don't use it on us. Seriously, this thing is the worst to get hit by." Said PlugMan.

"That door ought to be openable now." Said MathMan. "I think we ought to go and check it out."

"GOOD IDEA!" Treble took a rather direct path, leaping between three walkways to return to the centre. He dropped out of his original form, and sat down. "Hey, Arthur? Send me those four BugFrags from the PET, I never got around to eating them."

"Sure thing. Here you go. Don't try opening that door until the others get back... it was kind of reckless to just leave them."

Trreble suddenly had his hands full. "Now, let's see..."

"Are you really going to-"

Treble already had two balanced on his jaw, moving the third one in. He was just able to balance it there, but putting in the fourth caused the first to get knocked back down his throat. He shrugged, and bit down.

"Wow, today was a good day for your max health. From 745 to 815. You're actually getting pretty tough to kill."

"I still have a way to go before I get to 1500, though. And... I still feel a little different to normal. I think the next time I transform... I feel like I'll be stronger in a big way."

The other three found thier way back quickly enough. "You could have given me a lift." Said ArsenalMan.

"Never mind that for now. The door." Said MathMan.

"Yes... we must push onwards while we can. We don't have a lot of time before everything starts going badly again, trust me." Said PlugMan.

"Alright then!" Treble walked over to the door. "We've shown our power!"

The door was quiet for a second. "You may pass!" It announced, disappearing.

"Be careful, everyone." Said PlugMan. "I see a suspicious square ahead."

The four walked up to it cautiously, and suddenly the entire area dimmed. "Oh!" Said Treble. "Looks like you were right!"

The darkness before them coalesced, and a navi formed. They had purple armour and a black suit, seeming to hover there with a fanged smile on thier pale face.

PlugMan choked. "It can't be! You!?"

ShadeMan gave a slight bow. "Ah, lost brother. It has been a while. And now, with the DarkPower nearly gone and Nebula destroyed... it may not be much longer, either. But! I am bound to Serenade now. I will delete ten thousand navis who would enter the secret area beyond that which Serenade has invited them by word, and in return, will recieve my only wish. The creation of new DarkPower, that I may return again when I fall."

"The DarkPower was evil! We were borne of it brother, and so were all our other brothers! But it cannot be brought back, not even for the simple purpose of resurrection! You must realise that! Stand out of our way!" Said PlugMan desperately.

"You are no brother to the Darkloids."

"...This is my fight, and my fight alone!" Said PlugMan. "Stay back."

Treble moved to stand by PlugMan, but MathMan put a hand in front of him. "He's serious."

Treble looked at MathMan in desperation. "We can't just let him fight alone! That's-"

"He'll never forgive himself if he doesn't." Said MathMan.

There was one brief second as lightning struck where ShadeMan had been standing, leaping from PlugMan's body.

ShadeMan moved quickly, throwing several pulses of sound at PlugMan. PlugMan shifted out of the way, charging more and more power in his body. He started dashing towards ShadeMan, arcs of energy leaping to the floor. He produced a GunDelSol3.

"TAIYOH!" Shouted PlugMan, trying to burn ShadeMan. But ShadeMan moving in and quickly swiped with a clawed hand, perhaps not as deadly as Treble but enough to knock the GunDelSol away. PlugMan responded by shocking him with thousands of volts of power, blowing him back a bit. ShadeMan's arms morphed into wings, and several bats flew from dark holes in the area, homing in on PlugMan. PlugMan continued to project and electrical field, and with a surging blast deleted all the incoming bats. He let a thick, metal wire fall into his hand, and brandished it for a second before charging at ShadeMan.

ShadeMan just smiled devilishly, and dodged the swing of the cable, responding with a terrible pulse of loud noise that made PlugMan flinch. Before PlugMan could shake it off, ShadeMan twisted behind him, a grey blade replacing one of his hands.

"Dark Sword."

The DarkChip tore away many of the cables that made up PlugMan, knocking him over forwards. He didn't move for a second.

"You were never going to surpass me. I almost regret using that on you- agh!"

A cable had coiled around ShadeMan's ankle. Before ShadeMan could try to cut it away, PlugMan was on his feet, and he drew ShadeMan in close. "Never monologue until your foe is deleted!" He shouted, discharging through ShadeMan and loading a DrillArm. ShadeMan was somewhat tied by the cable now, and was unable to dodge a point-blank hit from the drill. He snapped out of the cable, and threw another noise crush, but PlugMan had already won the fight. He moved in and blasted another wave of power out of his body, shocking ShadeMan into paralysis, and then finally loaded a sword of his own- a LifeSword. It flashed, cutting ShadeMan in half at the waist. ShadeMan wasn't deleted, at a mere sliver of health and paralysed he collapsed.

PlugMan walked over and knelt. "I'm so sorry."

"N-never monologue until... your foe... is deleted..." Said ShadeMan. "Heh..."

"The darkloids will always be my brothers- even if I fled before I could meet any but you. Why? Why couldn't you have just let the DarkPower go?" Said PlugMan.

"We... are the DarkPower. You... will die without it." Said ShadeMan. "We can't become navis. Once... our... d-darkpower is gone... we... d-disappear..."

'ShadeMan deleted.'

"..." PlugMan stood. "I'll follow you in deletion then, brother. My will is my own." He turned to the rest of the group. "Let's push on. There's no time to waste."

"You... you can take time to mourn if you want to." Said MathMan.

PlugMan just stared at Treble. "In four hours, the officials are making an attempt to capture Flare. I advised against it, because the risks are so great, but the chief wants results. You won't be able to get in thier way without getting Arthur arrested, but I want you to come with us. If she loses her mind... you're our best bet at delaying the destruction until MegaMan or ProtoMan can arrive."

"I can't just stand there and let the people I care about fight each other!" Said Treble.

"You have to. It's the only way you can protect them both." Said PlugMan. "But I'm serious. We have to push ahead now, because the second Flare's touched everything is going to directly to hell. I've warned the chief, but..." he shook his head, and started walking towards the next area.

Treble looked at MathMan and ArsenalMan in panic. "Guys, there must be something we can do!"

Arthur sighed. "PlugMan's right. The only way you can hope to protect both our friends in the officials and Flare is to watch from the sidelines. If worst comes to worst... you can stop a blow that might delete her."

"I hate that you're right." Said Treble. "But fine. We should prepare, but... PlugMan's already gone ahead." He followed him into the second part of the Secret Area.

The second part resembled the first, but a few navis could be seen. Each were wrapped in ragged cloth that made them seem like a survivor of a calamity, but they walked towards the group, interested. One came up to Treble.

"Hello... we are the dwellers of the secret area, those few invited to live here. We will not impede your quest... If you seek Serenade, then know that not all paths are visible..." They said, before floating away.

Treble looked out. The area was an archipelago of small white pathway sections, each joined by what he assumed were invisible bridges. "Are you ever really glad we can't fall off the walkways without trying to?"

"Let's push on. PlugMan's already made some headway." Said MathMan.

"Hold, ally. If this is a maze... we could get lost in it. And we cannot log out in this area. It would be best if Treble retreated, to prepare to intervene at the official attempt to capture Flare."

MathMan nodded. "You go with him, your ranged firepower is more anonymous than my blade if something goes truly wrong. I'll stay here and make sure PlugMan doesn't get reckless in his grief."

Treble and ArsenalMan thouroughly searched around the area where the beasts had been sighted, looking for any hint of the officials.

"You don't think PlugMan was lying about this, so he could be alone?" Said Treble.

"You don't trust him?" Said ArsenalMan.

"I- well, I was never good at lies. I believe he has our best interests at heart, but he could lie to any of us with a straight face. You've seen how well he acts"

"It's a valid point... but would he risk hurting you that much? We know you've taken quite a shine to Flare, after she saved me." Said ArsenalMan.

"I owe her your life. Not the same thing as owing my life personally, but I'm in her debt to a value equal to one life. And... she's also pretty nice." Explained Treble.

"Are you sure you don't have a crush on her? You always react strongly when you learn she's in danger." Said ArsenalMan.

"A... what, now?"

"A crush."

"What's that?"

ArsenalMan sighed. "How do I explain that?"

Arthur looked at the screen. "Romantic feelings. You know, like..."

"I don't know, what on earth is a crush?! Seriously, I don't know! Nobody told me and I'm pretty sure my bugs deleted the knowledge that I started with!" Said Treble, exasperated.

"Okay, basically... do you know... you know how you're friends with ArsenalMan and MathMan and PlugMan?" Said Arthur.

"Yeah."

"Well... imagine... imagine liking them enough you'd be willing to spend literally all your free time with them."

"I do anyway?"

"Okay... wrong example... but basically, a crush is someone... you think would be a good lifelong partner for you, I guess? I mean, there's way, way, way more to it than that, but it's kind of complicated."

"Look, from how you're describing it all three of my friends count as my crush, but you make it sound like I can only have one!" Said Treble.

"It's someone you would consider starting a family with!" Blurted Arthur. "And I know that that doesn't apply to Navis, but seriously I don't know how else to describe it."

"Ooookay. So, doesn't that make it more of a human thing?"

"Just... never mind. You can research it later. For now, let's focus on making sure Flare gets through this in one piece." Said Arthur.

"Yeah, you're right." Said Treble. "ArsenalMan, any hint of the officials?"

"They're by there." Said ArsenalMan, pointing far into the distance. "We need to get closer, and hide somewhere we won't be seen."

"Treble." Said Arthur. "Promise me now, that you won't intervene unless you're sure Flare or one of the officials is about to be deleted."

"I promise."

"Thanks... Alright, let's do this." Said Arthur. "I'm loading an invis chip so you can get close, but remember they don't last long at all so only activate it if you must. And Also, here's Guard, so you can intercept an attack without getting hurt yourself. Man, why would anyone make a chip have X as the code? I've literally never seen that letter on ANY other chip."

"...William has an AntiNavi with that code. We've never used it. X is generally reserved for chips that are extremely special, and should be used alone. We don't have any like that." Said ArsenalMan.

Treble padded closer, and found a path to an area he could hide, relatively high up. Without the need to worry about fall damage, he reasoned he could drop down with the Guard up to intercept a deleting blow. He peeped over the edge, watching a heavily-armored navi oversee the setup of a trap. He noted two Navis were given orders to prime thunder chips, two were given hammers, and another...

"I don't trust that one." Whispered Treble. "He smells funny, like he was coded by someone else. I'm sure I remember that smell from somewhere, in fact..." He watched as they were instucted to set themselves up behind the link with a Fan chip, to suck Flare in close.

The overseeing Navi, who Treble caught the name of as SteamMan, didn't actually seem all that happy about setting up a trap. Treble listened closely, overhearing what he was saying.

"...doesn't feel right. It's our duty as officers to uphold the law, but... Our evidence just isn't strong enough. Why is this operation being pushed so much? ...you're right, Burn. We're only going to capture, so if we've got them unjustly, then no lasting harm will be done."

Treble looked out further, getting a good view of SteamMan. He had a tall and muscular design, very bulky red armor, and heavy gauntlets with two massive steel pipes coming out of the back. Treble couldn't make out much more while atop the vantage point, but noticed he had a sharp red crest, that he could have sworn he'd seen before somewhere... Wait, wasn't SteamMan Ember's brother? His thoughts were interrupted as all the officials tensed, when SteamMan gave two short claps. That must have signalled the operation was starting.

Arthur's heart trembled, watching Treble. If he misjudged this...

Flare walked out of the link, and before she could say a word two officials jumped her, casting thunder. Without any chance to dodge, the orbs hit, paralysing briefly. Even while flinching, she had the presence of mind to start flying upwards, but then the two hammer-weilding officials leapt out, striking at her wings. Flare crashed into the ground, getting to her feet as SteamMan used a BubbleStar of some kind, encasing her. He started to walk forwards. "Flare. In the name of the law, you are under arrest. You may come as you are, or we will be forced to knock you out."

Treble couldn't hear if Flare was saying anything, because he was falling. The suspicious one had moved, and at this point Flare was effectively captured anyway. It was clear the officials were prepared for anything she could do. Treble landed, guard up, just as the suspicious Navi fired a DestinyPulse. Despite the piercing nature of the attack, Treble had caused him to panic and fire too early.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Yelled SteamMan. Treble expected he was going for the suspicious navi, but a hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Still disoriented from the blast, he looked up at SteamMan. "This is a critical operation! You're also under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, and we'll discharge you quickly if we find you're inno-"

Treble roughly pushed past him, and caught the LifeSword the suspicious Navi was about to swing in an awkward hold. He snarled.

SteamMan turned quickly. "Officer Cromwell...? What..."

Cromwell kicked Treble away and swung the sword. "DIE, Beast!"

Treble knew it wouldn't be enough to delete, but it would leave him at 15 health and that could be enough if he had anything else loaded. And was Flare still in range?! He braced for impact. It never came.

SteamMan was holding Cromwell up by the chest, LifeSword pressed uselessly against his side. "I had my suspicions... that you were not the real Cromwell! Take off that disguise!"

'Cromwell' struggled, and then shimmered. A navi in a mockery of a police uniform appeared, cap shading their eyes to black. "I've failed..."

SteamMan glared at him hard. "Who are you? Where's Cromwell?"

"I'm... FakeMan. Look, guv, I didn't want to-"

"Do what?" Said SteamMan. "Delete her? Stab me in the back? Put the entire official force to shame?"

"N-no, guv! I was forced! Ya gotta believe me!" Said FakeMan.

"I'll interrogate you later. For now, you are also under arrest... and you... I don't know if I can trust you, dropping in front of our target-"

"Sir, he was protecting her from a DestinyPulse advance. While she's in a bubble and weak to elec, that would have deleted her. I'm confident he's on our side." Said another official who'd had a different angle.

"Then you're free to go, and I thank you for what you've done for us. The safety of the net hinged on this capture." Said SteamMan.

Treble looked back to where Flare had been in a bubble. "Wow, you guys are efficient..." He murmured. The bubble was already gone.

"NO!" shouted SteamMan. "We didn't move her out, she's escaped!"

"Oh..." Said Treble. He wasn't sure if he was worried or relieved. But either way... the capture had failed.

"...For now, I'm returning to the station. Let's hope FakeMan co-operates..." Said SteamMan, logging out. The other officials followed him.

Treble decided on worried. "Flare..."

Author's notes: On September 18th, the day after my birthday, I'll be starting an apprenticeship and my time to write will go way down. I'd never abandon a story, but updates will be slower. So have a slightly upsized chapter to conpensate!

Reviewer answers!

Guest: Trill is indeed Crescendo, and he's honestly just a little crushed under the weight of the responsibility he was given from the moment he existed. Honestly I've been reading nothing but fanfiction for over three years, going through about 100K words a day, but I used to like Cherub(series) and Percy Jackson. On the matter of Treble's maturity, while he's emotionally relatively mature, getting serious whenever needed, he has got some pretty childlike gaps in his knowledge.

RushAlias: Indeed, but the surprise isn't from Flare.