"Is is just me or is the tree outside dying?" Said Arthur to his mom. The tree across the road seemed sickly, leaves drooping.

She put down her newspaper and looked. "Not just you. It's probably that blooming monitor acting up. Installed to make sure the tree was healthy, makes the tree ill."

"Surely the monitor is computer operated... to stop shenanigans like this. Ah well. I'm off to my tournament match, wish me luck!"

"Of course! We'll be watching it, in fact. Don't be late, now."

"Bye!" Arthur jogged out of the door. "Hey Treble, what do you think's wrong with the tree?"

"I have a really bad feeling about it. A computer that might kill a tree by going wrong should probably be well-protected against going wrong, right? After all, those monitors are in lots of trees, not just the one in the street."

"...You ARE right. I didn't look at it that way, but... yeah, if the problem could easily have killed something rare... it shouldn't ever occur normally. Maybe we'll pop over on the net?" Suggested Arthur.

"If you say so. But I'm not sure how I'll be able to help..."

"Better safe than sorry. Now... game face, on. Blaze and Ember can't be underestimated."

"Heh, I should be the one saying that to you! I'm always ready to get into a fight!" Said Treble happily.

Arthur pushed the door to the chip shop open. "Hello?"

A handful of staff were there, alongside the technicians linking up the netbattle machine to a central arena. William and Joe were waiting in the corner. William stood. "Arthur. Good luck."

"Thanks! I've come pretty far into this, haven't I?" Said Arthur.

"Well, Treble's been doing the fighting." Said Joe. "Before you go in, do you want to borrow any chips from us?"

"...Nothing comes to mind, unless you've got any good B-coded ones. Wait, can I borrow UnifyCode? I can use Gregar's Navi chip with something else, then."

"Yes, here it is." William passed Arthur the chip. "Our navis are waiting in the machine, so give Treble a chance to talk to them."

"Treble, hunt."

Treble found himself in the waiting area. MathMan and ArsenalMan were the first to come over and greet Treble.

"You'll win, ally."

"But if you don't... well, never mind. You will." Said MathMan.

Both of the navis belonging to Arthur's parents were there too, uncustomised but cheering. "You've got this!"

And then a third navi Treble didn't recognise. They had pure white armor covering all their arms and chest, and a ruby-red jumpsuit that made up their stomach and legs. Their helmet had a pair of quarter-circle crests, and a visor with a piercing red glare behind it. Something about them unnerved Treble. "...Curious." They finally said, voice flat and neutral.

"Uh, who are you? I don't know you?" Said Treble.

"How is it possible for something born purely of imperfection to even attempt to move closer to perfection...?" Murmured the Navi. "I am Beta. An... aquaintance of Ember. I simply seek to bring the world to perfection. So I implore you- push Ember to her very limits. Help her move closer to perfection." Beta said, before turning. They logged out without another word.

"How did that guy get in? Eh, nevermind. Here I go, guys!" Said Treble, stepping into the link.

There was a flash, and he found himself in a huge arena. Taking advantage of the brief moment he had before the fight started, he gazed around, sweeping over the crowd and the deep blue background. He noticed Beta at the very front, watching perfectly still. A navi in thick, light-green armor next to him tapped his shoulder for attention, and the two began to speak. Again, Treble felt some kind of slight uneasiness seeing Beta- and the navi that was apparently his friend.

Ember blinked in, ready for battle. It was obvious from a mere glance she was absolutely ready. They stared each other down for a moment.

"You excited?!" Said Treble.

"We didn't become ace netbattlers for nothing." Said Ember.

The announcer piped up. "AND IN THE SECOND ROUND OF THE NATIONALS! WE HAVE TREBLE, ALL THE WAY FROM COPPERHILL, AND EMBER, FROM CYBER CITYYYYY! ON MY MARK! THREE!"

"TWO! ONEEEEE!" Finished the crowd.

Ember's mask rolled down with a slight clunk, and Treble's tongue disappeared, his eyes switching to full red.

"BugCurse in." Said Arthur. "Try and slow her if you can!"

Ember glowed for a second, and a ghostly copy of Treble appeared around her briefly. There was a tiny 'ping' as she entered TrebleCross, sprouting a tail, a frill, and her armor gaining the shattered look of Treble's.

Treble held out a hand, and a wisp of purple fire blazed for a second before fizzling out. "It... it failed to find a target?" Said Treble. Then it hit him. "My own power is protecting her!?"

Ember rocketed forwards, and Treble realised that in addition to becoming an 'evil' classed navi, his cross increased Ember's already immense speed. He tensed for a second, letting her get close to make the first blow, and then struck at the very last second, his attack both deflecting Ember's cut and letting him nimbly twist behind his target. He tried to cut at her back, but then there was a 'thwip' and Treble was forced to back off a little or get cut with a well-timed MoonBlade. Arthur saw the PET was ready to process the next batch of chips, his new moves already in hand.

"Don't give up. Let's force her into using a different cross. Reflector2, Guard, and RockCube in."

Treble started trying to chase Ember, while he was extremely fast on his feet, faster than even Gregar, Ember was simply coded to be a grey-red blur once her mask went down. She jumped, gaining a little lift from her backpack, and pulled out an M-cannon. It discharged, but then Ember was knocked out of the air, landing with a skidding halt while the reflector disappeared. Treble was almost in her face when she pitched an M-Boomerang without warning, but the Guard stopped it dead and let Treble close the gap. While Ember was undoubtedly faster, Treble did indeed outclass her strength and when she tried to strike with a blade it wasn't hard to overpower her, pushing her back. The jets on Ember's back warmed up, Ember wordlessly trying to use their force to resist Treble, but that plan came to an abrupt end as Ember was almost crushed between the two forces, Treble feeling his claws scratch into the floor beneath him as anchors. Treble was about to try and bite her mask, when Ember made an unexpected attack with a MegaEnergyBomb. Treble had to let her out of the overpowering lock or get blasted, and then there was another 'ping'.

"Alright, now we can hit her! ElementBreath, VariableSword, M-cannon in! Left B Right B."

The blast cleared, revealing Ember's next cross. Her armor was a bright, fire-truck red, and heavier in most places. Hydraulic pistons were visible near her blades, her mask's crest had curved back further, and she was wearing two chunky steel knuckledusters. Ember took a firm step forwards, fearless. Treble spewed sea-blue flames over her, trying to douse her with aqua, but she wasn't a fire navi anymore. Ember didn't flinch either, making another heavy step forwards and driving her fist straight into Treble's mouth, loaded with steam power.

Treble was knocked far back by the force of the blow, nearly falling over. He quickly swung the VariableSword's sonic boom and leapt after it, speed now a much more even match. Ember had still retained her evasive capability, neatly ducking under the sonicboom and coming at Treble with-

I smell a program advance! Treble had the strangest feeling of deja vu as a FlameHook missed his chest by a finger's width, the second fist nearly slamming him in the side. He threw himself forwards, making a decisive swipe at Ember. Without TrebleCross, bugs would wear her down fast. Ember didn't hesitate at all to put herself into a weighty uppercut. Both attacks found their mark. Treble was sent reeling, but Ember was the worse affected- even if she didn't show it, Treble could feel the bug sapping at her energy, leaving her guard effectively open.

"Thunder, FlashBomb2, BugCharge in!" Said Arthur. Hoping to enter Full Synchro, he added "Destroy her!"

Treble darted in and struck again, this time inserting a movement bug, before hitting her with the thunder and vaulting back, throwing the FlashBomb. All buying time for BugCharge. And then there was another 'ping'. PlugCross was active. The FlashBomb went off, but Ember wasn't affected, almost seeming to drink in the shock of energy. She raised a GreatYo's launcher, and Treble didn't have any options apart from backing off. The blades still just grazed his left gauntlet, dealing high damage. He roared, and BugCharge fired. The first face narrowly missed, Ember trying to dash in, but the next two found their mark. Ember was floored, an Undershirt keeping her in the fight. Treble fired a quick buster shot from his tail and missed. Ember sprung to her feet, coming forwards regardless of her dire situation. She leapt into the air, hovering, and Treble tried to leap up for her when she whipped him straight between the eyes with a metal cable that crackled with electricity. Stunned, Treble dropped to the ground as Ember loaded a ZapRing and extended his brief lockdown.

And then, through her mask, Ember said "This is our Synchro!" Her voice changed a little, Blaze audible alongside her Navi. "You're toast!"

She radiated power, and then there was a tremendous whooshing sound like a rocket taking off. Treble made a desperate attack, trying to take Ember out before whatever sound that was actually did something, and she parried. Reaching one health seemed to have put them into some kind of combat trance, laden with determination and adrenaline-fuelled skill.

Then Arthur saw the biggest, baddest most jaw-dropping missile he'd ever seen fly past Ember, warhead flashing red. "Treble! Watch out-"

"OmegaRocket!" Said Ember and Blaze.

Treble took a direct hit from the Full Synchro giga chip. Arthur wanted to look away, but simply couldn't as he went from a relatively superior lead in health to zero in a fraction of a second. Treble was completely engulfed in the blast, and Arthur had no doubts that if this weren't a netbattle with safety measures in place Treble would have been utterly deleted, his ghost launched to a far corner of the net.

"..." Arthur sighed. "Treble? Can you hear me?"

"..." Treble was lying on the ground, health zeroed. "..."

"Are you alright?" Said Ember, mask rolling up. She limped over, and tried to kneel by him. Then she snapped her hand back when she touched Treble. "Gyah! Health bug! Uhhhnn... need... some... help..."

Ember collapsed just as the healers ran over. The first one had her up pretty quickly, opening a debug program, while the second gave Treble a MiniEnergy. His eyes opened. "Ow."

"You had me worried there." Said Arthur. "We... never mind."

"We lost." Said Treble, forcing himself to his feet. "..."

"Well fought, Treble. I have to say, I didn't expect I'd be able to pull that off." Said Ember, dropping out of PlugCross.

"You fought well too! I... enjoyed the fight." Treble said. "I'll see you again, I guess."

Arthur noticed the drop in Treble's enthusiasm. "Well... Treble, back. We did our best."

Arthur stepped out into the street. "Are you okay?"

"I feel awful!" Blurted Treble. "I've let everyone down..."

"Huh? It was just a tournament. Don't get sad over a loss, we weren't depending on a win. Besides, I made mistakes too. I chose not to use BugAura in favor of striking with lots of attacks, but that let her make a comeback with PlugCross' stun."

"But everyone was so sure I was going to win! What if they're disappointed?"

"Well, they're not. Once you get that far into a tournament, you just can't count on winning. Besides, you enjoyed the fight, right?"

"...I did enjoy the fight. Well... I guess if you're sure..."

"It's okay to have a bit more self-confidence. If Ember hadn't been using Undershirt, your BugCharge would have wiped her out. In a rematch, you'll know to have your buster ready the second she drops to one health. Just don't beat yourself up, ok?"

"Ok!"

Joe shrugged. "Hey, you got pretty far. And they send people who reach the nationals a prize once they drop out, so you'll get that soon."

William nodded. "Besides, you could use the extra time. Gregar's still out there."

"Where's Denny, anyway?"

"Looking into Morgan. He can't prove anything officially... but he thinks that Morgan might actually be up to something." Said Joe. "For now... shall we just go on the net?"

"Sounds good!" Said Arthur. "I heard they installed a new entry point at the park. We can sit together."

CommandoMan hit the floor. Treble pulled him up. "Better!"

CommandoMan reverted. "...Thank you, ally. But until I can beat you, it's not good enough."

"Aw, you'll get there." Said Treble. "Maybe you should aim for Ember instead? Set your bar even higher?"

"Heh. It's good to know Ember's so strong. She's actually close to ProtoMan at an estimation, and we both know his reputation." Said ArsenalMan.

Treble suddenly looked over his shoulder. His tail curled involuntarily. "Did you just feel something? Like we're being watched?"

"...No. MathMan, you have better analytics. What about you?" Said ArsenalMan.

"I don't feel anything." Said MathMan. "What is it you feel?"

Treble turned, and then yelped in surprise. "OW!" There was suddenly a heavy weight on his tail. He reached behind himself and grabbed it by the base, pulling it in front of himself to reveal a mettaur clamped to the end. "Zoano?!"

"Zoano?" Said MathMan in confusion.

"Flare's pet Mettaur. What's he doing here? Hey, maybe that means Flare is near!" Said Treble brightly. "I've been waiting to tell her I've got a crush!"

"There's a text file stuck to it..." Said MathMan. He peeled it off Zoano's foot. "Captured. Powerful virus. Need help. BotanicalResearchComp. Bring friends!"

"...I hate to say it, but it might be a trap." Said ArsenalMan. "But... You'd go no matter what, and I wouldn't let you go alone, Treble."

"BotanicalResearchComp." Said Treble worriedly. "MathMan, get everyone together. Arthur, advance. ArsenalMan, hold on tight, we're going for a wild ride."

"On it." Said MathMan. "Sending an email to PlugMan and Ember. I'll have it ready to go to ProtoMan and SteamMan if need be."

"Origin ready. Treble, just this once... take the fastest route. I'll deal with the consequences." Said Arthur.

Treble transformed, launching Zoano away, and held his tail down for a second. "HURRY!"

ArsenalMan scrambled on, and grabbed the centre frill. "Read-Aaah!"

Treble took off like a train, bounding out of the area in the fastest possible route to the BotanicalResearchComp. Even if his acceleration wasn't fantastic, once he got moving then he was easily ten times faster than weaving through the pathways. A few navis screamed as Treble hurtled past at full speed, but thankfully no squares were in the way. It took barely a minute to get close enough to see the problem.

"WHAT THE-"

Bushes. Bushes as far as the eye could see, growing rapidly.

"Where are all these plants coming from?" Said Arthur.

"FLARE'S IN THERE SOMEWHERE!" Treble took a deep breath. "FLARE! I'M COMING, FLARE!" He bounded in without another word, the bushes all growing some kind of defence mechanism. A few exploded into spores, some grew spikes, and others hardened and became tough, but against Treble's iron-like hide it was meaningless. He just trampled them beneath him, sniffing periodically.

"These plants are being controlled by a virus. Perhaps if we take out the source, they'll disappear?" Said ArsenalMan.

"I'M FINDING FLARE FIRST!" Treble suddenly froze, catching a smell. "SHE'S THIS WAY!"

MathMan and Ember came to the edge of the jungle. The path Treble had carved was already regrowing. "...I'm going to mail ProtoMan and SteamMan." Said MathMan.

"These plants might be able to heal up fast, but let's see how they like THIS!" Said Ember, hacking into the nearest one with a heated blade. It fell apart.

"Be careful. Somehow, these plants got the better of a cybeast." Said MathMan. There was a rustling, and for a second a face with burning red eyes was visible in a bush next to Ember, before a wooden spike nearly stabbed her in the side. MathMan neatly cut it in half. "Case in point."

The face reappeared on Ember's other side and she cut it in half before it could attack. "Got it!" And then in front of her. All too soon, it was a desperate battle to keep the plants back.

Treble scrabbled at a corner, ripping away a curtain of plant life. More was beneath it. "FLARE! JUST HOLD ON A LITTLE LONGER!" Eventually, he realised he was nearing the floor, and was able to just about push his muzzle into the vegetation. As careful as could be, he pressed his jaws together, and pulled his head up. Flare was held in his mouth, barely conscious.

"Treble...?" Said Flare, eyes opening. "Did Zoano reach you?"

"YA. CLIME ON. I CARN SPEAK WIYOUT BI'ING YU." Said Treble awkwardly, releasing his bite so Flare could climb onto his face.

She exhaustedly managed to get out of Treble's jaws and walk along his head, defences designed to resist Gregar's bugs just about withstanding Treble's skin. "We have to rescue Gregar and Alias... please."

"I'LL DO MY BEST. LOOK, SINCE WE MIGHT GET DELETED HERE, I'VE BEEN MEANING TO SAY... I THINK I HAVE A CRUSH ON YOU!" Said Treble, looking for another mound of plants.

"Wh-what?" Squeaked Flare.

"Jeez, Treble, you could've given her a second before dropping that on her! Her brother is still in danger!" Said Arthur.

"I SEE ANOTHER MOUND OF PLANTS OVER THERE! HANG ON GUYS!" Announced Treble, walking forwards while ArsenalMan made sure Flare stayed balanced. She was barely able to keep herself balanced and awake, far too low on energy to try and think about what Treble said on top of that. Treble came to the next huge mound. He tore away what he could and again dipped in his mouth. This time, he pulled out an unconscious Gregar.

"Brother! Wake up!" Called Flare.

Gregar coughed, the sudden jerk causing him to smack an arm into one of Treble's sharp teeth. "Flare!?"

"Just climb up!"

"CARE'UL!" Said Treble, relaxing his grip. Gregar wasted no time getting to safety, his ever-present rage replacing his lost energy.

"What... happened?" Said Gregar. "How did it get so smart?"

"Smart?" Questioned ArsenalMan.

"It backed off after we made a dent the first time. Then it struck again when we split up. How did a virus think so well?"

"WHERE'S ALIAS THEN?" Said Treble.

Flare looked around. "I... I'm not sure. We sent him to the right. I'll try and fly up, maybe-"

"NOPE. I DO NOT WANT YOU TO RISK YOURSELF, FLARE. JUST LET ME GO SEARCH THAT PLACE." Treble walked on, crushing through the mass of bushes. "HE SHOULD BE AROUND HERE, RIGHT?"

ArsenalMan looked around. "I see the location. Turn seventy degrees right and just run. You saw what state these left the beasts in."

"HOLD ON TIGHT GREGAR! ARSENALMAN, GRAB HOLD OF FLARE!" Yelled Treble, charging through the bushes. All the while, they were attacking him with continually more deadly moves, but Treble just wasn't ever making himself vulnerable.

The bushes around Alias were starting to writhe when Treble got there. He swiped, and then bit and swiped again. There were still many, but he forced his head in and got hold of Alias. It was actually a struggle to pull him free for fear of causing even further damage, and once he did get out it became clear Alias was in deep trouble. The plants had been merciless, he was unconscious and the energy drain had eaten through his health and had been under a minute from deleting. And then there was the problem that unlike Gregar and Flare, he wasn't immune to bugs. His midsection had discoloured at Treble's touch, and while Treble was transformed and radiating much stronger bugs than normal...

"Alias? Treble, we have to get him back to safety now!" Said Flare. "You're going to delete him if you hold him too long!"

"SOME'UN 'OME GRAB 'IM!" Said Treble awkwardly. "I 'IGHT 'ITE 'IM WHEN I RUN!"

"Hold steady." ArsenalMan climbed over and crouched on Treble's face. He was able to grab Alias under the shoulders and hoist him out, carrying him back to the secure area by Treble's frill. "Flare, are you strong enough to stay balanced?"

"Yes. I'll be fine. Quick, Treble! Please, crush or not- Please save him for me!"

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO ASK! WE'RE GOING!"

"Wait, what?" Said Gregar, before Treble set off at a quick walk, pacing through the bushes. They were throwing everything they had at him, striking with massive amounts of wood and leaves and sharp branches, but none was break element, so the bushes might as well have been cotton wool.

Flare looked at Gregar kind of sheepishly. "Um... well, you see... Treble... he..."

"I HAVE A CRUSH ON HER! I WAS WAITING TO TELL HER IN PERSON!"

Gregar's jaw dropped a bit. "Treble. Are you insane?" He said in a rather plain tone.

"NOPE! I'M TOTALLY SURE I WANT TO DATE HER! UH, IF SHE WANTS TO, I MEAN, UM, FLARE, YOU NEVER REALLY GOT ROUND TO ACTUALLY RESPONDING..." Said Treble.

Flare looked out over the veritable sea of grass. "I'll date you. You... you've always been very nice to me, even though we've always been enemies."

Gregar just held his breath for a few seconds. "Flare, I don't think this is a good idea... but if you're sure..." He got to his feet, ignoring the wounds inflicted by the plants. He carefully walked forwards, and leaned over towards Treble's ear and whispered. "If you break her heart, I will end you as humiliatingly as possible."

"NOTED."

"I think I see the edge! Are those navis trying to attack the plants?" Said Flare.

"Yes, that's MathMan at the front there." Confirmed ArsenalMan. "We're going to have to call in all the reinforcements we possibly can to kill off this infection before it kills all the trees being monitored. Gregar, Flare. Do you know exactly how we can kill this virus?"

"It's a WuNote." Said Gregar. "But I think it got left alone for a VERY long time with my power. It's had weeks to generate a lot of bushes to hide in, and it can move between them instantly. We'd have to destroy every single bush in order to corner it."

"But the bushes only have a couple of hit points each. Even regular old busters can destroy one quickly." Added Flare.

"But there are thousands." Said ArsenalMan. "And all the while that virus is counterattacking."

"It can't counter at range. It only got us because it baited us into a trap."

Arthur considered this info. "I'll get my parents. Uncustomised navis still have busters, and this is a race against time."

"Yes. This is going to be a true team effort." Said ArsenalMan. "William, should I mobilize the cadets?"

"Yes." Said William. "If only we could open a link to bring them here quickly..."

"We've got you covered." Said Gregar. "Ethan has reached the research centre. In about a minute, we'll be able to give Chip coverage of this place."

"SAY AGAIN? CHIP? ETHAN? COVERAGE?"

"Need to watch my mouth..." Mumbled Gregar, tiredly "Look, just tell me where you want the link's entrance posted!"

"Here." ArsenalMan held up a map.

"Alright, just tell your guys to hold on there for a minute." Said Gregar. "Are the officials coming?"

"Already here." Said ArsenalMan. "Well, some of them, anyway."

Treble burst out of the edge of the field, and lay down so everyone could dismount. "HEALER!" He yelled.

A small array of navis had already formed. Treble could see MathMan, PlugMan, Ember, SteamMan, Zero, both of Arthur's parents and Joe's parents, ChanceMan, BladeMan and ElastoWoman, Beta and his friend in the thick green armor, and some navis Treble didn't even recognise. It was an amazing show of force, dozens of navis banded together to fight a common foe and protect their home, the hail of fire eating into the plants at walking pace.

Roll ran over. "Healer present! Who's hurt?"

ArsenalMan picked up Alias and carried him over. "He needs a debug as well."

Treble tried to whisper to Gregar and Flare. "USE, AHem, your disguises."

Gregar sighed, and transformed. Flare took a few seconds and also hid herself before coming down. Roll looked up. "If you're not critically damaged, just wait while I stabilise this Navi! Don't worry about the plants, Mega will be here soon! He loves doing heroic stuff like this."

And right on time, MegaMan and ProtoMan arrived. "Sorry we're late!" Called MegaMan. "Hold on... is that Colo-"

"Never mind that right now." Said ProtoMan. "We need to rush or we're going to lose a huge amount of trees!"

"R-Right!" Said MegaMan.

It was a storm of destruction, carving a path into the jungle. Gregar seemed to have retained his buster while disguised, and a link had opened to allow a dozen navis operated by military cadets to join the fight. Over thirty Navis were pushing in, and even after splitting in half to cover low and high ground they were utterly steamrolling the virus' handiwork. And at the forefront was Treble, in his element: destruction.

Once at the back, the enemy finally became visible. A little tag identified it as 'WuHighMax'. More bushes kept appearing to defend it, and the branches were whipped about in dangerous techniques, but the sheer number of competent fighters had it beat. While most of the navis just laid down suppressing fire, Gregar walked forwards.

And MegaMan stepped forwards to join him. "ColonelCross, activate. I always hoped you survived if Gregar did, Colonel." There was a 'ping' as MegaMan gained armor that resembled Gregar's disguise.

Gregar looked straight ahead, usure what to say. And then words leapt into his mouth. "...Focus, MegaMan. Don't waste the future I gave you on this virus." He looked back. "EVERYONE! THIS IS OUR FIGHT!" A new part of the disguise appeared. A red-handled saber. Gregar looked at it uncertainly, but inside, he was sure he already knew how to use the weapon.

MegaMan formed an identical one. And they leapt into battle, while the army held back.

Gregar found the blade was devastatingly powerful, his memory of it slowly piecing together. He slashed in tremendous arcs by pure instinct, wiping out rows of WuHighMax's bushes. And when things got bad, he still had his buster and cybeast speed to fall back on. Just because he wasn't as fast as Treble or Ember didn't mean he was slow- quite the opposite. MegaMan was summoning all manner of items that exploded to reveal soldiers, cutting with the blade at every opportunity, giving Gregar all kinds of chances to do damage. Gregar seized every one, and then saw the gap he needed in the virus' defences. But then it formed a towering column of leaves, too great for Gregar's buster to even scratch. MegaMan tried to cut with the sword, and it bounced off.

"Alias! Hit it with SunMoon!" Commanded Gregar.

Alias walked forwards. He'd been run ragged by his own drive to help- fighting to his very hardest even after being snatched from deletion's grasp. His armor was almost breaking apart and his buster was glitching out, sparking. And his eyes glowed with determination. "You got it! Meteors! Attack plus 30! And Uninstall! SunMoon!" A satellite appeared over his head, blazing with red fire. "RedSunMeteor!" A barrage of flaming rocks launched into the leaf shield, eating away, and then the satellite shimmered with blue light. "BlueMoonLaser!" A death ray burned forwards with a whirrr, and even touched through to WuHighMax at the end of the cast. Then the satellite flashed red again, and kamikaze'd into the barrier with a tremendous explosion, enough to make everyone cover thier eyes.

Yet a few bits of the barrier persisted dumbly. Alias wasn't having any of that. "I'm not done yet! Ciel system activate: Recalling SunMoon!" He gritted his teeth as his buster stopped sparking, the light in his eyes faded out, and even his wounds ceased glowing. The satellite reappeared.

"RED SUN METEOR!" The barrage of rocks was even stronger, every one hitting like a bomb.

"BLUE MOON LASER!" The laser went straight through the WuHighMax, searing every inch of the virus, even though it's defences held. The satellite flew in once again with a thunderous blast. Alias fell to the ground, unmoving. The WuHighMax was badly damaged, and truly vulnerable. Alias still tried to struggle to his hands, until his operator decided to log him out before a stray buster peller caught him.

"I'll show you!" Shouted Gregar. He leapt high into the air, and drew the sword close to his chest, level with the virus. He twisted, and with one absolutely almighty swing he cut a 'Z' shape over the virus. He flickered briefly, and then there was a surge of green aura from Gregar's being, and he dashed down to deliver one final blow. The energies coalesced into Gregar's original head, and the mouth opened wide. With an earth-shattering CRUNCH the jaws closed around the WuHighMax, and it exploded into bits, dissolving. Gregar stood straight as a few wisps of power flowed into him. "It's over."

"Colonel, I can't believe you're back! I missed you so much after what happened in Cyber city!" Said MegaMan.

ProtoMan placed a hand on his shoulder. "...MegaMan. That's not Colonel. We didn't want to tell you because of how much you cared about him... but that's only Colonel's body. Or, what's left of it after it self-destructed."

"What?! But then... the only other one who could have used that attack..."

Gregar sighed. "His body was the only option. I have not... fully forgiven you for what you did to me. And in time, I'll take my power back." Gregar logged out before anyone could respond.

MegaMan was quiet. "...Colonel..."

Treble shifted back and looked to Flare. "So can I have your email before you log out?"

Flare quickly passed Treble an address, before following suit.

ProtoMan looked around. "Well, either way, the threat has been contained. I thank you all for your service at such short notice. We'll be conducting an official enquiry into how things got so bad, so I must ask you leave here for now so as not to disturb anything. We'll mail everyone a chip, if you give me your addresses now... apart from you, Ember."

"Huh? Me?"

"I have something else in mind for you." Said ProtoMan.

"So, did she reply yet?" Said Arthur.

"N-no... what if she gave me the wrong address?!" Said Treble.

There was a ping. "OOOOHHHH!" They said in unison. Treble had it open instantly.

"From Flare... 'Meet me at the old BBS you use tomorrow at twelve. I'd like to come and see more of your area! But we can't go battling, in case I lose control.' It's a date Arthur! It's a Daaaaate!" He squeaked.

"It... it's a date." Echoed Arthur. "I'd better get you ready."

Author's notes: And a chapter that has heavy focus on both of the main characters of the other two authors I'm working with! Plus some screentime for Alias. Treble finally lost a match he genuinely cared about, and also Gregar/Colonel stuff. Lovely.

Reviewer answers!

JANEVALENTINE007: I've never watched DBZ, and had trouble really enjoying the fights due to the heavy abuse of charging attacks, BUT I will openly admit Goku's super saiyan form and Kamehameha are the coolest things ever, and the scene he achieves SS is really well-done once you ignore 'charging abuse'. Also, your teacher would just buy you markers? What a great guy! And the other... O.O What iissssss ittt?! My hype is over 8000!

RandyPandy: Yeah, while you can hide a lot of things from parents once you either gain fame or disappear for several hours without warning... any good parent should catch on to that. Oh, and thanks for the info on language!