The levbus staff were a bit apprehensive about letting someone who was soaking wet, wearing pyjamas and clearly panicked on board, but Blaze flashed an official ID and explained they'd been at the water works.

"Oh, I saw that. Glad you guys got down so quickly." Said the conductor. "...Urgent enough to run through a city in pyjamas."

"I don't regret it."

The conductor shrugged. "None of my business. But every time you hear a story of that one guy who ran through the town in pyjamas to fight crime..."

"Then I'm going to laugh and agree." Said Arthur.

"We need to get going." Added Blaze. "Someone's waiting for us."

"Next stop, Scilabs!"

Arthur got through the doors to see the receptionist waiting. "Message for Mr. Penn."

"Please call me Arthur. I'm not even eighteen!"

"It's from William." The receptionist passed him a sheet of paper.

'I called in favours with the cadets, and my sergeant has gone to pick up Ethan from Eastfall. We're waiting for him by the station.'

"Oh, of course." Said Arthur.

"I wonder where Lan is?" Said Blaze. "He wasn't awake for the main part of the water works attack, and he didn't have any reason to stay after the water drained."

"No clue. I guess we should go and wait for Ethan. Strength in numbers."

"Actually, I think it might be better to stay here. I don't want to leave Scilabs unguarded." Said Blaze.

"Okay. Hey, Treble? Want to go find Colonel? He'd be pretty happy to know Gregar is visiting."

"Sure! Where can we find him, though?"

"I think I know. Come on!" Said Blaze. She lead him through a few doors, to a lab. "We can reach most of the testing areas from here."

"Indeed. Looking for someone?" Said Wily.

"Wah?! Where did you come from?" Said Arthur. "I swear you were not in that chair two seconds ago!"

"That's just Wily. Very good at... skull-king around." Commented Blaze.

"...Your puns could be weaponised." Said Wily dryly.

"Anyway, I was just going to find Colonel. Ethan is coming down soon, so that means Gregar will be around too."

"Oh, he's right here. I'm actually working on him." Said Wily.

"Ah. Would you prefer we left you be?"

"No, actually. I've heard about this 'Ethan'. A talented engineer, right?" Said Wily.

"So I've heard. I know he can modify a computer to hold Gregar, Flare and Treble, so that says something."

"Yes. Among other feats. Like those connectors for NetGaia, and those custom PETs." Agreed Wily. "A budding engineer if I ever saw one."

"More than budding. Most computers would catch fire trying to hold just Gregar and Flare."

"True. Oh, speaking of which..." Wily frowned. "Is Gregar the type to hold grudges?"

"Well, he seemed okay enough with the fact he was deleted last time I spoke to him. But I have no idea how he feels towards you." Said Blaze.

"Hm. Well, I never expected ANY forgiveness, let alone amnesty." Said Wily. "I suppose I owe it to Lan to make amends..." He typed a few lines, then closed a window. "Colonel, status report?"

Colonel became visible on the screen. "I feel... hm. Weird. Kind of like I can see further..."

Wily nodded. "I've been careful not to put all your intended powers in at once, it would be overwhelming. For the time being, get accustomed to the increased peripheral vision."

"Hey, Wily... I heard you're operating one of the superprograms." Said Treble.

Wily nodded. "I have R."

Arthur caught on fast enough. "Would you be willing to battle? We have a while before Ethan gets here."

Wily took a light beige PET out of his lab coat. Arthur was strongly reminded of the plastic colour some old phones had. "R, jack in. Execute."

R appeared, in his chunky armor. "Scripts Running."

"R has very little personality of his own." Said Wily. "After all, both the original LifeVirus and the one that became R were designed as mindless slaves."

"...I suppose it would be better to use something without a personality for a war machine." Said Arthur.

"Ironically, a lesson I didn't properly learn until I was standing next to a pair of giant exploding robots. If you'd send in your Navi? Colonel, observe closely. This will be a learning experience."

"Treble, hunt."

Treble appeared in front of R.

R's eyes flashed once. "Entity Detected- Multi Bug Organism."

Treble looked at R curiously. "...I'm sure I smell something familiar on you."

"Ready?" Said Wily. The old scientist almost smiled, as he seemed to think about something. "Netbattle routine, set."

"Executing Script!" Responded R.

"Treble, destroy!"

Treble always went for a quick opening strike unless the enemy had a huge defence. While R had such a defence, Treble didn't know that, and was surprised when his attack bounced off a gold-tinted glow.

"Life Aura Defensive Matrix Established."

"Oh, that's what I could smell."

"Northwind, Thunder, AreaSteal!"

Treble howled as a frigid wind removed the LifeAura, and then lunged to engage in proper combat. R took a steady stance, and raised a huge buster made of his entire arm. It blasted out a huge purple-pink laser, but Treble's great speed allowed him to dodge with no worse than a singe. R started firing smaller pellets, the laser apparently a charge shot. A few pellets found their marks, but then Treble got in close. R took out a sword of that same purple-pink, and made a mechanical slash, hitting in an unexpectedly wide arc. Treble took the hit to the chest.

"Ha ha ha! Behold! The first LifeSword." Said Wily dramatically.

"Not as damaging as the advance." Said Blaze.

Treble tossed out the Thunder as R advanced, and then suddenly vanished from the floor, reappearing to R's side. R attempted a parry, but it seemed the sword was more of an offensive tool, and Treble made a solid strike across R's left shoulder guard. R took another step back, and started firing away with his buster. Treble danced back, and let loose a few shots of his own in retaliation. Then the aura regenerated.

"Defensive Matrix Re-Established."

"How?! We used NorthWind..."

"That's the upside to being a genius. The technical know-how to make an infinitely restoring LifeAura! Haha!" Wily laughed. Arthur decided he was someone who probably laughed like that on purpose.

"Okay then. I think I have an answer to this." Said Arthur. "BugRiseSword, in!"

Treble looked at the blade that appeared on his arm. It resembled a normal sword in a dark gray, but he could feel almost unfathomable power coming from the weapon. He leapt into the air, and sliced with the sword. Instantly, he felt a tug inside him somewhere, but the result of the weapon was more than impressive enough. A huge arc swished forwards, and shattered the aura. But more importantly, the sword was still on Treble's arm. The glow was dull, but quickly returning.

"Time for a new strategy. FastGuage, Reflector1."

Treble attempted to make another huge slash with the BugRiseSword, but to Arthur's amazement, the giga chip couldn't get through a simple reflector. Worse, Treble took the reflected force right in the face, staggering back in surprise. And then Wily put in some more chips.

"Cannons, A B C. Antiquated advance, Zeta Cannon."

R raised his other arm, the hand replaced with a regular green cannon. Arthur was confused as to why anyone would use those once they had other options, until it started blasting out shot after shot, each one far more powerful than it should have been. Treble ducked the first, but the second landed a hit and paved the way for a third. Before R could capitalise any further, Treble jumped forwards and struck again, with his claws. Arthur knew why. Suddenly, R's movement was a little slower. Just what he needed.

"ElementBreath, VariableSword in! Left B Right B!"

Treble twisted, and as R attempted to strike again with his LifeSword, Treble hit it with the BugRiseSword, breaking it clean in half. Treble took one breath and blew fire over R, who barely reacted, only bringing up his buster to fire another big laser that hit Treble in the chest. But without missing a beat, Treble went in and sliced once more with the devastating BugRiseSword, before throwing in the VariableSword for good measure.

R was starting to weaken, but the BugRiseSword had been sapping at Treble's health.

"We must end this fight. ColonelForce, giga chip go!"

AutoSoldiers appeared. Treble was suddenly surrounded by at least two rings of them, and attempted to dodge, but it was futile. There were simply too many, each one firing a single volley of shots. The attack lasted only two seconds, but Treble was left on dangerously low health. That was enough. R was in the same spot, and at a much larger disadvantage.

Blaze chimed it. "Finish it with Gregar or Flare! For karma!"

Arthur suddenly realised he could do both, and grinned. "How about this? GregarEX, UnifyCode, FlareEX!"

Suddenly, Treble stood upright. "Wait... I think these chips area reacting to each other! This is..."

"A program advance?" Said Wily. "Curious... It seems the cybeast powers must have reacted to each other."

Treble pointed forwards. "DoubleBeast!"

A copy of each beast appeared next to Treble. In perfectly-timed unison, they attacked. Flare hit first with a Wing Boomerang, then Gregar tackled, wrapped in electricity. As he was landing, Flare was there again to blast with a storm of air, and Gregar followed through with a tail arrow. They stepped forwards together and slashed with claws and talons, Flare's wrapped in aura, Gregar's loaded with force.

'R, logged out.'

Wily placed a hand on his chin. "Interesting indeed... Make sure you don't forget that combination."

"I won't. It's in the PA memo." Said Arthur, taking a previously blank chip out of the PET. "Who would have known?"

"You should have obtained R's navi chip." Said Wily. "Do not underestimate it because of the low damage."

Arthur looked at the chip. Only 50 attack... "Why? It says here 'Laser shot and free aura'. Does it give me a lifeaura?"

"Yes, actually." Said Wily. "It's not a full 200 point aura, though. This is just a 100 point aura. It won't deflect too many things."

"That's actually a great support chip." Said Blaze.

"Yeah. Although I do have the problem of wanting all my chips in B code..."

"Ethan is likely to be here soon. You ought to go." Said Wily.

Arthur was waiting at the top of the steps when he saw Ethan. Joe and William were behind him.

"Ethaaan! Hey there!" Shouted Blaze.

Ethan looked up, and waved, before jogging up the steps. "You owe me so many explanations." He said. "I knew it would be bad, but..."

"What's wrong?"

"Well, let's start with the fact that scilabs hired a literal ninja." Said Ethan. "First of all, how? And second, why? Was I really in that much danger?"

"Oh, Miyabi's been a good ally for a year or two. We didn't think you'd appreciate being followed." Said Blaze. "Come on in!" She strolled into Scilabs casually.

"Come on. I'll explain once we're somewhere secure." Said Arthur.

The receptionist was already talking with Blaze. Blaze looked to the others. "Chaud's still down at the water works. We'll have to talk to Lan instead."

"I'll take Lan over Chaud any day." Said Ethan. As they started walking, he seemed to realise something. "Wait, what happened to the water works? It must have been pretty bad if someone as high-ranking as Chaud is there..."

"Let me just say that nearly drowning is not a fun way to start the day." Said Arthur.

"Ah. That bad." Said Ethan. "Guess I'm not the only victim here..."

"What happened to you, Ethan?" Said Blaze.

"Ambush. Thankfully, SOMEONE tipped Flare off, so she was able to stop us walking right into it." Said Ethan. "My main three navis can handle themselves no problem, but SheepMan? He might not have been so lucky. He barely made it through that scrape, and we had the advantage."

"Someone?" Said Blaze, looking at Arthur.

"Yeah. Someone." Said Ethan. "The sender of the email was completely anonymous, even Flare couldn't trace it."

"Right..." Arthur internally squirmed, but at the same time was relieved his risk had paid off. "So, Lan's Chaud's second in command? How did that happen?"

"I know right, he can barely get up in the morning!" Said Blaze. "...Although the fact that he saved the world six times might have something to do with it."

"Oh, that. Right." Said Arthur.

"Is this lab his?" Said Ethan, noting a nameplate that read 'Hikari'. "I know his dad's lab is downstairs..."

Blaze opened the door. "Yep. Lan, we're here!"

Lan was sitting in front of a huge computer, looking at an incredibly complex code. "Hi guys!"

"I'm here to help. I'm not sure who just attacked us, but point me in the right direction and I'll return the favour." Said Ethan.

"Not that simple, sadly." Said Arthur. "Who wants to explain our enemy?"

"I'll do it." Said Lan. "About two months ago, a program was kidnapped from here. They were called Trill. At the same time, Arthur had just brought in a newly-resurrected Treble, to have him fixed up. Arthur went after them, since I... well, I had to make sure it couldn't happen again, and I've been doing some important research on... Well, I'll tell you that when I finish it. Long story short, he was kidnapped by a navi called SheepMan, part of Eurasia, on the orders of a navi called Serges. Arthur was able to infiltrate posing as a new recruit and bring them down... but the real culprit managed to slip through the law. He pinned the blame on the head of the institute, and now he's after Treble, and a few other powerful programs like Gregar and Flare... but we don't know why."

"Vengeance?" Said Ethan.

"No. He's been trying to take us alive. Flare, Gregar? Remember those assassins?"

"Assassins?" Said Gregar, while Flare nodded.

"Oh, that time Scilabs was attacked." Supplied Arthur. "Those assassins were almost certainly from Eurasia."

"So what's the plan? Storm them? We have THREE cybeasts." Said Ethan.

"No. Storming them doesn't prove them legally guilty, and if you were to get ambushed and defeated..." Said Blaze. "First, we HAVE to prove it's Eurasia, or their government just can't do anything to stop them. They're on the other side of the world, after all."

"That's another problem. Eurasia is what keeps Wirope's economy working. If Wirope were to lost it, then the country would be in HUGE trouble... and I don't really want the consequences of that on any of our heads." Said Arthur.

"So... what do we do?! Just sit here and take it while waiting for them to make a mistake?" Said Ethan, exasperated.

"Yes, but with more self-defence. I hate it too, but it's the only winning strategy." Said Arthur. "We need to capture one of their agents, and then hopefully we can get some good info out of them. Once we prove they're guilty, then their government can hopefully take out the ringleader without collapsing the organisation."

"...I see. Define self-defence."

Lan brought up a map. "We're waiting for them to attack, and then counterattacking as hard as possible. They seem to like sabotage, and using lots of mindless drones with one smart leader. Which makes sense. Only one navi has any information, then."

"We identified only four places they would be likely to attack. One was attacked today, so maybe we should make that three..." Said Arthur. "Remaining are Scilabs, the power plant, and... um..."

"The courts." Supplied Blaze. "One last thing."

"Huh?" Said Ethan.

"Don't let Gregar or Flare go ANYWHERE alone." Said Blaze. "Euraisa are expert ambushers and kidnappers. No matter how powerful Gregar is, if he gets stunned and then attacked with three or four powerful advances before the fight starts, he's probably not going to win."

"...Fair enough." Said Gregar.

Arthur realised there was something he needed to do. "Ethan, mind if we speak in private? At least... well, I need to speak to you without Gregar or Flare."

Ethan narrowed his eyes. "Gregar? You okay with that?"

"I don't see what could go wrong." Said Gregar. "Just tell me later."

Ethan put his PETs on a desk, and followed Arthur to a corner. Arthur looked to make sure Gregar was out of earshot. "Okay, listen... You know Alpha?"

"That system that basically caused all this?" Said Ethan. "Yeah."

"...Well, Treble and the cybeasts weren't the only programs that were mysteriously revived." Said Arthur. "There are at least two more, maybe three if Lan is correct."

"And Alpha's one of them." Said Ethan. "...I'll delete them. No problem."

"No! They're on our side now... And we can't solve every problem by throwing a Cybeast at it." Said Arthur. "Alpha was convinced to give up one of its memories to save Gregar."

"..." Ethan frowned. "It had a change of heart?"

"Maybe. It's.. kind of annoying, but I don't think it's malicious."

"So... you want me to tell Gregar, so when he finds out we don't have to deal with them killing each other?"

"If possible. But if you don't think he'll take it well, then I can hopefully keep them separate until this is all over."

"Nobody has that much luck. I'll tell him tonight."

"Okay, good."

"Who are the other revived programs? Scratch that, just list them all. Operators too so I know who to protect."

"R, who's operated by Wily. I operate Treble. Beta- although you know them as Alpha, who's operated by one of my friends called Denny. And you have Gregar and Falzar."

"Oh, don't forget Nebula Gray." Added Blaze.

"Blaze! This was a private conversation!" Whispered Arthur. "...And Nebula Gray, who's a what-if. We don't know if he resurrected, only that he COULD have. Personally hoping he didn't because his description isn't so good."

"You're normally all for redemption, considering you took pity on a kidnapper, and then got me cleared." Said Ethan. "How bad did he have to be to get on YOUR unforgivable side?"

"Literally, the digitised version of mankind's evil." Said Blaze. "Designed to have absolutely nothing good in it."

"Ah. Wow, what kind of madman would do that?"

Arthur shrugged. "Anyway. Don't spread that knowledge. Conversation over." They walked back over to everyone.

"So." Said Lan. "Now we have enough really strong netbattlers to cover everywhere. I'd... like to stay in scilabs. I love going out, but I'm finally starting to understand my grandpa's research!"

"That's fine by me." Said Ethan. "Mind if I spend a day here? I want to speak with some people."

"Okay. Chaud wanted me to make sure everywhere had someone on standby, and that everyone who has a superprogram has a bodyguard." Said Lan. "Whoever stays at Scilabs will have MegaMan, and Blaze and Burn should be able to keep your navis safe. Oh, and William! Nearly forgot him, whoops..."

"Good." Said Arthur. "And I guess Wily might be getting a bit... too old for running and jumping, so Me, Ethan and Denny can rotate. That just makes it a matter of who guards who."

"Actually..." Said Blaze. "What if Burn stayed central, so he could go and help anyone quickly? I'm pretty sure you can get by on one bodyguard each."

"I'm used to going solo. Bodyguards are easy mode." Said Ethan.

"Well, then I call dibs on William. I haven't fought with him for too long."

"And that leaves me for you!" Said Blaze to Ethan.

"Wait, what about Denny? Who's going to guard him?"

"I will." Said someone. Arthur looked around in confusion. "Master Ethan, I have the PET as requested."

Lan smiled. "You can come on out, Miyabi."

Miyabi dropped from the ceiling.

"What th-" started Arthur. "He was REALLY not there when I came in!"

Miyabi handed Ethan a white PET. "Apologies for any delays." He said. "My service to you has now concluded. If we meet in the future, know that I may not have the same employers." He turned and walked out of the room, making exactly no noise whatsoever.

"Coolest thing ever." Said Ethan. "SheepMan, are you alright? Sorry I couldn't custom-build you a PET, but there wasn't time."

"Not used to being in a PET." He responded. "But at least I had the funds to buy myself a nice one. Lady Fl- Um, Flare, are you out there? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, SheepMan. Thanks for looking out for me." Responded Flare. "It looks like we're going to have some work to do."

"For now, if you all want to just explore scilabs, then Eurasia activity has lulled a bit, and making friendships is important." Said Lan. "You can head out first thing tomorrow."

"Sure. Hey, Gregar. Want to go see Colonel again?" Said Arthur. "I'm sure he'd he happy to see you."

"He was terrified of me." Said Gregar bluntly.

"He warmed up." Countered Arthur.

"...Colonel?" Said Ethan. "...Green cape? Orange sword, with a red handle?"

"Gregar's disguise?" Said Arthur. "Yes."

Ethan took a breath. "I'd better see him immediately."

"Wily! Open up!" Said Blaze. The lab door swung in.

"Ah. Is this Ethan?" Said Wily. "I've... been interested in you. I hear you're a mechanic."

"Yes. Listen, I heard you were working on Colonel. I... want to see him." Said Ethan.

"Of course. He sometimes talks about Gregar." Said Wily. "But we have to discuss your engineering. I'm sure I could teach you a thing or two, if you can learn."

"We'll see." Ethan took out Gregar's PET, and pointed it into the room's computer. "...But do you... um, have you possibly heard of a man called Baryl?"

Wily raised his eyebrows. "Yes. Why do you ask? Do you know him?"

"Well... he never talked about his past too much, but he talked about a navi called Colonel like they were very important to him. He actually gave me something when he talked to Gregar." Ethan reached into his pocket and took out the CrossDivide chip.

Wily sat down. "Ah... he's alive. Thank goodness."

"Did something happen between you?"

"A lot of things. Very few of them good." Said Wily.

Gregar looked over to Wily. "...I remember now. I couldn't quite make sense of the memory, but you were the one who- Ethan. Are you SURE we can trust him?"

Wily froze. "That voice!"

"Huh?" Said Gregar. "What about my voice?"

"..." Wily looked sheepish. "...It's karma, I suppose. I never believed in it, but perhaps I should start."

"Well, I suppose that if Colonel was the navi you merged with to survive, you'd have his voice." Said Ethan. "You definitely didn't have one before that merge."

Wily took a shaky breath. "Gregar. I will pay anything you want in exchange for your voice files."

"Where's this coming from?"

Wily looked downcast. "Gregar, Blaze, you are likely to be the only ones to understand the importance of this, but the owner of that voice... they are- were Baryl's father. He gave Colonel his own voice before he left that day."

"You mean... Gregar sounds like your-"

"I'm using the voice of his oldest friend... and Baryl's father." Said Gregar. "I guess you couldn't replicate it perfectly."

"No. I never realised how important it was until it was gone." Said Wily. "That one memento. My friend lived on through Colonel, but I couldn't appreciate that until I'd doomed him. I doubt Colonel is still alive within you, considering the nature of his last attack, but... at least some small part survived."

"It's just a voice to me." Said Gregar. "Don't stab Ethan in the back and you can have it. Deal?"

"You have my word." Said Wily. "...Colonel- No, the Colonel System is in there. I'm sure he'll be glad to see you." He sat silently. Arthur could nearly see him lost in thoughts.

"Who is Baryl?" Said Arthur, eventually.

"..." Blaze frowned. "He... well, it's complicated."

"He regrets what he did." Said Ethan. "But he doesn't want to go back. He lost his entire career, and everyone he knew after..."

"Me." Said Wily. "It was the worst thing I ever did to anyone. I've contracted assassinations, I've sent entire countries into anarchy for fun, but nothing could ever compare to how much I hurt Baryl. I'd rather not... speak of it again."

"Jeez..." Said Arthur. "You can freely talk about contract killings, but it was so much you can't mention it... You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Can it be fixed? I don't really... I won't pretend to understand who he his."

"Not within my lifespan. I'd like to end this conversation. I have far too many regrets to fall victim to." Said Wily bluntly, before turning to the computer and activating a microphone. "Colonel. Iris. You have some visitors."

"Treble, want to go see them?"

"Of course!"

Treble saw Colonel and Flare first. Colonel was a fair bit shorter than Flare, not yet out of beta testing.

"He's adorable!" Said Flare, beckoning Treble over. "Look!"

"I-I'm a fearless warrior! I'm not adorable!" Protested Colonel. Flare hugged him.

"Yes you are." Said Flare. "Treble, let's adopt him. He can be ours."

"I don't know if you're allowed to do that..." Said Arthur quietly.

"But what about Iris?" Said Colonel. "I'm not going anywhere without her!"

"...Where IS Iris?" Said Arthur.

"Over here." Said Gregar. "...You don't have to hide from us."

He reached behind a RockCube that had been lying around, and gently lifted Iris up and over it. Never mind that she was almost fully grown. He set her down in front of him. "H-hello..."

"Oh, you must be Colonel's sister!" Said Treble. "You look a lot like Flare's disguise."

"But she's missing the dress." Said Blaze.

"The dress was a cosmetic she bought herself." Said Wily. "I couldn't find another one, so I settled for just replicating the original jumpsuit."

Flare let go of Colonel. "...As someone who knows you better than you may expect, don't be scared." She shimmered, before being replaced by her disguise, complete with the dress. The dress that had survived Colonel's explosion, attacks from Bass, and Falzar's rampage. Loving maintenance from first the original Iris, then Flare, then SheepMan had kept it intact through all that. Flare unequipped it, showing an identical jumpsuit, down to the armour.

"You're... me." Said Iris.

"I think I have something that belongs to you." Offered Flare, holding out the data.

Iris carefully accepted the dress. "This..."

"Put it on." Encouraged Gregar softly.

Iris equipped the dress, and it appeared over her. "...Do I... look nice?"

"You look wonderful!" Said Ember. "Iris always had a great sense of fashion!"

Iris nodded, and started slowly moving behind Gregar. He noticed this. "You don't have to hide from these people. They're friends."

Iris still shied behind him. Colonel got up and came over. "Come on, sister! We can do anything together! Even show off your new dress! It's not like I'm not wearing one!" He gestured to his armour. Arthur was ninety-percent sure Colonel's armour wasn't a dress, but didn't want to bring it up. Colonel gently took his sister's hand, and took her about halfway out from behind Gregar.

Flare knelt. "I know you'll be great, Iris. I was where you are now too."

"T-t-thanks..." Said Iris, slowly moving to cling to Colonel.

"So when do I turn into a wolf?" Said Colonel.

"Oh. Um, that's not likely to be one of your intended abilities." Said Gregar. "I could give it to you, but you're still in beta so it might make it impossible to finish you."

"But... well, okay?" Said Colonel. "Huh... I thought I was just incomplete for ages."

"No, I'm sure you're coming along well." Said Flare.

"Yeah! I've seen how your training is going firsthand!" Said Treble. "You're going to be a well-balanced fighter!"

Gregar looked at Colonel and Iris. Something inside him panged with emotion, regrets mixed with happiness. He'd always wondered if that extra, fragmented consciousness had been the original Colonel or just a bug. Now he knew. And in turn he knew Colonel's thoughts.

'...I can stand by my sister again, and even comfort and guide the ones who were made to succeed her and myself. The peace is not secure yet, but those I fought for have made good use of my sacrifice. I am truly lucky...'

Gregar felt an odd urge to say something he normally wouldn't. "...Colonel. Do you want to train?"

"Like, netbattling?"

"Sort of. This will be more practice than fighting." Gregar shimmered as his disguise activated. "We won't be attacking each other. I doubt you're ready to take me on."

"But I would anyway if you let me!" Said Colonel. He very carefully pried Iris off, and walked to stand in front of Gregar.

"Stand behind us, everyone. These swords are ranged weapons." Instructed Gregar. "Okay, Colonel. Let's start by seeing your technique with that weapon."

"That was pretty sweet." Said Treble, as they eventually left the training area. "I didn't know you had a soft spot for kids."

"You don't?" Said Flare. "You got so flustered when Bass teased you about them..."

"I... never gave it much thought. I just don't really know what to do with them. I can't fight them, and if I touched them they might get a bug..."

"That Colonel has a lot of promise." Said Gregar. "I'm looking forward to seeing him finished."

"Yeah. But for now, I guess we'd better get out and into position to guard everywhere." Said Ember. "Who wants to go where?"

"Well, Ethan wanted to stay here right?" Said Arthur.

"Oh yeah. Me and Gregar have been itching for a rematch with Lan." Said Ethan. "Plus Wily mentioned he was interested in my engineering..."

"Oh my god, don't turn into an evil genius, one was enough." Said Blaze. "...Although I wouldn't say no to a copybot."

"Evil genius?" Said Ethan. "...I guess he's got the hair down." He took a hand and brushed his hair up, and gave a theatrical laugh. "Bow before the greatest mechanic of all, Master Ethan! ...What would you say Alias? Decent ring to it?"

Alias snorted. "Might want to work on your acting. And planning. And secret base."

"I could totally build a secret base! I made that treehouse once, remember?"

Arthur saw someone approaching. "Oh, Denny. Did Lan say we were looking for you?"

"No, but I thought I should stay up-to-date." Said Denny. "Ethan?" He offered his hand out.

Ethan returned the handshake. "The one and only. We have a plan, if you'd join?"

"Let me hear it first."

Arthur decided to explain. "It's pretty simple. Just a daily rotation of me, you and Ethan about our three remaining places to guard."

"...Simple enough, but we'd be very vulnerable. I don't want anyone getting picked off." Said Denny.

"We accounted for that. We have the manpower to give everyone a bodyguard, so we can respond without getting ganged up on. I'll be with William, and you'll have Miyabi. Blaze will handle Ethan."

"...For today, alright. But if Chaud proposes a different plan, then I want you to drop this one immediately. Clear?"

"Clear. Do you want to handle the courts or the power plant?"

"I'm an expert in electricity, although it's geothermal energy..." Said Denny.

Blaze clicked her fingers. "Aha! I was wondering where FightingMan fit into the whole custom-tailored theory!"

"I'll take the courts for today, then." Said Arthur. "Oh, mind if we speak in private for a second."

"You're doing that a lot today." Said Flare. "...Is... is there anything I need to know too?"

"Ethan will tell you when the time is right." Said Arthur, as he pulled Denny to one side. "Okay, So Ethan is aware of Beta, and he plans to tell Gregar tonight. I made it clear Beta is on our side, so in the event you need to work with Ethan, don't hesitate. That's all."

"Good to know. I'll get Miyabi now- standing around isn't protecting anything." Said Denny. He turned as he left. "See you later, Ethan." He intoned in a professional voice.

"We should go get William, too. He's right." Added Treble.

The rest of the day was mercifully uneventful after the hectic morning. Green town was a tranquil place. Arthur was just occasionally sending a few mails to Ethan and Denny to keep updated. Ethan lost a rematch with MegaMan by a few points of health, although he didn't seem too upset. Denny noted that there were exactly three weak spots in the power plant's security.

Arthur spent it Netbattling in one of the parks. There was a warm breeze all day as Treble went against some ordinary challengers, even if the casual battles wern't what he really hungered for, they were still enjoyable to him. And then he won a small reward for his win streak.

"Five bugfrags!" Said Arthur happily. "With these, you'll be past 1250 health!"

"Give me! I can't wait to see what chip I get!" Said Treble, quickly stuffing his face. He coughed. "Uahh, it tickles a bit."

"I better find somewhere I can jack you in... the PET might not take kindly to transforming in there. Ah, there we go." He noticed a port on a tree.

Treble's tail wagged madly as he looked around inside it. "It's linked to the BotanicalResearchComputer!"

"...The what? What's that?"

"It's the place we fought the WuHighMax." Said Treble. "It's where I confessed to Flare!"

"Ahh... I can see why it'd be special to you, then. Here's the advance. Try not to scare anyone."

Treble transformed, and quickly hacked up the chip. "...ELEMENTTRAP." He shrunk back to normal. "Not B-coded."

Arthur registered the data. "But I haven't seen one before. ElementTrap M... I wonder what it does? I regret not having learned all this stuff so thouroughly in school."

"No clue!" Said Treble cheerily. "But it seems kind of rare, so maybe we can trade it!"

"Yeah."

Author's notes: So to give R something nice and unique as an ability, I decided upon the 'antiquated advance' ability. Instead of attacks like SoulSword and GigaCannon, when he uses those advances he gets SigmaSword and ZetaCannon. You can look back to BN1 to see what's available to him. Mostly it's repeat casting of a slightly improved version of the chip, while invincible, but there is also an old favorite of mine in PoweredCannon.

Reviewer answers!

JANEVALENTINE007: I cannot further embolden your name, Fanfiction only has 3 buttons. I was actually torn over Blaze being unable to swin, but I figured if she was going to have any weakness it would be that. Speaking of PJ heroes, if you watch Iron man without any cgi, it's a movie about a guy who flies around and fights crime in his PJs. I'd be unable to face myself if I didn't credit you for that cover, generosity like that DESERVES recognition. And I'll see this fic to the very end. Let there be hope!

Deleted scene

"Blaaaze!" Yelled Ember. "Where is my Cross system!?"

"I- uh, put it away!"

"WHERE?!"

"Why do you need to know?"

"I need it!"