Netto heard a soft being sound come from within the folds of his dress. He reached into a deep pocket to pull out his PET. He remembered Kira sewing it in and pointing it out to him on the first day.
"Us ladies need our own private places, men like to pry too much." She winked.
Netto was extremely grateful for her little tricks at that moment. He quickly opened the e-mail and read its contents. He slowly turned white while reading the e-mail and quickly shoved his PET back into the pocket. Then he got up and made a dash for the nearest exit.
Before he could reach it, James stepped out of nowhere and blocked Netto's path. "Ah," he said "the fair maiden finally reveals herself."
A blush tinged Netto's cheeks. "Cram it, playboy, I'm getting out of here."
James laughed as Netto pushed him out of the way and walked towards the door. "When I have your three best friends held hostage?" he asked calmly.
Netto stopped dead in his tracks and clenched his fist. James walked over and placed his hand on Netto's shoulder. "Care to dance, dear Hikaru-chan?"
Netto turned around and wrenched himself out of James' grip. "I do not care to dance," he hissed, glaring at James, "and I swear if you hurt my friends I'll…"
James placed a finger over Netto's lips. "Your friends are in no harm. Now," he held out his hand, "care to dance?" he asked a little more forcefully.
Netto gave him a glare that would freeze hell and took his hand. James led him expertly onto the dance floor and raised his hand, as if giving a signal. A quick waltz was struck up, and before Netto could think, he was being led around the dance floor in a series of spins and steps. He could only barely keep his own head in the dance, let alone protest being led like that.
"I must commend you for getting this far." James said. "You've gotten further then any other Net Savior before you."
Netto gritted his teeth. "You're a jerk you know that?" he said.
James smiled, looking down at Netto with a merciless gaze. "Yes, and you, like your friends and the ones before you will now be captured and I will finally finish my little plan."
Netto tried to hold his gaze, but couldn't. He glanced down and tried not to get dizzy and they whirled around the dance floor. He looked up again and saw something sticking out of James' pocket; it almost looked like a key card. Netto took a closer glance, it was a key card, and if luck was with him, it was the key card to the room Enzan, Blues and Rockman were being held in. Netto took a deep breath; he would have only one shot at getting a hold of it.
He stepped on the hem of his dress and fell further into James' arms, making the taller boy stumble. Netto placed his hands on James chest and slipped the card out of the pocket. James quickly regained his composure and straightened Netto up as well, giving Netto just enough time to place the piece of plastic in his pocket, then they continued the dance.
"Well, having some problems, my dear?" he asked coyly.
"I'm not used to dancing like this." Netto growled as the waltz came to an end.
"Do you wish to step outside for a bit of fresh air before going to meet your friends?" he asked taking Netto's arm and steering him outside rather forcefully.
Netto trotted to keep up with the much taller youth, "Yeah, sure thing." He said sarcastically.
James led Netto into the garden surrounding the mansion. They walked in the cool night air in silence. After they got so far, alarm bells started ringing in Netto's ears, he knew it was a trap.
James smiled. "Well, it's been fun." He pulled a damp cloth from his sleeve and pressed it up against Netto's mouth. Before Netto could react he took in a breath from the surprise attack and collapsed. "Don't worry," Netto heard a dim voice, "you'll wake up in a few hours, at least."
Enzan woke up tied by his hands to a chair. He tested the strength of the knots and found they wouldn't budge. He struggled for a few minutes trying to loosen the knots but he found that struggling only yielded in cutting off his circulation. He finally relaxed and leaned against the chair, hissing through his teeth.
"Enzan-sama, are you okay?" asked Blues.
Enzan sighed, "Yes Blues, I'm fine. Just frustrated, is all."
"Don't worry Enzan-san, Netto-kun is still free, maybe he'll help us," said Rockman.
Before Enzan could reply, the door opened and James came in carrying Netto's body. Enzan looked at them through the corner of his eye and blanched as he saw Netto. "What did you…" he started.
James chuckled. "Relax, your girlfriend is fine, she'll wake up in a few hours." He tied up Netto in a chair facing to the back of Enzan's. Enzan could feel Netto's hands and tested how strong the ropes were on his wrists. They were just as tight, if not more then Enzan's.
James left the room without saying anything else. As soon as the door slid shut, Enzan started to push Netto in the small of his back, trying to wake him up. "Netto, wake up." He whispered.
Netto felt someone prodding him in the back and started to shift. "Netto…" he groaned and brought his foggy head to the waking world.
Enzan heard Netto groan and stopped poking him. "Hey, Netto, wake up." He said a little louder.
Netto focused his eyes and lifted his head to take a look at his surroundings. He felt the ropes cutting into his wrists and saw that he was in a dimly lit room. "Well, this is just peachy." He said.
Enzan gave a sigh of relief. "Welcome back, are you okay?"
Netto heard Enzan and gasped. "Enzan! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but I asked first."
Netto groaned. "Aside from my headache, I'm fine."
"That's good to hear." Rockman piped up.
"Rockman, you're okay too!" Netto was starting to feel a little better.
Rockman laughed. "Yeah, but I can't move, emergency repair cycle could only do so much."
Netto shook his head, "That's fine. We just need to get out of here."
Enzan gave a harsh laugh. "That's a great idea, only one problem, how?"
Netto started to pull at the ropes around Enzan's wrists, "Stay still for a few minutes and we can at least get each other untied."
Enzan didn't move and let Netto's try to loosen the knots. As he worked Enzan decided to make small talk. "So, how did he get you?"
"He used you guys as hostages." Growled Netto.
"Oh." There was silence as Netto finally started to loosen the ropes. After five minutes of hard work and Netto's fingers going numb, Enzan was finally out of his restraints.
Enzan got out of his seat and started to work on Netto's bonds. It went quicker the second time and soon they were both up and walking around, not that it did them any good.
"Okay, now we need to get Rockman and Blues free." Said Enzan.
"Ah! I can help with that." Said Netto. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the key card. "I bet this unlocks the energy field." He said, waving it in front of Enzan's face.
Enzan blinked, talking the key card from Netto. "Where did you get this?" he asked.
Netto blinked. "I took it from James when he forced me to dance with him." It was now Enzan's turn to blink. "Well, what are you waiting for, try it out!" said Netto.
Enzan slid the key into the slot and sure enough the energy field holding the navi's disappeared, allowing them to use the last bit of energy they had to go into their PET's.
Netto breathed a sigh of relief and took the card from Enzan. He slid it into the door and watched at it opened. He looked back at Enzan. "Coming?"
Enzan shook his head. Netto didn't even pause to think if there were guards out side of the door. He smiled thinly and followed Netto, down the foreboding halls of the mansion.
Netto and Enzan walked down the halls as quietly as they possibly could. The procession was slow but there really wasn't anything they could do about it. It was better to go slow then get caught.
"Enzan, do you know where we are?" asked Netto in a whisper.
Enzan groaned. "No, Netto, if I did then we'd be long gone by now."
"So what happened to you anyway?" asked Netto as they turned down a large hallway.
"I was caught when I tried to save our navi's," Enzan muttered.
"James is pretty smart, I kinds wish he wasn't so annoying," Netto said back.
"Netto, he's a bad guy, that's what bad guys do. He's going to try to make sure we don't do anything he might not want to happen," Enzan said through gritted teeth.
"Okay, so where are we now?" Netto asked again.
"I don't know!" Enzan whisper yelled, "Can't you just be quiet for a little bit?"
"No," said Rockman.
"I can too!" Netto shot back.
"Netto-kun, you talk in your sleep. Face it you couldn't be quiet if your life depended on it," said Rockman.
"Well considering it does, then why don't you two try!" Enzan said, his eyebrow twitching.
/He's kinda grumpy, huh Rockman/ Netto asked.
/Well, I can't blame him. His pride is probably wounded, especially considering it was you who saved us./
/Well, he should be a little more grateful don't you think/ Netto replied.
/Netto-kun, I don't know how Enzan thinks, and I don't think I want to know/ Rockman replied.
Netto laughed silently. /That's funny hearing it from you./
/Enzan can be a very scary individual/ said Rockman.
/Yeah, no kidd…/ Netto was grabbed roughly by his wrist and pulled into a smaller hallway by Enzan. "What are yo-mmph…" Enzan roughly covered his mouth and made sure that they were both silent. A few seconds later a security robot walked down the hall, scanning for any unauthorized personnel. It slowly walked by and was soon out of sight, Enzan released Netto and the brunette gasped for breath.
"What was the big idea?" he asked.
"Um, your welcome, I just probably saved your life you know," Enzan said.
"Yeah, but you suffocated me while you were at it," Netto hissed.
Enzan rolled his eyes and grabbed Netto's wrist. "Just be quiet and follow me," he said pulling him down the smaller hallway.
Netto followed willingly and soon they were even more lost then they were before. "Okay, I choose the next random hallway," Netto said, crossing his arms.
"Fine, do whatever you want," said Enzan, rubbing his head.
Netto looked around and saw a smaller hallway branching off of a larger one, he figured that the hallway was just as good as any and went towards it. "Come on," he said.
Enzan grudgingly followed and they went down another hallway that looked exactly like all the others they had been down. "This place is like a maze," said Enzan.
"That's because it is, Enzan-sama," replied Blues. "There is a series of passageways down here, some leading places and some are just dead ends."
"Did you get a map?" Enzan asked a little hopeful.
"Sorry, Enzan-sama."
"No, it's all right Blues," Enzan said.
"Well, hopefully we can get out of here, or at least find the control room," said Netto.
"The chances of that happening are 1 in 100 Netto-san," said Blues.
"You've got to be kidding me," Netto groaned.
"Well that's just," Enzan sighed "great," he finished.
"Netto-kun, I think we're lost again," said Rockman.
"When were we not lost!" said Enzan.
"Chill out Enzan we're not lost," Netto said.
"Yes, we are," Enzan replied.
"No, we're not," Netto argued.
"Yes, we are."
"No, we're not."
"Netto, we have no idea where we are. In my mind, having no idea where you are, says you're lost," said Enzan.
Netto had nothing to say to that and so they walked in silence. After about five minutes Enzan threw his hands in the air. "This is pointless," he said in exasperation.
"You give up to easily," muttered Netto, still walking down the endless hall.
"Give up? Netto, we've been captured, our navi's are useless and we currently have no means of escape save wandering these stupid halls for the next five hours until they capture us. I never gave up; we never escaped to begin with."
Netto rolled his eyes, "You're very crabby."
"AM I?" Enzan yelled, Netto quickly put a finger to his lips to get him to quiet down but he was already on a roll. "Today I have been forced to go to a ball, wear something very uncomfortable, and don't give me the 'I'm wearing a dress' crap because guess what, this is a dress too. I've been captured, my navi has been defeated and all of my pride is gone. Now wouldn't you be crabby too?" he yelled.
"Umm, yeah, same stuff happened to me too, and you just told every security robot within your yelling distance that we are here, way to go," said Netto, narrowing his eyes.
Enzan paled and looked around, out of nowhere five security robots showed up and started racing towards the two boys. Netto and Enzan turned around and started to hightail it down the hall.
"Enzan?" Netto panted while he was running.
"Yes?" Enzan replied.
"I hate you, so very much," Netto gasped.
"Yeah, me too," said Enzan.
They kept on running but the costumes they were in really didn't allow for comfortable running clothes. Netto was having many issues with his 'death dress' and soon his legs became entangled in the netting that gave the dress it poof. He tripped over the dress and landed on the ground, all the air getting knocked out of him.
"Netto!" Enzan called.
Netto sat up rubbing his head, he looked up just in time to see a giant security robot grab him around the waist and hold fast. Netto thrashed in its grip but couldn't get the monster machine to let him go.
Enzan quickly formulated a plan as Netto valiantly fought an already lost battle. He saw a jack in port on the wall and quickly plugged in his PET. As one of the machines made its way towards him he quickly typed in the pass code for all security bots that was provided to the Net Saviors as a precaution. The yellow eyes went dead and the one holding Netto let him fall to the ground with a thump.
Netto groaned and sat up rubbing his head where he landed. He looked up to see Enzan holding his hand out to him. "So, we're even?" he asked.
Netto smiled and took his hand. "I guess so."
They continued down the hall and eventually came out in the party room, which was the first lucky break they'd had in awhile. "Well, think we can sneak out of here?" Netto whispered.
"I hope so," Enzan answered. "Just act normal," he said.
James walked up to the podium as they started to sneak towards the door and cleared his throat getting everyone's attention. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to announce tonight's winners of the costume contest." There was a polite spattering of applause.
Netto groaned, "Oh no, I think I know what he's planning. Hurry!" he said to Enzan.
"To night's winners are the Winter and Fall themes dress of Enzan Ijuuin and his lovely partner Hikaru!" he announced with gusto.
There was a thunderous applause as Netto and Enzan were unwillingly shown to the stage. James smiled as they were helped up by the nice dinner guests. "Don't think you've won quite yet." James whispered.
Netto and Enzan stood frozen on the stage looking for some way to escape. They had been caught again and there really wasn't anything they could do about it. So they stood there pretending to be happy while Netto had a quick conversation with Rockman.
/Come on, there has to be something, anything you can do, Rockman/ Netto pleaded.
/I'm sorry, but Blues as I can't move, I don't think I could even send an e-mail right now," Rockman said with a trace of panic in his voice.
/Wait, you said you don't know if you can send an e-mail or not. Can you/ he asked.
/Well, I could try/ Rockman said doubtfully. /But I'm not sure./
/Try, please/ said Netto.
/Okay, to whom am I sending this letter/ Rockman asked.
/Mejin-san, tell him we need help and/ Netto began but Rockman cut him off.
/Netto-kun, we can't crossfuse/ said Rockman quickly.
/I know that Rockman, I want him to come actually save us? If you can tell him to bring the police too, maybe we can still pull this off/ Netto said.
/Okay, it might take awhile, though/ said Rockman.
/Well, Enzan and I will be okay for awhile at least, hopefully you can send it fast enough/
"And so, alas dear friends this party is coming to its end. I shall bid you all goodnight; I pray you all had a good time." James said, giving a sweeping bow. Then he turned to Netto and Enzan, "However, I wish for you two to stay with me for the night. Surely I can't send such two young guests out into the night, especially since you have such a long drive."
Enzan and Netto glared at him, "I think we should get going," Enzan said coolly.
"But I insist, besides, even if you do leave, you won't get very far. I can assure you that," he smiled venomously.
Netto and Enzan looked at each other; Netto gave the slightest nod of his head, which surprised Enzan. When James turned to say good bye to a guest Netto mouthed 'I have a plan,' quickly so as to not alert James to what was going on.
Enzan gave his own quick nod and James turned his attention back to them. "So, what will it be?" he asked.
"Fine, we'll play by your rules, for now," Enzan growled.
James clapped his hands together in an extravagant display of fake happiness. "Excellent!" he cooed, "I'll prepare the guest bedrooms immediately."
/Come on Rockman, once we're back inside this place, I'm not sure if we can get out again./
/I'm sending the E-mail right now, it's taking a long time because my program is so damaged, I'm sorry Netto-kun./
/As long as it gets sent soon/ Netto pushed.
/Five, four, three, two, one, and its sent. Now everything is in Mejin's hands/ said Rockman.
/Oh yeah, I feel so much better now/ Netto replied sarcastically.
Mejin looked at his computer screen and saw the e-mail from Rockman. "Well, it looks like they finally asked for help," he chuckled. "So, let's get this wagon rolling!" he called to the driver of the large unmarked van he was in. "It's time to catch that kid you've been so desperate to get your hands on."
The diver of the car chuckled. "Well, you'd be upset too if your most well guarded surveillance data was stolen from right under your nose," he said in English.
Mejin nodded, "I suspected that your government had been having some problems with him for awhile now."
The driver groaned, "And to think our job was done for us by two little kids."
Mejin laughed, "Better not let them here you say that."
"Well, I must say I'm impressed with the kids you have in the net saviors. They're like little geniuses, kinda scary in a way."
"One of them is a genius in all aspects of the term, but the other is kind of hard to understand just how smart he really is,"
"Yeah, I have some people back home like that, ah well, we better go save them. At least my pride isn't a wounded anymore."
"That's good to know, but theirs will be."
The driver didn't reply but instead took off down the dark road. "We'll be there in five minutes," he said quietly.
Netto and Enzan had been stalling as much as they possibly could, which was a lot, given the fact that they were fighting with everything they had now that all the guests were gone.
Netto strained against the tight grip of his captor as James watched with a straight face.
"You know, you two are making this much more difficult then it needs to be," he sneered.
"Yeah right, jerk," Netto said, "If there was a dimensional area here you'd all be done."
"Ah, but there isn't, nor will there be. Just accept your defeat and we can move on with this little escapade."
Netto heard the door rattle behind them and felt a glimmer of hope. /Rockman/
/It's them, definitely, but their navi's can't get in/ he said.
The others heard the door rattle too and the grip on Netto and Enzan was temporarily loose, which gave the two boys more then enough time to get free. They turned around just in time to see the door fly off its hinges and a man in black and Mejin come inside. "Wasn't that a little excessive?" Mejin asked in English.
James' eyes narrowed. "Everything stops here!" he yelled, also in English. Then he turned to Netto and Enzan and said in Japanese "Well, it's been fun, I hope to see you two real soon." Then he ran out into a hallway and tightly sealed off the room.
"Well this is peachy," muttered Enzan.
"Well, at least we know where we are," Netto laughed. Everyone stared at him. "What?" he said.
"Only you would joke at a time like this, Netto-kun," said Rockman, but he didn't sound upset about it.
"Well, I'm glad to know you two are safe," Mejin said in Japanese. "Now, care to explain what just happened?"
Netto shrugged, "We actually don't have any clue."
The driver of the car looked puzzled. "I thought the agents you sent in we're two boys," he said.
Mejin smiled, "He is."
The driver looked a little surprised and Netto turned a few shades of red. "Mejin-san, do you have a laptop?" he asked in Japanese.
Mejin nodded and handed Netto the larger computer. Netto took it and sat down on the ground placing it in his lap and turning it on.
"What's he doing?" the agent asked.
"My navi was damaged when he tried to retrieve the data so I'm repairing him to we can get out of here, unless you can pull off another break in like the one you did before," Netto said in perfect English.
"Netto, since when can you speak English?" Enzan asked (in English as well) a little surprised.
"I've known for awhile," he said, plugging in Rockman. "Rockman, can you go into sleep mode?" Rockman did so and he started to type furiously screens coming up to tell him where the most damage was. "I learned when I traveled with Papa before I went to school."
Enzan blinked, "Oh, can I use the computer after you?"
Netto nodded and continued to fix his navi, his own fatigue also being lifted as their link became stronger with the data repairs. Finally he unplugged his PET and handed the laptop to Enzan. "Are you okay, Rockman?" he asked his navi in Japanese.
"I'm fine, now. Thanks Netto-kun, but after this we'll need to go to Papa," Rockman replied.
"Think you can get us out of here?" Netto asked.
"I can try!"
"All right then! Plug in, Rockman.exe, transmission!" he yelled. The thin red beam went into the door and Rockman saw that the door was being shut with viruses.
"Netto-kun, mostly metool here," Rockman said, after scanning to programs.
"Okay then, sword battle chip, slot in!" he pushed in the small chip and Rockman went to work.
Enzan stood up and walked over next to Netto handing the laptop on his way over. The solder stood in silence as he watched them word and Mejin smiled, they had certainly come a long way.
"Plug in, Blues.exe, transmission!" he yelled, and Blues appeared next to Rockman.
"Need some help?" he said.
"I wouldn't mind it," Rockman said.
Blues opened his default sword program and started to slash at the viruses. Rockman pulled out his Rock Buster and began firing as well.
"Almost there," Netto said.
Blues deleted the last virus and took a scan of his surroundings. "All clear, Enzan-sama."
Enzan nodded, "Good work Blues."
"Done here too, Netto-kun!" called out Rockman.
"All right!" Netto cheered, "Great job!"
The door opened and they ran through. "Let's just hope we're not too late," said Mejin.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Okay, next chapter is most likely the last, if you got anything to say, say it now!
