Shademan poked his head through the open door of the room that Netto was in, looking to see if Nomde was around. The demon-navi was nowhere to be seen, so the Darkloid slipped into the room and sauntered over to the glass case where Netto was. He looked at the boy, who's expression was one of grief and and anger. Given his position, Shademan could understand that expression.

The Darkloid even felt a bit of pity for the young NetSavior, and a bit of anger at Nomde. Not because he was using the boy, no, Shademan wasn't angry at that. It was because Nomde had promised them power, and they hadn't gotten it. And the longer things went on, the more Shademan grew to believe that Nomde would never give them what they'd been promised. If anything, Shademan felt that if Nomde grew any more powerful, nothing would be able to stop him, and that put Shademan's survival in jeapordy, and he didn't like that. So, given his options, Shademan felt that it would be in his best interest to help the captured NetSavior. And it was in his best interest to do so quickly, before Nomde returned.

Looking around, the navi searched for the right cords that were sending power through the cage. There were a great many wires around the glass tube that it was hard to say which one went where, but a good swipes had all of them severered, and the power cut off. With the power cut off there was nothing to keep Netto from collapsing against the glass, which was exactly what happened.

Snorting with distaste, Shademan walked over to the glass cage. "Cover your face," was all he said, and without another warning, smashed his fist against the glass. The cage shattered beneath the navi's fist, the shards spilling out along the floor. He grabbed Netto by the collar of his shirt and hauled the boy to his feet. Netto barely had the strenght to keep his feet under him, but he managed to ask, "Why?"

"Because I don't like the idea of me not surviving this, and since you seem to be a big part of his plan, the further you are from that navi, the better it is for me."

Netto nodded slightly. Anything was better than being stuck under Nomde's power, even if it meant trusting Shademan.

"Can you walk?" Shademan growled.

Netto shook his head. He felt so weak, and his entire body was trembling. If Shademan let go of his shirt, Netto would fall to the floor like a rag doll. Shademan's growl grew a bit louder and he glared at Netto for a moment before tossing Netto over his shoulder like a sack of wheat.

The halls of the radio station were empty as Shademan carried Netto through them, heading for the stairwell rather than the elevator. The air in the stairwell was cold, and through the small windows that appeared at each floor Netto could just barely see the world outside through the frost-covered panes, and it was a bleak world that he saw. He shivered, though whether it was from the cold or from fear it was hard to say.

Shademan hurried down the stairs, going all the way down into the basement, then over to a small corner room that looked as if no one had been in there for ages. Here Shademan dropped Netto to the floor, then pulled up one of the floor pannels. Netto, having regained a bit of his strength, looked over and saw that it opened up to a tunnel.

"This is as far as I take you. You'd better get yourself as far away from here as this tunnel can get you. As far as I know, Nomde doesn't know about this tunnel, but I'd not count on it if I were you, and go as quickly as you can."

"Uh...thanks, I think," Netto said quietly, managing to get his feet under him without wobbling to much.

"Don't thank me, human. Remember, the only reason I helped you was to keep myself from being wiped out. Get moving now so that I can close this back up."

Netto nodded and lowered himself down into the tunnel. It had occurred to the 14 year old that this could be another trap, but it couldn't be any worse than being held by Nomde. If it was a trap, the worst that would happen would be that he would freeze to death, given how cold it was in the tunnel, and that Netto no longer had his winter gear. But at least that was a relatively painless death. He'd just fall asleep and never wake up. And if that happened, at least he would be with his father again. Bitter tears that he'd held back before now fell freely, and Netto didn't try to stop them from falling. It would be so easy to just give up and let himself die, but he knew that Papa would never have done that, and he knew that Mama, Rockman and Enzan still needed him. That was, perhaps, the only thing that kept him from giving up right then and there. He was still needed, he couldn't give up and let Nomde win.

Rockman followed Neko through what seemed like a completely random path through the tunnel system that seemed to stretch on forever. The navi had never known that there was such a catacomb beneath the city, and he wondered just how many people actually did know about it. He'd certainly never heard anyone ever mention it among the Net Saviors. Then again, Rockman wasn't sure that the various hackers, of which Neko was one, would choose to use these tunnels if the Net Saviors did know about them. Still, even if the Net Saviors knew about them, Rockman doubted that they could navigate them as well Neko and her 'friends' did. It would be so easy to get lost down here if a person didn't know where they were going. Rockman had been trying to use a navigation program to figure out where they were, and he was completely lost regardless of it. It was a small wonder that Kichi had found such a resourceful person to help her out. It was also a good thing that she was helping Rockman, or Rockman would have wandered around forever down here and never find his way out.

So far they hadn't run into any viruses, which was a good thing, so far as Rockman was concerned. They had run into a few other people and navis, whom Neko had identified as other hackers she knew, but she hadn't bothered to introduce him. Rockman could understand that, too. He was part of the Net Saviors, and if circumstances were different, he would have had to help arrest them. But there was no time for that, and from what Neko told him, they weren't hurting anyone, and he wasn't going to start trouble when he had enough to deal with already. Like finding Netto.

"We should be getting close," Neko said softly.

"How can you tell?" Rockman asked. "Everything looks the same to me."

"I know these tunnels inside and out. Why else do you think I've never been caught before? Or why my friends and I are so hard to catch in general. You could loose anyone down here and not get lost yourself if you knew the tunnels as well as I do."

Rockman nodded and allowed himself to smile slightly. Neko sounded very sure of herself, and it reminded Rockman of his brother. The smile faded at that thought, and once again he was consumed by both worry and guilt. He should have been able to protect Netto. He didn't know how, but he should have been able to do something.

biAnd why is that/b/i S-chan asked. biWhat could you have done against that woman? She had a gun, and you were in the Pet. There was nothing you could have done to prevent this, so there is no reason to feel guilty. What matters now is that you can do something, so worry about that and not the past./i/b

Rockman had to smile at that little speech. S-chan sounded just like Kichi at that moment. S-chan looked up from Neko's shoulder and wrinkled her nose at him.

biI should hope so. Must be my good sense rubbing of on her./i/b

Rockman didn't get a chance to reply to that saucy comment, because he heard something moving up further ahead in the tunnel. He stepped in front of Neko, in case it was a virus or something dangerous, his buster ready to fire. But it was no virus that came around the corner. Rockman could barely believe what he saw.

"Netto-kun!"

Netto, who had been using the wall of the tunnel to keep himself up-right, lifted his drooped head at the sound of his name, and his eyes widened with both disbelief and joy at the same time as the blue navi rushed foreward to hug his brother.

"You're alright, Netto-kun! Thank God you're alright," Rockman exclaimed. "I was so worried."

"I'm glad to see you too, Rockman," Netto replied, giving a weak grin.

"We should get him back to the hospital," Neko said, interrupting the mini-family reunion. "He should have a doctor check over him."

Rockman nodded. "We can find Enzan and Papa too. We need to come up with a plan to fight Nomde."

Netto's face became a mask of grief when Rockman mentioned Yuuichiro. It seemed that Rockman hadn't yet been told about Yuuichiro's death.

"Rockman...I have...some bad news..."