PART XXIV: RING AROUND THE ROSEY

AN AMEROPE NAVY NUCLEAR SUBMARINE, OFF THE WEST PACIFIC COAST…

The U.S.S. Essess continued its deep descent through the deep waters off the coast of Japan, near the fated Ring of Fire, where no brave or sane seaman dared to venture. That is, except for the one ship in the fleet commanded by General William Roberts Specific, who was struggling to find the cause of the recent strain of ad campaigns plaguing NATO's database. He scratched his chin and wondered what Adver Man could possibly be up to now, as he stood before his fellow submariners in the command deck.

"U.S.S. Essess is approaching the hot zone!" shouted the Essess's chief navigator. "Diving to 1,000 feet below sea level, and switching on silent passive sonar! All hands on deck, we don't want to make any noise to give away our position, so SHUT UP! COMMANDING GENERAL SPECIFIC ON DECK!"

"No need to shout!" General Specific replied in an irritated tone. "You're right next to me!"

"YES, SIR! SORRY, SIR!" shouted the navigator.

"What did I just say?"

"IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN, SIR!"

"Urgh, just forget it."

"General Specific!" cried Co-Captain Jefferson Smiley. "We've just received word that the Ultimate Evil has just initiated a chain reaction called the Baka-Chibi-Neko Virus, and it's spreading throughout Japan."

General Specific turned to face Smiley and grinned devilishly as he hissed in a Montgomery Burns style, "Excellent…we'll summon our own Navis to destroy this threat by encapsulating it in a ZIP file and sealing it with troops of Navis on both sides with a Pincer attack, using our own uniquely developed program. Adver Man will never know what hit him."

"Permission to speak informally, sir?" Smiley asked as he raised his right hand.

"For goodness sake, we're drinking buddies. Talk informal all ya want, Smiley."

"Aren't we being a little TOO brash and impulsive here?" Smiley asked nervously. "I know we were assigned by Japan and the Ameropean Embassy to patrol this area, but we really should take more caution when dealing with this matter. We're kind of assuming our program will work…when in reality we haven't even had a beta version to test!"

General Specific turned to face in a random direction, raising his chin as he said dramatically: "You will do well to remember this, Smiley, and all of you. Back when I was in grade school…there was a boy in our school team named Bosley, who played baseball absolutely hopelessly. We would always stick him out in the far outfield alone, where no balls really came, and if he missed a catch, we would make him pull down his pants and show his briefs to Sally Hines, the school gossip."

"And the point of this display of arrogant bullying that no one really cares about is…?" Smiley asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The point is…that now, fighting this Adver Man, I understand how Bosley felt, out there all alone in the outfield, fearing that the one ball he missed would be the one his pants would get pulled down for. I can picture the international community…playing the role of Sally Hines, communicating our errors to the masses! That said…we cannot fail!"

"What's this 'our' and 'we' business…" Smiley thought to himself, "…when YOU'RE the one whose honor is at stake here?"

General Specific's face glowed with determination or blatant unapologetic self-interest as he delegated orders to his crew: "Activate Mobile Network Connector Arrays and jack us in as Mock Administrator status! We'll find Adver Man on our own and stop him once and for all!"

The missile decks on the U.S.S. Essess opened with a mechanical hiss to reveal an array of waterproofed networking tubes, not unlike the ones Dr. Regal employed to create Dimensional Areas not long ago. General Specific lowered his head in determination as he delegated to his crew:

"Run silent profile and stand by to await the President's orders! We'll have that troublesome advertiser nuisance in our clutches soon enough…"

DENSAN CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT…

Kenishiro was growing rather impatient standing at Baggage Claim while holding up a sign that read: "Mary Towa." His French contact had promised to meet him at noon on the dot…and it was now two-thirty in the afternoon. He was about to give up and make a lame excuse for not waiting there in case she came after he had left in impatience, until suddenly he felt someone glomp him around his waist and recognized who it was immediately.

"You're late…" he muttered, "…Mary Towa."

"Ah, Kenishiro, pardon," Mary replied while sighing heavily, "but you know how Ring-chan is. Mon dieu…she got distracted window shopping at the airport's Mall Network and it took me three hours to find her."

"Mary-chan!" cried Ring as she did that cute little innocent pose where the forearms are held tightly in front of the chest. "I've just found an adorable skirt for you to wear and charged it to your VISA!"

"With a Navi as shop-crazy as that, you're lucky your family is wealthy," murmured Kenishiro.

"Oui," muttered Mary as she gave Ring a frosty glare, after which Ring made an innocent kitty-like face and Mary smiled as all was well again. Who could stay mad at a face like that?

"Anyway," Kenishiro said as he started to walk across Baggage Claim to the taxi waiting area, "I've contacted you to help me because I no longer have a set of virii to command. The Adver Metools were quite possibly the only means of attack I ever worked through, and now that they're gone, you have asked me about a new opening for an evil subordinate. And so, you understand why you are here."

"Dude, I understood that long ago when it first happened," Mary thought to herself, "so why are you stating what already happened?"

As the two made their way toward the taxi, Mary struggled to lift her extremely heavy baggage into the taxi, before Kenishiro helped her and realized she had packed an ungodly amount of stuff. He decided to verify this with Mary by shouting, "Gods, how much did you pack? You're only staying here two months!"

"All my battle chips, clothes, hair care equipment, makeup, lotion, and et cetera, Monsieur Kenishiro," Mary shrugged. "All in all, I packed very light this trip!"

"Curse the wealthy…why should they afford to pack so many hefty novelties?" Kenishiro cursed to himself as he lifted Mary's bags with all his might, or at least as much might as a middle-aged marketing manager could muster. Once this impossible quest was overcome, he entered the taxi with Mary and continued the mission briefing in a faint whisper so the driver wouldn't overhear:

"Now listen carefully, Mary. The situation has become rather complicated…I've just heard rumors that Amerope's government has gotten involved in the matter, and we have to move quickly."

Mary tilted her head, indicating she did not understand why this was important. Kenishiro sighed and said, "We must attack the Baka-ChibiNeko-ified Net Saviors in their weakened states, so that we still have the advantage."

"But…Monsieur Kenishiro!" Mary gasped. "Ring-chan is not meant for attack!"

"I AM TOO!" Ring-chan pouted.

"All the more deceived they will be when you defeat them!" Kenishiro uttered slowly as his grin widened. "You will defeat the Net Saviors…with THIS!"

He handed Mary a small Battle Chip, encased entirely in a brilliant metallic red, and as the chip fell into her palm, she gasped yet again and cried, "This…this is…"

"Now you understand what you must do!" Kenishiro cackled maniacally.

"Of course I do, bub," the taxi driver said as he looked back at Kenishiro. "You still want me to take the freeway?"

"Express route, and make it snappy!" Kenishiro replied, his grin never fading even for an instant.

"Right away," the driver responded as he sped down the street at near-lightning speed. Very soon, the Net Saviors would feel the combined wrath of Adver Man and Ring-chan; the only question was when.

DENSAN CITY MIDDLE SCHOOL, LUNCH HOUR…

"For the last time, Yaito," Netto murmured while rolling his eyes, "the Forbidden City really does exist! And for the last time, no one except the Emperor of Choina and his family and subjects are allowed inside!"

"I'm an Empress, Netto!" Yaito squealed while pointing at herself. "I could go in, can't I?"

"You're a different kind of Empress, Yaito…you have a BUSINESS empire."

"There's a difference?"

"So Netto," Meiru said anxiously to Netto as she placed her hand on his shoulder, "did you ever find a cure for the Ultimate Virus Baka-Neko?"

"No," Netto replied grudgingly, partly disappointed that the virus mutated before Cardamom could cure it, and also quite flustered with Meiru's hand on his shoulder. "And one other thing…it's the Extreme Virus Chibi-Neko now."

With that, Netto slowly brought out his PET and showed everyone…Chibi-Neko-Rockman.

"EEEEEEEE!" Yaito and Meiru squealed. "He's so…"

"Weird, I know," Netto sighed.

"No!" the two excited girls cried in response. "He's so ADORABLE!"

"I just want to huggle him to pieces!" cried one of Netto's female classmates.

"Not as much as we do!" squealed a bunch of girls sitting near to Netto. The whole situation made Netto feel quite awkward, but none more so than when Meiru suddenly ran up and glomped him, becoming Dark Meiru and shouting to her fellow females:

"HE IS MINE!"

Having witnessed the power of Dark Meiru, the girls cowered in their seats, leaving them be…at least for now.

"I've gotta find a cure for this as soon as possible…" Netto thought to himself as Meiru continued to jealously guard her prized classmate.

IPC WORLD HEADQUARTERS…

"…So what I've basically been trying to tell you is that the Baka-Chibi-Neko Virus turns all of our Navis into adorable little kitties," Netto stated as Enzan listened on.

"From this analysis," Enzan murmured, "it is possible that the virus' most powerful ability is to make Navis more adorable, and thus weaken their effectiveness in battle. I've analyzed Rockman's statistics, and his power levels are reduced to nearly seventy-five percent. Soon the virus' transformation will be complete, and his attack power will be cut in half."

"How long will THAT take?" Netto asked nervously.

"If the virus continues to remain undisrupted, that is?" Enzan closed his eyes and turned his back to Netto, not wanting him to see his sudden and nervous apprehension. Netto shuddered in fear as Enzan continued:

"Forty-eight hours, until his power levels are slashed to half normal."

"But…but that's just two days!" Netto cried. "Isn't there a way to neutralize it sooner? A Smart-Mouse virus, perhaps?"

"Funny you should mention that," Enzan replied, suddenly perking up and turning to face his comrade. "A few associates of mine in Amerope have been researching a cure in response to this sudden outbreak. It's called the Chu Virus, or Ultimate Neko Counter, Mouse Virus. Princess Pride is now awaiting our authorization to use it."

"Wait…you know Princess Pride?" cried Netto, completely missing the point of Enzan's discussion.

"Netto, when you're the head of an international corporation spanning many countries, you can afford to know anybody. Now then, the Chu Virus hasn't been tested yet, but…since YOU'RE here…"

Enzan glanced at his partner, and Netto tilted his head before slapping his left fist into his right palm and deducting, "Oh, so you want ME to be the beta tester!"

"Are you up to the challenge?" Enzan asked his partner, an aura of uncertainty clouding his voice. "I should warn you that this is a highly experimental program."

"Anything to get the old Rockman back!" Netto cried. "I don't mind the fangirls, but I can't handle them!"

"Well then," Enzan replied as he guided Netto into a secret elevator hidden in his closet, "…follow me."

The elevator continued downwards into a top-secret laboratory in the bowels of the IPC building's basement. Enzan and Netto exited the elevator and found themselves in a vast warehouse-size research ground cluttered with robotic machinery, test tubes, and of course, computers. At that moment, a tall and very well-figured woman approached them and greeted Enzan with a courteous bow.

Enzan turned to Netto to explain: "Netto, allow me to introduce you to my head research scientist, Tron Bonne."

"Pleased to meet you…" Netto stammered with a flabbergasted expression washed over his face as he thought to himself, "HOMMINAHOMMINAHOMMINA…"

Tron guided them into a corner of the lab housing an immense sphere emanating with dazzling blue light, then turned back to Netto and Enzan to say, "This is a top secret Viral Extraction Temporal Reticular Arrary, also known as the VETRA. It's a cybernetic intelligence core developed with Amerope to counter virii worldwide. We shall have to test this on Rockman. Netto…it's not too late for you to change your mind. Do you withdraw from this test…or accept?"

"Like I have a choice…" Netto muttered before shouting, "Let's do it!"

Tron nodded as Enzan told his friend, "Place your PET into the PET Diagnosis Slot."

"What slot is that?" Netto asked, his eyes frantically glazing over VETRA's control console.

"The big one, labeled PET DIAGNOSIS SLOT."

Netto placed his PET into a large opening in the console with nervous apprehension of what would happen in the following moments. A few mechanical clicks and whirs later, his PET had retracted into the console as the sphere glowed with an emanating light, changing from blue to red as it targeted the Baka-Chibi-Neko virus strain within Rockman's body.

"Netto…" Rockman murmured with a shaky and nervous tone, "I…feel funny…"

"So…what happens now?" Netto asked with growing tension as he slowly turned to face Enzan and Tron, both of whom turned to face him and replied with an ominous cliffhanger:

"Now…we wait."

Rockman continued to feel funny as the VETRA continued to emit its eerie red light silently…

END PART XXIV