PART XXVIII: BAD MOON RISING

EARTH'S UPPER ATMOSPHERE…

The U.S.A. Euwessae continued its ascent into outer space, piercing through the Earth's atmosphere like a hot knife through a warm slab of low-fat margarine.

"All launch sequences are complete and we are ready to initiate first dropoff sequence!" Shuuko called as the shuttle continued its meteoric rise. "Preparing for zero gravity!"

"Roger that," Yaito responded as she pressed a myriad of buttons on the Euwessae's central control console. "Initiating internal atmospheric optimization and preparing for booster dropoff!"

And Netto shouted as he toyed around with another very different electronic device: "Opening Item Selection Menu and selecting Master Poke-Ball! Now preparing to catch Mewtwo to gain data for all 151 Pokemon!"

The official turned back to a commanding general and whispered, "Catching Mewtwo? Is that phrase even coded in our book, General Broad?"

General Broad scratched his chin and replied, "No, but that boy has made it so. Now you know why we contracted someone like him for this mission…he's an absolute GENIUS!"

Yaito and Shuuko, upon overhearing this, rolled their eyes and shook their heads. Although, at that moment, they had to admit to being rather impressed that Netto had managed to catch all 151 Pokemon. However, he WAS playing the oldest possible version; didn't the newer games contain at least 250? Oh well. Soon Adver Man would be stopped and he would have all the time in the world to realize his need to update to Emerald Version.

The Euwessae dropped its boosters with a deafening hiss and mechanical thud, then began to slow gradually as it left the Earth's atmosphere…and soon Yaito, Shuuko, and Netto were staring into a dark veil of obscurity with a myriad of shining stars being the only clue to any sign of beauty in this vast vacuum that was outer space.

"Wow, it's so beautiful," Yaito murmured in awe.

"I…I second that…" Shuuko continued.

"Heck yeah!" Netto shouted. "It's like night! Only it's everywhere!"

"Initiating second and final dropoff!" Yaito called. "Booster fuel tank is empty and ready to drop! Beginning sequence…NOW!"

With a jarring shudder that shook the entire shuttle, the booster fuel tank detached itself from the Euwessae's fuselage and disappeared into who knows where.

"Second dropoff sequence complete!" called Shuuko. "Securing in and preparing for full thrust ahead!"

"Roger that!" Netto called. "Operation Mewtwo Capture complete! All 151 Pokemon have now been caught! Proceeding to Indigo Plateau to challenge the Elite Four and main rival Gary Oak, Son of the Professor himself! Booy'all!"

"Honestly, Netto, why are you playing that now?" Yaito asked as she turned toward her boredom-challenged comrade.

"It's a long flight," Netto shrugged. "What else did you expect me to do?"

"Anyway, Central Command, we're strapped in and ready!" Yaito replied as she shook her head in a manner that one could interpret as Whatever. "Begin full thrust on autopilot! Course set for Adver Man's low orbit satellite, Objective Phoenix!"

General Broad raised his eyebrow and turned to another official, saying in a puzzled manner, "Objective…Phoenix? We never mentioned that code name during the mission briefing."

"They must have come up with it on their own," the official shrugged in response. "Kids these days like to play pretend…only in this case, it's for real. Objective Phoenix…you have to admit, it's creative."

Broad sighed as he turned back toward the main screen in NASA's command center and muttered to himself, "…And this is why we have so many communication problems in the military."

The Euwessae's thrusters suddenly belched forth a splendid display of blue flame as the shuttle prepared its slingshot orbit around Earth's stratosphere. Netto, Shuuko, and Yaito were slammed back into their bucket seats from the sheer inertial force of being hurtled so suddenly into a furious rush, with images of Adver Man's defeat and beating the Elite Four on Indigo Plateau burning brightly in their heads.

SAN CONSTANTINOPLE, OFF THE FAR WESTERN COAST OF AMEROPE…

"Ah, the Ameropean sunshine!" Kristen said softly as she let the warmth of the sun caress her face.

"Ah, the Ameropean beaches!" Meiru said, gazing out towards the white sandy expanse and subtly crashing waves that greeted them.

"Ah, the Ameropean weaponry," Laika said quite matter-of-factly as his gaze fixated on the wide array of shotguns at grand opening sale prices in a nearby hunting store.

"Ah, the Ameropean men," Tron sighed as she gazed longingly at the many muscular male bodies traversing the white sands, playing volleyball, working out, and other such whatnots that muscular men do at the beach.

"Hey! The Ameropean mission!" shouted Enzan, getting everyone back on track. "It's up to us to find Adver Man and destroy him…"

He continued as he looked down at his body and realized he was wearing nothing but slippers and his swimming shorts: "…and why in the world are we dressed in our swimwear?"

"This is San Constantinople, a world tourism hot spot!" Tron replied, shrugging somewhat obliviously. "Why in the world not dress appropriately?"

"Ahem…that said, we're here on business, then perhaps pleasure," Enzan coughed as he cleared his throat. "Where are we going to access a network suitable enough to allow us to find him anyway?"

"Leave that to me!" Tron replied as she dragged an aluminum roller suitcase into the full view of the others. "This case houses an experimental mobile network antenna array, equipped with high-efficiency, state-of-the-art solar energy cells. It will allow us access to most networks in Amerope. It also has a new experimental code called Unlimited Administration, which will then give us immediate and uninterrupted Admin status in any network."

"That's pretty cool," Laika replied with both eyebrows raised in inspirational awe, "…but why bring such a thing here?"

"The beach is the perfect place to test this out!" Tron replied. The warmth of the sun will provide us with enough energy to power this high-efficiency device for at least a week on end! Man, I'm smart!"

"But you mostly just wanted to surf the Web with free and unlimited Internet access at the beach, right?" Meiru and Kristen asked with their eyebrows raised as if to question Tron's authority. Kristen thought to herself, "…And that thing about being smart…I'm the only one who can say that…"

"A genius does not lie," Tron replied. "That said…YES."

"Tron?" Enzan asked with his arms folded.

"Yes, Enzan-sama?"

Tron was expecting to be reprimanded for her desires of beachside amusement, when everyone suddenly flashed her a thumbs-up sign and shouted: "…YOU ROCK!"

"Heehee," Tron replied as she opened the suitcase, revealing a compact array of solar panels and antennae. After she pushed a small red button on a small console in the case, the antennae grew to about waist height and the array of solar panels protruded outwards to an angle at which they could best capture the sun's rays.

"Now that this is done," Tron continued while pointing at a circular red PET infra-red transmitter mounted at the antenna's base, "everybody connect your PETs here."

"Searchman! Transmission!" called Laika as he initiated his connection.

"Blues! Transmission!" Enzan shouted.

"Roll! Transmission!" Meiru called.

"Tiesel! Transmission!" Tron shouted.

"Ciel! Cross Fusion…er…Transmission!" Kristen cried while correcting herself frantically as Enzan shook his head, thinking to himself, "This is the klutz that I shall marry…"

Searchman, Blues, Roll, Ciel, and Tiesel all logged into the mobile network array and prepared to find Adver Man. Ciel rushed over to hug Blues as he blushed, as the others simply rubbed the back of their sweat-dropped heads.

"Now then…" Tron murmured, "…all we have to do is figure out where he's hiding."

"There are so many places…" Enzan wondered aloud. "Finding him could take an hour! Maybe even a minute or two!"

"…And that's a bad thing?" Meiru asked as she raised an eyebrow."

"When one grows up under as stressful an upbringing as Enzan," Laika replied, "the tragic effects that such a childhood has on one's nature of behavior are really quite perturbing, bearing on the far side of manic."

"You must be a riot at parties, Laika," Kristen murmured while rolling her eyes.

"We're rather short on time, as everyone knows already," Meiru said matter-of-factly. "What's the progress on the search?"

"I'm deciphering Adver Man's code…NOW!" Tron shouted. "Okay, his code has been received into the array's database. I'm now logged into Amerope's Internet home base using an Administration linkup. It's now a matter of moments, people."

The agonizing moments passed for what seemed like an eternity as the antenna array continually rearranged itself, searching the totality of Amerope's networks for any clue leading to the location of the Adver Man menace. However, something went horribly wrong.

"Looking, looking, looking for ME!" squealed a small, almost childish voice in what seemed to be the far-off distance. The five Navis looked around and, seeing nothing, assumed it was only the array deciphering Adver Man's code.

"Twenty seconds to establishing a lock on Adver Man's location," Tron said stoically as she stared into her PET, which was now displaying a vast amount of code only one as intelligent as her could be capable of reading.

Another childish squeal of the same tone followed: "Somebody wants me badly! Whee!" This time, however, it seemed a little bit…CLOSER.

"Did you hear that?" Roll asked, upon hearing the gleeful yells of an uknown voice.

"I thought I heard something," Blues said, suddenly looking around.

"Somehow…" Searchman muttered, "my targeting system's picking up an immense unspeakable evil…and it's heading our way."

This feeling of an ominous veil clouding the battlefield only strengethened as the childish squeal grew louder: "Who is looking for me? Oh, it is all of YOU! I remember each and every one of you!"

"It's probably just the network array," Tiesel responded while shrugging somewhat obliviously. "We ARE deciphering Adver Man's code, you know."

"That's true," Ciel replied, "but somehow this feels…different. I'm feeling it too, more powerful than anything on this earth…something incredibly wicked is coming."

"Tron!" Blues called. "How long until the code is deciphered?"

"It's just finished!" Tron responded, as she looked back towards the display…and then shrunk back, almost limping as she attempted in vain to stand upright. "No…this cannot be…we aren't even prepared yet…"

"What's going on, Tron?" Enzan shouted frantically, as he gazed at the terminal, and cried out, "Holy…EVERYONE! STAY ON GUARD! Adver Man is…"

"Hello, everyone! Wheee!" shouted the voice…from behind everyone.

Enzan pointed in horror as the others clenched their teeth in anxious anticipation of a deadly battle to come, and screamed, "…HE'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!"

Adver Man greeted the group and squealed gleefully, "If you wanted to come out and play, you could have just asked me! Phoned me! Emailed me! And I would have given you great and glorious SPAM!"

"Oh yes, he can, and he will!" shouted two simultaneous and very familiar voices from behind them. The group looked around to meet their two deadliest foes and the last ones they ever hoped to run into: Kenishiro the Corrupt Salesman, and Mary Towa, operator of Ring, the Bishoujo Bringer of Doom. For some reason, everyone seemed satisfied that the two had been brought to them so conveniently…and yet something didn't seem right about the whole situation.

"You think you can defeat us?" Enzan attempted to say dramatically as his body shook with nervous anxiety. "Well…you're the ones who will be defeated!"

"Geez, how original," Kenishiro muttered as he rolled his eyes. "And besides…you really didn't think we knew already?"

"Oh?" Kristen replied haughtily. "What exactly DID you know…besides not much, that is?"

"About your plans to destroy Adver Man's satellite and distract us, of course!" the two harbingers of evil ads replied simultaneously, cackling like maniacs.

An aura of uncertainty clouded the battlefield. Chills ran over the Net Saviors' spines as their plans were suddenly and hopelessly uncovered. Tron stepped forward and asked with a shaken tone hovering over her voice: "H-how did you…wh-when did you…"

"It's not that hard, really," Mary shrugged. "Money is the driving force behind all human beings, and when it ultimately comes down to it, we're all human."

"You're not really that good, after all," Kenishiro continued, looking at the group with his head angled upwards in an almost cocky demeanor. "Think about it. The Net Saviors are a mercenary group…you're not all exactly on justice's side."

"And THAT means…" Adver Man continued while jumping around gleefully, "that you are all st00pid!"

"You're wrong!" shouted Kristen. "Dead wrong! And we'll prove it to you!"

"Yeah!" shouted Enzan. "The Net Saviors may be a mercenary group, but we always side with the greater good! It is you who are corrupt!"

"Hah…that's where you're wrong!" Adver Man shouted, in a somewhat angry tone this time. "There are always people willing to do things for money. Even within…"

With this, he waved his hand at all the Net Savior Navis and continued: "…even within your own division!"

"What…how could…" Enzan murmured as he stumbled backwards, uncertain of what to make of this odd development.

"We actually thought it would be difficult to find the people who would help!" Ring said as she folded her arms and nodded while grinning devilishly. "However, it turns out that the Net Saviors are actually a very corrupt organization, that they are!"

"And now," Kenishiro continued, "we've set up a little trap for your friends in space! Once they approach network connection range to the shuttle, its failsafe Electromagnetic Array will activate, rendering their systems useless!"

"You…you're planning to kill them!" Kristen murmured.

"Aw geez, heavens no! How barbaric!" Kenishiro and Mary shouted simultaneously.

"So what in the world are you planning then?" asked Enzan, slightly relieved but still maintaining an icy glare.

"It's simple," Kenishiro said while pointing upward intellectually, which in retrospect was so unlike his usual nature. "All systems except for the atmospheric regulators, which are electronically failsafe, will turn off, meaning your friends will be left without communications or power for a matter of days. They'll have an adequate supply of food and water, of course, but that won't be the problem now, will it?"

"They'll be left completely helpless to watch the satellite activate its code, the Ultimate Destruction Program, and the world will be infested with ads!" shouted Mary. "My father's fashion business will boom once again, and everyone in the world will see nothing but shameless and beautiful promotion!"

"You almost make evil sound sickeningly poetic!" grunted Kristen, her glare icier than ever. "I guess it's time to rid the world of you once and for all…before the program manifests and irritates us all!"

"Prepare for your defeat!" Enzan and Laika shouted as they reached for their Battle Chips.

"And that goes for us as well!" Meiru and Tron shouted with firey determination. "For the good not only of the Cyber World, but the real world as well, YOU WILL BE DEFEATED!"

"You may defeat us…but at what cost will that come?" Kenishiro cackled.

"Bring it on!" Mary shouted. "We'd like to see you try!"

And so the final fated beachside conflict with Adver Man and Ring began. It signaled the beginning of a tragic fight to the death between good and evil, with true heroes fighting on both sides for ultimate victory. Deep in space, the U.S.A. Euwessae continued its meteoric rush toward Adver Man's satellite, thrusters propelling its stealthy and aerodynamic bulk furiously toward its ultimate objective…and its ultimate doom.

Duo and Slur gazed at the Earth, and then into outer space, knowing this battle was inevitable, but wishing they had never begun it in the first place. Duo's eyes narrowed with pensive and anxious uncertainty as he murmured, "Two sides, battling in two areas…for a single purpose of victory…"

Slur turned her head toward the endless vastness of space, closing her eyes as she continued ominously:

"…the battle for Earth has begun."

END PART XVIII