"…. Hear me? Proto, come on man, can you hear me?"

Groggily, ProtoMan opened his deep blue eyes behind his sunglasses, to see Bass through a dim gold light. "Bass? What-?"

"Thank god you're awake!" The black Navi cried. "We're currently beneath about a ton or so of solid rock."

Proto furrowed his brow in confusion. "But then why aren't we…?"

"I put my aura up only a second before the rocks hit. You've been out for almost twenty minutes." Shifting, Bass closed his eyes for a moment before looking back at Proto. "ProtoMan, I've got something along the lines of a plan, but you might not like it."

Sitting up, ProtoMan stared at the caped Navi. "Look, just tell me."

"Okay. Well, my aura is the only thing that's keeping these rocks from crushing us. I figure if I can transform the aura into some sort of shockwave, it'll throw the rocks off of us."

As he was about to object, the red Navi recalled the last plan Bass had that he thought was crazy. In the end, that plan had saved both his and Bass' life. Shutting his mouth, the silver haired Navi nodded. "Fine. Go for it."

Closing his eyes, Bass drew the aura inwards, which caused the rocks to shudder dangerously. Then, with a wild yell, Bass released the energy within him and the aura was suddenly a glittering shockwave, flinging rocks out of the way, obliterating the smaller ones.

ProtoMan shielded his head and neck, and waited for it to be over.

When it was, Bass was weakly picking himself up off the ground, panting, but he seemed all right. Grinning at ProtoMan, Bass' smile was roguish and lopsided. "Well, that was one heck of a blast."

Smiling, ProtoMan helped the Black Shadow to his feet. "Yeah. That's another one I owe you Bass."

Walking further, Bass noted something. "Hey, is it just me, or is the ground sloping down a little bit?"

Glancing down, ProtoMan nodded. "Yeah, it is! Either this means we're going down or another trap."

Looking ahead, the boys saw that this was no trap, that indeed, they were going underground. Taking a couple more steps, ProtoMan got the distinct feeling something was amiss. He was not to be disappointed.

From up on the cliff tops, two large Spikey viruses leapt down. Their eyes gleamed a bright gold.

"Spikey3EX…" Breathed Bass, taking a step backwards.

The Spikeys resembled large dogs, but Spikey3EX's were the most powerful form of Spikey known to the cyber world. They were a dark green, almost black, while the fur on their chest and underside was a very pale sea green. Three orange oval spots on their backs stood out against the green.

"Don't make any sudden movements," Hissed ProtoMan out of the corner of his mouth. "These are viruses, right?"

Barely moving, Bass nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, I have a bit of a hunch."

"Try me."

"Well, recently scientists have been breeding tame viruses. They'll follow orders and everything. Some Navis have started keeping them as pets. I wonder…. if ShadowMan can get these guys to guard this place, they've got to be tame. So if we just try to make friends…."

It was at this point that the Spikeys decided to attack, ripping into ProtoMan for all that they were worth.

"PROTOMAN!" Bass whirled and saw ProtoMan haul himself up from the ground, severely beaten.

"I am OKAY!" He gasped out before falling back to the ground.

Hauling the red Navi up, Bass kept a close eye on the nearest Spikey. "I don't get it!" ProtoMan moaned, staggering around dizzily. "We didn't attack! Why did they charge like that?"

Bass peered at the Spikeys, which were stalking towards them. "ProtoMan, is it just me, or do they look thin to you?"

Looking at the Spikeys, ProtoMan shrugged. "Yeah, they do look kinda thin. What's that got to do with anything?"

But Bass' mind was already off; scheming like it did most days. "Do you have any food with you?"

Opening his mouth to make a swift remark, ProtoMan remembered. "Yeah, I have these!" The silver haired Navi showed his partner two bug frags that were a shade of red to match ProtoMan. "Star brought them, just in case…"

"That'll have to work. Can you slice them with your cyber sword? I'll keep these two busy." Bass called while dodging the two Spikeys that came at him.

Quickly, ProtoMan sliced each bug frag into twelve slices, and looked up to see Bass leading the Spikeys on a little chase. "Bass! I'm done1"

Throwing him a glance, Bass grinned. "Great! Toss some here!"

ProtoMan tossed him a section and watched with growing curiosity as Bass danced out of reach before offering the two viruses some bug frag.

Almost immediately, the viruses stopped and sniffed at the bug frag curiously. Then, one tentatively took a slice from where Bass had them held out on his palm. Bass seemed to be speaking softly as he moved forward and gently began stroking the nearest virus. Then he winked over at Proto.

"It's okay. C'mon over!"

Cautiously, Proto wandered over, holding out his bug frag to the nearest virus, which lapped up the food happily.

"See? All they really wanted," Bass said happily, stroking his virus, "was a little food! I guess ShadowMan only feeds them when they've done something good, or captured a Navi."

The red Navi had to agree, these Spikeys weren't so bad once they'd been fed. His was even beginning to sniff at him curiously. "You know, maybe we should keep them as pets!"

Laughing, Bass was rubbing his virus's chest. "We should! But I think I have a better idea on how to use them."

ProtoMan glanced at his Spikey, which was happily nosing his hand. It was rather large, and it's head came up to ProtoMan's shoulder! It was then he realized what Bass' plan was. He turned to the black Navi, eyes curious behind his visor. "Can it work?"

Shrugging, Bass allowed the Spikey to examine his cloak without protest. "We're light enough, they're strong and big enough. I don't see much of a problem!"

Both Navis just grinned at each other.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Sorry these have taken so freaking long to get up; I've been kinda busy. Now, to address some fan questions. Yes, there IS such a thing as Chinese water torture, but it's not how I described it in chapter 3. It is actually where the prisoner is strapped to a table and every hour on the hour they drop a droplet of water on the prisoner's forehead. The prisoner will eventually drive themselves insane waiting for the next drop of water to fall.

But good question!