LazerWulf, you have to remember that they fought FlameMan two chapters ago when Higsby's far went haywire. Since a fire Navi invaded the system and framed Higsby, it was a pretty easy guess that Flamey was behind it.

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Somewhere in the streets of Den Tech… A silent figure strode through the evening dusk.

Her name was Yuri.

Yuri stopped in front of the entrance to an alleyway. Something didn't feel right here.

It took her a second for her conscious mind to register what her subconscious already knew. Just barely audible sounds were drifting from that alley- the sounds of a sniffling child and a demanding teen-on-the-verge-of-manhood. In short, some little kid was about to get mugged by some teen out to prove himself.

Not if she could help it.

Throwing caution to the winds, Yuri commandingly strode into the alleyway. A dozen steps into the side street, the former Nebula agent spotted the impending crime. A small gray-haired child was sobbing at the feet of a stocky, black-haired teen.

"Now you little- Hey, what?" Stocky Teen looked up to see Yuri rushing him.

Gray Hair scrambled backward, frantically trying to get away from the impending fight.

In the back of her mind, Yuri noticed the child reaching for his PET.

And then a burst of intense light exploded out of the ground a short distance before her. Stunned by the intense outburst of light, the brunette woman slid to a stop and shielded her eyes from the glare.

She already knew that she was in deep trouble- she had seen that kind of lightshow before, and it always announced the arrival of an Asteroid Navi. And without any means of calling a Dimensional Area, she couldn't Cross Fuse to fight it off.

Just as those fleeting thoughts finished crossing her mind, something hard and flat slammed into the side of her head. The impact sent her hurling through the air and crashing into the building lining the right side of the alley. Shocked and stunned from the blow and impact, Yuri sank to the ground and lay still.

Her mind noted the stocky teen stepping over her limp body and saying something to the effect of 'Nice work, Sean' just before the world went black.

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"No luck, Lan." Chaud trudged into the briefing room of the Net Saver's HQ and slid into an empty seat next to his brunette partner. "Both of us and half the force have been out looking for him, and we haven't so much as seen a gray hair."

"I don't get it." Lan rubbed his temples with his thumb and index fingers. "Everything was going great, and then 'Mystery Girl' shows up and Sean goes running off on me."

"I think it's safe to assume that Mystery Girl has some connection to Sean's past life." Chaud mumbled, his mind working on a dozen different trains of thought at once. "What about Mystery Girl's Navi, Red? Is she willing to shed any light on the matter?"

"No good, she won't even so much as hint on where Sean could have gone." The brunette shook his head. "Something's spooked her and spooked her good. She's too scared to talk."

"Can't say as I blame her." The duel-haired kid nodded. "Not with her Op lying in the hospital."

"But there has got to be something we can do." Lan fumed, disliking their inability to do anything. "We can't just sit here while Sean's facing who-knows-what."

"Have faith in him, Lan." Chaud stood and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Something tells me that Sean's about to face the biggest battle of his life in the next few days…"

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"Exceptional work."

"Thanks." Gregory dumped his load in the empty storage locker and swung the door closed, locking the locker. "Could have done it without Sean, though."

"But this way was the most certain to succeed." The shadowy form of Scratch glanced over his audience of a dozen or so kids, and then swung his gaze over to rest on Sean. "And it did give Sean a chance to partially redeem himself."

Sean didn't reply, but folded his arms over his chest and waited for the man in the shadows to finish his monologue.

"We're glad to have you back, Sean." Scratch glanced at the gray-haired boy.

Silence.

Finally, Sean decided that it was now or never.

"Good to know you think that." Sean spat the words out at Scratch. "But I'm done playing your game. I'm through working for you. I'm leaving, and I don't care what you think about it."

Even though it was already dim and cold in the abandoned building, Sean was certain the temperature dropped ten degrees and the shadows thickened in anger.

"You are, are you?" The shadowy form glared from his place in the shadows at Sean.

"I am." The gray-haired boy glared back. "Don't pretend that this is about my welfare. This is about control- your control. You know that if I desert, others will realize that they can too, and when they do, that will leave you high and dry. You have to keep everyone here under your thumb, or face the end of your easy life at our expense."

Sean had never thought that a human could move that fast.

One second he had been mouthing off at Scratch, the next he was lying on the ground with a sharp sting radiating from his cheek.

"Insolent pup!" The shadowy figure barked from his place over the fallen boy. "I took you in, I sheltered you, I taught you everything you know, and you threaten to leave me? You should be eternally grateful to me-!"

"You used and abused me for your own personal gain!" Sean shouted back, interrupting his tormentor. "And I've had enough! You claim to extend friendship to us, but I've tasted REAL friendship! I have a friend out there who's probably frantic by now, wondering where I am. And I know that he'll never stop looking for me or turn his back on me."

"You really believe that? He's probably already forgotten you!" Scratch roared back. His right hand flying upwards to strike the child again.

Sean saw the intended blow coming; however, and immediately leapt into action. Gathering his small body beneath him, the gray-haired boy snapped back and rolled out of the way of the slap. As Scratch's hand swished by his face, Sean tucked his feet beneath him and sprang upward, his fist flying into the man's stomach.

Scratch wheezed and stumbled backward several paces.

Even through the shadows, the boy could see the murderous gleam in his tormentor's eyes.

"You… you'll pay for that."

"I don't think so." It was time. The gray-haired boy pulled his PET from his pocket and pulled that forbidden chip from his folder. "I told you that I'm through with you. I warn you, don't try and stop me as I leave."

"And just how do you intend to fight me off?" Scratch took a step forward. "You have no hope of defending yourself against me. Stop now while I still feel some mercy for you."

The boy suddenly became aware that all of the eyes in the room were on him. He could sense it, the fate of this rag-tag band of children and teens depended on him getting out of this crazy place.

"I stand by my warning." Sean raised his PET, and then shielded his Dimensional Chip from view with his hand as he brought it around to his PET's Slot In drive.

"Then you're a fool." Scratch took another step.

"So are you." Sean whipped the disk out into his fingers and raised it high above his head for all to see. Deftly he dropped it to chest level and fed it to his hungry Personal Terminal. "Dimensional Chip in and Download!"

Instantly a bright portal of light exploded out of the floor in front of Sean, forcing everyone to shield their eyes as a red-clad figure materialized in the human world.

Zero had arrived.

The light faded away, revealing Zero standing at the height of a normal human adult, the Dimensional Chip hadn't messed with his height or proportions at all.

"Why, you-!" Scratch exploded out of the shadows at Sean and his protector, fueled by rage and hatred. The wiry adult never knew what hit him.

Zero's right hand transformed into his slivery-green blade. Snapping his arm around, the swordsman backhanded Scratch with the flat of his sword, sending the adult skittering across the floor out of control.

"Get us out of here!" Sean dodged around his Navi's legs and bounded up onto the Hunter's chest.

The swordsman cradled his Net Op with his left arm as he dropped to a crouch. His legs pumped once, propelling them upward and sending them hurling towards the ceiling. Zero hunched his back, shielding Sean from the force of impact as they crashed straight through the roof and up into the next level of the building.

Gregory looked from the barely conscious Scratch to the retreating Sean and Zero. A burning anger exploded out of his face as he whipped his own steel gray PET out of his pocket and slammed an eerily familiar chip into the gate. "I'll kill him! I'll kill him!"

There was an explosion of light as HardMan surfaced in the human world.

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"Lan, we've got to go!" Chaud ducked into the conference room to collect his partner.

"What is it? Something about Sean?" The brunette flew out of his chair and raced towards the doorway.

"You might say that, we've just received reports of Asteroid Navi's in the real world." The duel-haired kid turned and shot up the hallway. "Three of them, and one of them is Zero."

Lan's eyes exploded open in shock.

"Say what-?"

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With a grunt, Zero hurtled the empty space between the buildings and crashed into the roof of the adjacent structure. Risking a glimpse over his shoulder, the swordsman grimaced as he saw that annoying HardMan easily clearing the gap with startling agility for a Navi that blocky.

The Hunter put his focus back on escaping and leapt over to the next building's roof.

"Stay down, Sean." Zero shifted his grip so that the gray-haired boy was shielded behind his back.

"Hard Knuckle!"

As soon as those words his Zero's ears, the Navi reacted on instinct. Removing one hand from Sean, the swordsman summoned his default sword. Whirling around, the Hunter turned to face this new attack; instantly he spotted the metal fist flying at his chest. Snapping his blade back and then cleaving it forward, Zero timed his swipe so that it should have cleaved the offending hand in two.

It did anything but.

Zero's blade crashed into the fist, but instead of cleaving the attack in two, the sword merely rebounded off of the fist.

Zero frantically worked to keep Sean against his chest so that he could take the worst of the blows. As long as the swordsman was between his Net Op and any impact, the boy should be safe.

As the swordsman's arm jerked crazily from the impact, the Hard Knuckle continued on to slam into Zero's side. The force of the blow sent Zero and Sean flying backward through the air- and out over the edge of the roof. The two plummeted through the air at an angle, and crashed into the wall of the opposite building.

Gravity took effect, pulling the two to the ground below.

The swordsman reacted on instinct, righting himself and easily hitting the ground upright.

Thankfully, Zero's instincts had done the saving, since the Hunter was so stunned from the duel impacts that he couldn't have consciously performed those aerobatics. The swordsman dropped to his knees, frantically trying to clear his mind.

"Pitiful." HardMan crashed to the ground a short distance away, his impact sending shock waves through the air.

Gregory stepped out of nearby alleyway, and pointed across the street to the boy and his Navi. "Kill them, HardMan!"

"As you wish." HardMan snapped his arms back as he prepared to unleash a pair of Hard Knuckles on his weakened opponents. The Asteroid Navi snapped his arms forward, sending his fists flying through the air. "Hard Knuckles!"

Zero looked up at the flying fists. He willed himself to dodge and slip away, but his body felt sluggish and refused to respond with the urgency that he himself felt.

"This is it…" Sean stared at the approaching instruments of his death. "I… Zero…"

The Hunter set his mouth and glared at his opponent, it was all he could do.

"PANEL OUT, BATTLE CHIP IN!"

Zero looked down as the ground suddenly vanished out from under his feet. Again gravity seized him in it's grip, but this time it was taking him to safety instead of death.

"WHAT?" HardMan's stoic face broke into a mask of bewilderment as his targets dropped out of sight and his Hard Knuckles slammed into the side of the building without striking said targets.

"Sonic Boom!"

The steely Navi turned to his left, just in time to catch a golden shock wave with his chest.

A growl escaped from Gregory's throat, as he looked back along the path that Sonic Boom had taken to find CF ProtoMan, holding a nasty-looking Variable Sword, and CF MegaMan standing a short distance up the street.

"Sorry," CF MegaMan quipped as he glared at HardMan, "Asteroid Navi's are not permitted in Den Tech without a leash!"

"Hmm…" CF ProtoMan studied his opponent as he lowered his blade.

Behind the two Cross Fusion Rangers, a square portal opened about seven feet above the pavement, allowing Sean and Zero to drop to the ground behind their saviors.

"You guys, O.K.?" The Blue Bomber glanced over his shoulder at the boy and his Navi.

"Yeah." Sean groaned. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." The Blue Cross Fused Navi turned back to face HardMan. "Now, let's take him down!"

END CHAPTER!