Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman Battle Network or any related properties. Capcom does. All other characters and concepts are the lifetime property of the Chaos Coalition.

Author's Note: I really hope that you enjoy this chapter, because it was a great one to write, and that as much as anything is why this is my first update on time without any hiatuses in a while. Some plotlines are being developed, and certain characters are becoming more prominent, even gaining POVs. In addition, the new Chaos Union is starting to take form in this chapter. So keep your eyes open so that you don't miss anything, and enjoy!

-

If there was one good thing that their struggle with his brother had taught the Chaos Union, it was knowing the benefits of your team was absolutely imperative. After all, his classification of his Vizier, Bishop, Knight, and Rook was exact, the very four people that he would have chosen, given the chance. Even his secondary 'pieces' were near exact, if not quite accurate. In response, Shroud had chosen to embrace the idea in his own fashion, after finally crippling Checkmate enough that they were no longer a threat, despite Alex's shouts that it was only a stalemate. As such, all Chaos Union missions were undertaken with 5 members, the subordinate four chosen by whoever led the team on a given mission.

Today, Shroud had considered going himself, but he had convinced him to stay at Headquarters. The mission didn't require his expertise, and Shroud Taruka was slowly rising to the top of several terrorist's hit lists, and this was going to be a high profile mission. For the first time in a year or so, the world would know what one of the Chaos Union's missions was.

Shroud had gotten back at him in the end, selecting Link to lead the mission. Normally, Matthias wouldn't have cared, but he was feeling a bit spiteful as of late, and hadn't spoken to Shroud for a day or two. He fingered the engagement ring box in his pocket to keep his mind off of Irine's daughter, Shroud's daughter, and then looked out the window at the countryside around them. They were headed into the newly-christened Scitown, to meet with Dr. Hikari and discover what he needed them to guard him for. Whatever it was had to be important, or the ONB would have been enlisted, and only one or two of them were on a list for a mission of such a caliber.

As Link's 'Bishop', SH had volunteered to drive, and so this left Link free to turn around and speak with the three of them in the back seats. "All right, everyone. Matthias and I are in charge, so let us do the talking. Lica, I know that you feel you should be higher up because you and I are the only ONB here, but that's too bad. Hikari specifically asked for Matthias, and you're better at guarding our backs anyways. First sign of trouble and you Cross Fuse, got it?"

Matthias looked back at Lica, sitting in the back seat as far away from everyone as she could get. Ever since Brian and Aelita had gotten married and left the Union, she'd barely been civil enough to live with. Still, she curtly nodded, and then resumed her study of the outdoors. Link took this as agreement, and continued. "Chris, you're here because the ONB and Scitown both know of your involvement with that ninjitsu academy of yours, so just stand tall and look menacing."

"I can do that," he replied, and Matthias believed it. Chris had been absent of late, studying at the academy where Shroud had learned several ninjitsu skill that had made him the formidable opponent he was today. The only difference was that while both had completed the initial training, Chris desired to return for initiation into the academy's ranks, as a full-fledged member. Shroud was hesitant to let him go, considering he was one of the few members who could defend themselves without Cross Fusion or a copyroid, but Matthias had heard him tell Chris that as long as he stayed on for this last mission, he'd cut him loose.

"All right, everyone," SH said, parking outside the complex. "We're here." He opened his door first, and the others followed, Matthias sliding his forward so that Lica could get out without climbing over everything. He offered a hand to her, but she pushed past him, nearly knocking him onto the pavement. That would have looked wonderful in the tabloids.

"Listen, Lica," he began as they began walking towards the building. "I understand how you feel, but..."

"Really?" she said, rounding on him and causing the others to stop. "That's funny, because I don't think that Shroud and Irine have a clue, do they?" A silence hung over them like a cloud, until Lica broke it by walking straight past all of them, heading for the complex. Matthias sighed and moved to walk beside Link and SH, Chris following behind like the menacing figure they'd portrayed him as.

A few minutes later, they were in Dr. Hikari's lab, and he, SH, and Link were seated at a table across from the good doctor himself, with Lica leaning against a nearby blackboard and Chris standing at the door. "I'm so glad that you all could be here," Dr. Hikari said, taking a sip of the warm tea only SH had accepted. "Now, I've asked you to come here because I am on the brink of unveiling a new project that will revolutionize the world. Unfortunately, someone has managed to discover what I am planning, and they want to stop me from achieving it, by any means necessary."

"Which means that you need us," Link said, exactly as planned.

"Exactly," Dr. Hikari replied. "Perhaps this brief overview might convince you to invest your resources in my...life extension?" He pulled a clipboard off of the adjacent endtable and passed it to Link. His face was a mask for the first few pages, but as he flipped through, his eyes began to grow wide.

"Is this...is this even possible?"

"I would like to try," Dr. Hikari said. "The city will be built on an island that Scitown is currently utilizing to test out their New Land program, and it's free for development. The city and Mr. Famous are already behind me, and they are ready to make it a reality. All we need is your help to make it so." Link passed the clipboard wordlessly to Matthias, and his eyes slowly began to open as widely as his had.

"This city," Matthias asked hesitantly, "what would you call it?"

Dr. Hikari smiled. "Neo Arcadia."

Link and Matthias looked at each other a moment, and then Link turned back to Hikari. "Tell your superiors that the Chaos Union will do whatever it takes to make Neo Arcadia a reality."

-

Chaotic We Stand

-

Chapter 9: Consulta Impetus

-

-- Friday, April 4, 11: 59 PM, Core Plaza, Neo Arcadia --

At precisely a minute before noon, on April 4th, X exited the front doors of the Core Building. Instantly, photographer's flashes blinded him, but he took no notice, the well-trained eye picking out the fact that his eyes were shaded; a method to cut glare. He walked purposefully, and ascended the steps to the dais at the center of the plaza, raised especially for this occasion. On any other day, the dais would be the same level as the remainder of the plaza, but it had been designed to elevate itself when necessary, as it was today.

As a result, X's feet were now roughly level to the faces of the reporters, and with a height of exactly seven feet, they were forced to step backwards and tilt their cameras upwards, which made him look much more formidable than he was. And X was certainly formidable. He adjusted the papers on the podium before him, but nearly everyone there with any intellect at all knew that this was a simple stalling tactic to finish formulating his thoughts. After all, X was designed to make speeches such as this, and any notes he might actually have were stored within his databanks, not scraps of paper.

The clocktower at the summit of the Core Building chimed the hour, letting its resounding peals echo throughout the city, a dozen in all. As the last chime faded into the distance, X raised his right arm outward, a look of passion in his face. "Can you imagine never hearing those chimes again? Never hearing the bells of noon ringing in your ears, or the ears of your children? Neo Arcadia has existed for nearly twenty years now, and since the first day that those bells were placed, they have never ceased to ring at precisely twelve o'clock noon, every single day. Now, there are some, perhaps even some here, listening at this very moment, perhaps even someone standing right beside you, who wishes to silence these bells."

Whispers and murmurings flooded the crowd, which shifted unsteadily, but X never ceased in his oration.

"They wish to strike our nation and our city from history, leaving us as nothing but a footnote in the history of the great war they are preparing to instigate. They feel we are the perfect target, because we are a nation against all others, a nation alone, but a nation of vital importance to the world. And they are correct!"

More murmuring and whispers, and the guards surrounding the plaza slowly reached for their lightsticks.

"We are the weakest nation in the world, because in the near score of years that we have existed upon this earth, we have never gained a friendly ally, one who will come to our aid if we ask it of them. No nation has dared form any sort of treaty with us, for fear of being attacked by other nations. Until now. A hand of friendship has been extended to us, and I intend to take it!" X grasped the air before him, striking a pose that would later grace the cover of Time Online. The flashes of cameras that froze the moment in history were soon drowned out by the noise of clamoring reporters, and X raised his hands outward, commanding and receiving silence. He pointed at several reporters, each delivering their questions in turn.

"Lord X, which nation has consulted you for peace? And is there any truth to the rumors that the conspirators are agents of Creamland?"

"I cannot say who has joined with us, simply because they have asked I keep it a secret until the actual signing of our treaty. And any rumors of Creamland interference are simply rumors. Creamland is among to the few nations to pay little or no attention to us, and only someone foolish would believe they would give up their strict policy of isolationism to take a few jabs at a country such as ours." A thin twist went through X's mouth as he spoke, clearly such a question had never even been considered for prepared answers, and he seemed to dislike that it had been planted in a reporter's mind.

The crowd's voices rose up again with this new information, but one reporter made herself heard. "Is it true that several of the instigators of this rebellion are from high positions within your bureaucracy?" An advisor standing near X made a move towards his radio, planning to contact security, but X forestalled him by extending his left hand, arcing a near-invisible jolt of energy towards the staff member.

"I shall answer this question," he said quietly, almost too quietly to hear. "I do not fear the 'Vile 5'." He raised his voice, and addressed the crowd directly. "In council yesterday, with my Guardians, I was counseled not to comment upon this matter. But I feel it is too important to not mention it, and so I shall. The rebellion against our nation is lead by a group of five scientists, who are calling themselves the Vile 5. As rumor says, these five traitors are from very high positions in my hierarchy. But my counsel tells me that you should not know how high the corruption goes. I disagree."

"The Vile 5 consists of the four human members of my Elite Eight, highest of my advisors, and the insane scientist who formerly occupied one of its positions. Their names are Isabel Lumina, Adrian Doppler, Alan Gate, Victor Weil, and Thomas Cain, and their names are anathema to my country now. They are outlaws and outcasts, and no remorse will be shown towards them once they have been defeated. They are to be captured alive, and no place is safe for them. We will find them. No further questions."

The reporters were thrilled to have this new outlook upon the war, but X's sudden departure startled them, and they attempted to rush the Core Building for more questioning, stopped only by the copyroid guards X had enlisted for the day. He stopped in front of the doorway to the building, and turned to face his people again.

"Never forget who leads you! And never forget why this nation exists! This nation exists because of a man named Yuichirou Hikari, and because of the sacrifice he made on this exact site so many years ago! If we forget who we are, we die!" His plea caught the lens of every camera in the plaza, and then every camera watched as six angelic wings sprouted from the back of their leader, lifting him into the skies of Neo Arcadia.

-- 5: 12 PM, Room 1015, Ciel Hotel, Eta Complex, Neo Arcadia --

"That was Lord X speaking at the Core Plaza earlier today. As you can see, Lord X took flight shortly after the press conference, and has not returned to either the Core Building or his private estates in Kappa Complex. The Sage General, Harpuia, has taken over the running of the city over the last few hours in his stead, and has stated only that he and his siblings know of X's whereabouts, and are not being allowed to divulge them to the media. One can only assume that Lord X simply needs what many of us could use as well, a little time off. Now, as we move on to our coverage of the Arcadian military effort…"

Shroud turned off the television with the remote, but Juno kept on recording the broadcast from within the system, in case anything important was said. "Now, a majority of you were there for the ceremony, correct?" Jules and the others in the room nodded, all ten of them. The entire Chaos Union had gathered together to plan, and they had decided that with their numbers, his and Miko's large suite was the best way to go, and it was. The large living room in the middle was at least as large as one in a regular home, and housed two couches and a pair of recliners. In addition, the kitchen beside the room had no doorway separating it, and Brian and Alistor could listen while they cooked food for the group. The Chaos Union had always had voracious appetites.

"I think that I was the only one to miss it, as far as I know," Matthias said, supposedly having not wanted to risk the crowds with his new wheelchair, which he still hadn't mastered the controls to.

"I wasn't there," Brian said from the kitchen. "I had some business that couldn't wait, and I got there just as X was taking flight." That seemed odd, but Jules shrugged it off. Whatever Brian was doing for a living, it seemed vaguely secretive, and his netnavi was off doing more 'business' right then. Still, he'd have to discuss it with him later, because Shroud was now standing and continuing to speak.

"Well, since you've seen this at least, let's break it down before I start revealing state secrets." A hesitant chuckle rolled through the room. Agents of Neo Arcadia or not, X could probably have their heads for this, if he felt like it. "Now, X started by playing on the crowd's emotions, so I don't think that we need to go over that. But the really important part of his initial speech is where he mentions this hand of friendship." As he spoke, the first picture popped up on the screen, a picture of a world map.

Jules studied the map from the loveseat he was on, Miko curled up against him under his arm. There was Swampopolis, one of the medium-sized isles to the south of westerly Netopia, and then the surrounding islands, some bigger than his own, such as Pavo's home country of Mexico, and some smaller, such as the nation-state of Hyrule, of which Link was apparently the Prince. It was odd once you thought of how their fates had gone. Some of them had fallen on hard times, like he and Shroud, while others had ended up royalty. Granted, Link seemed to dislike ruling, leaving it to his Council of Sages, but he was royalty nonetheless.

To the east of Netopia was the larger nation of Electopia; although large was only in comparison, since both were roughly the size of continents. In between were a few easterly islands of the International Archipelago, as the islands south of Netopia were called, and then the two great island nations, Creamland and Neo Arcadia. Creamland had grown, conquering all opposition around the capital city known as Capital City, and now ruling over the entire island, and holding naval supremacy for miles around. As for Neo Arcadia, it was more southerly, a bit past the equator, and slowly growing due to its revolutionary New Land technology, which was slowly increasing its size in the form of the Twilight Desert.

Directly east of Electopia was Sharo, and Electopia had never been more aware of that than of late. Sharo's icy borders kept intruders out, but they had recently invaded Kingland, the island nation off the coast of the continent, and little had been heard since. They were also rumored to be currently attempting to invade Chiona, but that country was silent enough as it was, and Jules knew nothing. The Free States of Yumfrica were thriving though, the new union between Yumland and Netfrica being a benefit financially and militarily, and Sharo seemed to have no intentions of attacking them. Which, of course, worried Electopia all the more.

Nation Z was still silent as always, tucked below and between Yumfrica and Netopia. They had been thoroughly defeated by Electopia and Netopia years before, with the help of the Chaos Union themselves, but in recent years, rumors of insurgence had been floating around. Electopia was ignoring them, but Jules had noticed the worry in Netopia, a worry that almost equaled the worry that they felt about Neo Arcadia.

His eyes finished their circuit, and he restored his attention to Shroud, who was discussing the fact that the treaty X obliquely referred to was between them and Sharo, and that it was as much help as hindrance. "While Sharo is an incredibly strong nation, it is also at odds with a majority of the other free nations of the world. By aligning with them, X is playing a game of chance, and hoping that no one will attack Neo Arcadia because of the alliance."

"Isn't it possible that X has managed to gain the support of another country rather than Sharo?" Miko said, sitting up a bit straighter. "After all, perhaps he's trying to call everyone's bluff. The Vile 5 think that he's allying himself with Sharo, so finding allies of a different sort would throw them off balance."

"That's highly unlikely, Mikoto," SH said from his position in the left recliner. "Matthias and I listened to a conversation between the members of the Vile 5 that implied that the alliance with Sharo was not a crucial matter for them. They might attack regardless of who X allies the country with, so he has nothing to lose by following in their plans. Regardless, he intends on sending us to stop the Vile 5 as soon as he discovers where their new base of operations is, so it doesn't matter what X does at this point. We'd be better off running the search mission, as I've said before."

"And as I continually keep responding, SH, we can't do anything to help them if X won't let us into his confidence," Chris replied. He was in the opposite recliner, and had very little patience for SH's passive methods today. "What we need to do is gain the trust of one of X's Generals. Are there any you speak to on a regular basis, Shroud?"

The team looked over to Shroud with hope, but he shook his head. "I rarely see Leviathan and Phantom, and Harpuia generally refuses to deal with anything other than the running of the city while in charge. That leaves only Fefnir, and while he's recovered from Omega's attack, he's not likely to be civil enough to broach the subject of fellowship with us."

"Gizmo did uncover some interesting information the other day, however," Matthias said, startling a few of them. It was easy to forget that their second-in-command was there when he had changed so drastically, now confined to his wheelchair. "I sent him into the Arcadian servers to find any information he could, and he stumbled on a conversation between X and his Guardians, presumably the meeting he obliquely refers to in his speech. He didn't get to hear much, because it was towards the end of the meeting and he missed some while hiding within the system, but from what he did hear, it seems that Leviathan did suggest asking for aid from alternate sources, but was turned down, especially after she was overruled by her three brothers. In addition, something is wrong with the New Land system, although X was quick to write that off as a glitch or a virus, and X doesn't trust us, of course."

Shroud nearly choked as Matthias spoke. "Not any of us?"

"No, not all of us. After X said that, Phantom told him that he was wrong, and there were three of us that he could trust. You, Brian, and Chris."

This relieved Shroud, but only worried Jules. He could understand why X would trust someone who was working for him, especially if that someone was Shroud. But Lord X had absolutely no reason to trust Brian or Chris, much less this enigmatic Phantom, who hadn't met either of the two. "Was that the last of it then?" he asked, meaning to speak to Matthias alone after the meeting.

"Not quite," Matthias replied. "X told the Guardians that our next mission was ready to go, and that all they needed to do was find out what satellite the Vile 5 planned on using. There was a bit of discussion, but what it boiled down to was that X may have a spy within the ranks of the Vile 5. If it's true, I can't imagine why he would openly denounce their members today, but that's what Gizmo informed me happened, and I checked the meeting on his audile logs, to the same result. Either their mole has betrayed them, or X has other plans for them."

"Thanks, Matthias," Shroud said. "Did Gizmo manage to find out anything else?"

"Nope. With the only people that X trusts being netnavis, he hasn't been sending out any important documents that Gizmo can intercept. And their archives are too well-defended to crack into, so I can't get at any old messages either."

"Well, you did your best," Brian said, he and Alistor coming out of the kitchen with four pizzas in hand. The first was plain cheese, for the traditional members of their group, the second held various meats, such as pepperoni, sausage, and bacon, the third was a vegetable pizza, and the last was divided into three portions, Pavo's all-cheese, no-sauce pizza, Link's pineapple, pecan, blueberry, and artichoke pizza, and Miko's spicy pizza, made from peppers she'd snuck past customs. She rolled out of his grasp to put the portion on a plate, and Jules took a small slice to put on his own plate, before grabbing a slice of the meaty pizza as well.

Looking at Alistor as he sat down and grabbed a slice of the vegetable pizza, Jules suddenly realized he had no idea who this kid was. "Hey, maybe I just missed the memo, but who are you?"

Alistor seemed to take the rather odd request in stride, and Jules later learned he'd had the same conversation with SH, Golex, and Chris over the last few days. "I'm Raymond's nephew. He sent me initially because he couldn't make it, and I've been staying with Link and his family since then. He should be flying in this weekend though, so I'm here to relay all the information to him when he gets here."

Jules nodded and then returned his attention back to the meeting. "So, if we don't know what satellite the Vile 5 plans on using, what are we doing here?"

"Well, we did learn a few things from the conversation that SH and Matthias overheard," Pavo said between bites of his pizza. "For one, the satellite they have to highjack is Netopian, and it doesn't need to do any more than destroy the city. Based on those calculations, we can narrow our search parameters to Netopian satellites, and then look over each one to see which would be best for a kamikaze attack. I presume that Shroud has already deduced this as well?"

"You'd be presuming right, Pavo," Shroud said, bringing up a picture of the globe, with several satellites pointed out. "I believe I've narrowed it down to three satellites, the top three that I believe the Vile 5 could choose to utilize. As you can see, two are weather satellites, and the other is an entire space station, although it's currently unmanned. While it would seem that the space station is a better idea, its firewalls are incredibly powerful, and I think that the Vile 5 will choose not to use this one. Of the other two, one has a faulty heat shield, so it'll be harder to stop once it breaks through the atmosphere, but there are scientists up there now from Netopia, and they've been checked out as legit. So, the attack is most likely to be the satellite that's intact, although the space station is a close second."

"I assumed that you've forwarded this to X then," SH said, jotting something Jules couldn't read down on a napkin.

"Regrettably, no. I only received the information about the faulty satellite today, and X isn't receiving memos or emails. Harpuia may have seen it, but it's much more likely to be sitting in X's mailbox."

"So what do we do now?" Alistor asked.

"Eat pizza," Chris sardonically replied. "And hope that no one drops a satellite on us."

-- 7: 24 PM, 8498 Floppi Place, Electown, Electopia --

Luke still couldn't believe that his father was paralyzed, and told John so. "I mean, how could this sort of thing happen? There were almost a dozen of them there! Couldn't one of them have looked over and thought, 'Oh, I think Matthias is about to get crushed by seventeen tons of stone. I wonder if I should help him?'"

"How long has he been like this?" John asked Luke's little sister after he'd descended the steps and entered the kitchen to see her wearing a short white top and a strange red garment around her waist that was a dress around her right leg and a skirt around her left.

"Not too long. He was in shock the first 24 hours, but I think it sank in after he tripped over the sofa and sprained his ankle." Marie shrugged and opened the door to the fridge, grabbing a grape cola and popping it open.

"And what about you?" he asked, amazed at how blasé she was. "Aren't you worried that your father won't walk again?"

She shook her head. "That Chaos Union nurse over there's got a shot that'll fix him up. It'll take a few months, but he'll be fine after that. Besides, then Dad will get time to spend with that nurse, Irine What's-her-face."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Didn't you read the Chaos Chronicles, John?" Luke had given him the book after he'd finished it, and truthfully, John had just been skimming through it. It was a huge tome, full of the entire history of the Chaos Union. It wasn't as detailed as he would have hoped, but it was still a good read, all the more for being the true story of over five year's of his best friend's father's life.

"Of course I read them. But all I remember about Irine was that she was an attractive nurse who joined their team a little before they became a strike force, and ended up marrying their leader. What's so special about her?" Marie muttered something under her breath that sounded unmistakably like 'men', and John decided to press the subject. "All right then, what do you think is so special about her?"

"John," she said, looking at him with bemusement in her eyes. "You always have to make sure that you read between the lines. My father's in love with her."

John stood there a few moments before he even realized that she'd left, and hurried out of the kitchen to follow her. "Now wait a minute, what about your mother? He was in love with her, and you can't tell me that he wasn't."

"No, you're right," she said, stopping and turning towards him with her grey jacket in hand. "My father loved my mother. But if you read, actually read the words that he writes about her…you'd know that he loved Irine more. Even after he meets my mother, he still writes the same words about Irine. Personally, I think the only reason he fell in love with my mother was the result of an inverse Florence Nightingale effect, don't you?"

"Well, I suppose so, but," He suddenly realized that Marie had done it again, and was heading out the door before he had noticed. He followed her out, and saw that she was heading towards a gray convertible, being driven by a familiar-looking teenager with bizarrely silver hair. "Marie, wait!" She stopped, and he hurried down the steps to speak with her again. "Where are you going?"

"Well, you see…this is my boyfriend." She saw the look in his eyes and hurriedly said, "Oh, please don't tell Luke. He's always so overprotective. Please?"

John looked at the supposed boyfriend, who didn't appear to be too threatening, and nodded, Marie taking that as agreement and hurrying into the car. The two of them pulled away, and John walked back into the house, wondering how she'd pulled the wool over all of their eyes.

When he got back upstairs with the two iced teas Luke had asked for, he had to try very hard not to tell his friend about his sister anyways. Still, Marie trusted him, and he wasn't the kind of person to betray others. Luke, of course, noticed nothing, and pressed the cool glass against his swollen ankle before taking a sip out of it. "John, I need to ask you something," he said suddenly, as if he'd just thought about it.

John wasn't fooled though. Whatever this was, Luke had been thinking about it for a long while. "What is it, Luke?"

"John…I need to find the people who did this to my father. Not the Chaos Union, the Vile 5."

"Luke, your father and his friends are already working on that," John replied. "You can't help them from here. They'll be home in a week or so, and they can tell you all about it."

"But that's the point, John! My father's not interested in finding them, he just needs to stop them until his conscience is quelled to the point where he feels he can come home without condemning an entire city to decimation. But that's not what matters. What matters is stopping them completely, even if Neo Arcadia falls in the struggle."

"So what do you want to do, restart the Chaos Union?" he asked sarcastically, realizing too late that it was the wrong thing to say. A new light came into his friend's eyes, and he nearly leapt off the chair, limping his way over to the computer.

"John, do me a favor and find a phone card in the top drawer of my dresser, will you?"

"May I ask why?"

"Because I need to make an international call, and my dad would kill me if he saw it on our phone bill."

"Sure," he replied, setting his iced tea aside as he stood and rummaged through Luke's 'junk drawer', which held almost anything known to man. He had no idea who Luke could possibly know from another country, but he'd decided long ago not to ask questions when Luke had become slightly deranged. Finally finding a phone card underneath a few leaflets on engineering practices his dad must have given him, he grabbed it and closed the drawer, walking back over to Luke's computer, which already had his telephone service uploaded. "Who are you planning on calling then?"

"Seija," he replied quickly, bringing up the online yellow pages for Neo Arcadia and skimming through them quickly.

"The girl from the store the other day? Look, Luke, I could use a girlfriend as much as you, but personally, I like to stick within my general continent." Luke turned and glared at him, and John dropped the subject. "Anyways, what's she got to do with this?"

"She's one of us. Didn't I tell you she's Shroud's kid?"

"No. All you said was that Shroud had a daughter and two sons, just like your family. You never gave me any names."

"Well, regardless, I'm calling her so that she can get the other Chaos Union kids in Neo Arcadia online tomorrow. I'll call Kitsune later and get him to join up too. There's at least one or two in Neo Arcadia, so I'll set up a chat room for six." While he was talking, he set the phone book to search for all the Tarukas in Neo Arcadia, and then brought up Terra Net, reserving a room for them the next day around ten in the morning, with the title 'Chaos Union Redux'.

"So…should I just go home then, considering that you'll be doing this Chaos Union stuff all night?" John was a smidgen miffed, and growing a bit more inclined to keep Marie's secret.

"Of course not," Luke replied. "You don't think that I'd leave you out of this, do you? The Chaos Union took on new members all the time, and you're just going to be the first of them."

That he hadn't expected, and it floored him. He had heard the stories of the Chaos Union from the lips of both Luke and his father as a kid, and had been in awe of them a majority of his life. Now, to be put into the same category as those whose parents were actually members was close to an honor. Childish, he knew, but he still couldn't help but think of what they had accomplished, and what they might accomplish.

"Now, I'm password-locking this," Luke said over his reverie, "and the password is 'fallen', no caps. So feel free to pop in tomorrow as soon as it's open, all right?"

"Got it," John said, getting to his feet and grabbing his coat. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"What? Where are you going?"

"Well, if I'm meeting you on the net tomorrow, I need my netnavi, don't I? It's finished, but I wasn't going to pick it up until tomorrow. However, in light of the fact that I may end up in a strike force eventually, I think I might need whatever practice I can get." A thought coming to him, John smiled, and tapped a poster with the ONB logo on it hanging from Luke's wall. "And I think that I might stop in at the ONB recruitment center on my way home. After all, it's a bit easier to fight net crime when you can arrest criminals."

Luke smiled, and grabbed his wallet off of the desk. "Here, take my ID card with you and sign me up as well. If they give you trouble, either e-mail me or tell them who my dad is. That should help."

"All right," John said as he took the card. "I'll let you know what's happening tomorrow. See you then."

"Yeah, same here." The call finally began to go through as John headed for the door, and as he descended the steps towards the exit, he heard Luke say the fateful words that would change their lives.

"Hello, Mrs. Taruka. Is Seija there?"