"Everyone ready?" Hikari asked sitting behind the driver's wheel. "Yes Papa," Netto and Rockman answered in unison. "Let's run through the check list again; is the stove off?" "Hai."
"House cleaned?"
"Hai."
"All the doors and windows are locked?"
"Hai…"
Enzan groaned as he palmed himself. He can't believe he is going on this vacation with Netto and his family. He always wondered why he even bothered. For him, he never had a vacation; he considered it as a waste of time. Thought he was surprised that Kifune and Manabe would put them off duty and his father's willingness to give him a vacation with the Hikaris. He was even more surprised to see Laika and the Princess are coming as well. Then he realized why this unusual event is happening. They were on a mission to protect the Princess. Then Dr. Hikari's voice reminded him of something else.
"Did everyone go to the bathroom?"
"Hai Papa."
"Hai Dear."
"Excuse me," Enzan said quickly, "I need to go." He opened the door and went back to the Hikari's house.
The rest of the ride has been torture for Enzan. The Hikari family and Pride sang simple children songs such as Old Mac Donald and talked about the latest events. Occasionally Netto and Rockman would ask Dr. Hikari if they are there yet.
Enzan grounded his teeth, he didn't feel comfortable to join the Hikaris in the singing and he was getting annoyed by the age old question, "Are we there yet?" The singing is off key, if he could sing then he probably would sound better than Netto's off keyed voice. He looked at Laika who was sitting next to him. Laika apparently is taking this vacation idea calmly. He was staring out the window watching the scenery pass by and his face remained emotionless. Princess Pride, who happened to be sitting next to Netto seemed to be enjoying herself.
"Hey!" Netto exclaimed, "Let's play I Spy."
"Okay," Rockman and Princess Pride agreed.
"I'll start. Um, I spy something red."
"Is it your symbol on your bandanna?" Pride asked.
"Nope."
"Is it the stop sign we passed by?" Rockman asked.
"Nope."
"Is it the color of Searchman's eyes?" Pride asked glancing at Laika slyly.
Netto shook his head, his grin widened. "Nope."
"It's me," Enzan said, he was annoyed that Netto would choose a childish game such as this.
"Yes," Netto cheered.
"Oh that's right!" Rockman said, smacking his forehead, "We should have known. Enzan wears a red vest, he carries a red PET, and even Blues is red."
Princess Pride laughed. "I say, let Netto go again."
"Okay. Let's see, I spy something blue."
"Is it me?" Rockman asked, pointing at himself. "No."
"Is it your bandanna?" Pride asked. "No."
"It's me again," Enzan said. He was already getting irritated on how the game is played and for being targeted by Netto.
"Your right again," Netto said in surprised. "Enzan, how do you know?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Enzan smirked, "My navi's name is Blues except he isn't blue in color."
"Then why is his name Blues?"
"Because he is named after a style of a song called the blues."
"Oh. Hey Enzan, why don't you go?"
Enzan rubbed his temples as if he had a headache and sighed tiredly. "OK." He thought very carefully then the corners of his mouth twitched a little. "I spy something that begins with an 'n' and 's.'"
There was a long silence.
Enzan smirked. "I'll give you a hint. AI."
"Huh?" Netto asked; he is still feeling confused.
Enzan smirked. "If Rockman is an AI program which stands for Artificial Intelligence, then the opposite of him is Netto which stands for Natural Stupidity."
"Hey!"
Rockman and everyone else in the van burst out laughing. Even Blues, Searchman and Laika smiled. Who knew that Enzan had it in him? Throughout the rest of the car ride Enzan was busy arguing and bickering with Netto.
The Hikari van drove up to a gas station. Netto and Pride scrambled out of the car followed by Enzan and Laika. The young Netbattlers stretched their legs and explored the gas station. Outwardly and inwardly, the building itself is not advanced in technology, but it is very simple and in a reasonable size. When the Netbattlers entered the store, they wrinkled their noses to the scent of ice cream and a faint smell of herbs and spices as the wooden floors creaked under their feet. They saw the gas station served as a supply and souvenir store and an ice creamery. On the brick walls were racks full of magazines, post cards, and maps for travelers and tourists to look at. On the far side of the store were shelves of food, cleaning supplies and other items that most gas stations would not sell. On the other side of the building were tables and chairs for customers to sit down and eat or drink or whatever. There is also an arcade for people to do netbattle with their navis.
Netto made a beeline to the counter as the others looked around. Enzan looked at company magazines, Laika looked at the maps while Pride brought some postcards to send to her friends and family back at Creamland.
Enzan selected a magazine. He flipped through the pages and started reading it. "Hey!" He looked up and saw Netto standing next to him. "Enzan, want some root beer float? It tastes great! Grandma Barker made the ice cream all by herself."
"Who?" Enzan asked.
"Oh, she is the lady who owns this place," Netto said waving his hand. "I told her we are staying here for summer vacation and she told me she actually lives not far away from our campsite with a general store. She even invited us to visit her anytime we wanted to."
Suddenly a white cockatoo fluttered up to Netto and landed on his shoulder, a blue gray Persian cat leaped up into his arms and purred, and a huge golden retriever jumped around Netto, barking excitedly and licking him and his PET.
At first, Enzan thought his friend was attacked by the animals. But when he heard Netto and Rockman were laughing with delight.
"Hey cut it out you guys," Netto giggled.
"No!" the parrot squawked.
"Hey where did-oof!" Another dog, an Irish Settler jumped on him and licked his face. "These are Grandma's pets," Netto answered his friend's unfinished question, "The parrot's name is Chebo, the cat is called Piper and the dogs are Key and Yuki. She always bring them with her 'cause she is always lonely and they made her customers happy."
"For some reason they like you," Enzan said trying to keep his face and his PET clean from dog drool.
"She said animals have the ability to sense the goodness in people's hearts," Netto said.
"Yeah, yeah," muttered Enzan, trying to shoo the dog away from his PET. "Netto, can't you do something about this dog?" Netto carefully put Piper down and clapped his hands together. "Yuki come here girl," Yuki whined, but she reluctantly obeyed. Netto rubbed her head affectionately.
"Netto kun! Your ice-cream is ready," a woman's voice said.
"Yeah!" cheered Netto, "Come on Enzan I'll introduce you to her." He grabbed Enzan's hand before the older boy protested. Netto dragged his friend to a table where Laika and Pride are waiting for them with their PETs in chargers provided by the store. Standing next to them with their ice-cream was a slightly plump elderly lady in her mid eighties. She has short gray hair and sparkling blue eyes with a warm smile. She smiled warmly at the two boys. "I found your friends, Netto. In a little old store like mine it is not hard to find them." Netto laughed.
"Thank you Mrs. Barker," Enzan said politely. "I'm Ijuin Enzan and this is my navi Blues," he added holding his PET up. "Hello," Blues said politely from his pet.
"Oh just call me Grandma like everyone else here."
"My name is Laika."
"Searchman.exe."
"Knightman.exe."
"And I'm Pride. Please to make your acquaintance."
"The pleasures is all mine, and stop acting noble you two and eat," Grandma said addressing to Laika and Enzan, "I know what growing boys are like."
Enzan obliged, he sipped his ice cream soda and his eyes lighted up in surprise. He admitted that Netto is right; the ice-cream is good. Not only it is sweet and cold, but it is also light and creamy.
"Netto kun told me you are staying near my place," Grandma commented.
"Yes," Enzan said, "we are."
"That is wonderful; it is good to have young blood to keep the place alive."
"Are there other kids around our age Grandma?"
"Not many dear, except for tourists."
"Oh and by the way," everyone looked up at Grandma. Her expression turned serious. "A word of advice, don't stay out late at night."
"Why?" Rockman asked.
"There is a monster lurking in these parts of the area."
Netto and Rockman's eyes widen. "Really?" they asked.
"A monster?" Laika asked.
Grandma looked sad. "Odd things happened around these parts of the woods. A long time ago when my husband was alive, our neighbors and some tourists reported they were robbed. Even we were robbed. The thief did not take anything that is worth of value, just food, supplies and some blankets. Soon the children claimed they have found a huge thing wandering in the forest. We thought they conjured an imaginary friend. Later, a young girl was found dead, killed by some wild animal. The authorities couldn't exactly tell us what kind of animal, but they couldn't find him or the creature that is responsible for killing the girl."
Rockman's face grew pale. "Is it a g-g-ghost?" He asked weakly.
Grandma shook her head. "No one knows dear," she said gently.
"Do you know who lives here?" Enzan inquired.
"Besides me and some animals, there is the sheriff, the vet, the local doctor, and dentist…Oh!" Grandma snapped her fingers, "There was a scientist who is studying biology. He lives not far from where you are going."
"Do you know his name?" Laika asked her.
"No, he comes to the store to buy some supplies. He is very strange, never socialized with other people. He is obsessed with animals and he has a lot of them. He doesn't talk much, unless you have something that interested him."
Before anyone could ask Grandma any more questions. Hikari walked up to them. "Hey guys, time to go."
Enzan drank the remains of his soda. "Thank you so much for the ice cream Grandma," he said bowing politely. "It is really good." Grandma beamed at them, "Oh anytime dear, please visit us any time."
"Come again!" squawked Chebo.
"Hm," Netto mused out loud. Rockman looked at his operator nervously. "Don't even think about it Netto-kun," he warned him. "I know what you are planning to do." Enzan looked at the younger boy. "About what?" he inquired.
"Oh, I was thinking about going to look for the monster." Netto said nonchalantly.
Enzan rolled his eyes heavenward and sighed. "Netto, that monster is probably an urban myth."
"Yeah, but think about it. The robberies, the murder," Netto sighed. "That monster could still exist."
"Netto," Enzan groaned, "That happened a long time ago."
"Then why did Grandma warned us not to go to the forest by ourselves?" Netto challenged him.
"Because there are dangerous animals in these woods." Enzan stated in-a-matter-of-fact voice.
"But Grandma said the girl was killed by an unidentified animal. Even the police and rangers don't know what kind it is." Netto pointed out.
"Netto what are you thinking?" Pride inquired.
Netto sat back in his seat with his hands behind his head. "Well since we are gonna be here for a long time," Netto replied, "It should be fun to go on a monster hunt."
Enzan smirked, "Since you are gonna play detective. Do you have any idea how you are going to do this?"
"Ah, no."
Enzan closed his eyes and smirked, "In order to start you need to visit the local library," he said. "They have a lot of information. They probably have old newspaper articles about it."
"Aw man," Netto groaned, "that sounds like a lot of work."
"It is a lot of work."
"Hey, I know we could ask that biologist. He probably knows something. We could go and ask him."
"OK Sherlock, but tell me, how do we meet him, hm? Grandma said he didn't want to see anyone. Unless we have something that interested him."
Netto shrugged. "I don't know, but we will come up with something. Right Rockman?"
Rockman groaned, "Netto-kun, you know that I am in this no matter what, but please don't get into trouble."
"Don't worry he will," Enzan muttered to himself. Blues nodded in agreement. Then out loud he said, "I'll come along to watch you suffer."
"Me too." Netto, Rockman, Enzan and the other stared at Laika. "To keep Netto out of trouble," Laika added.
"We are here," Hikari announced parking the car. Everyone looked out the window.
"Wow!" Netto said as they stare at the cabin. "This place is cool."
Enzan humph, the cabin is a simple wooden slated house that is made of two floors, (including the basement it counts as three). Surrounded by tall trees and shrubbery, across the house is the lake with a dock and a row boat. Netto scrambled out of the car followed by Pride. They made a bee line towards the white house. "Enzan, Laika, are you coming?" Netto asked.
Enzan held back a sigh, "Sure." They walked inside. Netto and Pride explored the bedrooms. Netto suddenly walked into one room while Pride went into another room.
Laika looked at Enzan. "You sure you wanted to do this?" Enzan folded his arms. "Yeah, since we are stuck here with him, there is nothing else to do."
"Alright, but how do we meet this person?"
Enzan shrugged, "We will think of something."
Then Enzan and Laika heard Netto's voice from the other room. "Hey guys, I think this is ou--YEYAAH." They saw Netto speeding out of the door screaming like a girl with his face pale and his eyes dilated. Rockman looked equally freaked out as well.
"YEYAA SPIDER!" Netto screamed.
"SPIDER!" Rockman cried out, "HUGE BIG UGLY SPIDER!"
Enzan and Laika looked at each other. Enzan rolled his eyes and shook his head. There were times when Netto can be immature and react to little things. The boys entered the room and stopped. Their eyes widen in horror. Through all of Enzan's years he fought viruses; deal with difficult businessmen and faced life threatening situations. But nothing in life prepared him for this. On the bedroom floor was the biggest spider that he had ever seen that come from a horror movie. The gray hairy spider was about the size of the palm of his hand and it is crawling towards them. It's black beady eyes were staring at them. Enzan stared back at the creature; he was too petrified to move.
