"I like this," Black said as Laika got his hands on an Irregular. There was a moment of silence as the jellyfish's form twisted into human shape. Then, another confused human was logged out into his body. "All we have to do is move at a slow crawl and they come right to us!"

"I've got another one!" Meiru called.

"Except I can't keep up and talk at the same time," Black added, face going slack as he concentrated. As the Irregular morphed, he muttered, "There, got it." In the meantime, Roll and Searchman were firing away at the penguin Irregular who had been guarding the Net Savior holding cell. As it reeled, Laika clapped his hands over its head. "And again..."

After the penguin Irregular was spirited away, there was a long wait for the next attacker. Laika asked, "Searchman, can you register any other Navi-like forms?"

The sniper Navi focused. "Three, Laika-sama."

"That'll be Blues and Punk facing off against Vava," Black said. "Now, we're in the farthest reaches of this network, so starting here and working on up should provide maximum pain..."

"Huh?" wondered Meiru.

"Vava's more than tied up, and there's no one else to stop this place from going down. There's only one way Sigma can save his skin if something goes wrong now, so burn down the house!"

The group in the Internet got the picture. "With pleasure," Laika said, opening fire on the control system nearby.

0110100101100100011001010110111001110100011010010111010001111001

An alarm sounded above them. Enzan got the feeling that he'd have to yank out those wires and drag Laika's body out himself if there was a fire starting - the older teen had gone nearly catatonic at the sound.

"Blues, can you tell what's going on in there?" he asked.

For once, Punk was courteous to the Net Savior duo. He ensnared Vava in his cable arm and started squeezing around the purple Navi's neck so that Blues could send out a ping to check up on the network. "There are many control panels in this network, Enzan-sama, and they're being systematically destroyed," he reported. "If their real-world counterparts short out violently enough, it could start a fire."

"Precisely," hissed Laika. "Well. I was hoping to keep you despairing, but your little friends have forced my hand. This body has already served all the purpose it could, anyway." He settled back in his chair. His muscles spasmed, fingertips curling tighter with every twitch until they looked like claws; each part of his face seemed to be moving without regard to the rest of it, creating inhuman expressions; if Enzan hadn't suspected it wasn't Laika he'd been talking to from how the young man had behaved before, he knew now.

"Enzan!" Meiru had arrived on the scene, along with Roll, Searchman, a window displaying Black's face, and what had to be the real Laika. "Enzan, that's not Laika! He's -"

"I will introduce myself, thank you." In Navi form, the false Laika looked nothing like the person he'd been trying to impersonate. He was a huge, bald Navi. His face was as handsome as a marble statue's, and his voice had a deep, powerful sound. Most of his bulk was hidden by a red cape. "I am Sigma," he intoned. "I will prove the superiority of Navis by bringing about a new order! The Irregulars will work for the Navis, who will be free to improve this world as they please!"

"I thought so," Enzan said. "If Laika wanted to campaign for Navi-human equality, he wouldn't do it in such a ham-fisted way."

"Besides that, you've pretty much lost," Meiru said. "The Irregulars are all Net Saviors again, we've got you outnumbered, and Laika here isn't exactly going to curl up and go to sleep in that chamber you stuck him in."

"Is that what you think?" He held out one silver-gloved hand, which transformed into a beam saber that crackled with energy. "My plans don't end until I do!" He charged toward the group, sword raised. They were quick to get out of the way, but a pair of torpedo blasts knocked everyone down.

"That's right, Vava!" recalled Punk, getting to his feet. "Almost forgot about 'im!" He threw his shoulder plates in Vava's direction. "Double-Go-Round!"

"We need to split into a group to handle Sigma and a group to keep Vava out of the way," Blues said. "Since Punk and I both have access to Battlechips, I believe we should take on Sigma."

"Yeah, as long as you keep 'im back, Vava's no threat," Punk said, his shoulderplates snapping back into place. The two red-armored Navis turned to face Sigma.

"Assist them as well, Searchman," Laika said. "I think we've got this taken care of." Between Roll's arrows and Meiru's gun blasts, Vava was staying well back. Laika's rifle just made it worse for the purple Navi.

"Yes, Laika-sama." Searchman looked over at the fight against Sigma, then faded from view as his camouflage activated. His teammates had their hands full trying to dodge Sigma's attacks. Despite the caped Navi's large size, he was fast. Just when he had his enemies in the right spot for a crippling blow, a Scope Gun shot hit him in the back. Sigma turned to deal with Searchman.

"Neo Variable, slot-in!"

"Senshahou, slot-in!"

The yellow sword formed on Blues's arm. "Sonicboom!" Searchman stepped aside as Sigma skidded backward. With a yell, Punk added in his blast of cannon fire, turning the skid into a stumble. Now, it was Blues and Punk's turn to dash toward their enemy, Blues' Neo Variable at the ready and Punk receiving a Wide Blade. Sigma grinned, batting Punk away with a quick slash before turning to Blues. He brought his beam saber down, and Blues met it. It was easy to see how powerful the Irregular leader was. Blues' sword was slowly inching downward as Sigma made him hold back more and more of his strength. Just as it seemed Sigma would manage to throw the Neo Variable down and strike Blues, the swordsman quickly sidestepped and aimed his next blow at Sigma's side.

Before it could get far, Sigma's sword was there to block it. "A tiny scratch will not defeat me," he said. "Disappointing." He pushed his sword to his left, knocking Blues's Neo Variable up and away and drawing his own sword across his chest. Then, he brought it back around, hurling his opponent away. With both Navis out of the way, Sigma backed toward the two Navi-humans and Roll, blocking all of Searchman's shots with his sword and letting them fizzle to death there. Quickly, Roll turned to fire her next arrow at Sigma before he could attack Meiru or Laika. But the bulky Navi didn't seem to notice her attacks, and he was heading straight for Meiru. She fired another shot at Vava before focusing on Sigma, backing away from him. Laika fired on the Irregular leader, burning a hole in his cape but not doing much else besides turning his attention to the green-haired Net Savior. "Yes," Sigma said. "It's fitting that I deal with you first!"

Punk raised his shoulderplates. "Don't," Black said. "You've got just as much a chance of hitting an ally as you do of hitting Sigma." But Searchman's precision firing was right on the mark, diverting Sigma's attention.

"An' don't tell me," Punk said. "Now that Sigma's right in the middle of all us, nobody's guns are safe to use but his."

Vava, though forgotten about, was not gone. Before he could pounce on Laika, Roll smacked him backward with her antennae. "I'll deal with him," she told the other two. "You just keep your eyes open!"

Meanwhile, Blues was heading for another clash with Sigma, Samurai Sword at the ready. "This again?" the green-armored Navi asked. "I doubt you can evade my attacks for long."

"Maybe you'd be right," Enzan said as Sigma prepared to take a swipe at Blues. "But I didn't bother wasting Area Steals on Vava." Within seconds, Blues was on Meiru and Laika's side of the field and cutting into Sigma's chest armor. The Navi stumbled back a few steps, but his weight meant that Blues would have a hard time getting him away from the two humans. Meiru took a shot at Sigma for herself; it made him flinch, leaving him open to another of Blues's slashes, but it was clear he wasn't taking a huge amount of damage.

Suddenly, a red blur appeared in Sigma's face. "Hey there!" Punk's Area Steal had given him the advantage he needed to bring his Neo Variable down on Sigma and push him back some more. Sigma brought his sword down on Blues's next strike, knocking him backward. It was clear that the constant fighting, both against Sigma and Vava, was starting to take its toll.

Though Vava had been drawn away from the rest of the battle by Roll, his constant barrage of punches, kicks, and gunfire was starting to overwhelm his opponent. "Wish I had Battlechips," the pink-clad Navi muttered, jumping away from another burst of cannon shots. Vava pounced to meet her where she'd land, but a burst of red energy met him halfway there. "Meiru-chan!"

"I can still lend a hand like this," she said, keeping her gun trained on their opponent. "Let's go!"

"Right!"

Meanwhile, Punk was in no position to attack Sigma. The huge Navi had him under a constant barrage of jabs that left him no room to do much except dodge. But a shot to the head from Searchman actually earned a grunt of pain from Sigma. "There's a reason most Navis have helmets," Punk said as a Volcano Cannon appeared on his hand. At point-blank range like this, the chunk of rock expelled by the miniature volcano on Punk's arm left a dent in Sigma's armor, and the smoke was a convenient way for Punk to disappear from sight. Sigma swiped at the smoke with his sword, the air current he created blowing it away. He located Punk to his side and batted him away.

"Any last words?" asked Sigma, bringing his sword to rest between Punk's eyes.

Punk held up his hand in a shrug. "I did my part." Sigma whirled to face Blues, sword at the ready. It was only when Blues brought his blade down that the bald-headed Navi realized what it was: a Muramasa Blade, more than powered up after all its owner had been through. With one swing, Blues sheared off Sigma's saber hilt. The next blow was crippling, its power hurling Sigma a few feet away.

For Laika, it was like everything else faded away for a moment. There was only him training his rifle on the staggering form of Sigma, his cape tattered from Blues's last blow. In Sigma's eyes was desperation; his dream, coming to an end. For all his talk, it was only now that he'd ever shown anything resembling a human emotion. Laika fired, his shot piercing Sigma through the gem on his head. With a howl of agony, Sigma's terror ended as the Navi dissolved into pixels.

Now, all that was left was Vava, his armor seeming duller now that Sigma was gone. It was obvious that he was weakened; his movement was more erratic than ever. He lurched toward Punk while his shoulder-mounted cannon spat bullets at the others. Punk was unimpressed. "We doin' this the normal way, or are we goin' for overkill?"

"Enh... Sure, why not overkill." Black called, "Yo-yo, triple slot-in!"

"Program Advance: Yo-yo Blade!" From an oversized holster that took up both of Punk's arms came a barrage of spiked yo-yos that ripped Vava apart in seconds. This time, he didn't come back. "Well," Punk said, brushing imaginary dust off his hand and mace, "that settles that."

A/N: And we're just about done! Despite the chapter title, there's one more chapter to go!

Thanks for the advice, Toffee Fox! (also, yay, you're still reading! Glad to hear from you!) I've always felt that keeping the current ending and writing more after it was the right thing to do, so I think I'll set aside some time to start planning!