"This is really getting annoying," Kaita said. At Mary's insistence, they had returned the car to the art museum and dropped off the jewelry while they were there. Despite the lost pieces, the curator had been grateful. But they couldn't stay long; the entire ride had been nothing but llamas and some very grouchy-looking people on the sidewalks.

"Will this day ever end?" sighed Mary. The billboard above her head was silently playing the video, while the cars driving past all had the song playing on their speakers. An electronics store was displaying it on all of their televisions, and even the vending machine in front of the store had it playing on the display and coming out of the rudimentary sound player in blips and bloops.

"The better question to ask is where whoever did this is hiding," Turboman said.

"Hmm..." Ring said, "If I'd done this, I would want to find the best place to watch all this and laugh."

"I'd just want someplace quiet..." her Operator said.

"I think it depends," Kaita said, after some thought. "On whether they want some kind of reward or if they just want to attract someone's attention."

"Maybe it doesn't matter where the person who did this is hiding," Mary said. "Perhaps our Navis can remove the program themselves."

"Hey, you're right," Kaita said. "But then again, why hasn't anyone tried yet?"

"It's probably just a tough one," was Turboman's theory. "But with me and Ring on it, we'll power through like it's nothing!"

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Black had started out wanting neither fortune nor fame, but as he surveyed his work in the foyer of IPC Tower (successfully taken in the name of the llama empire), he found himself wondering what to do next. "I'm getting tired of llamas," he said as he stepped outside. The entire street was awash in red and low-quality jpegs, as was what he could see of the street around the corner. "Maybe I shouldn't have sent the Net Saviors away after all."

"Or at least not so far away," Punk said. "They probably won't be back for a coupla days."

"Yeah. Should've been something a few minutes out of town, not a few hours. Oh, well." He strolled down the road, observing the growing frustration on the store managers' faces. "Hey, you know what?"

"Okay, I'll shoot. What?" obliged Punk.

"I've never actually robbed a place before," Black realized, his pace quickening with newfound purpose. "I've stolen data, I've deleted it, I've done everything except actually physically rob someplace. And now everyone in town's distracted, and the Net Saviors are gone! It's the perfect chance!"

Punk let that sink in for a moment. "Y'know, I don't think I've ever heard that one before," he said. "Plenty of people doin' it as a harmless prank, but never just to tick boxes."

"That's because I'm not most people," Black said. "And I don't get out too often - ooh, is that a chocolate shop? That's new... But there's a candy store two streets away... oh, this is hard!"

"You can always just stop here first an' then go to the candy store," Punk pointed out. "Shit, man."

"I told you! Shoplifting newbie! But since you seem to know more about it, you can advise me on my form." The store owner was nowhere in sight. Mindful of the bell on the door despite the loud music playing, Black inched it open.

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"Hmm..." Ring patted the sides of the red data cube with her mittens while her rings sat on top. She gave the diagnosis, "Well, this is weird."

"Maybe we should try attacking it," Mary said. "Long Sword, slot-in!" Ring sliced down on the cube, producing a faint echo of the song playing out the TV's speakers but no contact. She tried cutting from the side, only to produce the same effect.

"I appreciate the effort, but I'm telling you kids, nothing works," the store owner said. "My Navi's tried shooting it, but it does the same thing."

"It keeps making that sound," Kaita noticed.

"That's it!" Mary realized. "Sound! Battlechip: Silence! Slot-in!" A silver Rarapapa virus appeared in front of Ring. Everyone sighed in relief as the llama music was cut off. "Try cutting it now!"

"Here goes!" The sword cut straight through. Throughout the store, llama pictures were replaced by normal displays. "Awesome! So all we have to do is go around and keep using Silence, right?"

"In theory, yes... But there's still the time-out to worry about."

"Right! You have to let the Battlechip sit and recharge..." Ring sighed. "Well, that puts a damper on things."

"How many Silence chips do you have?" asked Kaita.

"Other than that one, only one more on me..." Mary lamented, "Silence isn't a very common chip, either. Our chances of running into anyone else with it are slim..."

"Hey, maybe we don't need to. What about the arcade?" Turboman asked. "There's a recharging machine inside. We use the last chip to get the arcade back up and running..."

"...then restore the Silence chips!" Mary finished.

"And then, we can each take one and go around fixing the other networks," Kaita added. "We can each take half of the city, and get the job done faster."

"Sounds like a plan," Ring said. "Let's get this show on the road!"

"Wait," Mary said. "What if one of us runs into whoever's behind this?"

"Personally, I don't think that'll happen," Ring said. "It's a big city, and we've been out here for a long while without seeing anybody odd." As the two Operators started walking, Ring theorized, "I think the culprit's just hanging around his house having a snack or something. Leaving us free to fix his mess!"

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With the arcade and its recharging capabilities at his disposal and a Silence chip in his pocket, Kaita was left with only the final step: going around and cutting down all the llama-making cubes in the buildings' networks. The enormity of his task was starting to sink in. "Where should we start?" wondered Kaita, walking down the street.

"We could always go up and down each street, like Mary's doing," Turboman said.

"But doing it like that doesn't matter, does it? I'll still have to go back to the arcade every time to recharge my chip, and you can always keep track of which places we've done already," Kaita pointed out. "Maybe we should just do random ones at first. Like—hey, the candy store!" In the window were lollipops and a large display of gumballs. Flashing on the central monitor were an orange and a rake. "Let's try in there!"

"You're just saying that because you're hoping for freebies," Turboman pointed out dryly.

"So? I'm still doing a good deed," Kaita said, throwing the door open. Inside was a vast assortment of jelly beans lined up on the left wall, stands of packaged sweets in the center... and there, munching on a chocolate-covered pretzel like nothing was happening, was a man so familiar that seeing him after so long nearly bowled Kaita over.

He turned, regarding Kaita with his cool brown eye. Then, an almost predatory smile spread across his face. "Kiddo," Black said, crossing his arms. "Being a hero as usual, I see?"

It was only after his brain caught up to the fact that he'd finally found a Nova member—and the one he'd wanted to find—that Kaita realized he was supposed to reply. "H-hi," he stammered, cautiously narrowing the gap between him and Black.

"That's all you're going to say?" wondered Black, genuinely amused. He lifted his left arm; his PET arm, Kaita realized. "I thought you came to stop me," he said as he plugged Punk into the display at his side.

"Sort of," Kaita replied. He took a deep breath—they'd practiced for this, and he wasn't going to let Turboman get hurt so badly again—before responding to the unspoken challenge, sending his Navi into a display closer to the door.

"Don't hesitate," Black said with a grin. "Hasn't anyone told you that'll get you nowhere?"

"You told me," Kaita recalled, surveying the battlefield. There were a number of mid-sized platforms - Turboman was on one, Punk a few platforms away—with an abyss below. "And I didn't forget it."

"I did, didn't I?" Black drew out a Battlechip. "If you didn't forget, then show me." He slammed it in almost as Kaita whipped out a Super Vulcan to counter. Turboman sped away from Punk's Senshahou blast, firing back a steady stream of lighter but more numerous bullets. Punk simply blocked with one of his shoulder plates.

"Double-Go-Round!" Soon, both spiky discs were flying at Turboman. The bright red Navi built up speed while the projectiles shot toward him, then leapt. The attack passed under him while he was in the air, and he landed as they began to curve around. He skidded to a halt in a low crouch as they passed overhead.

"Long Sword!" Turboman raised the blue-white sword just in time to block Punk's Neo Variable. But there was no way the weaker Long Sword would hold forever; it was already starting to crack. Before that could happen, Punk disappeared in an Area Steal—and Kaita's Cannon shot through empty air. Turboman didn't straighten completely, waiting to dodge Punk's attack. He rolled away from the Powarudo virus coming in from overhead—straight into Punk's waiting cable arm. He tried to detach the wheels on his shoulders, but Punk hurled him up over his head and to the ground. Turboman struggled to get free from the black cable that was swinging him up by the legs for another hit.

Kaita wasn't about to sit and watch his Navi get battered into submission. "Mega Cannon, slot-in!" As Turboman went flying over Punk's head, the red cannon began to form on his arm. The bright red Navi wasted no time firing. Punk stumbled backward as Turboman fell to the ground, freed from the other Navi's dangerous cable. As he flipped to his feet, Kaita yelled, "Now, Fumikomizan!"

"Fumikomi Cross!" countered Black. As he zipped across the field, Turboman had to adjust his sword angle as Punk came flying to meet him with two swords. "So, you really did listen," Black said as Punk and Turboman struggled to come out on top.

Kaita added a Wide Blade to help Turboman out before replying, "How could I not? You knew what you were talking about, and I was struggling."

Black smirked, but his tone of voice was more teasing. "How could you trust me? I might have been lying. Maybe your skill can't be improved by all the advice in the world." Turboman used his second sword to aim a slash at Punk's knees, which was promptly blocked by one of Punk's swords. The car-like Navi tried sliding his sword down toward Punk's chest, but his opponent hurled both swords away with a yell before springing toward him.

"I don't believe that for a second," Kaita said. "You don't let just anyone see you for real." As if to back him up, Turboman smoothly blocked Punk's attack with his swords before raising his boot to deliver a kick to his opponent's chest.

"You're right!" Punk stepped back before one of his swords changed into a Mark Cannon. At such a close range, Turboman couldn't do much more than raise the Wide Blade to deflect as much of the energy bullet as he could. "It makes me wonder—no, you're just a kid." Amused, Black continued, "But I'll ask anyway. What's your big plan?"

"I don't really have one," Kaita said. "That's part of why I wanted to see you... I feel like something's going to happen."

"Well, duh, something's going to happen," Black said. "Nova's plan is going to happen! Oh, and keep your eyes on the Netbattle." Kaita looked down to see Turboman barely evade a Double-Go-Round attack and slotted in an Area Steal, spiriting Turboman off to a farther platform. "So. Exactly how did you expect to get me to talk?"

"By surprising you," Kaita said. "Cannon, triple slot-in!" Underneath the veneer, Kaita was silently willing it to work; they'd thought they had it against Knightman, and they'd been so wrong...

But one cannon appeared on Turboman's arm, and then another. He raised his arms up as they glowed white, then brought them down as one big, solid gun pointed straight at Punk.

Before the blinding flash of light could reach the rust-red Navi, his figure morphed into the letters 'PLUGOUT' and disappeared from sight. "Okay. You've surprised me," Black said, ignoring the frustrated noise that came from his PET. He took a seat on the ground and pulled a laptop out from his thin backpack. "You've got three minutes until all the llamas are gone," he told Kaita. The song was cut off mid-sentence, leaving only the faint sounds of it playing outside. "Talk."

Kaita looked down at his PET, then up at Black. "Why'd you stop?"

"I told you. You surprised me." Black looked up at Kaita. "Besides, I was getting sick of the whole pointless llama thing, too. Now, either we're going to actually have some kind of conversation, or this whole thing will be a waste of our time."

"Right," Kaita said. "Well... What should I do?"

"I'm not going to tell you. I am a Nova member, after all."

"But should I be looking for you guys, or just be ready for you guys, or..." Black burst into laughter, loud and childish. "I'm serious!"

Obligingly, Black attempted to contain himself. It was obviously an uphill struggle, and Kaita felt himself growing increasingly annoyed. "Sorry," he said brightly. "Haven't laughed that much in a long time." Once the mirth had faded into a smile, he said, "It's just, you're putting way too much thought into this."

Kaita protested, "But I don't feel like I'm putting enough thought into it! I mean, you have your plans, and then there're other guys running around, who knows what their deal is, but I have to keep track of them, too—"

"Which isn't your job."

"It isn't?"

"It's the Net Saviors'. Enzan, Meiru-chan. Remember them? The government pays them to take on the world's problems. As you probably realize—otherwise, you'd ask them this stuff." Black's fingers flew across the keyboard for a few seconds. Then, he said, "You're a kid, Kaita. You don't have to worry about the big picture yet—there are people who will do that for you. Just relax and take 'em as they come. Worked for me."

Kaita quickly deduced what this meant, but only managed, "Huh?"

"You're no soldier, Kaita. So don't act like one. Look around! Have fun! You handle things in your own way, and you'll discover secrets the Net Saviors never could." Black closed the laptop and got to his feet. He started walking out, then stopped and looked down into Kaita's face. The boy blinked up at him; why was his face so blank all of a sudden? But then the moment passed, and Black was striding out the door. "Ahhh! Blessed silence!" Kaita ran to catch up and found everything returned to normal. People were looking around in confusion. "Well, that's that settled. Shouldn't you be finding your girlfriend?"

"I told you, she isn't my girlfriend! She's just a friend!"

Waving his hand around, Black said, "Yeah, yeah, sure. See you around!"

"I mean it!" Kaita called to Black's retreating figure. "That was interesting," he said to Turboman.

"I like this having fun idea a lot more than the constant worrying, I've gotta admit," the Navi said.

"Honestly? I do, too," Kaita agreed. "But there's still that feeling..."

"Which we'll deal with when it's time," Turboman said. "Now, let's go find Mary!"

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"Nothing?" Rockman asked himself, scanning through the usage data the Ministry had collected one last time. "I can't believe it." It had been a day now since the llamas had taken over Densan, and nobody was any closer to finding out who had set them on the city and why.

"Any hints, Rockman?" Hikari-hakase asked, his image appearing in front of his Navi.

"No harm was done by the programs," Rockman said, still a bit baffled by the turn that afternoon had taken. "And they've disappeared without a trace. All of this looks like it was just a harmless prank."

"How strange," Hikari-hakase mused. "The programming reminds me of Nova's hacker, but surely he would have wanted to gain something by doing this…"

"I know. It seems too childish for him," Rockman noticed.

Hikari-hakase seemed to perk up at the observation. "Maybe this is his form of stress relief?" he suggested jokingly.

"Maybe…" Rockman could only shrug. "I guess I'll go let Meijin know that we've done all we can."

As he exited Yuuichirou's computer for the main Ministry network, Rockman was nearly bowled over by an enthusiastic tackle. It could only be one Navi. "Roll-chan!" he greeted, returning the hug.

"Rockman! It's so good to see you!" enthused Roll, squeezing tighter before releasing her boyfriend.

"What brings you here, Roll-chan?" asked Rockman.

"Oh, I'm on my way to bring that report to Meijin... for all the good it is," Roll said crossly. "But I wanted you to look at a couple of candidates, too!"

Rockman sheepishly laughed as a group of photographs appeared in front of Roll. "Maybe Meiru-chan just doesn't want to go to the prom."

Roll sighed, "I know... But she's over halfway done with high school, and she's never had a boyfriend or been to a dance at all! And I know she'd love picking out a new dress if she just had the chance to go..." Rockman put an arm around her shoulders as another sad sigh escaped Roll's lips. "I'm just worried about her," the Navi said.

"You shouldn't be," Rockman advised. "Meiru-chan's a pretty strong person. I'm sure either way, she'll be fine."

"I just wish she had more friends at school... but you're right. Thanks, Rockman," Roll said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Rockman couldn't help but blush a little. "Hey, are we headed in the same direction?" she asked, slipping her arm around Rockman's waist.

"Yeah, actually," Rockman said, looking around. There was nobody else in sight. "I'm sure he won't mind if we take our time, it's not like there's much to report."

"And it'll be nice to spend some time together for once!"

"Even if it is just this boring hallway," Rockman laughed. "It's a pretty lame date spot, isn't it?"

"It's better than nothing." Roll sighed, "We've been so busy, and there's always sticks-in-the-mud around like—"

"Am I interrupting something?" a deep voice boomed from across the corridor, prompting Rockman and Roll to quickly detangle themselves.

"I shouldn't have said it," Roll muttered.

"No, of course not, Gateman!" Rockman said, bright red. "We were just heading over to see you and Meijin, actually!"

"Well, then, I believe forward progress is in order," Gateman said sternly.

"We were progressing," Roll said innocently as the three started walking. Rockman, not being nearly as good at erasing the guilt from his voice, opted to stay silent. "And, anyway, have you made any progress on finding out who reported that missing PET?"

"It's still early in the investigation," Gateman said coolly. "I am sure we will eventually find the perpetrator." Rockman sighed; if that prankster was anything like the llama prankster, they had another long, unsatisfying investigation ahead of them.