12:39 PM (Japan Time), Sunday April the 27th…
"… Where am I…? Who am I…?"
"Netto. You're awake?"
"Dear…"
"Ne… tto…?"
Netto, dressed in a hospital pajama, woke up on a hospital bed.
He sluggishly sat up and his sight was unfocused.
His parents sat in chairs next to the bed.
His PET was set on a charger atop a table next to the bed.
"Am I… Necros…?" He muttered.
"No. You're Netto…"
"Net… to…?"
"Take it easy. You're still confused as side-effects of that…"
"I had something to do… what was it?" He muttered.
"That's already over. Relax…"
"… Who am I…? Am I… Nox…?"
Rock Man groaned as he woke up, too.
"No. You're Rock Man. You can be at ease…"
"Rock… Man…?"
"Yes. Take it easy…"
"The mission… what happened to the mission…?"
"It's over. Rest!"
"Rest… Yes… Standby…"
"Excuse me…"
The door opened and a medic walked in.
"I will run a basic check…"
"Go ahead, sir…"
The medic checked Netto's pulse by touching his wrist.
He opened his shirt and used the stethoscope to check his BPM, too.
He walked over to the EEG readout monitor and noted down the values.
"All values are within normal range. Physically, he's in top health…"
He looked up from his notes.
"But his memories are still a mess because of that "incident"…"
He sighed and shook his head.
"We're dealing with an unknown technology. I can't guarantee anything…"
"I am aware of it. I have a team in the MOS working on studying it, too…"
"But when did that… villain… insert those into him?"
Haruka looked up and bit her lip to avoid saying a stronger word.
"Looking over his clinical records, I found traces of it…"
"Really?"
"February, two years ago…"
"February 2009? Hmmm… If memory serves…"
"You were still touring the world as an "adventurer", dear…"
"True. And it was on that April that I sent Rock Man to Netto…"
"You were overseas, sir, so it's natural that you don't know, but…"
"There was a minor outbreak of influenza, dear…"
"Really?"
"A vaccination campaign was held in the city's elementary schools…"
"Does that mean that…?"
"Yes. Looking over at records, there was a last-minute change in staff…"
"He snuck into the school as medical staff, then…!"
"Yes. Also, when classifying the used material before disposing of it…"
"They detected something?"
"Yes. Some had the letters "NM" written on the backside of the labels!"
"NM… Nano-Machines…!"
"Some… Does that mean that other students were also injected those?"
"I have a hunch of who they are…" Yuuichirou sighed.
"What do we tell them?" Haruka asked.
"Until I have data on how to nullify these, I don't want to scare them…"
"How is it that nobody rang attention to that?"
"Looking at the records, that "replacement" vanished afterwards…"
"And their data was a lie…"
"Yes. Also, someone began to argue that it was a prank…"
"Must've been the man himself…"
"The top brass, fearing a scandal, pressured to wrap it up…"
"Classical!"
"However, Commissioner Kifune was concerned about that and personally demanded that the records be turned over to us for investigation…"
"Despite that it was a medical issue?"
"The hospital database had been hacked, too. Cybercrime was involved…"
"I see. He might have feared a bigger cyberattack…"
"But we couldn't find a correlation between "NM" and cybercrime…"
"Until today, that is…"
"Yes. Because everyone assumed that this tech was still far in the future…"
"Knowing that villain, must've stolen it from some nation's secret lab…"
"The tale has suddenly become bigger…" Haruka sighed.
"… Sorry, Netto. This must be hard for you to keep track of, but…"
Yuuichirou looked over at Netto, who was still and expressionless.
"But I know the perfect recipe to wake you up… It must be time…"
He smiled and glanced at the door.
There was a knock.
"Maha 1st delivery service! Chisao Curry, Large Portion!"
Chisao called out from the corridor.
"Come in!"
"Excuse me!"
Chisao, in his cook uniform, walked in carrying the delivery case.
Haruka smiled and placed a portable table over Netto's legs.
She grabbed the case and left it atop the desk.
She opened the lid and drew the covered curry rush.
"Here, Netto! Your favorite dish!"
She opened the lid and the fragrance of the spices rose.
Netto frowned and reacted, closing his eyes and sniffing.
"This scent… This heat… This feeling…!"
"The best curry in the world!" Chisao laughed.
"CURRY!"
He recovered his usual energy and attacked the curry right away.
"I'm so hungry!" He said as he ate.
"There! Netto – kun! Talk or eat, don't do both at once!"
Rock Man also recovered and scolded him, resigned.
"What? It's Sunday? Not Saturday?" He gasped.
"Calm down. If you don't recall, don't force you to…"
"Dad… Did Netto do something reckless again?"
"Well… More or less?" He laughed.
"He doesn't grow!"
Netto finished the curry and laughed, satisfied.
"My day begins with the Chisao Curry!"
"You're such a glutton…! I still remember the Namaste Tour…!"
"Nostalgic! That was fun!"
"I heard about it from Master!"
"Nostalgic, true… It's already been two years since then!"
"Sorry. Must deliver more curry, I must go!"
"Say! Did Dingo finally learn how to use a map?"
"Not yet! But Tomahawk Man is teaching him the way!"
"Should've done that from the start…! He can be too stubborn!"
"I know! Bye!"
"Bye!"
"Take care!"
"Don't worry! Master is waiting outside! We go together!"
"Now that's reliable!"
Chisao walked out and the medic smiled.
"Nothing like good food to satisfy someone… Excuse me!"
He walked out and closed the door.
Kifune and Manabe were waiting in the corridor seats.
"Insofar, he doesn't recall what happened. Please don't push it…"
"Understood, sir…"
"Please try to keep this as contained as possible, too…"
"I know. Least we want is a panic over this unknown tech…"
"I'm surprised that the media didn't talk about what happened…"
"Turns out that the villain purposely misled them…"
"As in?"
"Saying that they were filming a live-action show parody…"
"I see. By adding the word "parody", people lose interest…"
"Exactly. It's not like a park's anniversary calls for big coverage…"
"And, as such, even posts to SNS are considered to be part of that…"
"What a frightening enemy, indeed…"
"Yes. Unfortunately… We are on their trail, but it's not easy…"
"I am aware, sir… I'm not saying that it's easy, either…"
"I apologize. I did not mean to complain, either… It's stress…"
"I understand. Don't neglect rest, either! Commissioner…"
"Yes. Thank you. Let's go, Manabe – kun…"
"Roger, sir…"
"Why do children need to suffer this much…?"
14:14 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Well? Anything, Shadow Man?"
"Nothing, Needle Man…"
"That rascal… Where is he hiding?"
"In Antarctica, for all we know!"
Needle Man and Shadow Man met in the Cyber World.
"Reunion…!" A voice groaned.
"What's that?"
"Who's there?"
"Mag Ball! Mag Missile!"
They jumped to dodge the attacks from Magnet Man.
He came into sight, but his body was mostly purple and his eyes red.
"Data erosion caused by a "Dark Chip"!" Needle Man hissed.
"That fool! Didn't wait to secure means to heal her Navi!"
"Shaddup! Accomplices of the attrition warfare!"
"Man! What nonsense is that?" Needle Man sighed.
"Must be another of that granny's delusions…"
"I AM NOT A "GRANNY"! ACCOMPLICES OF ATTRITION WARFARE!"
"I think that you meant "starvation tactics"…"
"WHATEVER! THEY ARE THE SAME TO ME!"
"Tesla! Sweetie! I told you to wait until I secured a cure!"
"SILENCE, FATHER! I MUST DESTROY THAT HUMILATION!"
"You exaggerate, Frau Magnets…"
"WHO THE HELL! SOME POET WANNABE!?"
"Knowing some German doesn't make one a poet…"
"Kanou Shade… You finally show up?"
Shadow Man wasn't too surprised.
"Herr Magnets. You should design a safety system…"
"Should have, really…!" Gauss groaned.
"N-S Tackle!"
Shadow Man vanished in a cloud of smoke and left a stone statue there.
The two Magnet Man tackled it and broke it.
"Can't be helped. Direct Chip System, Start!"
A buzz rang out on the other end of the line.
"Vaccine Chip, Slot – In!"
The "Vaccine Chip" formed and shot a beam of light at Magnet Man.
It hit from behind and he roared as the purple patches erased.
Rainbow light formed around his body, too.
"I haven't been sitting idle these months. I secured myself these!"
"Who the hell are you!?"
"A wannabe detective, if you wish the simplest version…"
"I knew it! The gossip press was stalking me!"
"Tesla! Stop saying nonsense!" Gauss scolded.
There was a SNAP sound and Magnet Man hung his head down.
However, the "Dark Aura" formed around him again and he roared.
"What!?"
"Damn it! Clark! It's the same that happened to Mr. Blues…!"
"A self-evolving "Dark Chip"…!" Needle Man hissed.
"Well? Magnets? Can you do the same as Densanville?"
Twilight's voice boomed around the area, laughing.
"There you are!"
"Don't think that that was the end! It was but the prelude!"
"All losers say the same…"
Shadow Man drew his blade.
"I take it that you didn't like my candies of the underworld!"
"They were but stupid drugs. I only managed to die in a shameful way…"
"As expected of the Silver Bullet, Akai Shuucihi! Best sniper of the FBI!"
"Have no time for your memes!" Needle Man grumbled.
"LSD Man! Did you enjoy the feeling of my triple LSD shot?"
"Don't distort things! "Dark Chips" aren't LSD!"
"I take it that you're busy packing up to flee to another world, Clark!"
"Flee! Like I would… I'm readying the real, final battle!"
"They all say the same…"
"Laugh all you want! It won't change anything at this point!"
"Stop ignoring me! Starver!"
"Not giving you the Imperial Feast Lunch Box is not "starving"…"
"Don't expose a lady's intimate secrets! Barbarian from outer space!"
"Tesla! Stop saying nonsense! That man is no alien!"
"What? That's not that Duo thing?"
"What's "Duo"?"
"I told you plenty of times!"
"Sorry, but I don't recall anything about that…"
"Naturally. Only those of us that were on the site remember it…"
"Be it an alien or not, I'll destroy all invading starvers!"
"What's an "invading starver", anyway?"
"Another of the delusions of Frau Magnets, of course…"
"Delusions!? Magnet Man! Blow them up!"
"Reunion…! Black Materia…! Meteor…!"
Magnet Man roared and dashed for the other two Navis.
He formed a small black marble on his right hand.
The area rumbled as a crack formed on the "sky" and flames surged out.
"By all the…"
A huge meteor surrounded by flames was falling from there.
"Plug – Out!"
Both Navis were retrieved as Magnet Man flew away, too.
"There! Magnet Man! Obey me!"
"It's in vain, Tesla! If you use a "Dark Chip", a Navi goes berserk!"
"Magnet Man was supposed to be unaffected!"
"I never said that! It's a fantasy of your own!"
"Why doesn't Plug – Out work, either!?"
"Because it's been split from the PET!"
"Exactly! Maybe I'll customize him like I did with Bishamonten!"
"Why, you…!"
"I'll remake him into the mighty Odin, king of lightning!"
"You'll pay for this! Invading starver!"
The meteor hit the ground and the area was annihilated…
14:57 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Well, Thunder Man?"
"I found logs of Magnet Man running across the southern area…"
"Let's be careful. Could be a distraction…"
"Agreed…"
Thunder Man reported to Raul as he ran across the city streets.
"To think that that rascal was alive and plotting such a stunt…!"
"I know!"
Laugher rang out.
"Found you! Mummy Man!"
"You're not funny! Sword Man!"
Sword Man dropped before Thunder Man and laughed.
"If you lie to yourself, you'll lose track of yourself!" He mocked.
"It's none of your business!"
"Show me your power, Little Cuckoo Compression Method!"
Thunder Man slapped his face, defeated.
Raul bit his nails, frustrated.
"How the hell do you know THAT!?" Both growled.
"Because I am also an expert at spying, mighty Masked Thunder!"
"Clark!" Both growled.
"I sent a reminder to Densanville and Bishamonten, too…"
"What the hell is "Densanville", anyway?"
"Must be a parody of "Baskerville"… The hound of Baskerville…"
"Means to say that Enzan is a hound on his trail, I take it!"
"Of the Densanville family, that is!"
"Very funny!"
"By the way! Didn't you have a score to settle with Bright Man?"
"What? True! Where's that little sparkling runt? Needs a lesson!"
"Chance! Thunder Beam!"
Thunder Man attacked Sword Man and hit him.
"Why, you…! Rotten mummy!"
"You're the rotten mummy!"
"Rotten Mummy vs Rotten Mummy! A rotten match!"
"No way! Lord Gladiator!" Sword Man gasped.
"Don't look away! Thunderbolt!"
"Fool!"
Sword Man set his blade as a lightning rod and flew away.
"Elec Grip, Load!"
Thunder Man stepped forwards.
"Elec Beam!"
He shot a beam at the blade and overloaded it, destroying it.
"No way!"
"You're outdated, Rusten Blade!"
"Go, Thunder Man!"
"Spiral Sword!"
The two blades on his back flew out and began to spin.
They headed for Thunder Man, but he simply jumped.
They met each other and bounced away.
"What?"
"I see. This fool has a mix of both "Darkloid" and "Asteroid" data…"
"And must think that this is a different battle…"
"This isn't the abandoned department store, Cerberus!"
"What? True! What was I…?"
"Damn. Guess that it needs calibration to tell which battle is which…"
"That happens because you're lazy and rush it up! Clark!"
"Whatever! Doesn't matter by now!"
"Did you notice that Enzan is about to cut your cloak to pieces?"
"What! Densanville! Eat this!"
"Chance! Program Advance! Vulcan, Triple Slot In!"
"Infinite Vulcan!"
Thunder Man formed the weapon and hit Sword Man with it.
He roared and was deleted as Thunder Man glanced behind.
"Let's leave before another nasty surprise comes for us…"
"Agreed!"
They left the area as Snake Man became visible, smirking.
"If I could bring one of those to Ms. Millionaire, she'd rejoice…!"
He rubbed his hands, excited.
"Damn it! Little Cuckoo! You tricked me! You'll pay for this, and…!"
"Let's flee…"
He became invisible and snuck away.
"Damn them all! I'll have them pay for this!"
The villain growled under his breath…
16:07 PM (Japan Time)…
"… I'm beaten! Having to deal with that Drill Man fool…!"
"You needn't tell me. Cold Man was persistent…!"
Enzan and Raika returned to the Net Police HQ and sat down.
They were beaten.
"At least Netto has momentarily forgotten what happened…"
"Maybe it's for the best… But we must catch that man, too…"
"Inukai…! Reeked of trouble from when we first met, but to that point…"
"More like Clark incentivized him!"
"Sure thing…"
Their PETs began to charge as well.
"… What about Magnet Man, Blues?"
"Is running amok across the world… Can't keep track of his location!"
Blues and Search Man were going over their progress, too.
"I was thinking… Clark likes dramatics. Maybe that's a lie, too?"
"The part about using the "Dark Chip" that they used on me? Could be!"
"Good point, Blues. I don't see why he would bother with that…"
"Say. Cold Man was yelling about a battle of compression methods…"
"Naturally. Forget it, was a shameful episode on my part…!"
"Same. I don't want to be reminded of what happened in that mine…"
"Lord Enzan. A call from Ms. Millionaire…"
"What? Millionaire? What does she want after all this time?"
"Unknown, sir…"
"Tell her to call another day! I'm busy with business!"
"Notified, sir…"
"Millionaire… A rich woman that lives in Ameroupe, yes?"
"Sure. Remember Zoan Snake Man? Her Navi is Snake Man…"
"I see. The Snake Man of our world already existed…"
"Good job!"
"Commissioner, sir!"
Kifune and Manabe walked in, and both stood up to salute.
"Don't push yourselves, youth!" He ordered.
"Roger, sir!"
"Acknowledged, sir!"
"The others are also working hard. Don't burden it all…"
"Understood, sir…"
"Sir! We have a lead!"
Misaki and Meijin ran in, catching their breath.
"What is it?"
"The "Spectrum" facility ruins, sir!"
"What! KA-222!?" Enzan gasped.
"Satellite imagery reveals that a new tower stands there!"
"You're not going to tell me that Clark wants to repeat that!"
"You never know. We can't take anything for granted…"
"Fair point, Raika…"
"We asked the Navy to check it out as well…"
"Good idea. The footage might have been falsified, after all…"
"I have an acquaintance there as well. He'll help verify it…"
"Excellent, Meijin…"
"WANTED notices for the "Neo WWW" members have been issued…"
"How did they escape from detention, anyway?"
"Easy. It was during the peak of the Zoanoroid invasion…"
"A Zoanoroid attacked the prison and several inmates escaped…"
"Odd. Why would they bother?" Raika wondered.
"They claimed that we'd captured one of their comrades…"
"I see… Clark must've circulated that lie…" Enzan realized.
"It was a Zoanoroid named Zoan Kendo Man…"
"According to records, it was defeated some days later…"
"True. It says that Yuriko and Princess Pride fought it…"
"Unless that was a fake that Clark made to blame them for the mess…"
"Good point. But why wasn't search for them carried out afterwards?"
"We'd liked to, but the "Professor" started his plots and as such…"
"Also… At some point, the prison reported that they had come back…"
"The JSDF found them trying to sneak into a base and steal a patrol boat!"
"But I guess that that episode was lie?"
"Yes. Because we asked them, and they all said that never happened…"
"Devil. Clark used the confusion to manipulate information…"
"Given how, back then, they were amnesiac and lacked tools…"
"They weren't deemed to be top priority, either…"
"At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if the man stirred up the invaders!"
"Same. Maybe he'll claim to pull the strings behind the scenes…"
"Lord Enzan. A call from Thunder Man, sir…"
"Maybe they found something… Connect it!"
"Greetings!"
"What! You're… Snake Man!?"
Snake Man appeared onscreen instead of Thunder Man.
He was smirking and rubbing his hands, amused.
"You bastard! What have you done to my comrade?" Blues hissed.
"I told him that a Darkloid had intruded our Navi Museum, see…"
"And you trapped him in that stupid "Survival Seven" game!"
"Stupid? I don't decide that. Ms. Millionaire does…"
"And wants me to negotiate with her using a hostage?"
"Hostage? It's a bargain chip…"
"You sure have the guts to say it front of the Net Police top officers…"
"What!? Net Police!?" He gasped.
"Tell Millionaire to show her face! I have something to tell her!"
"Unfortunately, she's in a business meeting…"
"Really. Well then, do I send the local Net Police to raid her?"
"On what grounds?"
"Abducting a civilian collaborator of the Net Police!"
"Civilian collaborator!? Wasn't that the guardian of the downtown?"
"Your information network has degraded over time, I take it…"
"Shut up! You're in no position to…!"
"Your owner might be rich, but she's not above the law!"
"To begin with. Did she order you that, or did you act on your own?"
"T-that doesn't matter at this point!"
He became annoyed and brought up both fists, hissing.
"Instead of that, why don't you learn Snake-Tongue? Ivory Snake…"
A voice laughed on Snake Man's end of the line.
"Who…!? How did you get there!?"
"That's… Clark!" Everyone gasped.
"Impossible! You died when your nuclear reactor blew up!"
"What? I never said that. Did some kid on SNS deceive you, Ivory?"
"My name is Snake Man, not Ivory Snake!"
"It's the fate of the snake bloodline! Fight me, Brother!"
"You're asking for it! Snake Arrow!"
He formed three small, purple snakes that hovered above each.
They shot forward, offscreen, but they hit glass and shattered it.
"Borrowed Ose's mirror setup from the Mirror Dome!"
"Ose…? You mean Beast Man…" Enzan sighed.
"Snake Arrow! Random Pounding!"
More "Snake Arrows" formed and shot in a row, shattering a mirror.
"Too bad. That's also a mirror! It says that your madam is not the fairest!"
"What nonsense is that!?"
"That must be a joke on the tale Snow white and the seven dwarves…"
"Snake Buster!"
He drew his hands and they morphed into snake heads.
They opened their mouths to reveal muzzles inside of them.
He shot offscreen but another mirror shattered.
"Princess Pixy is the fairest! The fiancée of the Demi-Fiend!"
"Meiru – chan isn't Netto – kun's fiancée…!"
Meijin gripped his face with his fingers, exasperated.
"Why, you…! Snake Bite!"
Snake Man hid inside of his jar, and it titled to aim forward.
He shot his body forward, off-screen.
He munched something and Clark laughed.
"My! The Snake Eater can bite!"
"Brag on! Snake Buster!"
The pot moved off-screen, and the fight ensued there.
"By the way! What you caught was a dummy that I placed!"
"What!?"
"I knew that it was odd for the real one to fall for such a lie…"
"Yes, sir… I managed to contact him, and he confirmed that…"
"Then what was the point of that!?" Snake Man growled.
"To have a battle of snakes!"
"Why, you…!"
"Blame Major Zero for his crazed idea!"
"I don't care! I'll bust you!"
"Try it, Ivory!"
"Snake Man! What's this fuss!? What did you do!? The police came!"
"M-my lady! T-that's… Well…"
Millionaire scolded him over the radio, and he gasped.
"YOU NEED SOME LESSONS ON WHAT YOUR ROLE IS!" She yelled.
"Y-yes, milady…! By your orders…!"
"See you, Ivory! THE BOSS will teach you what a real warrior is!"
"DAMN YOU, INTRUDER!"
"Liquid Snake! Don't forget it, Ivory!"
Snake Man was retrieved and Clark chuckled offscreen.
"Too bad that Solidus cannot fight and Solid is unknown whereabouts!"
"I don't care for your nicknames, Clark!"
"What, you were still there? Little Cuckoo Inc. Vice-President?"
Enzan bit his fingernails, frustrated.
"And Red Mask, Winner of the Yelling Contest of Ameroupe?"
Blues slapped his face, exasperated.
"Maybe you need lessons from Rufus Shinra on how to be a strong VP!"
"Don't involve that man…!" Meijin sighed.
"The blood of the connoisseur is boiling, I take it! Jinmei!"
"Meijin! Not "Jinmei"!"
"I guess that you sniffed the "Darkness Tower" by now… I'll be there!"
"Clark…!"
"I don't care what you tell those two to bring them over. Anything works!"
He laughed and warped out of the system as the call ended.
"What nerves…!" Kifune cursed.
"Let's wait until Netto recovers. Then we'll decide our next move…"
"Better tell the others to come train over at the MOS…"
"I'll ready the simulator…" Meijin confirmed.
"But we'll ready a trump card, too…" Misaki added.
He clenched a fist in resolution…