17:17 PM (Japan Time), Tuesday May the 6th…
"… Good afternoon!"
"Welcome!"
Netto stepped into Maha Ichiban's that afternoon.
He wore a typical middle school uniform with buttons.
He had long trousers.
He sported his usual orange sneakers.
He carried his school briefcase as well.
He sat down on a chair before the counter.
He left the Link PET on the counter.
"A Maha Special!" He announced.
"Yes, sir! Right away!"
Dekao ran out of the kitchen and leant towards Netto, surprising him.
"Spit it out, Netto!" He yelled.
"…"Spit it out"… What?" Netto frowned.
"Why can Meiru – chan do "Cross Fusion" and I can't!?"
"Dekao…" Maha grumbled.
"Answer me!"
"How many times do I need to say it? "Cross Fusion" needs good "Synchronism" between Navi and Operator! Good teamwork is needed!"
"Bu our teamwork is unbeatable! I could easily beat Fire Man and co.!"
"That was because they were toying with you by losing on purpose and making you believe that you'd become stronger!"
"You broke the dishes and burnt the curry. We ran into deficit! And you mistook the delivery addresses!" Maha confirmed.
"No way, Master!"
"Do something useful instead!"
"But…!"
"Do you want to face my anger!?"
"N-no, Master!"
Dekao ran into the kitchen as if he was going to be slaughtered alive.
Both Netto and Maha rolled their eyes and sighed in defeat.
"He needs more lessons from his brother on not being too greedy!"
"Agreed!"
The door opened.
"Welcome!"
"A Maha Special…"
"Why. It's Miyabi…"
"I did expect to meet you here…"
Miyabi dully walked in and sat down next to Netto.
"Did anything happen ever since Saturday?"
"Nothing major. The usual chaff fighting other chaff…"
"How frustrating! Having to stay tense, waiting for their next move…!"
"That's how it's been these last two years, hasn't it?"
"I know, but… One ends up weary from it!"
"Maybe those two clowns were preferable to that man, even…"
"Blackbeard and Chirol, right? What became of them?"
"Wily introduced them to a job as Animal Farm cleansing staff…"
"Guess that after toying with that prototype, they learnt the lesson…"
"Insofar. Wily keeps tabs on them, too…"
"Also… Bubble Man. Where is he and what is he doing?"
"We found him trying to sell those "Mini Roids"…"
"Well. If that's it, then he doesn't pose real harm…"
"No. But we'll keep tabs on the man nevertheless…"
"Maybe he becomes a spy…" Shadow Man warned.
"Fair point. Let's be careful… What about Element Man?"
"They found him a couple of days after that rampage and was caught!"
"Fine. Then he won't rampage anymore…"
"Sorry for the wait!"
Maha brought the dishes.
"Wonderful! I'll have it!"
Netto attacked the curry right away.
"Netto – kun! You're now a middle school student! Show manners!"
"My heart hasn't changed yet!"
"Don't complain afterwards if they scold you over the homework…"
"Man! I'm doing it!"
"You are. But don't become lax!"
"You're strict, Boss!"
"I'm not a "Boss"… No need to copy anime characters!"
"Say! Netto! What's the bi-headed hammer?"
"Dunno. Some meme, I guess!"
Dekao leant on the counter to question Netto.
"It's not some trick to become a mighty warrior?"
"One doesn't become mighty out of "tricks"…!"
"Agreed. Maybe you need a sermon about this…" Maha warned.
Dekao gulped and ran back inside the kitchen.
"If only he focused on the tasks…! Guts!" Guts Man sighed.
"I know! Life would be easier!"
The door opened.
"Welcome!"
"Hi, Netto! A Maha Special!"
"Right away!"
Meiru, wearing a typical middle school uniform, came in.
It was a "sailor suit" with a blouse, a handkerchief, and a skirt.
She wore black leggings and her usual red shoes.
She also carried her school briefcase.
She sat to Netto's left.
"I hardly remember half of today's lessons… Don't you feel the same?"
"Sure… Can't be helped, given this tension…"
"Do you feel alright, Rock?"
"I do, Roll – chan. But, like everyone else, I'm concerned…"
"No wonder. After those two big incidents in a row…"
"That man's deep-rooted delusions are dangerous…"
"You needn't tell me…! He was insidious!"
"Fortunately, we could thwart his "backup plans"…"
"Upon further investigation, they were but bluffs…"
"Feels like he'd descended to the level of a scammer, even…"
"Did you figure out about "that man" that Clark replaced?"
"Wily had a hunch but lacked data to confirm it… He's searching for it…"
"But maybe it's better to not to pry too deeply…"
"Agreed. It might be a Pandora's Box that keeps a calamity away from us!"
"A Pandora's Box, is it…? Could be, true…"
"Kept you waiting!"
"Thanks!"
Meiru calmly ate her curry.
"You know what? Fearing that jerk is what they want. We must stop!"
"Well said, Netto! I was tired of eroding energies due to that!"
"Let's focus on the day-to-day routine. That's for the best!"
"Agreed. If something happens, it happens. That's it…"
Maha, working on the curry, glanced behind and smiled at them.
"Wise idea. You have a full life ahead of you. Enjoy it…"
"Leave those topics to us and disconnect for a while…"
"Sorry for the hassle, Miyabi…"
"It's nothing. That's the role of adults…"
"Alright! I want another ration!"
"You won't change! But don't eat 20 of them!"
"I know, I know! I'll work to be more moderate!"
"That's the spirit!"
"Thanks!"
18:02 PM (Japan Time)…
"… It took time, but your efforts paid off. Misaki – kun…"
"Yes, Dr. Hikari. Thank you for giving me another chance, sir…"
"It must have taken a lot of courage on your part, too…"
"Yes, sir. I hesitated for a long time…"
Misaki and Yuuichirou were chatting in the MOS cafeteria.
They each had a teacup before them.
"I'm sure that you'll do great feats with your skills!"
"Your praise me too much, sir. I am still a newbie, sir!" He laughed.
"Modesty is also important, yes. But don't be too strict, either…"
"I know, sir. That's the hard part, sir. Finding the right balance…"
"I know! I'm not one to lecture others!" He nervously laughed.
"Mind if I join, sir?"
"Meijin! Go ahead…"
"Thank you. If you won't mind, Officer…"
"Call me Misaki. We're going to interact often from now on…"
"Alright. Looking forward to working together, Misaki…"
Meijin joined them and shook hands with Misaki.
"How is it going with Makoto – kun, Meijin?"
"Well… We meet sometimes to design improvements to systems…"
"Don't worry. I don't want to butt into a personal level…"
"Thank you, sir. Well. We do what we can…"
"Good. If you can help me with that software debug, too…"
"Delighted, sir…"
Yuuichirou's phone vibrated, and he drew it.
"Excuse me…"
He stood up and walked over to the opposite side of the space.
"Hello? It's me…"
"Dear. You forgot a CD at home again…" Haruka giggled.
"Dear me! Hence why I didn't find it…!"
He slapped his forehead, exasperated.
"I really aren't someone to lecture others…!"
"Now, now. Don't be so pessimistic… I'll leave it on your desk!"
"Sorry for the hassle…"
"Don't worry, dear. Take it easy…"
"While we're at it… Am I forgetting another item in the agenda?"
"The birthday of our sons! June 10th!"
"Dear! For some reason, I thought that it was in July!"
"You should really make more use of that agenda…"
"You're right, as always…! I have a bad habit of burying it under files!"
"Keep things tidy and in order, else you won't find them… Bye!"
"See you later…"
He ended the call and pocketed the phone.
He sighed, blushed, and scratched his head.
"Man! I really need to work out on improving my habits…"
He shook his head and sighed in resignation.
"Alright. Meijin! We'll begin by tying up the office!"
"Roger, sir!"
19:14 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Impressive! Didn't think that these Chips were this useful!"
"Don't underestimate them because they're not for direct attack!"
"Thanks, Jasmine!"
"You're welcome, Dingo!"
Jasmine and Dingo talked inside of a diner somewhere.
She showed him footage of Meddy using different battle styles.
"Now that'll be useful to deal with Viruses!"
"Sure! But don't neglect healing Chips, either!" Meddy told him.
"Don't worry. I always have a stock of them at hand…"
"That's wise! You never know when you'll need them…"
"If you need Chip advice, an expert has come!"
"Mr. Higure. Talk about a funny coincidence…"
Higure met up with them, confident.
"Don't start a mess, Yamitarou…"
"Don't worry! The muse of wisdom is on my side…!"
"There we go again…"
"You sure have it hard, man!"
"Keep strict tabs on him!"
"My pleasure!"
"Why am I painted like I am an evildoer?"
"Because you've done plenty of shameful things…"
Higure gulped and nervously sweated.
"I recalled a minor business…! Goodbye!"
He ran off as if they were going to scold him.
"There he goes!" Dingo sighed.
"I see why Netto said that he can be an oddball…"
"Excuse me. Did you see Mr. Higure?"
"It's Miss Shuuko! He was there, but left…"
Kido walked up to them and looked around.
"I must have cast misfortune on him again…"
"No. More like he was about to start a mess…"
"I need to go to the shrine and buy a fortune slip…"
"Does that make you grow, Sis?" Aqua Man asked.
"I don't know…"
She left before the others could argue against it.
"Those two sure are opposite poles…"
"I know…"
"Anyway. I'll resume training. I don't want to fall behind…"
"Sure… I must also study more to become a true herbalist…"
"Let's have a toast!"
"Sure!"
They lifted their glasses and had a toast.
"Let's work together from now on as well, Meddy!"
"Delighted, Tomahawk Man!"
They shook hands.
"And let's hope that Dingo doesn't get lost again…"
"That'll be hard! But do your best!"
19:21 PM (Japan Time)…
"… I'm surprised that you kept your cool there, Tesla…"
"I vented out by taking out the trash!"
"I see!"
"And? What became of the invading starver?"
"Unknown. Wouldn't surprise me if he shows up again…"
Tesla and Airstar were having dinner together in the garden of a manor.
"Surprised that you could regain possession of your dad's manor…"
"I know business! I used a paper company to rebuy it!"
"Charlie… One day they'll catch you as accomplice, you know…"
"Guess that!"
"Why don't you quit before it happens?"
"Someone needs to keep tabs on her…"
"Agreed…" Magnet Man sighed.
"How is the wine like, my sweetie?"
Gauss, in a butler outfit, walked over to her, carrying a wine bottle.
"Wonderful. Glad to see that they didn't find your hidden cellar…"
"I was fortunate!" Gauss laughed.
"More like they were more concerned with other things…"
"Such as his collection of dresses for cross-dressing!"
Gauss gasped and looked away, ashamed.
"This is going to be a pain…" Gyro Man sighed.
"Have to agree…" Magnet Man sighed, too.
Airstar sighed, Gauss chuckled, and Tesla laughed…
19:28 PM (Japan Time)…
"… I'm beaten! These training sessions are demanding…"
"I know that they are, but it's necessary…"
"Nothing like a good hot bath to shake it off…!"
"I know…"
Enzan and Raika, dressed in dark blue yukata, talked.
They sat in massage chairs of a hotel and had a towel over the shoulders.
"That reminds me of when Dingo and I explored "Beyondard"…"
"How was it like?"
"We met an odd old man that invited us to things but didn't pay…"
"A scammer?"
"Thought so, at first. Turned out to be a skilled Operator…"
"Curious…"
"And it was thanks to him that we found Netto and the others…"
"We hadn't talked much about what happened there, true…"
"We should compare records one day…" Search Man suggested.
"Why not… We might find hints of things that the foe could use…"
"Let's do it somewhere where Miss Strawberry won't hinder us…"
"Is it what they call "a fated rival"?"
"Guess that. But I can deal with it… Preferable to thugs…"
"Agreed…"
"Training is good, but let's not overdo it either…"
"I know. Let's go to the sea one day to disconnect…"
"I approve!"
19:51 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Well, Father? Did you find something?"
"I did. A diary that I kept in my "WWW" base…"
"I see. And Clark didn't know about it…"
"Likely not. I found the evidence that I needed here…"
Wily and Yuriko were talking as he went over a worn-down journal.
The place was Wily's living space beneath Onibi Island.
"Spring, 2009… Maha Jarama brought an Influenza vaccine…"
"There was a local outburst back then, true…"
"But I asked Maha Jarama, and he didn't recall doing that…"
"Devil. That must have been Clark…"
"Let's keep what I'm going to bring up between the two of us…"
"Sure. I sent Needle Man to patrol and activated airplane mode…"
"Clark was indeed a usurper and a liar… The real "Probe" was…"
He tensed and trailed off, sighing.
"… Regal…"
Yuriko gasped and opened her eyes wide.
"True…! Regal…! I had forgotten him altogether until now!"
"Same happened to me… Clark sealed our memories of him!"
"To pretend that Regal didn't exist…!"
"Yes! And going by the data that you saw on that tower…"
"He injected nanomachines to all that would interact with him…"
"Be it directly or indirectly…"
"How insidious!"
"I know. Which is what made this man so frightening…"
"Which means that all that Clark did until the day of judgement was…"
"What Regal would have originally done…"
"Makes you wonder why that Kanou Shade man kept silent about it…"
"Maybe he considered that if he tried to, Regal would die…"
"Fair point. But that means that Regal meant to backstab me, too…"
"The man was too arrogant… I'm not one to talk, though…"
"I know. To sum it up: everything about Clark is a lie!"
"Maybe he really was a spy from another nation…"
"Or an invader from another dimensional like "Beyondard"…"
"Given how my "self from another world" attempted that, then…"
"It's not illogical. Especially after dealing with Duo and time travel…"
"I'd be wary of relying too much on "Kanou Shade", too…"
"True. Hard to tell if he's a detective or not…"
"And his agenda is unknown apart from his feud with Clark, too…"
"Makes you wonder where he found a programmer to help him, too…"
"I have a hunch that it's not your average hacker of the dark net…"
"At this point, nothing can surprise me more than Duo…"
"Fair point… But remember to keep this between us…"
"Sure. I'll come up with some tale such as the man deleting records…"
"That will do. But there's the possibility of Regal resurfacing…"
"And we'll have to see what he does. If he is aware of it, though…"
"That will be the main issue, yes…"
Both became silent and a heavy silence lingered…
20:03 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Well? Did you make progress on your end, Kanou?"
"Somewhat. I'll probably be able to chase Clark beyond that crack…"
"Following the rules of our business, I won't ask further questions…"
"Good. I won't, either…"
Kanou was working on something with a laptop.
He wore a black suit, a blue tie, a white shirt, black pants, and shoes.
A grey raincoat was hanging from a perch along with a brown hat.
"I helped in what we could with the base for your program, Mr. "S"…"
"I know. I am aware that you're not an expert. Thanks, anyway…"
"Once I find someone that can help me, we'll progress further…"
"I'll be looking forward to that…"
"Surprised that you managed to escape that man's radar…"
"As I told you, we are "inmates" of a huge, hidden prison…"
"And that you needed several proxies to contact me…"
"It's easy to observe. But sending data is harder…"
"Alright. I won't ask further questions…"
"Sorry. I tend to track off. I'm the one who should be stricter…"
"Nobody is perfect…"
"I am aware…"
Some data displayed onscreen and Kanou narrowed his eyes.
"I guess that I'll leave for a little trip for a while…"
"I see. Good hunting…"
"Thank you. We'll meet again…"
20:42 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Alright. I have everything ready for tomorrow's lessons…"
"Glad that you are serious about school, Netto…"
"After all we've gone through, it's preferable to everything else…"
"Fair point. We've been forced to grow, after all…"
Netto was finishing readying his things.
He'd already changed his usual pajamas and loosened his hair.
The PET was set on the charger.
He sat on the chair before the desk and stretched his arms.
"I'm done being tense forever. Let's enjoy life!"
"That's the spirit!"
"Before I knew it, it's been two years since we met…"
"I know! It's been quite the "adventure"!"
"True… Going to brush my teeth!"
Netto stood up and left the room.
Rock Man smiled and checked the email.
"Nothing odd. I purged the spam inbox, too…"
He checked the system through several interactive screens.
"Nothing unusual, either!"
Netto returned and sat on the bed, yawning.
"OK! Good night!"
"Good night!"
He turned off the lights and cast the blankets over himself…
THE END