Old Friends: Hu/AA *Beast Spoilers*

[Midnight]

Ooh, quite interesting chapter you have set up here. Somehow, I never envisaged Netto as a hacker, but it's good to see that he can pull his own weight on a team and have a specialty besides just busting viruses. Having him be able to show up Beef and his team was an added bonus, and was quite flavorful for the chapter.

Good work.
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[Kitty-Chan]

Oh yeah! Go Netto! This is a fun fic.
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Need more Zero/X, Netto/Rock, Rock/Netto, Forte/Netto, & Blues/Netto. PLEASE!
Ano sa...could someone please make me a Zero/X, Blues/Netto, or Forte/Netto avatar/banner? I would greatly appreciate it...
Thanks for the avatar, Mandi!
People! We need more Blues/Netto & Forte/Netto on the net. Come on; help me out here! *gives everyone her Super-Adorable Irrisistable Sad Kitty Eyes(TM)*

[Neko]

“So,” Netto said slowly while looking at the ceiling. “A benefit ball, and… what?”

“We can’t get in without tickets,” Commander Beef mused.

Enzan sighed at the obvious insinuation. “I’ll worry about that. I think what Netto meant was how are we going to disguise ourselves so that we’re not noticed.”

“Put me in a dress and die,” Netto growled softly so that only Enzan and Laika could hear. Both boys gave odd little smiles and nodded their agreement. This wasn’t the right mission for something like that and it wasn’t fair to Netto.

“Well, it’s not a masquerade ball, but a benefit ball,” Commander Beef said.

“Thanks for clearing that up,” Enzan sighed. “What about it?”

Commander beef ignored the stab and went on. “Well, Enzan-kun, you have the best position of all of us. Going as the CEO of IPC will give you the cover of publicity for your company.

Enzan suppressed a groan. He hated charity drives of any kind. They were dull and filled with people who were more interested in lining their pockets then for the better good. “All right,” he said, tight lipped. “I’ll go, but I need backup.”

Netto caught his drift. “You don’t want to be alone,” he chuckled softly. “Do you?”

“Boring parties with boring people,” Enzan muttered back under his breath. “You tell me.”

Netto chuckled and raised his hand. “I’ll go with Enzan. I’ve already been to two parties with him to help him get through the boredom.”

“How do you go?” Saloma asked.

“I usually go under the guise of Sci Labs and my father’s name. Though people tend to realize I’m there for moral support,” Netto teased, earning himself a punch in the arm.

“Shut up,” Enzan growled.

Netto shrugged, “You know it’s true. And there’s nothing wrong with that because you fail to realize that you are still 13 years old. You don’t need to carry the world on your shoulders, Enzan.”

Commander Beef, Miyuki and Saloma looked impressed at his speech. Laika remained passive as if he had heard the argument many times before and Enzan merely sighed. “All right, fine. It’s a mission anyway.”

“Okay, so we have our active roles. What else?” Commander Beef asked, looking at Laika and wondering what kind of job he did. He wasn’t sure of what Laika’s purpose was as he didn’t know the boy very well so he was going to take this opportunity to find out.

“I’m in surveillance and communications,” Laika answered coolly. “I usually make sure that no one suspects anything and that any messages that are being sent are in confidence.”

“Then we will be working together,” Miyuki said quietly. “That’s what Skullman and I do.”

Laika looked her over. He had seen her navi and knew he was strong and he knew that beneath her quiet exterior must lie something that made her what she was. He knew not to judge her strength and most of all, she was quiet. He nodded and she nodded in reply, knowing full well that the other was aware of something of deeper meaning. Miyuki, knowing about Commander Beef and Laika knowing about Netto. Maybe their partnership would yield to more information.

“Commander Beef and I will set up a communications van outside,” Saloma said kindly, but in a firm voice. “We’ll be in charge of getting messages across and warning you guys about danger. Commander Beef,” she said with a slight snap, “will provide assistance if needed, okay?”

“All right,” Commander Beef sulked. He was so close but he didn’t get to be part of the under cover group. He was going to sulk but as long as he did it in private he knew that Saloma and Miyuki wouldn’t care.

“I’ll get the tickets,” Enzan said. “Netto, can you scan that E-mail again, just to make sure there wasn’t anything that was triggered or some underlying message?”

Netto nodded, “All right but if we haven’t found anything else yet I doubt we will.”

Enzan gave him a mysterious smile. “Call it a hunch,” he said and left the room to make his arrangements.

“Hunch, hunch,” Netto muttered, “yeah and that always means I end up sitting in front of a damn computer screen for hours.”

“He’s usually right,” Rockman pointed out.

“Not helping!” Netto announced.

A faint grin played on Laika’s lips. “The sooner you start the sooner you’ll get done.”

Netto glared at him, “Cute,” he muttered and picked up his PET. “Fine, I’ll go scan it again just to make sure. Laika, can you get me a copy of the IP addresses we found on her computer? I have an idea about how to track future messages but I need them.”

“I’ll try,” Laika answered. “But they changed pretty quickly.”

“Look in the computer log,” Netto said dismissively. “Shouldn’t be too hard to find them,” he replied with a grin and left the room.

Laika crossed his arms, “Yeah and I’m not anywhere near your skill of computer hacking,” he muttered as the door closed.

“He makes it sound so easy,” Commander Beef chucked as he walked over to the computer. He typed a few keys and pulled up a black faced log with white print. “I’ll find the addresses, can you go check on Enzan?” he asked Laika kindly.

“You know how to do this?” Laika asked dubiously.

“This old man still has his tricks,” Commander Beef said flamboyantly.

Laika shook his head and left the room in search on Enzan. He still wasn’t sure what to make of the older man. Sometimes he was as obnoxious as Netto and sometimes he showed brief glimpses of a man whose age had gotten him much experience. Who he really was, Laika still didn’t know and it bothered him. Not being able to read his personality was difficult. It reminded him of Netto, who he still didn’t know completely. Rockman was probably the only one with that privilege.

“Commander Beef?” Miyuki asked.

“Let’s get these IP’s and send them to Netto-kun,” he said with a grin. “I’d like to see what else that kid’s learned over these past months.”

Saloma smiled and turned on the computer next to his. “Show me where you find them and I’ll put them in a document,” she stated.

“There we go,” Commander Beef said happily.

Miyuki watched silently, memorizing each IP as it came on the screen. Who knew when such information would come into use?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RAWR! Okay... this was just something to help me relax, sorry for the suckage
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[Midnight]

Don't worry so much about it sucking--it's very hard to drive your readers away, even if you're not in the best of moods.

Anyway, nice little chapter you have there. It will be quite intriguing to see how Laika interacets with Miyuki--the latter being a character denied a lot of development in the stream of the plots of both the anime and games. The same goes with Saloma, but she's not dealing with a character that has taken center stage. Still, I'm tempted to think that you will not leave her out.

Here's hoping that you feel better now.
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[Unknown Neo]

It's very interesting. I like to see how the two groups work together.

[Kitty-Chan]

I concur with Midnight & Neo; it will be most interesting to see if Netto can get through this ordeal without revealing the link.
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Need more Zero/X, Netto/Rock, Rock/Netto, Forte/Netto, & Blues/Netto. PLEASE!
Ano sa...could someone please make me a Zero/X, Blues/Netto, or Forte/Netto avatar/banner? I would greatly appreciate it...
Thanks for the avatar, Mandi!
People! We need more Blues/Netto & Forte/Netto on the net. Come on; help me out here! *gives everyone her Super-Adorable Irrisistable Sad Kitty Eyes(TM)*

[Neko]

“Hey!” Commander Beef announced his entrance into the room with a loud greeting.

Netto leaned back until he was gazing at the older man upside down. He grinned and nodded, “Hey!” he replied.

“I’ve got the addresses you wanted,” Commander Beef told him, holding up a slip of paper and grinning.

Netto nodded and took the piece of paper. “All right,” he said and glanced down at it. “Let’s see if Enzan’s hunch was right, if it’s not then he’s going to owe me ice-cream for a month.”

“Netto-kun,” Rockman sighed.

Netto shrugged and began to manually put in several other IP addresses into the computer. “What are you doing?” Commander Beef asked, intrigued by what Netto was doing.

“Sometimes, if an e-mail is ran through a different IP address while it’s being sent then half the e-mail can come to one place and half can go to another place,” Netto explained.

“But the e-mail looked fine to me,” Commander Beef mused.

“Well, if it was done on purpose, then yeah, it would,” Rockman continued. “If Guy knows how to send messages like that, then half of the information could be sent in one e-mail and half in the other to a different place. It’s a form of security.”

“And?” Commander Beef asked.

“We have to find it,” Netto sighed. “But this lady has hundreds of IP addresses, finding the rest of the message is going to take more luck then anything else.”

“And poor you sitting in front of a computer screen,” Rockman teased.

“Not appreciated,” Netto muttered.

Rockman chuckled, “If we don’t get anything in a few hours we’ll stop. Okay?”

Netto nodded and continued to type. “This may take awhile,” he warned Commander Beef. “And it’s not exactly the most thrilling thing in the world.”

Commander Beef nodded, “I’ll come back in a few hours.”

Netto nodded and yawned loudly. “All right. Tell Enzan he better have something good for dinner after this is done.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him,” Commander Beef replied with a smile and left the room. He went to the lounge where Enzan and Laika were both sitting typing softly on their computers. He relayed the message to Enzan who waved it off with a shrug but somehow Commander Beef knew that he had taken the words to heart.

Laika sighed, “He’s never going to finish his report at this rate,” he mentioned off handedly.

Enzan shrugged again and Commander Beef wondered why he even brought it up in the first place.

Two and a half hours later, a very tired looking Netto came into the room and collapsed tiredly on the couch, putting his head in Laika’s lap and earning himself a light warning glare from the older boy which he completely ignored. He sighed and held up a small disc, “You were right.”

Enzan smiled lightly and took the disc. “I usually am,” he replied in a teasing tone.

“Shut up and read it,” Netto growled. “I just spent three hours finding it so you better be grateful.”

“Don’t take too long,” Rockman said quietly. “We still need to fill out the report we promised Manabe-san.”

Netto groaned and curled up as if it would somehow keep him from having to do the work. Laika touched Netto on the head and Netto looked up curiously. “Just this once,” he said quietly.

Netto grinned and closed his eyes. “Thanks,” he said softly.

Suddenly, Commander Beef knew what Laika meant. He had planned to write Netto’s report all along. He realized at that moment how close the three were as a team, able to predict what may come out and how to help one another to keep the stress to a minimum. He, Saloma and Miyuki worked very much the same way.

Enzan read the e-mail and let himself grin. “I knew it.”

Netto sighed, his eyes still closed. “Yeah, you knew it. Now shut up, I don’t feel like hearing your victory lecture today.”

Enzan raised an eyebrow but didn’t retaliate. He knew Netto was tired and picking a fight with him when he was like that wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

Commander Beef chuckled, “A year ago you would have…” he started.

Enzan stood up suddenly, interrupting him. “I’m aware of what I was like a year ago. I do not need it shoved in my face every three seconds.”

Commander Beef held up his hands in a pacifist gesture. “No harm,” he commented.

Enzan didn’t even reply and put the disc into a computer to make a copy and print one out.

“What does it say?” Miyuki asked softly as she came into the room. No one asked how she knew because by that time everyone had picked up that the word ‘surprise’ did not exist in her vocabulary.

“The password to get into the meeting was in the first e-mail,” Netto said slowly.

“And?” Saloma asked.

“The password to get into the hallway that leads to the meeting was in the second e-mail,” Rockman concluded. “It was a double security lock. Probably to keep anyone unwanted from entering.”

Commander Beef whistled, “Impressive,” he noted. “Nice job.”

“If you praise him too much it’ll go to his head,” Laika said dryly.

Netto growled but made no move to retaliate. He was exhausted and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that in order to get the information he and Rockman had used the link, probably for a long period of time. Of course, the Net Agents didn’t know this but Enzan and Laika did and they knew better then to point it out.

“Okay, we have all our information,” Enzan said quietly. “All we have to do is wait till tomorrow evening.”

“Think it’ll go smoothly?” Saloma asked.

“As smoothly as we can manage,” Enzan replied. “You two will be there for backup, so if anything should happen it’s not like we’re not prepared.”

“Always be prepared,” Commander Beef chuckled. “Never took you one for a boy scout, Enzan-kun.”

“Shut. Up.” Enzan replied dangerously.

Commander Beef took the hint and stopped teasing the irritable boy.

“Well, I guess it’s time to go home then,” Saloma said in a peppy voice, trying to get everyone to calm down.

Enzan glanced over at Netto then up at Laika. “He’s asleep, isn’t he?”

“About two minutes ago,” Laika replied. He looked unconcerned but Enzan knew better. Enzan shrugged and picked up his PET and left the room saying a quick good bye.

“Are you going to wake him up?” Commander Beef asked.

‘He won’t wake up,’ Laika thought irritably. ‘But you don’t know that and it’s none of your business.’ Out loud he said, “He’s tired so I’ll let him sleep for a bit longer. It’s late and he has school tomorrow so it’s for the best.”

Commander Beef frowned. “He seemed awfully tired,” he noted. “I don’t remember hacking being quite that exhausting.”

Laika shrugged, “Well, he’s been hacking almost the whole time he was here to get the information we needed on top of going to school and the mission he had a few days ago. I’m not surprised.”

Commander Beef looked skeptical and wanted to stay to make sure Netto was alright but Miyuki put and hand on his shoulder and shook her head. “We need to get ready,” she told him. “Let’s go.”

He nodded and followed her and Saloma out of the room leaving it in silence.

Laika let out a slow breath. “You took quite a gamble there,” he told Netto. “Going through the IP addresses like that, how in the hell did you get Rockman to agree to it?”

To his surprise, Netto stirred and opened one eye up a crack. “We knew Enzan was right. And we had to get that information. Besides, we trust you to not let anything happen,” he said cheerfully.

“And now you’re so tired you can barely move,” Laika sighed. “You know your limits but never seem to follow them.”

Netto shrugged, “Well, maybe I don’t need to.”

“That’s foolish,” Laika snapped. He opened his mouth to say more but Netto was already asleep again. Laika sighed and picked him up piggy-back style to take him home. “Moron,” he muttered.

“Worried, Laika-san?” Searchman asked.

“Not in the slightest,” Laika growled as he left the room. “He makes his own decisions.”

“And you’re always there just in case,” Rockman replied from his PET. “You and Enzan.”

Laika sighed, “Go back to sleep, Rockman. The longer you’re awake the longer it takes Netto to get up.”

“I’m going into shut down mode,” Rockman replied. “I need to refill on my energy reserves. Is that okay?”

“It’s fine. I’ll stay to make sure you and Netto get up,” Laika replied. “Just, don’t do that again for awhile, all right? Netto is still human, his body can only take so much.”

“Then you stop him,” Rockman sighed. “I try, but he doesn’t listen,” and with that he went offline to recharge.

“He never does,” Laika muttered. “Ever.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heh XD lookit the concern! And this wasn't intentionally shounen ai-ish, it just kinda... came out that way ^^; I'm too used to fluff writing.

Anywho, next we get to meet the mafia~ yay~
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[Kitty-Chan]

"Yay~" indeed. ^_^ I really enjoy this, & everyone's so dead on character it's amazing. I only wish I could write like you do. Alas, all I'm good for is proofreading & providing big words.
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Need more Zero/X, Netto/Rock, Rock/Netto, Forte/Netto, & Blues/Netto. PLEASE!
Ano sa...could someone please make me a Zero/X, Blues/Netto, or Forte/Netto avatar/banner? I would greatly appreciate it...
Thanks for the avatar, Mandi!
People! We need more Blues/Netto & Forte/Netto on the net. Come on; help me out here! *gives everyone her Super-Adorable Irrisistable Sad Kitty Eyes(TM)*

[Midnight]

The mafia. Oh, the quintessential antagonists...but I digress.

Fluffy as always, Neko. A joy to read and absorb just how close the trio has become, to the point of practically saging each other's needs and work. Clever little ploy used in this one, I might add.
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[Neko]

Netto opened his eyes with a groan. He brought his hand up to his face and rubbed his head while pulling the covers up with his other hand. He heard Rockman shifting around in his computer and sighed heavily.

“You knew it was going to happen,” Rockman told him delicately.

Netto replied by pulling the covers completely over his head and burying his face into his pillow. Rockman shrugged and sat inside the monitor glancing idly at the unopened e-mail in the corner. “Can I talk at least?” he asked his irritable brother.

Netto made some unintelligible sounds but they didn’t sound menacing so Rockman decided to continue. “All right, well, we have an e-mail from papa,” he said and opened the e-mail. “It says ‘Good luck tonight and keep Enzan company, love papa,’ and there is a ticket for you. So we have that taken care of at least.”

Netto nodded underneath his covers and sighed heavily into his pillow. He finally worked up the incentive to at least attempt to get out of bed when he heard a sharp knock at the door. He groaned out something he knew no one would understand and heard Rockman call out to whoever it was to come in.

Enzan walked into Netto’s room with a raised eyebrow. “Under there?” he asked Rockman, pointing at the bed.

Rockman nodded. “Yeah. He’s a little crabby though.”

Enzan looked cross. “Well no wonder…” he muttered.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Netto’s muffled voice said from underneath the comforter.

Enzan sighed and set his PET by Netto’s computer so Blues could visit Rockman. Rockman waved hello as Blues came into the net and they watched together as Enzan tried to get the grumpy brunette to come out from inside his comforter cocoon.

“He was going to come out,” Rockman said softly so only Blues could hear.

Blues glanced at Rockman. “Any particular reason he wants to be difficult?” he asked.

Rockman shrugged. “Well, from what I can feel, a really bad headache. But that’s about it.”

Enzan heard this last part and glanced crossly at the computer. “Well he should have thought about that before he decided to go through several thousand IP addresses with you,” he told Rockman loudly.

“I did it because you had a hunch and we didn’t have time,” Netto protested loudly from underneath the covers.

Enzan sighed and tried to distinguish what was Netto and what was bed by grabbing the corners of the pillow and yanking hard. Netto pulled deeper into the covers and Enzan found his shoulders. “I didn’t mean for you to find it like that,” he growled as he pushed Netto to the edge of the bed.

Netto fought back, although now he was just doing it to mess with Enzan. “Like I said,” he replied. “We didn’t have time.”

Enzan rolled his eyes and managed to push Netto off the bed. Netto tumbled to the floor in a waterfall of sheets, pillows and comforters while Enzan stepped smoothly back. “That doesn’t mean it wasn’t stupid,” he replied.

Netto fished himself out of the pool of bed coverings and stood up. He smiled brightly and nodded. “I know,” he said simply and walked out of his room to get ready.

Enzan sighed and rubbed his head. “Why does he feel the need to annoy me on purpose?” he asked.

Rockman shrugged. “Because he thinks you need to act more like a kid and he thinks that if he acts like a kid around you it will rub off?”

Enzan turned to look at Rockman with a small glare. “Please tell me you’re not serious.”

“Hey, it’s how he thinks, not me,” Rockman said with a grin. “Besides, I can kind of see where he’s coming from. He just wants you to be relaxed, Enzan-san.”

“I am relaxed,” Enzan declared hotly.

Rockman and Blues were both suspiciously silent as Netto came back into his room fully dressed. “Yeah right,” he said while he searched around for his bandana.

“I am,” Enzan insisted.

Netto turned around and looked at Enzan skeptically. “If you can prove to me that you haven’t created some stupid time table to catch up on work because you’re taking today off for the mission then you can tell me you’re relaxed.”

Enzan crossed his arms and glared at Netto. “I fail to see what that has to do with anything.”

Netto grabbed his bandana off his desk and tied back his hair while still glaring at Enzan. “You wouldn’t,” he muttered.

“What’s what supposed to mean?” Enzan asked, obviously scandalized.

“Nothing,” Netto assured him and picked up his PET. “Com’on Rockman,” he said cheerfully and ran out of his room before Enzan had a chance to retaliate.

Enzan watched Netto dash down the stairs and sighed exasperatedly before grabbing his own PET and following Netto down the stairs.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

“Okay, tonight is the night we finally catch them in the act. We will take them down at all costs, no matter what,” Commander Beef said with gusto as he stood at the front of the room. He looked down on his subordinates and Netto, Enzan and Laika, all of whom looked a little disinterested with what he was saying. “Right?” he asked in a quieter tone.

“We will if we leave on time,” Enzan said pointedly.

Netto elbowed Enzan as Commander Beef’s face noticeably fell. “Well, I just wanted to make sure everyone was full of spirit and ready for tonight,” he said.

Netto gave Commander Beef a bright smile and nodded. “We’re ready,” he said. “We’ll win, right Rockman?”

“Right,” Rockman cheered from his PET.

Commander Beef smiled at Netto and Rockman’s efforts then glanced at Enzan and Laika. Both boys glanced at each other skeptically then nodded. “Sure,” Enzan said. Laika remained silent.

Saloma stood up and patted Commander Beef on the shoulder and pointed to the doorway. “We should probably get going though. We want to make sure everything is set up before the meeting time.”

Commander Beef nodded and waved his arm at the door with bravado. “Let’s go,” he cheered.

Netto followed suit and dashed out of the room with Commander Beef on his heels. Enzan and Laika opted to take a slower pace along with Saloma and Miyuki. “Is he always that hyper?” Laika asked.

“He’s excited that we’re finally in sight of finishing this mission. We’ve been on it a lot longer then you have,” Saloma replied politely. She paused and thought for a moment. “And yes, he does have a lot of energy.”

Enzan sighed and crossed his arms. “You’d think we were going to a party, not going to spy on a dangerous Net Mafia.”

Miyuki smiled. “It’s better then being worried about something before it happens. Whatever comes, we’ll be ready. You can relax, Enzan-san.”

Enzan blushed and picked up his pace to the car. Laika smiled discreetly but made sure not to let anyone else see it.

“Come on,” Netto yelled impatiently from the car. “It’s almost time.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Eh... not the longest chapter I'm afriad but I wanted to give you guys something. I'm trying to get back into writing and so it may take awhile before I get back into the longer, regular updates.

But still, w00t, two days in a row!
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[mi]

Short and sweet is good!

I quite enjoyed this latest installment. The reason Netto acts so childishly around Enzan totally fits in with his personality.

Great Job Neko!! ^___^
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Banner's done by me.
Awesome Japanese Rockman.exe fanart site that I found!! http://www18.ocn.ne.jp/~yurikago/

[Midnight]

This was a good, gentle piece in order to get yourself back into the mood of writing.

You do a good job in showing the sharp contrast between Enzan's by-the-book methodologies and Netto's unorthodox, impulsive tendencies. It is often said that teams should be united in many of their aspects in order to work the most efficiently. And even though Netto and Enzan are practically night and day when it comes to their most basic methods for work, they work a lot better than reason would expect them to. You do a fine job of making this point quite clear.

Addendum: It is a good piece for me to get back into the mood of reviewing too, but that's besides the point.
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[Kitty-Chan]

Middy summed it up pretty well. This is such a fun story.
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Need more Zero/X, Netto/Rock, Rock/Netto, Forte/Netto, & Blues/Netto. PLEASE!
Ano sa...could someone please make me a Zero/X, Blues/Netto, or Forte/Netto avatar/banner? I would greatly appreciate it...
Thanks for the avatar, Mandi!
People! We need more Blues/Netto & Forte/Netto on the net. Come on; help me out here! *gives everyone her Super-Adorable Irrisistable Sad Kitty Eyes(TM)*

[Neko]

They arrived at the hall where the benefit was to be held and parked a ways from the building to make sure their equipment couldn’t be detected. Netto and Enzan got out, said their good byes and walked into the building. Laika and Miyuki silently crept to the side of the building and vanished into the shadows, sneaking inside to keep an eye on their friends and enemies. Commander Beef sat down huffily on a chair and glared at the monitors inside the van. “I hope this works,” he said tightly.

“I’m sure everything will turn out fine,” Sharkman assured his operator. “Rockman is strong and so is his operator.”

Saloma nodded and handed Commander Beef a cup of coffee. “Besides, it’s only 8. The meeting doesn’t begin for another hour and Netto-kun and Enzan-kun have to establish their roles in the party.”

Commander Beef chuckled. “I must say, I don’t envy the kids that.”

Netto’s voice came through the private link that was set up for communication. “Thanks Commander Beef,” he said dryly.

“Oh, Miyuki and Laika-kun already set up the channels?” Commander Beef asked. “That was fast.”

“We found a good spot,” Laika’s voice said. “It’s in the northwest corner of the building away from other devices. It’s also by the northern fire escape, in case you need to get to us.”

“Okay,” Netto replied. “Thanks, Laika.”

Commander Beef sighed and took a sip of his coffee. The night was only just beginning.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Netto looked around the spacious room and whistled. “Wow, this is a big event,” he murmured, clearly impressed at the grandeur.

Enzan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “The Marksman company is very wealthy and very influential. These kinds of parties are usually thrown to remind the smaller corporations who is on top and to show the larger corporations that they’re catching up.”

“And running underground Mafia dealings?” Netto asked softly.

“I wonder,” Enzan murmured. “Then again, the CEO is power hungry but his dirty work is done through intimidation and shows of power, not sneaking behind the scenes. This was probably chosen as the meeting place because of the location of the hall, not the company its self.”

“Location?” Woodman asked.

Enzan nodded and cast his gaze around the hall. “We’re in the middle of a four hundred year old, Japan owned estate. Behind the building is the ocean and around us are mountains that block signals. Any spies would have to be here at the party in order to successfully listen in on the deals.”

“So, you’re saying to not get caught,” Laika finished.

Enzan nodded and grinned. “Exactly.”

“Master Enzan, what a pleasant surprise,” a robust voice yelled, interrupting their silent conversation. Enzan turned to see a very tan, very large man walk over towards him and slap his shoulder with a heavy hand. “To think that the big dogs from IPC would come to my humble little get together. What an honor,” he said and flashed his too white teeth.

Netto took one glance at Enzan and edged a few steps away from his impending wrath. Enzan’s moment of rage passed and he collected himself quickly. He put a very fake smile on his face and turned towards the man. “Mr. Sei, how wonderful it is to see you again. My father sends his regards concerning the Mekshi Deal. It was quite profitable for us.”

Mr. Sei laughed loudly and nodded, toasting Enzan with a martini clutched tightly in his right hand. “Of course, of course. It was quite a good deal on our side too. I’m glad everyone profited from it.” His eyes roamed around for another conversation topic in order to keep the CEO of IPC occupied with him. His eyes settled on Netto and the brunette had the sense to take half a step backwards as the man smiled at him. “A colleague?” he asked.

“A friend,” Enzan answered curtly.

Mr. Sei’s eyebrows shot up at the casual use of the word ‘friend’ coming from Enzan’s lips. Usually Enzan was renowned for being a hard dealer and very unfriendly towards most adults. Netto smiled tentatively and held out his hand. “My name is Netto Hikari, I’m here representing Sci Labs for my father.”

Mr. Sei then seemed genuinely interested and his entire demeanor changed. “Oh really? I take it you’re Professor Yuuichriou’s kid?”

Netto nodded. “Yeah, papa couldn’t come tonight so I came to keep Enzan company instead.”

Mr. Sei laughed. “Well I’ll be darned. He said he had a kid way back when he was my nano tech professor in college. I felt so bad about dropping his class but, well,” the large man shrugged and glanced around the room. “My old man wanted me to have this. Still your dad was one of the best teachers I ever had. Give him my regards for me?”

Netto nodded and felt a little more drawn to the man now that he wasn’t acting fake. “Sure, papa doesn’t teach anymore but he’ll probably remember his student.”

Mr. Sei laughed. “Well, I have to talk with some other clients so I’ll leave you kids alone for now.” Mr. Sei fixed Enzan with another large grin. “We’ll chat on Monday.”

“I look forward to it,” Enzan said dryly and watched Mr. Sei walk off. He heard Netto’s chuckle beside him and looked at his friend. “What?” he asked.

“He reminds me of you,” Netto said while watching Mr. Sei leave. “Back when you were all about being ‘Mr. Perfect’ for the world. Kinda sad though, you know?”

Enzan’s lips twisted but he didn’t dignify Netto’s comment with a response. Instead he glanced down at his watch and glanced at the door. “It’s 8:30,” he said and nodded at the door. “Let’s go and see if we can’t find anything.”

“You wanna leave that badly?” Netto asked and looked around.

“Probably,” Blues murmured softly. Rockman grinned and nodded but Enzan pretended not to hear.

“Make sure to set up microphones in the hallway,” Miyuki said quietly into her earpiece. “Some very important conversations take place outside of meetings.”

“We will,” Netto assured her as he and Enzan slipped out of the main ballroom. “Where to?”

Saloma glanced up to the screen above her head and saw the two icons that represented Netto and Enzan inside the hall. “Okay, according to the e-mails, you should turn right after you leave the main room and turn left down the second hallway. Once you reach the very end there will be two double doors with an electronic lock, that’s where the first passcode is entered.”

Enzan pulled Netto along the hallway silently as Netto tried to ready the recording equipment as they walked. Enzan motioned for Netto to be silent and pulled him roughly behind a door as two women came out of a bathroom. They laughed and headed back towards the main ballroom. Netto gave Enzan a dirty look and continued to walk.

“Nothing wrong with being too careful,” Miyuki said softly.

Netto muttered something under his breath that no one could catch while Enzan put the passcode into the lock. The door clicked open and the two boys quickly walked into the hallway. Enzan looked around and found a potted plant, he pointed to it and Netto nodded. He placed a microphone in it and then trotted to catch up with Enzan who was already halfway down the hall.

Enzan stood in front of a door with a second keypad on it and peered at it, he listened to Commander Beef giving him the code over the earpiece and gently nudged the door open. He and Netto looked around and Netto put a small microphone underneath a table that sat in the middle of the room. It was set with four places and aside from the table and chairs there were no other furnishings in the room. It was also very dark because there were no windows and Enzan didn’t dare turn on a light. Netto looked around and found a small cloak room that joined the conference room. He raised his eyebrows at Enzan who shrugged. “This may be a place where lots of meetings take place. If it is then people would just come here and put their things down.”

Laika nodded and scanned something in his hiding place. “You’re also by an exit,” he confirmed. “It opens up to the back side of the hall but there are a lot of sand dunes on the beach.”

“Sounds good,” Netto murmured. “So, should we hide or get out of here?”

Commander Beef frowned while he weighed the pros and cons of the situation. On the one hand they had gotten in completely undetected, on the other hand if they were detected the boys could be in very big trouble.

“We know how to take care of ourselves,” Enzan muttered into his earpiece. “We can stay.”

“All right,” Commander Beef replied. “But if anything happens, raise as much of a ruckus as you can to get the normal party goers over there. No use playing the hero if you’re caught.”

“Yes sir,” Netto said while stifling a grin. “What happens when we get enough information?”

“Then we’ll come in and back you up,” Saloma said. “This is a mission to end what’s going on here. We want to get evidence and arrests tonight, understand?”

“Perfectly,” Enzan replied and pulled Netto into the small adjoining room. He silently shut the door and leaned against it, putting his ear up against the keyhole. He felt Netto shift next to him and place his ear against the door crack.

“We hear voices on mic one,” Saloma said suddenly. “Get ready.”

Netto and Enzan listened intently as the door opened and a man came in with a woman. “Honestly, two passcodes? Are you that paranoid, Guy?” a woman asked.

“I’m not,” he said easily and tapped the brim of his hat. “But my boss is. He thinks that stupid Net Agent team actually poses a threat.”

Netto could practically hear Commander Beef seething through his ear piece.

“Perhaps, but now they’re getting help from the Net Agents. That’s an international organization,” the woman muttered. “And I don’t even know what you’re all doing.”

“Ah, don’t worry Aimee-chan, tonight you’ll learn everything,” Guy said silkily and took a seat. He smirked and leaned back in his chair. “Tonight will prove to be… very enlightening.”

Aimee frowned and took her own seat. “I certainly hope so because I for one…” she was cut off as the door opened again and a man walked into the room.

He was wearing a purple coat with a green fedora that clashed horribly with said coat. He was also grinning from ear to ear. “Guy! My good man, how nice it is to see you again,” he said and held out his hand.

Guy took it and they warmly shook hands. “I knew I liked you Kay. Nice to see you again too.”

Kay took a seat and set his fedora on the table. “So this is it huh? The big cheese finally shows his face to reveal the grand plan. How exciting.”

“Nerve-wracking is more like it,” Aimee muttered. “Where is he?”

The door behind the three clicked shut and a tall man walked into the room. He took a bowler hat off his head and bowed graciously. “I beg your forgiveness for being late,” he said silkily. He straightened up and smiled at the three. He had short black hair and lips curled up in a polite grin. “I had a few things to take care of. But now that we’re all here,” he said and sat down at the table. He opened his dark hazel eyes and held everyone’s gaze before setting his hat onto the table. “Let’s get down to business.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dun dun dunnnnnn~ >3
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Roses are #FF0000, violets are #0000FF. All my base are belong to you.

Avatar, credit Yakitate@devart

[Midnight]

Ah, excellent. We have ourselves some antagonists.

Anyway, unfortunately I'm not going to have too much to say about this piece--it worked out quite well. It has the feel of a sting featured on one of those shows that showcase police videos--and now, all it is is a matter of time until they hear the damning evidence come from their mouths.

The work went along at a good pace, and there really was nothing I could find the matter with it. Good work. *nod*
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Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[Kitty-Chan]

Well, I certainly enjoy this fic. Is it just me, or are things way too easy thus far. Methinks the net saviors are going to have a time of it.
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Need more Zero/X, Netto/Rock, Rock/Netto, Forte/Netto, & Blues/Netto. PLEASE!
Ano sa...could someone please make me a Zero/X, Blues/Netto, or Forte/Netto avatar/banner? I would greatly appreciate it...
Thanks for the avatar, Mandi!
People! We need more Blues/Netto & Forte/Netto on the net. Come on; help me out here! *gives everyone her Super-Adorable Irrisistable Sad Kitty Eyes(TM)*