9/8/2004 :: This week's episode of Axess #48 was entitled, "Mariko and Yuriko". Beware, spoilers below. Special thanks to Arumakan for help in the translation. :) *hugs* On we go! The episode begins with a scene that actually occurs much later on in the show. Out in the middle of a bridge that hovers over water, a Dimensional Area has appeared. Inside the DA, we see a very frustrated Yuriko. She looks around, searching for an escape route, but finds none. And so, she produces the last of her options: a Dark Synchro Chip. Rewind! We now begin the REAL start of the episode. Yuriko pulls her cool little yellow sports car into a parking garage, and digs a small device out of her handbag. She punches in a few buttons, then exits the car, and sets it in place on the ground. A red light beeps on as the device activates itself. A satisfied Yuriko gives a small smile. Later on, Yuriko walks down the street, holding a brown bag in her arms. Her thoughts drift off for a moment, until a familiar voice comes from in front of her. Yuriko looks ahead to meet a familiar man: Misaki Gorou. Once again working for the Net Police, Misaki inquires as to what Yuriko is up to this time. Yuriko pulls an apple out of her bag, and simply replies: "I'm shopping." Not giving in to her lies, Misaki asks what she's really up to. Yuriko calmly smiles, responding "Who knows...", then promptly lets the apple fall from her hand. On its way down, she kicks it midflight, distracting Misaki and allowing her to run away. Not allowing her to get away, Misaki immediatly begins to chase her through the streets. Finding the man annoying, Yuriko plug-in's Needleman, who operates a chain link fence to block Misaki's way. Having lost the chase, Misaki pounds his fist on the metal gate, and leaves to find an alternate route. Yuriko turns a corner as she exits the alleyway, and finds herself face to face with Mariko-sensei! The two girls stare at each other in surprise for a moment, until Mariko finally stutters out, "Ano...you are..." Before Yuriko can answer, Misaki arrives once again on the scene. Yuriko immediatly takes Mariko hostage in her arms. Mariko winces from Yuriko's strong grip, but still manages to quietly call her name. Yuriko looks at her in shock, then slowly releases her hold. Misaki begins to run forward, seeing his chance, and Yuriko forcefully pushes Mariko into him. Unfortunately, as Yuriko makes a mad dash across the street, she runs straight into the path of an oncoming truck. Mariko screams as Yuriko is literally run over, then faints in Misaki's arms. At the Akihara Hospital, Yuriko's covered body is being sent away on a stretcher, then loaded onto a truck. Inside her hospital room, Mariko is looking at a picture of two very young identical twin girls: herself and Yuriko. A knock sounds on the door, announcing the arrival of Misaki into her room. He asks how she is feeling, and Mariko responds that she is much better now. Mariko asks about the other girl, but Misaki just sadly shakes his head: she didn't make it. Mariko simply replies, "I see...." Misaki then remembers that Mariko had called the girl by the name Yuriko. Before Mariko can respond, yet another knock sounds at the door. It's Netto and his friends! Mariko-sensei is very happy to see Yaito and Dekao again, who have been away for quite some time. Netto then says that everyone else also wants to wish her well; meaning all of their navis! Rockman, Roll, Rush, Iceman, Glyde, and Gutsman appear on a moniter nearby, happily waving. Mariko-sensei kindly gives her thanks. Yaito notices the photo in her hands, and asks what it's of. As she hands it over for the others to see, Yaito exclaims at how cute the two girls look. Meiru asks if the other girl next to her is her twin. Mariko responds that it is, and that her name was Yuriko. This surprises Netto, but he passes it off as a mere coincidence. Mariko says that she hasn't seen her sister in 15 years, because she dissappeared. Tohru asks where she went to, and Mariko sadly states that they were seperated. Mariko went with her mother to Japan, while Yuriko was left with their father. She never saw her again after that, and believed her to be dead. Netto and Misaki take a break and stand outside in the fresh air for a moment. Misaki tells Netto that Mariko-sensei is depending on them. Netto cheerfully tells him it's no problem. His expression turns a little more serious, as he begins to ask Misaki about Mariko and Yuriko's relationship. Before he can really finish his question, Netto just begins to laugh it off, calling it impossible that she could certaintly mean Nebula's agent Yuriko. Mariko's twin Yuriko died 15 years ago, after all. Misaki can't bring himself to tell Netto the truth. Inside the truck, two men watch over Yuriko's dead body, which is still covered with a sheet. We suddenly hear a very slow heartbeat begin to thump, and one of Yuriko's hands gives a twitch. One of the men watching her exclaims to the other guy that he saw her move, but gets blown off with a laugh. The guy leans in for a closer look, just as Yuriko's hand reaches up and grabs his face! The other guy looks up from his newspaper, and becomes horrified that Yuriko has come back to life! The truck goes out of control and rams itself into a light pole, coming to a dead stop. Yuriko, who is clutching her stomach, stumbles out of the back of the car and slowly walks away. The Net Police are quickly notified of Yuriko's revival and escape. Misaki claims that such a thing is impossible, then swerves his car around to head in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, Yuriko is slowly making her way into the underground tunnels of the subway station. She clicks a button on a wall, revealing a door that leads to her secret apartment room. Breathing heavily, she collapses onto her bed, and quickly falls unconcious. Having now been released from the hospital, all of the kids are sitting with Mariko-sensei. (It's obvious in this scene that Yaito is now as tall as Meiru and Netto. O_o Scary.) Dekao and Chisao suddenly arrive, along with Higure, who is to give Mariko a ride home. The chip-otaku quickly rushes towards them, and roughly grabs Netto, demanding to know why they didn't tell him that Mariko had been in trouble. Mariko politely walks up to Higure, and apologizes for worrying him. Higure quickly comforts her, then takes her bag as they prepare to leave. We're taken to a moving flashback of the two young girls, who are happily dancing around each other. A male voice tells them to stand together, so he can take their picture. Their father tells Yuriko to fix her hair, while their mother tells Mariko to fix her dress. As they both become ready, the photo is finally taken. Yuriko suddenly wakes up from her dream, her eyes wide at the memory. Dr. Regal's voice begins to call out to her from a moniter, but it's Laserman's image that we see. Dr. Regal reminds Yuriko that she is not a normal human. With that in mind, he presents to her a present: a Dark Synchro Chip. As Yuriko looks at the chip in surprise, Dr. Regal gives her a new mission: to kill Mariko. Back at the Net Police Headquarters, Comissioner Kifune states to Misaki that Yuriko is mostly definately Mariko's twin sister that dissappeared 15 years ago. However, Misaki retorts that Mariko's sister is dead. Manabe then enters the room, stating that Yuriko has been spotted. Misaki is dispatched to go find her. Misaki heads straight to his car, and jumps inside. As soon as he sits down and fastens his seatbelt, he realizes he's not alone. Yuriko was hiding in the backseat! With a gun pointed to the back of his seat, she orders Misaki to drive. Yuriko delves her hand into Misaki's jacket as he's driving, and finds her PET hidden within. She then quickly tracks down Needleman's position, and releases him from containment. Yuriko tells Needleman to find their target. Stating, "Leave it to me!", the navi departs to go find out where Mariko is. Meanwhile, everyone else is crowded into Higure's van. They're off to go to relax at the Onsen! Mariko suddenly becomes solemn, stating "Just like that one time...." Oddly enough, Yuriko states the same thing. Misaki realizes that she's referring to the time she dissappeared 15 years ago. With a little prodding, Misaki convinces Yuriko to continue on. She then reveals that she had become involved with a program that slowly erased all of her memories. Misaki is now fully convinced that Yuriko truely is Mariko's twin sister. Yuriko nods, confirming his suspicions. At the Dark Loid's central place on the net, Dark Blues kneels before Laserman. Blues states that he will make sure that the mission will not fail. As they're driving, a police car passes them by the other way. Yuriko leans down so she will not be seen, allowing Misaki to trigger a button on the panel of his car. This activates a speaker phone, allowing Commissioner Kifune to hear everything they say. Misaki then starts up their conversation again. "You're her twin, right? What happened to Oozono Yuriko 15 years ago?" Yuriko states that a Flight Program picked special people to have their memories erased, and Yuriko was one of those chosen. However, she clung dearly to the tiny flashbacks that she would have of Mariko. Even so, she still knew very little about her past because of this ordeal. She would state to herself every day, "Mariko is my sister." (This seems very simular to brainwashing.) Misaki then asks her why she never told Mariko that she was still alive. Yuriko simply laughs and shrugs, bluntly stating, "Hey there, sis. It's been awhile. Did you know your sister was a Nebula agent?" Yuriko sadly shakes her head. "How could I do that? I'm not a normal human; I have no place to go home to." Misaki retorts as he asks what kind of person would do that to her. A god? The devil? Yuriko simply says that she doesn't know, but she does know someone who has the power to destroy the Earth. The very same man that raised her. Dr. Wily! Misaki, Kifune and Manabe are all shocked at this news. Dr. Wily, of the World 3?! Because Dr. Wily was of the World 3, Misaki can't understand why Yuriko would be working for Nebula instead. He then inquires as to what Dr. Regal has to do with Dr. Wily. (dun dun dun) Before any kind of answer can be given, they begin to approach a poloce blockade up ahead. Yuriko orders Misaki to ram right through it, but he refuses, stating "You can't run away anymore!". Since she refuses to be stopped, Yuriko knocks Misaki out with the backend of her gun, then forces the car to run straight through the blockade. In his rearview mirror, Higure can see the speeding car approaching from behind. Yuriko fires her gun, blowing out the tires of their car, and sending them reeling out of control. The van finally comes to a stop, and Yuriko exits Misaki's car. As Mariko asks if everyone is okay, the click of a gun can be heard from behind her. Netto quickly alerts Mariko that she's in danger! Yuriko points her gun at her twin, and Mariko looks at her unafraid. Again, she tries to figure out who the girl truly is. The sirens of approaching police cars can be heard in the distance, and Misaki finally comes to in his car. Mariko suddenly flings her arms wide open, demanding that the children remain unhurt. Yuriko becomes further frustrated, unable to pull the trigger. Higure suddenly stumbles out of the van, distracting Yuriko long enough for Misaki to run at her from behind, and knock the gun out of her hands. Yuriko punches him out of the way, and begins to run again. Before she can get to the other side of the bridge, a Dimensional Area forms, trapping them all inside! Dr. Regal's booming voice can be heard, ordering Yuriko to fight. It's her destiny, afterall. Yuriko simply begins to laugh, finding that all of her options have been erased. She then pulls her last playing card from her sleeve: the Dark Synchro Chip! Yuriko slots the chip into her PET, allowing her to perform Cross Fusion with Needleman! Sporting a new kickass outfit, R Needleman is ready for a fight. Stating, "Here I come!", R Needleman activates a needle on her arm, and quickly destroys all of the police cars within range. Netto mutters a curse, and Rockman quickly alerts him that he's ready. Netto realizes that he has do something right away. As Netto begins to run off, Mariko-sensei tries to stop him. "Netto-kun, it's dangerous! Come back, Netto-kun!" It's at this point that Meiru finally informs her that Netto is an official Net Savior, which leaves Mariko completely stunned. Netto slots in his own Synchro Chip, and performs Cross Fusion. As R Rockman steps up to face R Needleman, she wastes no time in firing off her "Needle Buster!" at him. The two go at each other all out, causing great havoc and destruction on the bridge as they go. As they continue to battle, Dark Blues materializes up above. The two land in front of each other, with R Rockman obviously wearing down from the effort. Dekao yells at him to use a Program Advance, but Yaito quickly tells Dekao that he can't do that, because he might seriously hurt Yuriko. However, Netto still can't lose! Meiru, Tohru, Yaito, Dekao and Chisao begin to cheer for Netto's sake. Meanwhile, Misaki is inspecting Yuriko's gun, and realizes that all the shots were empty. Yuriko just couldn't bring herself to kill her own sister after all. Misaki then finally confirms to Mariko that the woman fighting against Netto truly is her sister, Yuriko. R Rockman and R Needleman are still furiously fighting head on, needle against sword. They finally break apart, and R Rockman falls down to one knee, while we see that part of R Needleman's helmet has broken away, revealing Yuriko's face. Mariko yells out her name from the sidelines. "Yuriko! Stop this! Stop this now!" Yuriko turns around to stare at her sister, as tears begin to fall down Mariko's very saddened face. R Rockman looks up to see what's going on, only to find Blues' blade right in front of him, prohibiting him from moving from his spot on the ground. Blues demands to know what the feck is going on; why hasn't she completed her mission yet? Blues tells her to finish it, causing R Rockman to become infuriated, which only leads to Blues elbowing him right in the face to knock him back. Seeing that she's not going to do it herself, Blues leaps in for the kill! Mariko becomes intensely frightened, but Blues' blade is stopped by Yuriko! Blocking his sword with her needle arm, she manages to keep the Dark Loid away from her sister. Blues curses her betrayal, then flings off a dark Sonic Boom attack, which slices right through the navi symbol on her chest! Yuriko screams in great pain as she falls out of Cross Fusion, and collapses to the ground in a heap. Mariko yells out her name, and Misaki quickly runs to her side, kneeling down to take the woman in his arms. Furiously yelling, "DIE!", Blues releases yet another full strength attack, straight at Yuriko and Misaki. The energy causes an entire section of the bridge to explode, sending both Yuriko and Misaki plummeting into the water down below. A small flashback of two very young girls dancing happily around each other. Mariko silently screaming in tears as debris falls into the water. A satisfied Blues smugly logging himself out. The Dimensional Area fades away. Mariko-sensei slowly walks her way to the edge of the broken bridge, and gazes down to the empty water far down below. Her scream of Yuriko's name ecchos across the sea in a realization of anguish. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A very sad episode indeed. ;_; Poor, poor Mariko-sensei. The truth behind Yuriko's identity was finally revealed, and we learned hints that Dr. Wily and Dr. Regal may be connected. (Which, if you've played the games, you already knew this.) Next week, we say goodbye to Blues, one way or another. Man, he was a mean little bastard in this episode. O_o; Rockman.exe Online has been created to help other fans have a decent source of information and media on this great anime series. If you find any errors in this site, or would like add anything, please don't hesitate to e-mail me! Thank you all, and enjoy your stay.