Warning mild voilence.
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Episode 3: Burning Fury and Vengeance

~NetCity~16 Jan 200X~

Lyne walked down the streets of the navi city. Artificial snow floated down to the ground, giving the city a feeling of winter. It wasn’t cold, but she activated her cloak anyway as she walked along. “I wish it was like this in the real world. White and pretty even on the sidewalk,” she spoke quietly. She walked all the way to NetCity Park, climbed up to the top of the monkey bars, and sat there.

“Why did he have to be like that?” Lyne fumed angrily. “‘You don’t understand,’ he says. As if.”

“Hey Meg, wassup?” asked a voice from beneath her. Lyne looked down to see Sand and Scorpion waving up at her.

She jumped down and quickly hid any signs that she was mad. “What are you guys doing here?” she asked, surprised to see the unique navi couple in NetCity.

“Oh, Alexa and Tony are correcting papers, so we decided to get some NetCity time in,” Scorpion replied with a smile as she held onto Sand’s arm.

“Yeah, what are you doing here alone?” Sand asked.

Lyne pondered for a moment before she looked down at the ground. Why am I here alone? Usually Connor is with me, she thought before she looked in the direction of the SciLab Server. I hope he’s okay.
____________________________________
~SciLab~

Famous was going over the results of the blood test with Yuu standing by his side as he checked up on Bass. The shock from his last attempt to pass through the DA still had him knocked out. “Yuu, I want to show you something,” he said, exposing Bass’s ears.

“What?” Yuu exclaimed in shock. “How did this happen?”

“I don’t know, but somehow he got his demon DNA back,” Famous said as he re-covered Bass’s ears. “We should have Lyne come in to be checked out too. She might be going through the same things, but I doubt that. She isn’t having problems jacking in,” he mumbled.

“But Lyne is an angel, not a demon like him,” Yuu said.

“But still, she did have some transformations when she little, remember, before we removed her angel DNA digitally, which put a lock on it physically.”

“Yeah, and the blood comes from Haruka’s side of the family,” Yuu spoke. “Haruka knows nothing of this. The genes must be random, and only inherent in the females of the family.”

“We concluded that years ago,” Famous said. “What did you do with the strain of angel DNA after we got rid of it?”

“Well Cossack showed me how to format it into a chip,” Yuu spoke, making Famous look up from his report.

“You both did what?” Famous asked in shock.

“Formatted them onto separate chips. Why are you looking at me that way?” Yuu asked, noting his friends frustration rising.

“Connor asked about a chip this morning. One of last chips he used during the Havock incident, according to my logs, was a chip called the Demon Wings Chip,” Famous spoke. “The last one your daughter used then was the Angel Wings Chip.”

“Um… Well Lyne earned that chip from the US Net Cup,” Yuu stated.

“Did you or did you not name those chips with the DNA strands on them that?”

“Well, that’s what I called Lyne’s chip. I wasn’t sure what Dr. Cossack called his chip,” Yuu spoke in an uncertain tone.

“Yuu, you realize that Lyne's angel DNA may be unlocked too!” Famous shouted while shaking Bass’ blood work report at him.

“Oh,” Yuu said, realizing what Famous was saying. “Oh, crap!” he exclaimed placing his hand on his head. "What do we do about it?"

“Call her back so we can do a check up on her,” Famous ordered.

“Right,” Yuu said as he ran back into his lab. “Have you two found her yet?” he asked Alexa and Tony, who were looking at one of the many monitors that adorned the walls.

“Yes, she’s talking with Sand and Scorpion right now,” Tony replied.

“Good, now bring her back to SciLab. We have to do an exam on her,” Yuu ordered the two sensei net agents.

“Understood,” Tony spoke as Alexa talked to her navi on a private channel.
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~NetCity Park~

“Meg,” Sand spoke, snapping Lyne’s attention to him. “Why are you here alone?”

“Well Connor is at SciLab, getting checked out for a virus. He wasn’t doing well in school today,” Lyne replied in a concerned tone.

“Well we can go back to SciLab to check up on him,” Scorpion piped up.

“I don’t want to go back at the moment,” Lyne said, walking away from them.

“Why not Meg?” Sand asked, letting go of Scorpion to catch up with her.

“I just don’t want to go back yet,” Lyne yelled at Sand, making him stop as she carried on heading back into NetCity.

“This is going to be tougher than I thought,” Sand spoke to Scorpion while scratching his helmet.

“We should follow after her, so she doesn’t get lost. And maybe lead her back to SciLab unnoticed,” Scorpion suggested.

“Yeah, that’s a great idea,” Sand agreed with Scorpion as they followed after Lyne. A pair of navis were watched them as they left.

“The time to capture her is now,” a shadowy voice spoke to the pair. “With her in our clutches, the other one will follow, then we can delete them both.”

“Wheee, we get to kill the angel,” an excited squeal came from the navi with the mismatched eyes.

“Not delete, capture! We need her alive!” the voice shouted back.

The second figure covered the first one’s mouth. “We understand Master Alpha,” a feminine voice replied.

“Good now get going and delete the other two if they get in your way,” Alpha ordered before his voice faded away.

“With Pleasure. You heard him, let’s go,” the female ordered as she grabbed her partner and ran off after Lyne and her friends.
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~SciLab~

Bass woke up and stretched. He was feeling sore after his attempts at logging in. It felt odd to not be able to do what came naturally for himself and Lyne, other than when he was grounded. His ears then started to itch, making him grumble. This sucks, he thought as he hung his head. I wonder where Lyne is. I’ll go find her, he thought as he got up and left the medical area he was in to find her.

He walked up the hall, heading towards where he knew his cousin and Lyne’s father worked, remembering what Lyne had mentioned earlier. Once he was close enough, he heard angry voices on the other side of the door. He approached it with caution as he forced it open a little bit.

“Why is she being so stubborn?” Yuu shouted at what looked like a monitor.

“Calm down,” he heard a female voice say. “We’re doing our best.”

“Yeah, and she seems really pissed off,” another voice spoke up. “Did you two get in an argument?”

“A little one,” Yuu admitted. “But nothing too big. I swear, she can be like her mother at times.”

Just then, sirens went off. “What’s going on, now?” Yuu asked as he looked at his monitors and typed away frantically.

“Unknown signatures are closing in on them,” the female responded. “One of them… no two of them,” she spoke in a more panicked tone.

Bass couldn’t stand it anymore. He burst into the room. “Where’s Lyne?” he demanded.

“NetCity at the moment,” Yuu replied, still typing while running a filter program on the unknown signatures. Bass watched as the results were coming up. Some static on Alexa’s and Tony’s PET screens, as well as on the vid screens, began interfering with them before the results came up.

“Zodiac,” Bass breathed out in shock before he ran over to a jack in port. Please work. He concentrated on trying to jack into the network, but failed to do so. He tried again several times, then was overwhelmed with unfamiliar helplessness. “Why?” he asked as he slumped to his knees while he looked at the increasingly static-filled monitors.

“Hang on. I’m getting the backup jamming array up now,” Yuu spoke, getting everyone’s attention. “Get ready for a fight,” he spoke to Alexa and Tony, who both nodded grimly.

Famous then walked over to where Bass was. “C’mon,” he spoke, grabbing him and walking out of the room. He took him to a room next door and placed him in a chair. “Stay here,” he ordered as he closed the door and locked it.

“But!” Bass shouted as he got up and banged on the door. “Let me out of here! She needs me!” No answer came to him. He looked around the room and saw that there were no places to jack in from even if he was able to and he leaned back against the closed door and slid to the floor. This is not fair at all, he thought as he sat there in his confined space. If I can’t help… Gospel can, he thought, suddenly feeling a little better, before he concentrated on the virus. Gospel, Lyne’s in trouble. Go find her.

Understood master, came a distant reply.

“Good boy,” Bass spoke with a smile.
_____________________________________
~ NetCity~

Lyne started to feel uneasy. She then turned to face Sand and Scorpion. “Why are you two following me? I’m not going back, not now, and I already know my father sent you.”

“Well, this is for another reason. He’s not mad at you anymore,” Scorpion spoke as they continued to walk along NetCity’s streets. Just then she felt something odd.

Sand felt the odd feeling too. He stopped and tried to raise his NetOp and failed. “Scorpion, I can’t talk to Tony,” he spoke to her in a worried tone.

Lyne was definitely on edge now, feeling a familiar vibe in the air. She looked around before she saw a familiar navi on one of the roof tops. “We have to get out of here,” she spoke when she recognized the navi and broke into a run with Sand and Scorpion following after her.
________________________________

“Damn… She’s spotted me,” Toxyn spoke to her partner.

“Wheee, now we get to have some fun,” Maniac spoke in an excited tone as they also picked up their pace.
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Lyne ran along before she took a turn into an alley and started to climb the sides of a building using a set of stairs. Sand and Scorp were hot on her tail, not leaving her side. Once on the roof, they broke out into a sprint.

“Hey Lyne, if they’re up here, why are we up here too?” Sand asked as they ran along.

“To draw them away from the other navis,” she replied while still sprinting along. Lyne took notice that a satellite was being formed some distance off. She angled towards it with her friends following after her. “We’re going to take care of that Zodiac navi, and it looks like dad is going to help,” she spoke, looking back at Sand. Her eyes went wide in shock. Toxyn had changed her form to Scrorpio, and Maniac was following after her in plain view.

“No! There are two of them. Why now?” Lyne thought in a panic as she came to a stop near the satellite.

“We’re here to help Meg,” Sand spoke as he and Scorpion readied themselves to fend off the Zodiac navis.

You two are brave, but several of you together had trouble dealing with them before. I can only take care of one at a time. Unless… “I need more power for this.”
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“I’m going to take on those two Maniac. I still have to deal with that girl,” Toxyn said to her partner, then muttered under her breath, “Thinks she can use the Scorpio symbol. I’ll show her.”

“Well, what should I do milady?” Maniac asked in an over-the-top, gallant voice, bowing from the waist ‘til his head almost scraped the ground.

“You just can’t put two and two together, can you?”

“Oo, oo! I know that one!” He spread his hands out wide. “It makes a really big two.”

Noting that Sandman and Scorpion were already prepared to deal with them, Toxyn just said, “Yeah, big two. You deal with Lyne, Maniac.” She pointed out the half-navi to be on the safe side, and noticed she was starting to glow. Oh great. The girl’s decided to pull out the big guns. At least these two won’t be much of a problem. Maniac should be OK until then.
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“So, that’s another of Toxyn’s forms?” Scorpion noted, looking at the green and black armor that Toxyn was using.

“Looks that way. I guess we’ll have more trouble against that than the fire form,” Sandman agreed. “I wonder if it has an element.”

“It’s water,” Scorpion responded immediately.

“You sure? How can you be so sure?”

“Scorpio, Sandman. Zodiac symbol for the scorpion and it’s a water element.” Sandman still looked at her questioningly. Scorpion’s eye twitched involuntarily and she yelled impatiently at Sand, “It’s my symbol too, Sandman! That’s why I know. Now get ready.”

“Sure,” he responded sheepishly, then grinned and got into a fighting pose. “Let’s go!”
_______________________

Toxyn started toward the pair of navis she’d designated as her targets, leaving Maniac behind. He’ll pull through for me, she thought as she ran forward, uncurling her stinger from behind her back in preparation for combat. He might have trouble focusing, but he’s still good in a fight. At least as a distraction if nothing else, she finished with a quirky smile.

“Hee, hee. Where to shoot first?” the many-colored navi said to himself. “Darn! Toxyn’s already taking those two. Well I guess that leaves…” Maniac suddenly tensed. “Wings,” he whispered.

*static* Wings. Great, beautiful wings, descending…

Maniac’s hand fell away from the gun at his hip, and then both hands began absentmindedly clenching and unclenching as he moaned, “Nooo, no. Not that. Not again, not again…”
________________________

Lyne finished her transformation into NetAngel form and sent out a quick SOS. I hope someone can get here soon. Now, looks like Toxyn’s going after Sand and Scorp. I’d better help them now, then we can all work on… huh? What’s wrong with him? Whatever, we’ll deal with that later. “Light arrow,” she called, sending out a bright lance that Toxyn dodged, but otherwise ignored as she charged her target. At least he can’t be as much of a pain as her.
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*static* Light. Blinding and wonderful…

“Make it stop,” Maniac whimpered, crouching down, putting his hands over his face, and rocking back and forth.

*static* … that terrible light…

“Nooooooo,” he moaned out again through clenched teeth as his fingers curled slowly into fists.
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What’s taking him so long? Toxyn thought to herself before shouting, “Toxic Spray!” as sickly, greenish fluid spewed from her stinger at Sandman.

“Forget it. Sand Spray!” he called, dodging Toxyn’s attack and countering.

“Yeep!” squeaked Scorpion, who was hopping away from the splash of the Toxic Spray. “That stuff doesn’t look nice. Probably poisonous, like this. Poison Sting!” and she shot out a small barrage of needles.

“No, girl. You don’t get to attack me,” Toxyn said coarsely, dodging the needles and making a quick jab at Sandman with her own agile stinger. When Sand jumped back, she quickly flipped the tail forward and caught him in the chest with the blunt body of the stinger, knocking him back. “You’ve already insulted me by wearing the same dress!”
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*static* I’m scared. I’m so scared. I want to run.“Help meeeee!”

“Help me, help me, HELP ME!” Maniac repeated, quietly at first, then shouting as his eyes bulged in terror and horns began to grow.
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“Ow, Sand, she’s got me!” Scorpion cried as Toxyn grasped her with a pincer-like hand.

“Now, girl!” Toxyn shouted, bringing the stinger down swift and with deadly aim.

“I’ve got you!” Lyne cried out, suddenly swooping in and knocking the tail askew so that it stuck into the ground instead. “Don’t you attack my friend,” she said, sweeping back a wind that struck Toxyn in the face and made her stumble.

“Sand Blast!” Sand called, adding a forceful shot of sand that caught the unbalanced Toxyn in the chest, knocking her back.

Scorpion stood there, frozen momentarily after the near-miss before finally reacting with a quiet “Eep!”

Grrr! This is pathetic! How could I let that Hikari witch hit me? And that pathetic little sand navi! What’s Maniac doing? She turned her head slightly to see where Maniac was, the large eye-view of her Scorpio form allowing her to watch her three opponents as well. Oh no! He’s losing it! I have to stop this now.
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*static* So bright. And burning. Burning? No!

“NOOOOO!! I’M BURNIIING!!” Maniac screamed, and, indeed, his eyes lit with flame, a spark of emerald fire in his right eye, and a great, blood-red blaze in his left that expanded to cover his face and extended along the curling, ram-like horns that were replacing his helmet.

*static* “It burns! It hurts! AAAAaahh!!!” “No, Vicious! Calm down, I’m here!” “Help me please!”

“Aahck *gasp* He-hel bu-burns *choke*” Maniac gagged as he expended his air with his shrieks. Between the flaming horns, thick smoke began to billow, and his armor glowed hot until the parts on his chest, forearms, and boots became as blood-red as the flames of his left eye.

*static* It burns. It hurts. It burns. It- it doesn’t burn. It doesn’t hurt? What happened? The pain… “Brother, the pain’s gone! …Brother? Where are you? Brother? BROTHER, WHERE ARE YOU!?”

“CAMEROOON!!!”

*static* I’m here John. It’s OK. It’s OK now. It’s your turn. Now go. “Thank you” GO!

“GrrrrAAAAAAGGHHHH!!!” Maniac bellowed, his transformation to Aries form complete. Flames leapt from his feet and scorched the ground as he charged in a mad rage straight at Lyne.
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“Oh, that’s better,” Scorpion said, “He’s gone to a fire element. I’ve got this now.” She moved to intercept the charging Maniac and readied to fire.

“Here’s a bubbler for you,” her NetOp said and sent the battlechip.

“Great. You’re gong down!” she called, firing the shot. It hit squarely in the enraged navi’s chest. “Yes! Huh?” Maniac, completely berserk, ignored the shot and whatever damage it had done. He didn’t even slow his charge.

“Aqua Tower!”

No, it’s too late!

Maniac continued his charge, moving faster than Scorpion or her NetOp could react to. Faster even than his usual swift movement. He struck her full on, sending her flying off like she was nothing, and kept going full tilt at the wide-eyed NetAngel. The one impact was almost enough to delete Scorpion outright, and she was left lying on the ground, weak and wounded, unable to log out to safety due to the proximity of the Mind Jumpers and the interference they caused despite their closeness to the satellite array.

“Scorpi- Ufff!!” Lyne began, cut off abruptly when Maniac’s horns struck her in the chest, driving the air from her lungs.

“You!” *thwack* “Hate you” *smack* “How could you!?” *smack* Maniac screamed, mercilessly pummeling Lyne, who could do nothing but block the savage strikes.

“Sand shot! Sand shot! SAND SHOT!” Sandman cried out, firing blast after blast into Maniac’s back, trying desperately to get him off. The Zodiac navi, however, was completely oblivious to the attacks. No! Toxyn! he thought, turning quick when he sensed her coming up behind him. He readied to defend himself, but she ran straight past him.

“Stop it! Vicious, stop please! Calm down!” the other Zodiac navi yelled, sounding unusually distraught.

Wha? What is this? She doesn’t want him attacking her? Sandman thought, utterly confused.

Toxyn got up to Maniac and pried him away from the weakening and battered Lyne. “Rraaaagh! Let- Got to- Kill you!” Maniac spat out, flailing in Toxyn’s grasp, intent on destruction.

She’s helping? Lyne thought, dizzily staggering, Why?

“Run girl! Calm down. Run, now while you can!” Toxyn ordered, still sounding desperate and half panicked.

Lyne paused half-an-instant more before taking her enemy’s advice. I don’t know what’s going on here, but I hurt bad and I’m getting out now! She didn’t pause again or even look behind her when she heard Toxin crying, “No!” and the sound of fiery feet, charging along the ground behind her.

“Up you fool! Maniac can’t fly! You can!”

Lyne gave up on wondering about this sudden change in her enemy’s attitude and simply angled up into the air, desperate to get away. She chanced a glance downward to see Maniac almost directly below her and jumping. Jumping really high! “Yeeek!” she exclaimed, terrified by the utterly consuming rage she saw in Maniac’s eyes and felt radiating off of him in burning waves. She also noticed one more thing as the mad navi’s hand clutched the empty air beneath her. He’s pixilating! Are those flames actually burning him away?

Maniac, however, had no answer for her. His only word was a long cry of, “Noooo!” as he fell back to the ground. He jumped again, but Lyne was well out of reach by this point. He landed again and looked up at Lyne for a second before dropping to his knees and laying his face on the ground. “Nooo,” he moaned in pitiable despair, barely loud enough for Lyne to hear. As scared as she’d been of Maniac only a moment before, the sadness in his quiet cry almost brought a tear to her eye.

Toxyn came up behind the slumped over navi and hesitatingly put her arms over his shoulders. “Shhh. It’s OK Vicious. Just calm down now. Shhh. You’re OK now.” The enemy female looked up at Lyne before the two navis logged out finally and Lyne could feel venom in her glare, even though she couldn’t see the eyes behind her bug-like lenses.

So much hatred. And yet she pulled him off of me. What’s going on here? What’s Zodiac’s story anyway?

Lyne fluttered down to the ground to collapse to her knees beside Sandman and Scorpion, the one tending to the injured other.

“Lyne, let’s get out of here before they come back,” Sand spoke as he got Scorpion up from the ground. Before he could say anymore Lyne disappeared from sight. “Whew, she logged out,” he breathed out before he logged out with Scorpion in his arms. And watching from the shadows, another navi quietly logged out as well.
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~Alleyway ~ Dentech City~

Lyne appeared in the sky above the alley, then plummeted to the ground. The sudden fall got a surprised scream from her. She tried to flap her wings, but couldn’t get any coordination, and crashed onto a discarded mattress. “Oogh,” she moaned as she laid there weak and leaking data. Her system then activated her backup program, even though the signal was weak. “Help me Connor,” she weakly spoke before she passed out on the mattress.

A strange figure watched the commotion and looked down into the alley. It flicked what looked like a forked tongue to smell the air. “Ssss, Lookie what we have here,” it spoke as it observed the motionless half navi. “Lookss like dinner iss sserved,” it hissed with delight as it climbed over the edge of the building it was on to investigate its prey, while wagging its tail with delight.

Just then its tail got grabbed. “I don’t think so Squeshsque scum,” a voice spoke as its owner pulled the lizard creature back onto the roof. “Your race is the lowest of all demons.”

The lizard demon looked back at its attacker. “You won’t ssstop me from eating thisss one. Ssshe’ss not in your regisstry, Mouguroi mutt,” it hissed back as it slashed at his attacker.

His attacker avoided the attack easily by blocking it with his staff, designed with a medal point on both ends. “Well, if I stop you from eating her she will be,” the male Mouguroi challenged back. He looked like a middle aged normal human wearing a royal colored fighting monk’s clothes, but had deep purple hair with a few white steaks, burgundy color eyes, purple marks on his face with vertical, scar-like, blue streaks on his cheeks, long, finely furred ears, hooked nails on his hands, and a cocky, fanged grin. “Bring it!” he challenged the Squehsque demon. The lizard-like humanoid stood up on its haunches and took up a defensive stance, preparing to fight for his dinner.
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~Undisclosed Location~

“What happened in there? What’s wrong with Prophet?” Mystic demanded as Seer helped Prophet up from his Jumper Chair.

“What isn’t wrong with him?” Seer responded bitterly.

“That’s not an answer Seer!” he shouted, grabbing the woman and turning her to face him. “Why is he in that state?” He pointed his finger sharply at Prophet, whose eyes were open as if in shock and jaw was hanging slackly with a lengthening trail of drool streaming down his chin. His arm had dropped off the side of the chair when Seer lost her grip on him.

Seer looked Mystic in the eyes, considering defiance, but giving into her leader’s demand. “He freaked out. The Hikari girl became the NetAngel and he completely lost it. He turned into Aries and did everything he could to kill her.”

Despite himself, Mystic couldn’t hide some surprise. “He used that form?” He looked down at Prophet with something that could almost be mistaken for concern. “And you managed to get him out before he destroyed himself.” He looked back up at Seer, who had turned again to look at Prophet with what was unmistakably concern and caring. “Very well Seer. Good job.” He put his hand on her shoulder and said, “I’ll leave him in your hands,” before he turned away and left the room.

“Yes. I’ll take good care of you,” Seer whispered to Prophet and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. He twitched reflexively and his eyelids fluttered slightly before closing and leaving him in a still sleep. “I’ll be here when you wake up. Sleep well.”
_______________________

Bass was sitting in his room when he picked up on a shout from Yuu. “Where is Lyne?” He focused his hearing to listen in on the rest of the conversation.

“I don’t know. She logged out before we did,” came a navi’s reply. “Isn’t she here at SciLab?”

“She could be,” he heard his cousin say. “Have every available navi on staff search the server for her.”

“Yes sir,” his assistants answered.

Bass stood up and pressed his ear against the door to listen better.

Master, came a quiet, distant call from his virus.

What is it Gospel? I’m busy, he responded as he tried to focus in on the conversation again.

I just saw Master Lyne jack out, he spoke as he made a sniffing noise over their connection. It smells like she went to the real world, not in the network, he replied, sniffing again.

She’s not on the network, so that means she’s somewhere in Dentech, Bass thought as he now tried to find another way out of the room. Man, I’ve got to find a way out of here, he thought as he now scratched at the door.

Use teleport. You haven’t lost all your power, a familiar voice spoke to him as a being appeared in the room.

Bass looked behind him to see the Ancient standing there. “Huh? What are you doing here?”

“Helping. Go now. You don’t have much time,” he replied before he disappeared in a shower of pixels.

“Okay. That was weird, but okay. Teleport,” Bass spoke in a calm tone. He focused his thoughts on the other side of the door. He took a calming breath and closed his eyes before he let his ability take over. Once he opened them, he saw he was on the other side of the door. “Cool, now to go find Lyne,” Bass spoke as he ran down the hall towards the parking garage.

One of the lab assistants saw him run off when he exited Yuu’s lab. “Um… Famous your cousin got out,” he spoke, getting Famous to run out of Yuu’s lab.

“Which way did he go?” he asked as he lab assistant pointed down the hall Bass had gone.

“Thanks,” Famous spoke as he ran after his relation. He reached the garage when he saw Bass mount Lyne’s bike, which she had left there the day before. “Connor!” he shouted as Bass started it up and drove off. “Great. Now I really wish she didn’t show him how to use that,” he growled before he went back into the lab. “I hope he has an inkling of where she is,” he spoke as he went to help Yuu start repairs on Scorpion.
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~Alleyway~

The Squeshsque charged at his rival with a quick slashing strike to be blocked and countered with a stab from the Mouguroi. He stabbed his staff into the back of the lizard demon’s leg, making it howl in pain before it backed off.

“Why you mutt, you’ll pay for that. Hksssss!” it hissed as it attacked once more, only to be caught in the chest by his rival’s staff and flung over the edge of the building towards the ground.

The Mouguroi relaxed for a minute before he realized what he had just done. He ran over to the edge of the building and noticed the weakened demon rival approaching the unconscious female angel. “Oh no, what have I done?” he exclaimed in agitation as he watched the lizard get close to who he was protecting. “I’m too late,” he spoke as he hung his head, and then held his arm, that was throbbing with pain. “I’m getting too old for this,” he commented to himself as he slumped down onto the rooftop.

The lizard approached Lyne, flicking its tongue the whole time. “That old fiend knowsss he’sss lossst you and won’t interfere,” he spoke as he touched the sleeping angel in a teasing manner, knowing that the old Mouguroi was watching. “Now to try a little tassste,” he spoke as he dipped one of his clawed fingers in what looked like her blood. He stuck the covered finger in his mouth only to find a nasty surprise. His mouth was filled with electricity, making the foul demon hiss and howl in pain. “What kind of trickery is thisss?” he howled, backing away from Lyne.

Instead of an answer, an orb of yellow energy hit it with explosive force, making the lizard fly backwards. The old Mouguroi took notice of this and saw a young man standing at the edge of the alleyway with his palm held out. Whew, about time a mystic showed up, he thought as he watched the young male get off what looked like a motorbike and approach the sleeping angel. I should congratulate this young one, he thought as he quietly slipped off the top of the roof and started to descend the fire escape leading to the ground.

He got only half way when he stopped, noticing the lizard demon rise up and try to attack the young man who was now kneeling beside her. The young man stood up and activated what looked like armor around his body, and a cloak after that. He then formed an orb of purple energy before hin in his outstreched hand and shot it off at the Squeshsque. The demon took the full brunt of the attack and collapsed to the ground. The young man then approached the fallen lizard demon out of curiosity.

It eyed the armor clad male before it caught his scent. “You’re a… Mouguroi. Why are… you able t’ do that?” it forced itself to ask in breathless pain before it tensed and let out an awful noise, then collapsed and lay still with eyes focused on eternity.

The older Mouguroi sat there in the shadow, in shock as he watched the young male stand there in confusion. “What’s a Mouguroi?” he heard the male ask himself as he shook his head. “Whatever,” he spoke as he headed back to where Lyne was resting and picked her up off the mattress. He then rushed off towards the bike, got on, and made it disappear from sight.

The old mouguroi jumped down to the ground. He quickly took in a whiff of air from the site of where the young man stood. The smell he found was familiar, unique to the young man himself. “Connor,” he spoke. “Offspring of Steven and Marian. My nephew. How is he alive?” he pondered as he investigated where the angel had been wounded. He rolled his fingers feeling the texture of the dark substance. “This isn’t blood. It’s data. She’s a network angel,” he spoke before he took a sniff of it. “But of the Randamu Clan.” He clambered swiftly up the side of the building, then used rooftops to race along towards SciLab. “Famous has some explaining to do.”
______________________
~SciLab~

Bass returned to the parking garage with Lyne and her bike. The moment he found her, he felt his power return to him and his changes melt away. The lizard thing he saw was strange, and so was the name it called him: Mouguroi. It echoed inside his head as if he knew it. He shook his head as he got up off Lyne’s bike with her in his arms and teleported to Yuu’s lab.

His sudden appearance with her surprised everyone. “Nooo!” Alexa gasped as she watched him place her on the table. Lyne had several leaking cuts, and her armor was scorched from where the Zodiac navi had hit her, plus there were bruises on her face, wings, arms, and legs.

“This is bad,” Famous said as he examined her wounds. He then looked back at the aids, who nodded, grabbed a gurney, placed her on it, and rushed her off to the med wing of SciLab with Yuu following after them.

“Who did this?” Bass demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and looking his relation straight in the face.

“The Zodiac Navi called Maniac.” Bass was absolutely fuming with anger, then his attention was caught when Famous breathed out a sigh of relief. “You did good finding her. How are you feeling?” he asked as he placed a hand on Bass’s shoulder.

Bass jacked into Yuu’s computer, and then back out, wearing his normal clothes. “Does that answer your question?” he asked as he left the room to go where the assistants had taken Lyne.

“I wouldn’t blame him for wanting to check up on her,” he spoke as he returned to repairing Scorpion’s damage. Her repairs were coming along nicely, but were taking a long time. Then Famous’ attention was snagged by an e-mail message. “Can you two take care of the repairs for a moment? I have something to take care of.”

“Sure no problem,” Tony said as he took Famous’s seat and took over the repair process for him. Famous then left the room.
________________________

~World Three Headquarters~

“So, this navi was able to overwhelm the Hikari girl?” Mr. Wiley asked his subordinate.

“Yes Mr. Wiley,” replied Mr. Match. “I had Fireman observe them battling and she seemed to be powerless against his assault.”

“Hmm, excellent. This navi sounds like a worthy addition to our numbers. He should be useful against her. And against her brother as well, should he become trouble. Have Fireman approach him with a recruitment offer. I trust you’ll be able to recognize him?”

“Of course sir,” replied the fire navi. “I shall bring him here, as ordered.”

“We shall not fail you Mr. Wiley,” added Mr. Match. “This navi, Maniac, shall be yours very soon.”

“Excellent,” Wily said as he closed his e-mail connection with Mr. Match.
_________________________
~SciLab Roof Top~

Famous opened the access door to the roof and walked out into the open area. A menacing feeling filled the air which he didn’t like. He took notice of a dog sitting there on the roof. “I’m in trouble,” he mumbled as he watched the dog turn into a shadow of a man standing there with his arms crossed over his chest.

“You better believe it,” the man spoke as he approached Famous. “When were you going to tell me my nephew is alive again?”

“Well… Hello Ryoichi,” Famous spoke and turned away from him to try and go back inside.

Ryoichi quickly got in his way. “I don’t think so.” He suddenly paused and wrinkled his nose. “Still to busy working to mind the toast I see. Now answer my question Famous.”

“Well I was expecting that I wouldn’t have to tell you,” Famous spoke as he backed away from him. “We removed his demon DNA before, as requested by your father. He just got it back some how.”

“What my father wanted doesn’t apply anymore. I’m the one in charge of the clan now,” he spoke with a slight growl in his voice. He then recomposed himself. “Anyway, that’s beyond the point. He’s now maturing and will need to know soon enough what he is becoming. How is the angel he rescued?” he asked in a casual tone.

“She’s not in the best of shape at the moment,” Famous spoke nervously. “I’m guessing you already know who she is.”

“Well her scent gave the clan of angel away, and there was only one left before you were supposed to remove the angel DNA from her system as well, per request of my father,” Ryoichi spoke. “Question is, who would do such a thing to her?”

“You’re not going to believe me when I say this but… Zodiac did this,” Famous said as he hung his head.

“So, Alpha has returned as well as the Atlantis Server,” Ryoichi spoke as he contemplated over the facts he was given. “Hum… This is an interesting turn of events. Don’t doubt I’ll be back. I will return when there is a need for my assistance. Until then, take care of him and young Lyne Hikari for me. Oh, by the way,” he said reached into his pocket and tossed Famous a small necklace with a stone on it. “This will help. It will work much better than that spray stuff to subdue the transformation. Give it to my nephew as a gift. And be sure that it isn’t broken. Later,” he said as he disappeared.

Famous looked at the necklace he held in his hand before he returned inside. I was really hoping to not have them involved. I need Connor to stay focused on the mission at hand, not get involved with a clan dispute. I hope you don’t do that to him Ryoichi.
___________________________________
Next Episode Preview

~SciLab~

Yuuichiro: So, fire, water, the lizard, and wolves, huh?
Author: Yep.
Famous: We were supposed to guess stuff based on that?
Author: Well, didn’t you? I mean, about the wolves?
Famous: *Grimaces.* Well, yeah, I did.
Alexa: Hey, why are you joking around? This is serious!
Tony: Yeah, Lyne got really hurt there!
Sandman: And Scorpion too!
Bass: And some freak tried to eat Lyne!
The Squeshsque: Well you didn’t have to ssshoot me for it.
Bass: That’s what you get, jerk!
Lyne: *Coming out of recovery room.* What’s all the yelling about?
Author: Don’t worry about it. You’re supposed to be in bed, unconscious.
Lyne: But you guys are really loud out here. What’s going on?
Author: They’re all mad about what happened this episode. And this might not be a problem if a certain someone would make a real episode preview for once.
Editor: *Getting a roomful of glares.* … You… you’re talking about me. I have this keen sense of perception you know. Okay! Put down the bricks already! Jeez, people can be so sensitive.
Bass: Well, what’s it gonna’ be then?
Yuu: Do we get some actual information this time, or more cryptic words?
Bass: Couldn’t we just beat it out of him?
Lyne: I think there’s been enough violence for one day.
Editor: Yeah, I agree. Well, okay, but let’s bring in someone who this applies to. *Reaches into a plot hole and pulls out Toxyn.* So, how ‘bout it?
Toxyn: Uhh, that was weird.
Bass: That’s a preview for you. Gotta’ love those plot holes. Now spill.
Toxyn: Okay, well, it’s time to reflect on the past and learn about Zodiac in the next episode of Lan and Lyne Season Three, Episode 4: Zodiac.
Author: That wasn’t so hard, was it?
Editor: No way it’ll be that easy next time.
Lyne: That’s so mean.
Editor: Well, you’ll be unconscious through the next episode, so you don’t have to worry about it.
Author: Rest up and be ready for your next time on the show. And we’ll see the rest of you next episode.