The European Tour

*James walks over to the group.*

James: <Hurray! And the power of friendship strikes again!>

*Ari spings on his chair to face the screen and starts doing stuff on the keyboard. Soon, a picture of Alto's mother appears on the screen, with an empty field beneath it. Ari inserts a password in it and a folder with nothing but an encrypted file in it opens.*

Ari: <They never managed to decipher this part of her work... but I did.>

=====

Razz: <...ShadowMan, watch out!>

-----
*StarMan appears in a random and seemingly empty blue network. It is completely silent in there, with the only available path being a straight road leading forward into the horizon.*

-----

*The ice keeps spreading despite the massive amount of flaming knives ShadowMan has been hurling at it. ShadowMan leaps over it, dividing into three, and lands around the Hollow Warden. It starts shooting ice shards at the three ShadowMan, which keep running around it dodging them.*

ShadowMan: <This is bad!>

"Mother..." Alto smiles, "Your one hell of a kid huh Ari?"

---

Starman takes off down the hall.

*Edge leans in to watch the technical shit going on that he won't be able to comprehend.*

*A purple lightning bolt comes darting towards StarMan from behind.*

=====

*Ari gets up and steps aside to let Alto take his seat at the keyboard and see for himself what the folder contains. They hear quick footsteps upstairs.*

Ari: <T-They're coming...!>

*They can hear muffled voices coming from the warehouse.*

Mr.Colsun: <No, Olympe stayed behind. Someone launched a cyber attack on Aera.>

???: <I see. I'll be going, make sure the kid keeps working. We're closer than ever.>

Alto sits but wisely makes the choice to download the files to his usb disk instead of reading them there. With that done he nods to Ari.

"Thank you, I can't tell you how much I owe you Ari. Is there another way out?"

---

Starman quick rolls as the lighting passes over head. "What was that?"

Edge: <Ah, crap, we're done for! What do we do, what do we do...>

*Edge runs around trying to find either a place to hide or an exit*

Razz: <ShadowMan, watch ou--ch. Minato, what's the holdup?>

-----

*Olympe's Hollow Warden stands behind him, like a boss.*

=====

*Ari points at a door next to the screens and control panels.*

Ari: <Hi-hide in there!>

Alto takes Kelphy's hand and does so.

---

"Hollow Warden" Minato says.

---

Starman back flips and faces the knight, "Well hell... didn't think I'd see you again so soon."

Razz: <Oh yeah, that's great. Dammit, ShadowMan can't take this anymore. We'll need a new pla--What is that?>

-----

*Aera's voice echoes from the blue Hollow Warden.*

Aera: {Activate mod 1: Judgement Chains.}

*Glowing yellow chains come darting from every direction and cling to ShadowMan's body, then fade away. The Hollow Warden dashes towards him for a new attack.*

-----

*The same happens to StarMan, except with Olympe's voice. The Hollow Warden points his spear at StarMan and shoots off a storm of dark lightning.*

=====

*It's an electronic equipment storage room, with several boxes, and old storage furniture as well as a long desk with a few old computers set up.*

Kelphy: <This place has been here for a while...>

*A door slams on the other side of the door.*

Mr.Colsun: <Ari, have you finished?>

Ari: <I-I'm close to finishing the third mod.>

Mr.Colsun: <Didn't your sister tell you to stop working on them? The first one is more than enough to beat any cyber opponents, and we're supposed to be moving on to the second part of the plan...>

Ari: <Y-Yes sir.>

*They hear steps.*

Mr.Colsun: <What happened to your arm?>

Ari: <N-Nothing.>

Mr.Colsun: <...Was it Olympe?>

Ari: <I'm... I'm fine.>

Mr.Colsun: <...Okay. Just... just do what your sister says, and you'll be okay.>

*The man sighs and takes some more steps.*

Mr.Colsun: <Jack in, IceMan. Constitute H.W.4: Golden.>

*Kelphy widens her eyes and runs to the door to listen closely.*

Alto also listens.

---

Starman tries to dodge.

*Unfortunately, Edge couldn't follow Kelphy and Alto in time, and is instead hiding under a table right next to said door. He stays quiet like a mouse, listening.*

Razz: <This is bad. I'm jacking out!>

*Razz attempts to jack ShadowMan out but nothing happens.*

Razz: <...This can't be right... shit. Those chains before.. they fully downloaded our Navi into the network!>

-----

*Olympe's Hollow Warden starts charging a new attack. A flash of light occurs and a pink NetNavi appears floating in front of the enemy, repeateadly slapping its head with her antennae before jumping backwards and landing beside StarMan.*

Roll: <I am Roll, and I have come to save you in the name of justice!>

=====

*Kelphy is doing her best to resist the urge of running out, especially considering what happened last time they went for that approach.*

Mr.Colsun: <IceMan, you are to accompany Golden to Seabreeze. He will use the connections to check on everything, all you have to do is protect the access back to our network while he's doing it.>

IceMan: <Hahahahano.>

Mr.Colsun: <...I am still Kelphy's father and your former operator. If you don't do as I say, she will pay the consequences.>

IceMan: <You wouldn't dare!>

Mr.Colsun: <Don't test me.>

*IceMan growls and runs off with whoever Golden is. Ari stops typing.*

Mr.Colsun: <What is it?>

Ari: <I e-emptied the navigator data re-reserves.>

Mr.Colsun: <I'll go and get you more.>

*He starts towards the storage room, stopping right by the table Edge is under when Ari calls him.*

Ari: <W-Wait. There aren't any left in there either.>

Mr.Colsun: <...All right. Well, I can go and ask James, but Olympe and Aera should be sending us new data soon.>

*He checks his PET.*

Mr.Colsun: <ShadowMan, StarMan... and apparently a third one now, Roll. Should be enough for a while longer, no?>

Alto is doing something with his PET but stops when he hears how coldly Kelphy's father is speaking. He places a had on her shoulder only to pull her into a reassuring hug.

---

"Justice huh? I like that." Starman receives a sword chip from Minato.

*Edge tries his best to hold his breath and avoid making noise.*

Roll: <Let's get this party started!>

*Roll darts forward, slapping at the Hollow Warden with her antennae again. It bats her away with its spear and shoots a purple energy beam at StarMan.*

=====

Ari: <Th-Thank you.>

Mr.Colsun: <I'll be back in a second.>

*Kelphy reluctantly hugs him back, turning her head to look at the door upon hearing her father leaving.*

Kelphy: <(What now?)>

*She looks around, widening her eyes.*

Kelphy: <(Where's Edge?)>

"Under the table I think. We wait for Ari to say the coast is clear then book it."

---

"Thanks" the purple beam hits Starman. "Who are you?"

*Edge lets out a small sigh of relief, still quiet in case they come back.*

Roll: <Again, I'm Ro--Ahhh!>

*She's struck by purple lightning. She staggers to her feet, covered in burns.*

Roll: <That thing... it's so strong...>

=====

Ari: <Y-You can come out now. He won't be back for a while.>

*Kelphy smiles to Alto and opens the door, then crouches down to peek under the table.*

Kelphy: <...You're very silly.>

Alto comes out, "Thank you Ari. I promise someday I'll return the favor."

---

Starman dashes over to her and helps her stand. "Yeah, we know."

---

"I better start working on a way to deal with the Hollow Wardens" Alto says.

*Edge busts straight through the table the second that it's safe to come out.*

Edge: <Boo yeah! Did you see that!! I totally ninja'd those bastards!>

Roll: <Not giving up. Roll Blast!>

*Roll blows a kiss that turns into a huge shockwave that blasts the Hollow Warden backwards a few inches.*

Roll: <...This is ridiculous. Are you serious!?>

----

Razz: <ShadowMan, please hold on!>

*ShadowMan's hurled across the air once again. He's close to deletion when a wave of blue mist washes over him, trapping him in a block of ice.*

=====

*Instead, he nearly causes the table to fall on Kelphy's head. She just barely dodges it. Standing up, she looks towards the exit, but Ari calls for her attention.*

Ari: <IceMan and your f-father's Hollow Warden are checking on S-Seabreeze city.>

Kelphy: <So that's what it was... Is IceMan all right?>

*Ari nods.*

Kelphy: <Alto? Want to check those files now?>

*Ari steps away from the panel and screens.*

"Already working on it" Alto was on his laptop and his fingers were a blur of activity. There was an external device plugged into it and into his PET. The device showed a holographic image of Axl.

<"Hey guys sorry I slept for so long but I needed my beauty sleep... for the ladies">

"Oh shut up Axl and get to work opening those encrypted files of my Mom's"

<"Aww you're no fun Alto"> Axl went to work.

---

"Unfortunately no. This IS serious."

Edge: <Whoops...>

*Edge props the table back up and sits on it.*

*The Hollow Warden slashes forward, sending a blade of purple energy shooting towards them.*

=====

*Alto finds... you know what he finds. Go ahead.*

Ari: <My father worked with your mother. And... and your father, too.>

Kelphy: <My father?>

Ari: <Y-Yes. When they died, they brought in my sister to continue their work... and recemtly, they did the same to me.>

*Ari gives Kelphy a silver chip.*

Kelphy: <What is this?>

Ari: <...SplashWoman.>