"...We're home, Sabrina."
"Zzz..."
"...I said, we're home."
"Zzz..."
Suddenly, a loud whistle could be heard.
"Yaah!" Sabrina rose from a start, barely able to avert her head from hitting the car's ceiling. "Who what when where how why?! ...Huh? What happened?"
"You got on a plane, and flew to Netopia. I don't know what you did on the plane, but you were really out of it when I picked you up. The minute you got in the car, you were out like a light, and slept the entire trip back. Now, I'm all for talking with my daughter, but there really isn't a reason to do that in the car, now is there?"
"Uh, right..." It amazed her sometimes how nonchalantly sarcastic he could be at times. Oh well, that was her dad for her. "All right, I'm wide awake now...let's go in!" She stepped out of the car, and a loud yawn could be heard.
"Wide awake, eh...?" The other person, a bearded middle-aged man, shook his head as he got out. "You stay back for a minute, until I give you the signal." He walked over to the house, and opened the door. "Hey, hon."
A woman around the same age walked over to him. "Hi, dear! So, how'd the client turn out?"
"Terrible. I thought he might be a serious client, but he wanted 100 LifeAura3 chips. Outside of the Officials, I doubt anyone even knows where you can get them..."
"Oh...well, that's a shame. So, are you going to hang around the door all day, or are you coming in?"
"Hold on, there's someone I ran into while I was out. I want you to say hi to her."
"...Her? Christopher Jetto, this better not be some trick..."
"Heh heh...all right, come over here!"
Deciding that sooner would be better than later in this case, Sabrina raced over next to her dad. "Hi mom! I'm home!"
"......Sabrina!!! You're home!!" The woman hugged her with enough force to suffocate an elephant. "I didn't know what to do without you or Brandon..."
"Got that right. Once, I saw her just standing in your room, sighing..."
"You told me you'd never tell them that!"
"Whoops, ha ha ha."
"Mom...need...air..." Sabrina thought she could feel her spine being slowly crushed by her mother's arms. "Ghh...let...go..."
"Oh, I'm so sorry..." Mrs. Jetto released her submission hold of love. "I've just missed you so much...tell you what! I went shopping earlier today, and I've got everything I need to make your favorite for supper! I'm going to get started right now! I'm sure you haven't been eating well since you left..." She left her husband and daughter in the dust, heading for the nearby kitchen.
After a few moments of badly needed panting, the youngest Jetto wandered in towards the kitchen door. Sure enough, her mom was getting stuff out, acting like she didn't exist. Whenever she cooked, she blocked everything else in the world out besides cooking. Sabrina had tried it before, but didn't really see what was so great about it...
"Actually, your mom was gonna make it in a couple of days, anyway. But you being here bumped it up to tonight. But I can't say I'm not looking forward to it, myself."
"Oh, cool! By the way...why did you want me to come here? I mean, if you wanted to talk, you could've just called...I mean, I'm glad to be home, but it's really weird for you to just tell me to come back all of a sudden."
"Hmm...all right, we've got some time to kill before supper's ready. I had you come home...to show me something."
"...Show you something?"
"Yep. I'm sure you've been checking the Net for Brandon's Navi, and I bet yours has gotten a lot tougher. Your folder's probably pretty full by now as well, if it's not completely full. So I want to see your skills as a Netbattler."
"See my skills as a Netbattler? ...You don't mean I have to fight F-"
"Heh, nope, You don't have to fight me. But I do want to see how you are at virus busting. I want you to jack in, and see how far you can get into the Netopian net. I'm sure you can do better than last time. Not a single virus deleted..."
"Y-Yeah..." Sabrina pulled out her PET, and looked at her Navi through the screen. "Well, are you up for it? I think Dad'll be surprised at just how good we are now!"
"Yeah!" SplashMan clenched his fists, obviously brimming with excitement and water. "Whenever you're ready!"
"So, Dad! Where are we going to jack in? My room, or what?"
"Nope, this calls for you to use my office computer. I always tell you and Brandon it's for business only...but I think this is close enough to business."
"R-Really?" She had NEVER been able to jack into her dad's office computer before. Even that other time, she had to jack in from her own computer. "Guess you're pretty sure I'll do okay, huh?"
"I'm pretty sure you can win at least one battle in Netopia's Net by now. But I think we've talked about it enough." The older man started walking down the house's lone, long hallway. For some reason, the Jetto house's hallway split the house in two, with all the other rooms connected to it on each side. "Come on, Sabrina."
The two traversed the entire length of the hall, then took a right into a small room, packed with computer and Netbattling related stuff. One shelf in particular caught Sabrina's interest; she had never especially cared before, but it was full of rare chips with their names listed below; FireBlade, GoldFist, Volcano, Sanctuary, GigaWave, LavaBall, Fire+40, Barrier200, FireRatton, LavaDragon, GrabRevenge...a fitting collection for someone that had a great Fire Navi. Sabrina would've asked for one or two of them, but she knew better. There's no way he'd ever part with any of those chips...
"Well, that's the first time I've seen you look at a battlechip like it was actually worth something. Just don't do something stupid with them, like your brother once did."
Now that he mentioned it, the Volcano was a little scratched up. That must've been the chip Brandon took once to win a Netbattle, but wound up losing it for a while. He got it back, but there were two scratches that someone like their dad would never overlook. "What? Don't be silly, I'd rather live!" Yep...their dad was usually very even-tempered, but that one time...just the thought of him that angry made her shudder.
"All right, that's enough gawking at my collection. I don't want you getting any ideas. Go ahead and jack into my computer now."
His computer was a little weird; you didn't actually jack into it directly, but through a mini-server located next to it. There was probably a reason behind it, but Sabrina had no clue why..."All right. Are you gonna send your Navi in to check on things?"
"No, I'm not. He'd only serve to distract SplashMan."
"Oh." She pulled out her PET, and checked her Navi one more time. "Well, it's time. Let's show Dad what we've got!"
"Right!"
"Okay, here we go!" Sabrina aimed her PET towards the mini-server. "Jack in! SplashMan, Execute!"
(to Netopia Net!)
The Great Return!
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"Supper's ready, you two!"
Supper was ready already? Had she really spent THAT much time busting viruses? A quick check at the room's clock confirmed it; yep, she really had. Ah well, she was hungry, and SplashMan needed a rest, anyway. Once her Navi had completely returned to the PET, Sabrina dashed from her dad's office, moving down the hall to the kitchen/dining room area. That smell...there was only one thing on Earth that she knew of...
"Sabrina! How'd I know you'd be first...made your favorite! Homemade pizza!" Indeed, there was a humongous pizza on the dining room table, at least 20 inches in diameter, and completely covered with the greatest toppings ever conceived of on a pizza; pepperoni, sausage, peppers, mushrooms...you name it, it was probably on there, save for anchovies. However, there was one noticable aspect of the toppings; half the pizza was littered with pineapple, and the other hald wasn't. It was little known outside the Jetto household, but both the children absolutely loved pineapple on their pizza. And yet both the parents hated it. As a result, there was a family tradition that whenever they got a pizza, half of it would contain pineapple, and half wouldn't.
Of course, this was all besides the point. The important thing was, she was hungry, and there was a pizza her mom had made on the table. And that meant...
"All right! Time to chow down!" Without even waiting for her father, Sabrina slipped into her seat, and started virtually inhaling a slice.
"Hey! Don't eat that fast!" Even though he was still recovering from injuries and disappointment, SplashMan still knew enough to try and get his operator out of potential trouble. "Your mom's gonna nag to you about-"
"Sabrina Jetto! I slaved over that for a couple hours! The least you can do is take more than 5 seconds to eat it!"
"Mmph, mmph!" The young woman couldn't counter, due to having a mouth full of pizza. A large swallow changed that. "Okay, okay! Relax! I'm just hungry, that's all!"
"By the way, why hasn't your father gotten in here yet?" Mrs. Jetto walked into the hallway, and prepared for some highly aggrivated shouting. "Christopher! Supper's ready!"
"I'll be there in a minute, I'm analyzing some data!"
"It's the first time in over a week we can eat as a family, and you're analyzing data?! Get in here now!"
"I can't, this has to be done!"
"Oh for crying out loud..."
Ahh...the sound of Mom storming off to drag Dad from NetBattling for supper. She had kinda missed that after leaving for a while. "Well, nice to know that some things never change."
Around 30 minutes later, the three Jettos had just polished off that giant pizza. Actually, correction: Sabrina had just polished off that giant pizza, and her parents had gotten what they could while it was still there. "Whew, I'm stuffed! Thanks, Mom!"
"Glad you enjoyed it! Of course, if you REALLY liked it, you'd show your appreciation by doing the dishes!"
Sabrina looked over at the kitchen; it was a mess, and covered with dirty dishes. "Er...I mean, it was good, but it wasn't THAT great..."
"Oh, don't worry about it tonight! You'll be leaving in a day or two to look for your brother anyway, so you just relax until then!" Mrs. Jetto looked up at the clock, only to leap up and look on in horror at the time. "Oh no, I'm going to miss my shows!" And by shows, she meant those forensics shows that always came on tonight. Sabrina didn't care for them; too many dead bodies for her liking.
"...Sabrina. Is SplashMan all healed up?" The young woman's train of thought was interrupted was her father suddenly spoke. "If so, I'd to ask you to do some more busting."
"Uhh..." She pulled out her PET. "Good question. Feeling okay, SplashMan?"
"Physical condition, 100%! I'm ready to go! Just give me the word!"
"All right, I guess so. But, why? Didn't you just see us do it a minute ago?"
"I don't think three battles is quite enough to gauge how much you've improved. And with your mother watching her shows, I doubt you've got anything better to do, anyway. So when you're ready, head back to my office." Mr. Jetto got up and left, leaving Sabrina to her own devices.
"Uhh...well, he's right that I've got nothing better to do tonight. Guess you'll get your second chance, SplashMan!" The young woman raced over to her dad's office, PET in hand. "Okay, we're biting. We'll do some more busting for you!"
"Good. Everything's set up, so feel free to jack in whenever you want."
"All right, then let's gooo!!!" Sabrina aimed her PET towards her dad's computer's jack-in port. "Jack in! SplashMan, Execute!"
(to the Netopian Net again!)
Supper was ready already? Had she really spent THAT much time busting viruses? A quick check at the room's clock confirmed it; yep, she really had. Ah well, she was hungry, and SplashMan needed a rest, anyway. Once her Navi had completely returned to the PET, Sabrina dashed from her dad's office, moving down the hall to the kitchen/dining room area. That smell...there was only one thing on Earth that she knew of...
"Sabrina! How'd I know you'd be first...made your favorite! Homemade pizza!" Indeed, there was a humongous pizza on the dining room table, at least 20 inches in diameter, and completely covered with the greatest toppings ever conceived of on a pizza; pepperoni, sausage, peppers, mushrooms...you name it, it was probably on there, save for anchovies. However, there was one noticable aspect of the toppings; half the pizza was littered with pineapple, and the other hald wasn't. It was little known outside the Jetto household, but both the children absolutely loved pineapple on their pizza. And yet both the parents hated it. As a result, there was a family tradition that whenever they got a pizza, half of it would contain pineapple, and half wouldn't.
Of course, this was all besides the point. The important thing was, she was hungry, and there was a pizza her mom had made on the table. And that meant...
"All right! Time to chow down!" Without even waiting for her father, Sabrina slipped into her seat, and started virtually inhaling a slice.
"Hey! Don't eat that fast!" Even though he was still recovering from injuries and disappointment, SplashMan still knew enough to try and get his operator out of potential trouble. "Your mom's gonna nag to you about-"
"Sabrina Jetto! I slaved over that for a couple hours! The least you can do is take more than 5 seconds to eat it!"
"Mmph, mmph!" The young woman couldn't counter, due to having a mouth full of pizza. A large swallow changed that. "Okay, okay! Relax! I'm just hungry, that's all!"
"By the way, why hasn't your father gotten in here yet?" Mrs. Jetto walked into the hallway, and prepared for some highly aggrivated shouting. "Christopher! Supper's ready!"
"I'll be there in a minute, I'm analyzing some data!"
"It's the first time in over a week we can eat as a family, and you're analyzing data?! Get in here now!"
"I can't, this has to be done!"
"Oh for crying out loud..."
Ahh...the sound of Mom storming off to drag Dad from NetBattling for supper. She had kinda missed that after leaving for a while. "Well, nice to know that some things never change."
Around 30 minutes later, the three Jettos had just polished off that giant pizza. Actually, correction: Sabrina had just polished off that giant pizza, and her parents had gotten what they could while it was still there. "Whew, I'm stuffed! Thanks, Mom!"
"Glad you enjoyed it! Of course, if you REALLY liked it, you'd show your appreciation by doing the dishes!"
Sabrina looked over at the kitchen; it was a mess, and covered with dirty dishes. "Er...I mean, it was good, but it wasn't THAT great..."
"Oh, don't worry about it tonight! You'll be leaving in a day or two to look for your brother anyway, so you just relax until then!" Mrs. Jetto looked up at the clock, only to leap up and look on in horror at the time. "Oh no, I'm going to miss my shows!" And by shows, she meant those forensics shows that always came on tonight. Sabrina didn't care for them; too many dead bodies for her liking.
"...Sabrina. Is SplashMan all healed up?" The young woman's train of thought was interrupted was her father suddenly spoke. "If so, I'd to ask you to do some more busting."
"Uhh..." She pulled out her PET. "Good question. Feeling okay, SplashMan?"
"Physical condition, 100%! I'm ready to go! Just give me the word!"
"All right, I guess so. But, why? Didn't you just see us do it a minute ago?"
"I don't think three battles is quite enough to gauge how much you've improved. And with your mother watching her shows, I doubt you've got anything better to do, anyway. So when you're ready, head back to my office." Mr. Jetto got up and left, leaving Sabrina to her own devices.
"Uhh...well, he's right that I've got nothing better to do tonight. Guess you'll get your second chance, SplashMan!" The young woman raced over to her dad's office, PET in hand. "Okay, we're biting. We'll do some more busting for you!"
"Good. Everything's set up, so feel free to jack in whenever you want."
"All right, then let's gooo!!!" Sabrina aimed her PET towards her dad's computer's jack-in port. "Jack in! SplashMan, Execute!"
(to the Netopian Net again!)
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(OOC: Fear the used topic...usage!)
"You have to admit, they've gotten a lot better as of late."
"Perhaps, but I doubt they're ready to challenge us."
"No, but they could surprise us before long..."
"By the way, did you remember to keep that battle analysis program activated?"
"Of course. They'll be more likely to relax and use their natural tactics when they don't know they're being analyzed."
"Indeed." The second participant in the conversation suddenly sighed.
"Hmm? Something the matter?"
"Yes. I understand why you wish to not so much as delete a Mettaur for the time being, but...it's rather boring for me after a while."
"Mmm. I'll admit, there are times where I'd like to do it as well. But it's for a reason."
"I know, but all the same...we've sold my upgrades, and gone three months without busting a single virus. You don't think it's time to see if it's helped?"
"...Yeah, you're right. The time has come. We have nothing better to do, anyway..." The first participant glanced at the TV, then grabbed the remote and shut it off. "After all, there's absolutely nothing on tonight..."
"Excellent. ...However, the few good chips we have are in the nightstand. How will we get them without getting your daughter's attention?"
"We won't. I have a few basic chips with me, and that's all we'll need."
"...I see...so you wish to begin completely anew?"
"Yep. If we did anything else, those three months would be a waste."
"I understand. We shall rebuild from the foundation."
"Yep." The first speaker rose from his seat, and started making his way for a bedroom...namely, his son's bedroom. "We'll jack in from Brandon's PC. I doubt Sabrina has any links yet, and with only the basics, you won't be able to defeat Netopia's viruses just yet."
"Affirmative. The greatest virus busters in all of Netopia, Christopher Jetto and his faithful Navi, FlareMan, shall re-commence their reign."
"Greatest virus busters? I don't recall us ever being that..."
"That's what I believe. With or without my upgrades."
"It's that attitude that made me stop in the first place. Perhaps we need another three months to ponder things?"
"...Hrk! Forgive me...I was out of line."
"Do you truly mean that?"
"I do. After all, it appeared to displease you."
"...Heh heh heh!"
"Hmm? Did I say something funny?"
"Don't worry about it. Now, let's begin." After turning a computer on, he aimed his PET towards its jack-in port. "Jack in! FlareMan, Execute!"
(to Netopia Net!)
"You have to admit, they've gotten a lot better as of late."
"Perhaps, but I doubt they're ready to challenge us."
"No, but they could surprise us before long..."
"By the way, did you remember to keep that battle analysis program activated?"
"Of course. They'll be more likely to relax and use their natural tactics when they don't know they're being analyzed."
"Indeed." The second participant in the conversation suddenly sighed.
"Hmm? Something the matter?"
"Yes. I understand why you wish to not so much as delete a Mettaur for the time being, but...it's rather boring for me after a while."
"Mmm. I'll admit, there are times where I'd like to do it as well. But it's for a reason."
"I know, but all the same...we've sold my upgrades, and gone three months without busting a single virus. You don't think it's time to see if it's helped?"
"...Yeah, you're right. The time has come. We have nothing better to do, anyway..." The first participant glanced at the TV, then grabbed the remote and shut it off. "After all, there's absolutely nothing on tonight..."
"Excellent. ...However, the few good chips we have are in the nightstand. How will we get them without getting your daughter's attention?"
"We won't. I have a few basic chips with me, and that's all we'll need."
"...I see...so you wish to begin completely anew?"
"Yep. If we did anything else, those three months would be a waste."
"I understand. We shall rebuild from the foundation."
"Yep." The first speaker rose from his seat, and started making his way for a bedroom...namely, his son's bedroom. "We'll jack in from Brandon's PC. I doubt Sabrina has any links yet, and with only the basics, you won't be able to defeat Netopia's viruses just yet."
"Affirmative. The greatest virus busters in all of Netopia, Christopher Jetto and his faithful Navi, FlareMan, shall re-commence their reign."
"Greatest virus busters? I don't recall us ever being that..."
"That's what I believe. With or without my upgrades."
"It's that attitude that made me stop in the first place. Perhaps we need another three months to ponder things?"
"...Hrk! Forgive me...I was out of line."
"Do you truly mean that?"
"I do. After all, it appeared to displease you."
"...Heh heh heh!"
"Hmm? Did I say something funny?"
"Don't worry about it. Now, let's begin." After turning a computer on, he aimed his PET towards its jack-in port. "Jack in! FlareMan, Execute!"
(to Netopia Net!)
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As soon as his Navi had returned to his PET, Christopher slammed it into its case, and started making his way for the door. Of course, he needed to make sure it didn't look like he just vanished. Fortunately, his wife caught him before he had to look for her.
"And exactly where are you going?"
"I have some business in Netopia Castle. If Sabrina finishes her mission before I get back, tell her to wait until I get back before she does more virus busting."
"Will do! Bye!" Before he could even return the favor, she raced back to the living room. Not surprising, since her shows were on. So, without another word, he went outside, got in his car, and headed for Netopia Castle.
(to another thread in this very topic!)
"And exactly where are you going?"
"I have some business in Netopia Castle. If Sabrina finishes her mission before I get back, tell her to wait until I get back before she does more virus busting."
"Will do! Bye!" Before he could even return the favor, she raced back to the living room. Not surprising, since her shows were on. So, without another word, he went outside, got in his car, and headed for Netopia Castle.
(to another thread in this very topic!)
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"Whew!" As soon as her Navi was back in her PET, Sabrina got up and stretched. "Well, that was fun! Good job, by the way!"
"Thanks!" SplashMan looked over at the chunk of data he had sent over shortly before returning himself. "Mind if I start the analyzing program for the reward data?"
"Sure, go ahead! I should probably tell Dad we're done for the day, too." She started wandering through the house, looking for her father. However, he was nowhere to be found. And so, she headed to her mom's usual spot at this time of day on this day; the living room, watching her shows.
"Hey, mom! Do you know where Dad went?"
"Netopia Castle...on business, I think."
"Business? He hasn't done that for a while..." The sound of a door opening suddenly could be heard. Based on where it seemed to come from, it sounded like the front door. Seeing her father walk down the hallway confirmed this. "Well, not anymore..." She headed back to the office, watching in confusion as the shelf full of rare chips on display became a shelf with nothing on it. "Uh...Dad? What's up?"
"Hmm? Oh, hi, Sabrina." Christopher stopped to look back at her for a moment, before resuming grabbing more chips. "Didn't see you there."
"So...why are you grabbing all your rare chips?"
"Ah...well, in case you didn't know, I went over to Netopia Castle."
"Yeah, Mom told me."
"Well, I wasn't there on business, originally...but to make a long story short, I've been contracted by the government."
"Oh. ...Wait, what? I thought you said you were on a break or something?"
"They made an offer I couldn't refuse. If all goes well, this family'll be set for a long time."
"Really? ...You're not going to anything crazy or dangerous or stupid or anything, are you?"
"To me, no. To my Navi, highly."
"Oh. Well, good luck with that!" She started to turn around leave, but stopped. "Wait a sec...you can't check my progress if you're doing stuff, can you?"
"Nope. So tomorrow I want you to go back to Electopia. Have you heard of a place called Yoka, on the outskirts of DenCity?"
"Yeah, I've been there. Why?"
"There's an inn there, which boasts its own hot springs. I want you to stay there while you're training. I'll pay for it, so long as you promise not to mess around while you're there."
"Hey, NetBattling's kinda fun when you get the hang of it. Don't think I won't do it!"
"Hmm...all right." The older Jetto moved into the next room, which happened to be his own bedroom. "By the way, how'd your mission for the NetPolice go?"
"Went great! Teamed up with another Navi, and we protected a NetFrican temple-like thing from a huge group of viruses! ...Oh yeah!" Sabrina pulled out her PET and looked at it. "SplashMan, what was in that huge chunk of data?"
"Heh, just finished analyzing it! Check it out!" He pointed at the new zenny total, which was about twice as big as it had been before. "Plus, we got chip data!" As if on cue, a blank chip was inserted. "Transferring it now!" And a few moments later, the chip emerged, now featuring some sort of plant virus they had fought. "Didn't get a chance to find out what it does, though."
"Well, we don't need an analyzer to find that out." The young woman moved over to her dad, who was busy packing a suitcase. "Hey Dad! What's this chip?"
He looked it over for a moment, then resumed packing. "That's a TreeBomb chip. It's a Wood chip, and it has the user throw a seed like a bomb towards an enemy."
"...That's it?"
"Nope, it has two catches. First, if it misses, it'll eventually sprout into a WoodTower attack on its own. You know what that is, right?"
"Uh...nope."
"Basically, large wooden spikes rise from the ground to hit enemies. But what'll probably get your interest is the second catch. If either you or an enemy hits it with an Aqua attack, it'll trigger the WoodTower effect, but it will have improved power and accuracy."
"Really? When you put it that way, it sounds a lot better!" Sabrina quickly slid it into her folder. "Yep, that's a keeper for us!"
"Thought you might like that chip once you knew what it did."
"Yep! Well, I'm gonna go hang out in my room for a little bit. Good luck with...uh..."
"Nice try, but I can't tell you exactly what it is. Classified."
"Ah. Well, good luck with that. If I don't see you again, bye!"
---------------
Around 10 minutes later, Sabrina found herself lying on her bed, with her PET recharging on its stand over on her desk. "Ahh...nice to lie down on my own bed again! ...Oh, SplashMan! You're not in sleep mode yet, are you?"
"Not yet. Why?"
"Forgot to tell you...during our mission, I made a trade. I gave up our Recover80 and a couple others we never use for-"
"What?! Why'd you trade away that one?"
"Can I finish?"
"Go ahead..."
"As I was saying, I traded them away for a Recover120, so we can last longer when we're in the Net. Just thought I'd tell ya that."
"Oh, cool!" The sound of a loud yawn could be heard from the PET. "Well, I'm beat, so I'm going to sleep. Good night, Sabrina!"
"Night, SplashMan!" ...Come to think of it, she was pretty exhausted herself, between the jet lag and various virus busting. She looked over at her alarm clock, located next to the PET stand...9:46 PM. Not all that late, but she figured it was as good a time as any to get some shut eye herself, so she took off her boots, shut off the light, and climbed into her bed for a good rest...
-----------------
"Ahhh! What a nice sleep!" SplashMan awoke in the PET, performing a good stretch, despite lacking any actual muscles. "Hey, Sabrina! It's time to-" He stopped as he noticed that not only was his operator not in bed, but there was a fully packed suitcase outside of it. He could tell because of the fact there was a very unusual raise on the top side. Good thing for her it had wheels for rolling, or she probably wouldn't be able to lift it. "She's already up and packed? What time is it?" A quick check at the PET's internal clock revealed...9:46 AM. No wonder he was so refreshed.
"Hey, SplashMan! You up?" The young woman poked her head into her room, her hair slightly wet. "Could you check my mail? Dad should've sent me an airplane ticket."
"Oh, sure!" Sure enough, there was one new e-mail, from one Christopher Jetto. "Yep, he sent it! Take-off is at 1:15 PM, so we should have plenty of time to check in and stuff as long as you're almost ready!"
"Awesome. I'll be ready in a sec, so just hang tight for a little longer!" A few moments of nothingness passed, before her return...only now with a piece of toast in her hand. "All set!" She grabbed her suitcase and dragged it on the floor, making the handle come up so she could drag it behind her, and then proceeded to grab her PET and place it in its usual position on her side. "Well, time to head back to Electopia! It's kinda too bad we couldn't stay longer, though..."
"Yeah...hope your mom's okay with being home by herself, now that you and Christopher are both leaving..."
"Oh, I talked to her about that a little earlier, and she said she'd be fine. And, well, I think she will be. Nothing to worry about here!"
"Well, if you think so!"
"Sabrina, are you ready? We need to start heading for the airport!" A third voice suddenly pierced the conversation, which unquestionably belonged to Mrs. Jetto. "Plus, I want to get the drive over with! It's two hours for just one way!"
"Coming, Mom!" She grabbed her suitcase, took a bite out of her toast, and proceeded to leave her room, now officially on the road back to Electopia.
(to ACDC Town!)
"Thanks!" SplashMan looked over at the chunk of data he had sent over shortly before returning himself. "Mind if I start the analyzing program for the reward data?"
"Sure, go ahead! I should probably tell Dad we're done for the day, too." She started wandering through the house, looking for her father. However, he was nowhere to be found. And so, she headed to her mom's usual spot at this time of day on this day; the living room, watching her shows.
"Hey, mom! Do you know where Dad went?"
"Netopia Castle...on business, I think."
"Business? He hasn't done that for a while..." The sound of a door opening suddenly could be heard. Based on where it seemed to come from, it sounded like the front door. Seeing her father walk down the hallway confirmed this. "Well, not anymore..." She headed back to the office, watching in confusion as the shelf full of rare chips on display became a shelf with nothing on it. "Uh...Dad? What's up?"
"Hmm? Oh, hi, Sabrina." Christopher stopped to look back at her for a moment, before resuming grabbing more chips. "Didn't see you there."
"So...why are you grabbing all your rare chips?"
"Ah...well, in case you didn't know, I went over to Netopia Castle."
"Yeah, Mom told me."
"Well, I wasn't there on business, originally...but to make a long story short, I've been contracted by the government."
"Oh. ...Wait, what? I thought you said you were on a break or something?"
"They made an offer I couldn't refuse. If all goes well, this family'll be set for a long time."
"Really? ...You're not going to anything crazy or dangerous or stupid or anything, are you?"
"To me, no. To my Navi, highly."
"Oh. Well, good luck with that!" She started to turn around leave, but stopped. "Wait a sec...you can't check my progress if you're doing stuff, can you?"
"Nope. So tomorrow I want you to go back to Electopia. Have you heard of a place called Yoka, on the outskirts of DenCity?"
"Yeah, I've been there. Why?"
"There's an inn there, which boasts its own hot springs. I want you to stay there while you're training. I'll pay for it, so long as you promise not to mess around while you're there."
"Hey, NetBattling's kinda fun when you get the hang of it. Don't think I won't do it!"
"Hmm...all right." The older Jetto moved into the next room, which happened to be his own bedroom. "By the way, how'd your mission for the NetPolice go?"
"Went great! Teamed up with another Navi, and we protected a NetFrican temple-like thing from a huge group of viruses! ...Oh yeah!" Sabrina pulled out her PET and looked at it. "SplashMan, what was in that huge chunk of data?"
"Heh, just finished analyzing it! Check it out!" He pointed at the new zenny total, which was about twice as big as it had been before. "Plus, we got chip data!" As if on cue, a blank chip was inserted. "Transferring it now!" And a few moments later, the chip emerged, now featuring some sort of plant virus they had fought. "Didn't get a chance to find out what it does, though."
"Well, we don't need an analyzer to find that out." The young woman moved over to her dad, who was busy packing a suitcase. "Hey Dad! What's this chip?"
He looked it over for a moment, then resumed packing. "That's a TreeBomb chip. It's a Wood chip, and it has the user throw a seed like a bomb towards an enemy."
"...That's it?"
"Nope, it has two catches. First, if it misses, it'll eventually sprout into a WoodTower attack on its own. You know what that is, right?"
"Uh...nope."
"Basically, large wooden spikes rise from the ground to hit enemies. But what'll probably get your interest is the second catch. If either you or an enemy hits it with an Aqua attack, it'll trigger the WoodTower effect, but it will have improved power and accuracy."
"Really? When you put it that way, it sounds a lot better!" Sabrina quickly slid it into her folder. "Yep, that's a keeper for us!"
"Thought you might like that chip once you knew what it did."
"Yep! Well, I'm gonna go hang out in my room for a little bit. Good luck with...uh..."
"Nice try, but I can't tell you exactly what it is. Classified."
"Ah. Well, good luck with that. If I don't see you again, bye!"
---------------
Around 10 minutes later, Sabrina found herself lying on her bed, with her PET recharging on its stand over on her desk. "Ahh...nice to lie down on my own bed again! ...Oh, SplashMan! You're not in sleep mode yet, are you?"
"Not yet. Why?"
"Forgot to tell you...during our mission, I made a trade. I gave up our Recover80 and a couple others we never use for-"
"What?! Why'd you trade away that one?"
"Can I finish?"
"Go ahead..."
"As I was saying, I traded them away for a Recover120, so we can last longer when we're in the Net. Just thought I'd tell ya that."
"Oh, cool!" The sound of a loud yawn could be heard from the PET. "Well, I'm beat, so I'm going to sleep. Good night, Sabrina!"
"Night, SplashMan!" ...Come to think of it, she was pretty exhausted herself, between the jet lag and various virus busting. She looked over at her alarm clock, located next to the PET stand...9:46 PM. Not all that late, but she figured it was as good a time as any to get some shut eye herself, so she took off her boots, shut off the light, and climbed into her bed for a good rest...
-----------------
"Ahhh! What a nice sleep!" SplashMan awoke in the PET, performing a good stretch, despite lacking any actual muscles. "Hey, Sabrina! It's time to-" He stopped as he noticed that not only was his operator not in bed, but there was a fully packed suitcase outside of it. He could tell because of the fact there was a very unusual raise on the top side. Good thing for her it had wheels for rolling, or she probably wouldn't be able to lift it. "She's already up and packed? What time is it?" A quick check at the PET's internal clock revealed...9:46 AM. No wonder he was so refreshed.
"Hey, SplashMan! You up?" The young woman poked her head into her room, her hair slightly wet. "Could you check my mail? Dad should've sent me an airplane ticket."
"Oh, sure!" Sure enough, there was one new e-mail, from one Christopher Jetto. "Yep, he sent it! Take-off is at 1:15 PM, so we should have plenty of time to check in and stuff as long as you're almost ready!"
"Awesome. I'll be ready in a sec, so just hang tight for a little longer!" A few moments of nothingness passed, before her return...only now with a piece of toast in her hand. "All set!" She grabbed her suitcase and dragged it on the floor, making the handle come up so she could drag it behind her, and then proceeded to grab her PET and place it in its usual position on her side. "Well, time to head back to Electopia! It's kinda too bad we couldn't stay longer, though..."
"Yeah...hope your mom's okay with being home by herself, now that you and Christopher are both leaving..."
"Oh, I talked to her about that a little earlier, and she said she'd be fine. And, well, I think she will be. Nothing to worry about here!"
"Well, if you think so!"
"Sabrina, are you ready? We need to start heading for the airport!" A third voice suddenly pierced the conversation, which unquestionably belonged to Mrs. Jetto. "Plus, I want to get the drive over with! It's two hours for just one way!"
"Coming, Mom!" She grabbed her suitcase, took a bite out of her toast, and proceeded to leave her room, now officially on the road back to Electopia.
(to ACDC Town!)