It was supposed to be another routine errand on the Net. All that Freeze Man had to do was log into the ACDC network and pre-order airplane tickets to Netopia. Everything was going according to plan: Freeze Man walked up to the desk, paid enough Zenny, and recieved the ticket data. He was on his way back to deliver the tickets to his NetOp, Sean Obihiro, when suddenly he was confronted by a Navi he had never seen before.

"Who are you? I have no time for games," Freeze Man warned.
"Good..." said the mysterious Navi. "Neither do I."

---------------------------------

"AAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH!! Why do you have to be so darn GOOD at this!?!?"
"Heh heh, don't worry Dex! With enough practice I'm sure you'll beat me and Mega Man someday."
"Yeah, Lan, except that's what you ALWAYS say..."

A cool breeze was blowing through that lazy summer day. The group would usually meet up on Tuesdays to partake in practice matches, where Yai would stand as referee. Lan and Dex were at it again, but this time there was an Invis3 chip on the line. Mayl was trying her best to hide her excitement for Lan's victory, but it was no use; everyone knew by now what was on her mind. Today was extra-special because Chaud had some time off of work and could afford to stop by for a few Net Battles. It was a perfect summer day in ACDC Town... or, it WAS perfect, anyway. At this time Sean ran up to the young NetOps with a distraught look on his face. He was sweating, out of breath from running so hard.

"Sean!" Lan cried out. "What's the matter? You look like you're about to collapse!"
Mayl extended her arm. "Don't worry, we're you friends now, remember? You can tell us."
Sean looked up to the group with a tearful gaze strong enough to penetrate steel. "Fr... fr... free... Freeze Man..."
Dex became concerned. "What's wrong, man? Did something happen to Freeze Man?"
"Free... Freeze Man..." Sean choked out behind a sob. "Freeze Man was... was... DELETED..."
"Oh, good heavens!" Glyde exclaimed. "Someone! Anyone! Call the Net Battlers' Association immediately!!"
"I'm on it!" Roll called back. "What do I tell them the emergency is?"
"Tell them..." Glyde said with a serious expression. "Tell them there's been... a Net Navi murder."

Lan followed Chaud to the ONBA Headquarters meeting hall. When the two boys showed up, they noticed that the room was, for the most part, very well packed. Lan guessed that there were as many as 30 people patiently waiting for his arrival.

After Lan took a seat at the conference table, the ONBA Chief walked to the head of the table, and turned everyone's attention towards a large screen at the head of the room. Most of the displayed data was in numbers and complex vocabulary arranged on hard-to-decipher spreadsheets, but there were a couple images of Freeze Man, as well as a video of the UnderSquare.* Then the ONBA Chief cleared his throat, and began to speak.

"First of all, I would like to thank you all for your willful cooperation with ONBA. All of you are here today because you have either been accused of deleting Freeze Man, or because you have volunteered to assist in our investigations. For security reasons, I cannot tell everyone which reasons the others are here, and I hope you do the same."

"Why is this such a big deal, anyway?" Dex suddenly interrupted. "I mean, Guts Man gets deleted all the time whenever I NetBattle! Shouldn't Freeze Man be fine after a Spare Backup?"

"I sell Spare Backups at my shop, huh. They're really handy to keep around," Mr. Higsby shamelessly plugged.

The ONBA Chief took a short pause. "That's a good question, actually. You see, Freeze Man's data has been damaged beyond recognition, and therefore a simple Spare Backup won't do much good. The science department should be able to repair the Navi, but it will take some time. We have reason to believe the culprit behind the attack was using illegal data and hacked Freeze Man's internal program structure to prevent Sean from using any of his backups."

He turned to the rest of the group with a stone-cold look. "Therefore, I am requesting that each and every one of you leaves your Navi logged in to the ONBA network until the issues are resolved."

"What!?" Yai broke out. "After all we did for you guys!?"

"My fish will spoil if I don't tend to the shop!" Masa exclaimed.

"I'll miss this month's E3 Expo!" Mr. Famous cried.

"I think I left the oven on..." Mr. Higsby quietly noted to himself.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roll joined the group of Net Navis that were congregating around the center of the ONBA network. Mayl had instructed her to jack in and follow the ONBA Chief's Navi and his instructions, but soon after that communications had suddenly stopped. At any rate, something strange was going on.

"I would like to thank everyone for showing up," the Normal Navi started. "You see, we have reason to believe that some of the Navis here today are directly linked to the Navi murder incident, and as such communications with your Net Op have been interrupted until further notice."

"HAWWWW?" Guts Man yelled. "Guts Man innocent! Dex will prove it!"

"I keep telling you, I'm not with the World Three anymore!" Fire Man complained.

"Forget you, Fire Man! I saved the entire damn planet!" Colonel shouted.

"Everyone, everyone!" called the Normal Navi. "Now, I know there's a possible reason for each and every one of you to be innocent, but there's also a possibility that you could be turning against your friends without even knowing it."

"Hm?" Wood Man said. "I'm intrigued... what do you mean?"

The Normal Navi took a step closer to the crowd. "We've done thorough investigations on the Gospel incident from about 4 years ago, and it turns out Sean was being manipulated by an unknown force against his will. In layman's terms, he was brainwashed, and I'm afraid the same may have happened to a few of you. Don't worry, because everyone cooperated with ONBA so quickly we were able to contain the virus, so your original personalities won't be altered. We've also devised a special program that will scan you and find any source of the malicious programming, so we can treat it and return all of you back to your normal selves."

"So why don't you just scan us and get everything over with?" Glyde said.

"Simple," the Normal Navi said. "First off, this is an experimental system, and it only works once every 24 hours. Secondly, it has the rather nasty side effect of deleting the scanned Navi, but unlike Freeze Man's situation we can simply restore you with some backup data. We've also received a crucial tip from one of our outside agents -- "

"Lemme guess," Mega Man interrupted. "It's Proto Man."

The Normal Navi looked rather annoyed. "Sigh... yes, it's Proto Man, are you happy? Anyway... we received an important tip, and basically we know that both the World Three and Gospel are in the scheme somehow. We also know that there are four members of both teams. I can also share that we have secretly deployed four members of ONBA to the case, and they will be hunting down the maverick Navis. I advise you all to stay cautious during this first day, and hopefully we'll have more information for you all tomorrow. Until then, try to relax in the server to the best of your ability, and I'll contact you tomorrow. Okay? Good."

And without waiting another second to be interrupted or yelled at, the Normal Navi jacked out of the server.

As the Net Navis try to sort out the current situation, one by one they slowly retire to their quarters to get a good night's rest. Some Navis, however, secretly lurk about when no one else is watching, and are up to various activities...

As the Net Navis woke, they once again congregated towards the server's Square. This time, the talk wasn't so much about their varying degrees of frustration, but rather about who could be possibly accused of being the Net Mafia. There was a lot of talk to be had, and sooner or later someone would be sacrificed for a Scan Target in order to save the entire group.

---------------------------------------------------------

"Ah [redacted], I see you were successful in infiltrating the ONBA investigation."
"Yes, but I have a question... why didn't you contact me earlier?"
"Well, those ONBA program jockeys managed to detect a variance in their firewall."
"You mean, they know we're here to kill their Navis and stop the investigation?"
"Not quite. ONBA knows we broke in... but they haven't quite pieced together WHY."
"That's good information... but you never answered me. Why did you wait so long?"
"Simple... I didn't want the fools to trace our communication. It was too risky to engage contact right away."
"Whatever you say, boss. As long as we finally get our revenge on those retched Navis..."
"Good, that's what I like to hear. Don't forget to report on [redacted] every now and then."

TRANSMISSION END

---------------------------------------------------------

"This is [redacted] reporting for ONBA. Everything is moving smoothly and the Navis have stopped panicking."
"That's great to hear. I'm sorry for not being able to contact you earlier, [redacted]."
"Let me guess... it's because of the problems with the ONBA firewall, isn't it?"
"Well, it's not only that. We had to launch a jamming signal to track any outgoing signals from WWW or Gospel."
"That's great, but how does that affect me, [redacted]?"
"If any ONBA operatives were engaging in communications, they would've tied up the tracking device as well."
"Guess there's no complaining about the past, then. I will continue my investigations posthaste."
"I trust in your abilities, [redacted]. [redacted], signing out."

TRANSMISSION END

The Net Navis once again gathered in the ONBA Square and started to talk about who to Scan for the day. After nearly eliminating someone, they decided that blindly guessing who was an enemy and who wasn't was a dumb idea.

"Whose bright idea was it to block communications to our PET, anyway?" Gate Man complained.
"Uhhh..." the Normal Navi from the previous day said. "Proto Man?"
"Well then, to hell with Proto Man!" Mega Man yelled. "We're not getting anywhere without some concrete information."
"Yeah!" the other Navis agreed.

So, one by one most of the Navis revealed their code names. A few of the more nervous Navis still felt in danger and decided not to share their link to their PETs, but for the most part everyone was blatantly up-front and confident about revealing their identities to everyone around them. After a few minutes of talking about Code Names and introducing themselves to the crowd, the conversation once again turned to the day's Scan Target. Talk quickly became heated, with people turning against one another in an instant. At one point the "band wagon" got REALLY nasty, and almost broke into a fight between Guts Man and Number Man until Meddy intervened.

"Hey!" Meddy cried out. "You can't be fighting at a time like this! Otherwise the Net Mafia will take advantage of us all!"
Guts Man lowered his fist (previously aimed at Number Man). "Okay then, what's YOUR big idea?"
Meddy looked around nervously. "Uhh... umm... I think... I think we should go after... FLAME MAN!"
Number Man (who was crouched away from Guts Man) spoke up. "H-h-hey! You're just wildy guessing too!"
"Actually, Meddy has a point," Roll said. "Don't you remember? He got a bit touchy about revealing his Code Name."
Indeed, not only had Flame Man become incredibly defensive, but now he wasn't even with the Navi group anymore.
"Sounds suspicious to me," Mega Man added in. "Anything's worth trying at this point."
"You just ssssssssaid that because you and Roll -- " Snake Man started.
Mega Man aimed his buster at Snake Man's face. "SHUT. UP. NOW."

-----------------------------------------------

After wandering around for a bit, Ice Man found Flame Man sitting at the Net Cafe, even though the bartender wasn't there. He was just quietly meditating while watching the 4:00 DNN News. Ribitta was droning on about the difference between Magnet panels and Aluminum panels, but Flame Man just seemed to absorb the information with a blank look on his face.

Ice Man eventually spoke up. "Flame Man? Could you come with me for a minute?"

Flame Man turned to Ice Man. "Sure thing, little buddy. What's the problem?"

After about five minutes Ice Man returned to the ONBA Square with Flame Man in tow. Within another two minutes the other Net Navis had returned from searching for Flame Man. At first Flame Man simply looked around with a neutral expression, but suddenly Magic Man and Wood Man had stepped behind Flame Man, blocking his escape and making him panic a little.

"What... what's going on here?" Flame Man said.
"Well..." Roll started. "We've all nominated you as today's Scan Target."
"Preposterous!" Flame Man boomed. "I've done nothing to any of you -- hey, get your hands OFF me!"
"I'm sorry Flame Man, but we all think you're too suspicious," Colonel said.

Flame Man tried to break away, but as soon as he did Toad Man used his Melody attack to stun Flame Man once more. Flame Man flailed about in panic as several Navis charged their attacks.

Flame Man suddenly freaked out. "Wha-- my weapons! My attacks are useless!"
"That's because they've been disabled," the ONBA Normal Navi said. "The Scan Target is restricted from trying to fight back."
In a last ditch-attempt, Flame Man looked towards the crowd. "I'm telling you, I'm innocent! You'll all regret this!"
"I'm sorry," Cut Man said. "The tribe has spoken."

Suddenly, Cut Man was filled with an intense purple energy, which must've been the ScanProg taking effect. He charged forward and unleashed his charge attack... and with that, Flame Man was cleaved in two. His data disintegrated into translucent cubes (lol NT Warrior anime reference) that dissipated into the air. There was a small block of Mystery Data left behind, though. Upon analyzing the data, it revealed Flame Man's true intentions...

-----------------------------------------------

Player: Travis / Code Name: Thunder Fist

Flame Man ~ WWW Intelligence
As one of Mr. Match's creations you were having a pretty content life. That is, until you started feeling suspicious of your NetOp. You were his least-used Net Navi, and Mr. Match would always complain about your losses in Net Battles. One day, you decided to leave Mr. Match, leaving behind a note saying you would return when your strength would finally make him proud of you...

-----------------------------------------------

Learning this information, the Navis were extremely relieved. Right off the bat, they had detected a member of the Net Mafia and had abruptly stopped his plans before they even started. Tonight, everyone happily walked off to bed with a little more peace of mind, and a bit of confidence as well.

Fire Man was partaking in one of his favorite late-night activities: watching scary movies with Elec Man. Every third Wednesday, the two Navis brought their favorite horror films, bought some cyber popcorn from ACDC Square, and competed in trying to outlast the other Navi, to avoid being "scared shitless" first. Fire Man found it somewhat odd that Elec Man had managed to meet him on this particular Wednesday, especially since neither Elec Man nor Count Zap were present at the beginning of the investigation, but to him he didn't mind. Maybe Count Zap had joined the ONBA, or maybe Elec Man managed to break in through ONBA's firewall. Either way, he was just glad he could relax with his friend.

Tonight's movie (picked by Fire Man) was a classic: Colonel Squad 4 ~ Falzar's Revenge. Elec Man enjoyed the Colonel Squad series mainly because it focused on Colonel's summoned underlings rather than romanticizing Colonel. The movie was at the climactic final fight scene when the image of Colonel on-screen suddenly "popped" forward a bit.

"Wow! This technology's amazing!" Elec Man beamed. "It's like the movie just flies right in your face!"
Fire Man grinned. "Yeah, it's absolutely marvelous, isn't -- "
Elec Man was slightly alarmed by the sudden pause. "... What? It isn't what?"
"Elec Man..." Fire Man stuttered. "This movie was never remastered in 3D..."
"Well, if the movie isn't 3D..." Elec Man thought. "Then... that's really..."
"Yes, indeed," Colonel said. "Surprise, surprise. I'm the bad guy. It's such a shame, too... I really liked you, Fire Man."

Colonel's face formed an evil, blood-curdling grin as he unsheathed his sword. Suddenly, Elec Man grabbed himself in the chest and started grunting.

"W-what are you doing!?" Fire Man said. "If I were you, I'd either attack or get the hell out of here!"

Suddenly, Elec Man's body started to crack all over as if he was an egg that a newborn chicken would try to escape. After a couple more seconds, Elec Man was ripped apart... except it wasn't Elec Man, it was a disguise!

"No... way..." Fire Man gasped.
"It can't be... !!" Colonel yelled.
"Oh," the revealed [redacted] chuckled. "But it is! And your scheme's over, Colonel! Give it up!"
"Never!" Colonel freaked. "I've come too far to give up now! I'm taking you down, Fire Man!!"

[redacted] switched to a Guts Punch chip, but Colonel backed away in time. He turned into a blur, seemingly passing right through [redacted]. Realizing what was about to happen, [redacted] switched to a Risky Honey chip and fired the bees straight at Colonel... but it was too late. Colonel's sword had already sliced Fire Man into a perfect "Z". He was deleted, and it was too late to do anything about it.

"Col... col... !! COLONELLLLLLLLLLL!!!" [redacted] shouted with fury. "You've gone TOO FAR!!"

Absolutely bursting with rage, [redacted] made it a point to give Colonel as much pain as possible. [redacted] trapped him with Bubble Star, combo'd that with Thundoll for x2 damage, then finished him off with a Life Sword program advance. Colonel's screams of pain were so loud that it woke all of the other Navis, who quickly rushed to Fire Man's quarters to see what had happened. After the other Navis had reached the scene, two more pieces of Mystery Data were left behind...

-----------------------------------------------

Player: Sora / Code Name: Big Daddy

Colonel ~ WWW Team Leader
During the fight to control the Cybeasts you were unfortunately deleted in order to preserve peace. Wily has reformatted your data and brought you back from the dead, but in order to win your freedom you must partake in his "experiment". Therefore, your job is to test the intelligence of other Net Navis.

-----------------------------------------------

Player: Bikdark / Code Name: Hipster Zero

Fire Man ~ ONBA Recruiter
After leaving the World Three, Mr. Match has had a lot of time to think about his life. He's had dozens of opportunities to reflect not only on his own existence, but on human life as a whole, the universe, and... well, pretty much everything. And although Mr. Match didn't think of the number 42, he did think about the crimes he commited in the past. He became a volunteer at ONBA in order to atone for his sins, and to help make the world a better place.

-----------------------------------------------

The Navis were saddened by the loss of the charismatic Fire Man, and even more shocked by the fact that Colonel was working for the World Three, but eventually they all absorbed the facts. The memorial service was short, partially due to the fact that they knew Fire Man and Colonel could easily be reconstructed by a Spare Backup, but nonetheless the Navis tried their best to honor the fallen Navis' short time in the investigation. Then the Net Navis slowly returned to their quarters for the night, though a few were unable to resume sleeping with any success.

As the third day opened up, Number Man quickly ran up to the group of Navis who were talking at ONBA Square. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but apparently someone had already formulated who to place as the day's Scan Target, and remembering yesterday's incident, all the Net Naivs were eager to get the act over with as quickly as possible.

"... and he's a total weirdo, too!" Cut Man said.
"That's an objective opinion," Bass coldly cut in, "and it shouldn't count as fact."
"Hey, why are you here again?" a confused Punk asked. "Don't you hate humans?"
"Umm..." Bass tried to hide a blushing face. "It's... none of your business."
"Oooooohhh, SOMEONE's getting emotional!" Wood Man teased.
"I bet he's in LOVE!" Glyde gleefully added in. "Who's the lucky girl, huh?"
"Hey, don't get so defensive, Mega Man..." Guts Man said off in the distance somewhere.
Ice Man formed an evil smile. "Or maybe it's a GUY! Oh snap! I said it!"
"Sh-shut up!!" Bass yelled. "It's nothing of the sort!"
"SUUUUUUUUUUUUURE it isn't!" Snake Man cackled.

All of the Navis had completely abandoned the earlier subject and were now thoroughly enjoying the roast of Bass. The rumors and stories were cooking up so good, you could actually smell grilled bratwurst if you imagined strongly enough. Of course, Bass wasn't enjoying any of this one bit, and if it wasn't for the ONBA Server restrictions on weapons, he could've easily wiped out the group of Navis in a single attack... but Number Man wasn't thrilled about the current topic either.

"Hey!" Number Man shouted above the crowd. "You were talking about the day's Scan Target, and I missed everything!"
"Oh yeah," Magic Man recalled. "You see, we have this strange unsettling feeling about Toad Man..."

--------------------------------------------------------------

*flush*

Toad Man cheerfully walked out of the lavatory when suddenly he realized that all of the other Net Navis were around him, giving him piercing looks. Toad Man suddenly panicked and broke out into a sweat. Oh, no! Now you've done it, he thought. He quickly scanned the crowd, turning his head left to right. Then, he finally faced the group as a whole...

"I just realized, Net Navis don't have to use the bathroom!" Toad Man said. "Oh, you guys must be totally EMBARRASSED right now!"

Thunder Man: *facepalm*

"No, you big idiot!" Guts Man said. "You're today's Scan Target, and we're takin' you out!"
"W-w-what!?" Toad Man burst out hysterically. "You've got to be KIDDING me!"
"I'm afraid not," Magic Man said. "You've been acting awful strange lately, Toad Man."
"It didn't help that you tried hiding your Code Name, either," Wood Man said. "It's for the best."

And without any sort of dramatic fight scene or climactic build up whatsoever, Toad Man had been cleaved in to by Glyde's Custom Sword. As usual, a small fragment of Mystery Data was formed after Toad Man had completely dissipated into small cubes of programming, but before any of the Navis could read it...

*thonk*

"Ow! What was THAT for!?" Glyde screamed in pain.
Roll held her hand in a karate-chop shape. "You could've waited for the poor guy to talk, you know!"
"Well, everyone wanted to get it over with early in the day," Glyde interjected. "I was just trying to help!"
"Then ask before you 'help' us out!" Roll barked back. "He could've had some quality information!"
"I'm glad I'm not in his position," Mega Man snickered.
Meddy just gave a chuckle back. "Oh, but you will be... soon enough, hee hee."
TOTALLY NOT HINTING AT ANYTHING THERE

--------------------------------------------------------------

Toad Man ~ Investigator
Toad Man has been reporting with Ribitta for the DenCity News Network for as far as he can remember. The dynamic duo has covered a myriad of topics, from the first-ever World Three attack to the Battle Chip Challenge Grand Prix to the manufacturing of Dark Chips. Ribitta and Toad Man even went as far as to join a Liberation Team to gain extra information. And with a story as juicy as a Net Navi serial killing spree, there's no way that the two would pass up such a large opportunity.

World Three
---------------------------------


Colonel ~ WWW Team Leader
During the fight to control the Cybeasts you were unfortunately deleted in order to preserve peace. Wily has reformatted your data and brought you back from the dead, but in order to win your freedom you must partake in his "experiment". Therefore, your job is to test the intelligence of other Net Navis.

Navi Skill: Day Invis. You cannot be killed during the Day Phase except through votes.


Punk ~ WWW Recruitment Agent
Following your appearance with Mr. Famous, you have gathered quite a bit of attention during your short life. You even got to battle with the legendary Mega Man. However, Mr. Famous has received a new license with Capcom for another Net Navi fan contest, and has subsequently abandoned you. Feeling betrayed, you seek revenge by covertly joining the World Three. You begin your vengeance by using your immense popularity to convince young Net Navis to join the World Three's ranks...

Navi Skill: Dark Recovery. During the Night Phase, you may revive any player who has been deleted during the course of the game. You can only use this Navi Skill ONCE during the entire game. This newly revived player will instantly join WWW, but will be unable to use a Navi Skill. Still, there's strength in numbers, right?


Flame Man ~ WWW Intelligence
As one of Mr. Match's creations you were having a pretty content life. That is, until you started feeling suspicious of your NetOp. You were his least-used Net Navi, and Mr. Match would always complain about your losses in Net Battles. One day, you decided to leave Mr. Match, leaving behind a note saying you would return when your strength would finally make him proud of you...

Navi Skill: Gather Intel. During the Day Phase, you can identify the Navi Skill of another player. However, you can't learn their Code Name or their Net Navi.


Number Man ~ WWW Signal Jammer
Mr. Higsby has always been a Battle Chip enthusiast, and is constantly on the hunt for new and rare chips to add to his collection. After recieving an offer from Dr. Wily to conduct research for the World Three, Mr. Higsby reluctantly joined after hearing that the winning team would recieve an all-new never before released Battle Chip. Hopefully you're fighting for the right cause...

Navi Skill: Interference. During the Day Phase, you can prevent another player from using their Navi Skill. Jamming their signal will take effect when their next Play Phase begins.




Gospel
---------------------------------


Magic Man ~ Gospel Leader
During the past few years working with the World Three, you have learned a few things about your powerful Net Battle skills. Your ability to summon viruses has proven invaluable, and your Magic Fire can delete even the most stubborn enemy Navis. However, Wily hasn't appreciated you as much as you would have liked. You don't recieve praise for completed missions, you haven't gotten a pay raise in four years, and whenever you mess up you've been harshly reprimanded for it. So, you decided enough was enough and joined Gospel. Hopefully this new crime syndicate will appreciate you now that you're their leader and all.

Navi Skill: Night Invis. You cannot be killed during the Night Phase.


Mega Man ~ Gospel Recruitment Agent
In the internet world, you rule. Many Net Navis consider you to be a living legend, while the more "delusional" fans think you're the virtual embodiment of a GOD. Either way, you've saved the world on countless occasions, often at the last moment before the world plunges into chaos. Wouldn't this be the perfect setup to work under Gospel's team? Of course it would! Nobody would EVER see it coming! And with your immense fame, recruiting Net Navis to Gospel's forces should be a piece of cake.

Navi Skill: Dark Recovery. During the Night Phase, you may revive any player who has been deleted during the course of the game. You can only use this Navi Skill ONCE during the entire game. This newly revived player will instantly join Gospel, but will be unable to use a Navi Skill. Still, there's strength in numbers, right?


Meddy ~ Gospel Intelligence
Working with the Liberation League was quite a refreshing experience. That's all in the past though, and since then you haven't seen as much action as you would like. NetOps don't buy your Navi Chip because they say the Meddy Capsules are near-useless with its low damage output. On top of it, you haven't recieved any jobs lately because people doubt your Net Battle skills because of the Meddy Capsule's weird throwing delay. You're getting tired of being teased because of your battle style, and you're tired of being patronized by other Net Navis for being a girl, and a quite cute one at that. You decided to join Gospel in order to get the respect you finally deserve. Let's see who the girls are now, shall we?

Navi Skill: Gather Intel. During the Night Phase, you can identify the Net Navi of another player. However, you can't learn their Navi Skill or their Code Name.


Thunder Man ~ Gospel Signal Jammer
After growing up on the streets, Raoul quickly learned what was needed to survive in the seedy underbelly of Netopia. Luckily, many of the same tactics apply rather nicely to the Undernet. With Thunder Man by his side, enemy Navis are helplessly flustered by his Thunder Cloud attack... a trait that Gospel was quite interested in. After being offered a large Zenny reward, Raoul and Thunder Man agreed to conduct research on Gospel's behalf.

Navi Skill: Interference. During the Night Phase, you can prevent another player from using their Navi Skill. Jamming their signal will take effect when their next Play Phase begins.




ONBA
---------------------------------


Gate Man ~ ONBA Leader
Ah, Gate Man... good ol' reliable Gate Man. The legendary Net Navi that was responsible for propelling Mr. Famous into his superstar status, Gate Man is quite the accomplished Net Battler. He has commanded authority from his colleagues at ONBA, and for good reason. Trust me, you don't want to be staring at the wrong end of his Gate Cannon... ouch.

Navi Skill: E-Reader. During the Night Phase, you can identify the Code Name of any player you like. However, you can't learn their Net Navi or Navi Skill.


Cut Man ~ ONBA Assassin
After the humiliating defeat by Mega Man during the Yumland incident, Cut Man has vowed to restore his good name. After volunteering for several positions on the HelpBBS, he has finally earned the trust of the general public. Now he has a distinguished role among the ONBA ranks, putting a stop to net crime one deletion at a time. Evildoers beware... this is the reign of Kung Fu CutMan.EXE!!

Navi Skill: Snip Snip, You're Dead. During the Night Phase, you can target a player and attempt to perform an Assassination. You can only use this skill once every two Turns. This means that you can attack every other turn. This also means you won't get penalized for skipping turns; for example, if you attack on Turn 2 and decide not to attack on Turn 4, you still have the option of attacking on Turn 5. The attack will only work if the targeted player is a member of Gospel or the World Three. In addition, the target cannot be Invisible, wearing any Auras, or using a Jamming Signal to prevent your Assassination.


Bass ~ ONBA Protector
Nobody really knows why Bass decided to help the ONBA team during the investigation. One story tells how Bass has finally decided to assist humans after being repeatedly defeated by Mega Man. Another rumor is that Bass has hidden motives and that by helping ONBA, his reward is secret access to a powerful government program. The most plausible reason, though, is that Bass showed up because he FELT like showing up. Bass probably just wanted to assert his position as the world's most powerful Net Navi, both in raw offensive power and mind-bending strategization. Whatever the factor may be, ONBA highly appreciates Bass's valuable contributions to the team.

Navi Skill: Dark Aura. During the Day Phase, you may select any player you like (even yourself). In the subsequent Night Phase, that player is completely immune to any and all status afflictions, including Jamming, Identification, and Deletion. However, you cannot apply the Dark Aura to the same player two Turns in a row.


Fire Man ~ ONBA Recruiter
After leaving the World Three, Mr. Match has had a lot of time to think about his life. He's had dozens of opportunities to reflect not only on his own existence, but on human life as a whole, the universe, and... well, pretty much everything. And although Mr. Match didn't think of the number 42, he did think about the crimes he commited in the past. He became a volunteer at ONBA in order to atone for his sins, and to help make the world a better place.

Navi Skill: Undershirt. During the Day Phase, you may revive any player who has been deleted during the course of the game. You can only use this Navi Skill ONCE during the entire game. This newly revived player will instantly join ONBA, but will be unable to use a Navi Skill. Still, there's strength in numbers, right?




Other Players / "Townies"
---------------------------------


Roll ~ Laytonian Mastermind
Roll has always been a sweet girl. Her kindhearted nature and outgoing personality can easily cheer up a depressed Net Navi. Roll's always solving disputes between others, and can often tell what a person's true intentions are. On top of it, she's not afraid to put her own life on the line in order to protect a friend. After many years of experience, Roll can tell what a person's personality is like from just a few minutes of conversation, a skill that will come in handy during the investigation.

Navi Skill: Puzzle Solver. During the Day Phase, Roll can ask another Navi if they have recieved any clues. The Navi may or may not respond with information they have gathered. If the Navi shares their intel, any cryptic clues will be decoded and both Navis will learn the newly decoded message.


Toad Man ~ Investigator
Toad Man has been reporting with Ribitta for the DenCity News Network for as far as he can remember. The dynamic duo has covered a myriad of topics, from the first-ever World Three attack to the Battle Chip Challenge Grand Prix to the manufacturing of Dark Chips. Ribitta and Toad Man even went as far as to join a Liberation Team to gain extra information. And with a story as juicy as a Net Navi serial killing spree, there's no way that the two would pass up such a large opportunity.

Navi Skill: Greatest Reporter in the World. During the Day Phase, you can identify the Team alignment of any player you like. However, their Net Navi, Code Name, and Navi Skill will remain hidden.


Guts Man ~ Meet the Heavy
Good ol' Guts Punch. Nothing beats that. Especially if you attach rocket thrusters to the giant metallic fist of death. Guts Man relies on brute strength and brute strength alone to solve his conflicts. This usually works... unless he's fighting Mega Man. Nonetheless, Guts Man's power is respected throughout the Net. He's even taken on a few students in his spare time and passed down the legendary Guts Force battle style.

Navi Skill: Ubercharge. During either the Day or Night Phases, you may select any player you like. If that player has an attack skill, they become Ubercharged and gain the power to penetrate Auras, as well as ignore the effects of any Jamming Signals. You can only use this skill once every two Phases. This means that you can use your skill once a turn. This also means you won't get penalized for skipping Phases; for example, if you attack during the Day on Turn 3 and decide not to Ubercharge during the Day of Turn 4, you still have the option of applying Ubercharge during the Night of Turn 4.


Ice Man ~ Innocent Bystander
Dr. Froid had no idea why he was being questioned, or why Ice Man was being held in the ONBA Server. He was a respectable professional, after all; on a day-to-day basis it was his job to monitor the water flow and the quality of water that was pumped throughout Electopia. Now he was on a list of prime suspects being investigated for charges of grand Net crime and Net Navi murder. All he knew was that he was innocent, and that Ice Man had to stay strong and last until the very end. Stay frosty, Ice Man... stay frosty.

Navi Skill: Perfect Freeze. During either the Day or Night Phases, you may select any player you like. If that player has an Invisibility skill, that skill is now negated and the player becomes vulnerable to attacks. You can only use this skill once every two Turns. This means that you can use your skill every other turn. This also means you won't get penalized for skipping Phases; for example, if you freeze someone during the Day on Turn 3 and decide not to freeze a player during the Day of Turn 5, you still have the option of freezing a player during the Night of Turn 5.


Wood Man ~ Natural Protector
Wood Man has always had a strong motivation to protect nature. Subsequently, Wood Man also wishes to protect Navis surfing the Net, as he feels that the Net is the world's next big evolution and it will soon be the natural order of things. So, when he heard that Freeze Man was murdered, he begged Sal to aid in the investigations. Wood Man puts his Wood Aura to good use, protecting Navis who may be unaware of their impending doom.

Navi Skill: Life Aura. During the Night Phase, you may select any player you like (even yourself). In the subsequent Day Phase, that player is completely immune to any and all status afflictions, including Jamming, Identification, and Deletion. However, you cannot apply the Wood Aura to the same player two Turns in a row.


Glyde ~ Medics Anonymous
Glyde was worried from the very beginning. Why on earth would anyone go after the former leader of Gospel? Surely they must have heard stories of his power... unless the true culprit had the force to overcome Freeze Man all on his own. Ignoring his initial fears for his own safety, Glyde has decided to assist the investigation in any way he can. And with those special Navi Backup chips Yai was able to afford, Glyde feels as if he is a force to be reckoned with. A support-based force, mind you, but still a strong force nonetheless.

Navi Skill: Rapid Recovery. During the Night Phase, you may revive any player who has been deleted during the course of the game. You can only use this Navi Skill ONCE during the entire game. This newly revived player will instantly blend into the ranks of the "townies", but will be unable to use a Navi Skill. Still, there's strength in numbers, right?


Snake Man ~ Bartender
Ms. Millions has been bored out of her mind lately. She just hasn't been as thrilled as when she shared a Net Battle with Lan Hikari. So, she decided to start taking part in Net Battling tournaments, as well as surfing the Net in search of new opponents. Due to her thrill-seeking personality, she was listed as a prime suspect in the murder investigation, though the only thing she's guilty of is having a stunning fashion sense and a powerful Net Navi known as Snake Man.

Navi Skill: Town Gossip. Once per Turn you will recieve information from the various clients of the Net Cafe. Some of the information will turn out to be valuable for your cause. Other sources of information could prove to be... unsatisfactory. Maybe it's because Erase Man keeps talking in riddles. Or maybe it's because Plant Man had a little too much to drink. Either way, you'll have to rely on instinct and logic to figure out what pieces of information are worth keeping around.

1. LlamaHombre / Thunder Man / Noble Six
2. Sora / Colonel / Big Daddy
3. Tails_Hatsune / Ice Man / God Hand
4. Kenkoru / Mega Man / Sapper Trap
5. zeswissroll / Gate Man / Great Fox
6. xColdxFusionx / Snake Man / Shock Wave
7. chuggaafan1 / Punk / Zeus Hammer
8. Pie Man / Toad Man / Captain Majesty
9. Epic Kirby / Cut Man / Tiffany
10. Protoman01 / Guts Man / Auto Tune
11. Travis / Flame Man / Thunder Fist
12. Hiffe150 / Meddy / Piledriver
13. Trollman / Glyde / Attacky Sack
14. Bikdark / Fire Man / Hipster Zero
15. Yellow Devil / Wood Man / Power Stoner
16. ThatGuyOverThere / Roll / Manly Man
17. thatguy74 / Number Man / The Legend
18. Cristal Gemshard / Bass / Plumb Bob
19. Michael712 / Magic Man / Easter Bunny