PharaohMan.EXE had only attacked five minutes ago, but even in that space of time he had inflicted disaster. He and six of his Sarcophagus minions had appeared in the city somehow and begun to attack, and in minutes a busy street had first become a panicked mass of fleeing people, then a small sculpture exhibition.

However, something seemed wrong to Netto Hikari as he arrived with his own NetNavi. Throngs of people had fled, but the attackers had only hit six unlucky souls with the petrifying virus. Either they were weakened, or it had been a trap.

And a trap it had been. Even with half a dozen unfortunates, they had been spread out. Hostages, and cover, for the attackers. And making the fight harder for RockMan.EXE, having to prevent the three enemies attacking Lan while avoiding hitting the six poor statuefied citizens.

However, even with the odds against him, one Sarcophagus went down. One of those petrified reverted, suddenly realised he was no longer being zapped by something but was now surrounded by statues, and had fled. Realising the odds would even up boosted morale amongst the battling pair.

One by one, RockMan.EXE took them out, and the startled citizens, some who had saw others petrified before being stoned themselves, all fled. PharaohMan.EXE himself was now protected by two of the Sarcophagi that remained, with the last two statues standing awaiting freedom.

"Go, RockMan! If you get rid of them the two people left will be saved!" Netto cheered.

However, the lead NetNavi behind the attack ordered his minions forth, targeting Netto. One was defeated as it charged, but RockMan was almost too late to stop the other attacking. Almost.  The blue NetNavi dived into the way of an attack, making his own. There was a flash as the Sarcophagus vanished, and the last two statues became fleeing humans.

'If I take the hit and destroy the Sarcophagus at the same time it should mean I won't petrify at all, if I have the timing right.' He had thought

But RockMan had been hit by a second attack at the same time. From PharaohMan. And as a result, instead of a victorious blue NetNavi, a startled alabaster white statue stood in place instead.

Netto was surprised, but realised that even though RockMan was currently taking his name literally, that the villainous NetNavi had lost.

"Just you wait! I called my friends, they'll be here to save RockMan any minute!"

"I think not." PharaohMan said.

He raised his hands, and to Netto's shock, a stream of bandages shot forth, grabbing the human by the wrists and ankles. He struggled as they pulled his limbs.

"Hey! What are you doing?! Let me go!"

"Do all humans lack logic? What reasons would I have for letting you go?" PharaohMan virtually sighed

The bandage-strings tugged and pulled Netto to beside the petrified form of RockMan, where the attacking NetNavi descended.

"You destroyed all my minions, and you've summoned your friends. You will now tell them you defeated me and there is no problem."

"No I wont! You're trying to trick them! You'll have to turn me to stone as well, because I'm not helping!" Netto said with defiance.

"That was not a request or even an order. It was a prediction."

"What do you mean?"

"Once again, a lack of logic. How did humans ever manage to create networks?"

Before Netto could speak again, more bandages shot out, around his mouth. The boy was effectively silenced, though he tried his best. Muffled protests were ignored as the string-bandages were wrapped all down his hands like a glove, allowing PharaohMan to manipulate the human's fingers.

Struggling, Netto could only scream and find himself losing the battle as his bandaged hands produced his terminal and sent off a quick, false, message that the problem was solved.

'No! It's a trick! It's not me!' He urged, but the message he wanted to send never left his head.

"There. My prediction is true. But I must now replace my minions. You have cause me a great trouble, and for that, I would petrify you and shatter you to dust. But you would remain useful. Your friends will not be tricked forever, so some kind of leverage would be useful."

Before Netto had any understanding of the statement, more and more bandages began to flow out, starting to wrap down his arms and up his legs. He struggled and squirmed, as the bandages went both under and over his clothing in multiple layers. The layers on top however, shifted and twisted, merging with his clothing to convert it into cotton robes. His shorts were now a portion of a robe over his bandage-wrapped lower half, even as bandages began stitching his shirt and jacket into the former shorts.

'Aagh! This is gonna be too warm!'

Netto didn't know it, but he was, for moment, quite lucky as he struggled, squirmed, and generally failed to free himself. Lucky, in that even though he was now wrapped head to toe in a bandage bodysuit, that  PharaohMan was not the type to make terrible puns. Most other maniacal villains would have already asked if Netto wanted his mummy by this point.

This would have been small comfort for him as more bandages then bound his legs together, and made the layers up his body so thick as to hold him rigid. Now trapped in a traditional mummy pose, the only signs of resistance were a faint wobble, and his cries of protest, muffled by layers of bandages. He was a mummy, wearing a robe over layers of bandages. His Bandanna was now a golden band, and from his jacket, a gold neck bracer had formed. The mummified form also wore two golden bracelets, formed from the sleeves of his jacket.

His vain struggles were tiring him, but that was not all.  PharaohMan's attack was also a slight hypnotic, exploiting his own natural inclination to panic and otherwise waste energy, to slowly but surely drip suggestions to Netto that resistance was pointless.

'Ah, this is hopeless... No! I can't give in! I can'! But what can I do?!'

"This is good. Now for the second stage."

Netto was blinded by the bandages, but suddenly he saw a green glow, and felt his hands rising. The same glow grew, and he was seeing the world in green.

Except for two things. PharaohMan, his normal colours, and RockMan, still a grey statue.  And he was now holding his glowing wrapped hands up to the statue. Where his hands moved, RockMan regained colour, but not motion. However, the colour was not the blue of RockMan's own bodysuit, but a darker, wetter, grey. Like wet clay.

'What... What am I doing to RockMan? What are you making me do?'

And then, the coloured areas began shapeshifting under the glow. Moving, shifting. As the glow changed dry alabaster marble to wet grey clay, RockMan's limbs shifted into a similar pose to that of a mummy. Legs together, arms crossed over his chest.

'A statue like a mummy? But why is he clay? Why is Master... Master?! What am I thinking?!'

And at the same time, the glow had another, unheard, effect.

'What... What happened... I'm stone! Why am I concious if I'm stone? Wait, is that a mummy? But... Netto?! No!'

And then, under the glow, he began to expand outwards, retaining a humanoid shape as he widened, deepened, and grew slightly taller. Extruding features flattened slightly, and his head became more rounded, merging with his neck. His gloves and boots flattened down, as did his hair and shoulder-pads.

'He's turning into a sarcophagus! I'm making my own sarcophagus out of RockMan!'

'I'm.... I'm not a sarcophagus. Netto isn't a mummy! He's human! I'm a.... I'm a sarcophagus... No! I'm...'

Netto struggled still, but it was muted. The boy was tiring. Meanwhile, RockMan's own struggle in his mind was failing, as the glow was writing new code onto his personality.

'No... Can't let... Can't... Have to save... Have to... Have to let...' Netto thought

And with that, his concious resistance faded. Exhausted, Netto's mind fell asleep, leaving him awake but with no one home. The zombie-like boy wrapped in bandages watched with indifference as RockMan became a Sarcophagus, the exact shape and size for Netto. He was given another once-over with the green glow, and the clay recoloured, to resemble a somewhat dullened pattern like that of RockMan. A seam for a lid became clear, and it was done.

'...I await completion. I must protect the honoured subject I bear. We shall serve our master together'

"Stage three. Enter the new sarcophagus."

The mummified and defeated human complied. He pulled the lid aside, and climbed within. He wrapped his arms over his chest in a cross, and the lid slammed shut.

Within, the mummy that had been Netto Hikari slumbered, awaiting his master to call upon his abilities... The new mummy had been gifted the ability to create more Sarcophagi from the statues of others his master defeated.

"Excellent. And now, we will find your friends, Netto. You would like to be with them, correct?"

The sarcophagus and the occupant gave no response, but to float after the new master. The ornate statue-like coffin that RockMan had become had glowing eyes promising to help petrify new targets, and within, the mummy slumbered, awaiting the chance to sculpt new homes for new comrades.

"Which one should we target first, minion? There is a female with a NetNavi similar in shape to the former apperance of your sarcophagus, is there not? She would be a fine addition, and she does pose a threat. However, your former identity gives us leverage. She will see logic and surrender to us. And it will be all down to you."

If Netto Hikari was still awake, he would have cursed and screamed. He would have tried to fight. But he could not. He was not aware that his oldest friend was in the firing line, and had no idea how his capture was to be used as a weapon.

Instead, the mummy that truly powered the sarcophagus silently voiced approval for the plan of his master, and only a small voice deep in the back of Netto's head remained partly aware of what was happening, but it was not able to understand any more. It simply watched, not fully realising what happened, but still aware. Aware enough that if ever freed from his change, the boy would remember everything...

If ever freed, of course.

Extra - Wrong Show

"Wait a moment, this is not my intended destination..."

PharaohMan and his six Sarcophagi had emerged in an empty street, not a crowded area as he had hoped. And things seemed strange. As if he was in another network. There was also an odd grey fog.

Suddenly, a boy with goggles, and a red dinosaur appeared from the fog.

"Huh? What kind of Digimon are they?" Takato pondered.

"I don't know, Takatomon..." Guilmon replied.

PharaohMan stared.

"Oh drat. I'm on the wrong show."

He corrected his error, but not before having his minions blast the pair. He wanted no witnesses to his embarrassing mistake. And the two statues he left behind would not speak. Unlike the petrification caused by a Kokatorimon, the stasis of stone inflicted complete unconsciousness, caused by freezing the victim in time and in stone. Clothing was petrified also, and the result was a shocked statue in goggles, and a rock dinosaur.

Moments later, a girl with a blue and white heart t-shirt and a fox-like humanoid arrived.

"Renamon! Whatever the Digimon is, it got goggles! It must be a Kokatorimon..." Rika bega, but the fox shook her head.

"No, Rika. Something's wrong. If a Kokatorimon petrifies someone they leave their code behind to keep them stone. They don't look like normal statues, but they're not anything petrified by a Digimon."

"So... What are you saying?"

Renamon pondered it.

"Well, they do look kind of Digital. I think... For some reason, whatever was here left duplicates of them..."

"...And kidnapped the real ones?" Rika frowned.

Renamon nodded.

"It's the only explanation. The code is all wrong for something turned to stone by a Digimon."

"Oh great... Well, I guess when Henry arrives we can figure out how to save those two idiots. But what do we do with these?"

Renamon pondered.

"Didn't your mother say she wanted you to pick out something to add to the garden?"

Rika grinned.

"I guess we can put those there for now and tease them about it once we save the real ones. Or maybe we can give the Granite Gogglehead to Jeri..."

Fortunately for Takato, the effects were not permanent, for as a once living thing and a Digimon tamer his own "code" would eventually fight off the foreign. Unfortunately, the four weeks he was about to spend unaware in Rika's garden would see him become a popular perch for the local avian life... And it would be just his luck to revert in the middle of the night and have to deal with an angry, sleepy, Rika, who ignored his version of events and was convinced he had been captured.