"The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis"

-Dante Alighieri

"Don't be an idiot! If…" he didn't wait for the words to finish leaving that mouth. There was no time. No time at all. If there had been, perhaps he would have been able to say a little more; he could have even possibly blurted out everything he'd worked so hard to keep subtle before this point. Maybe he would have been able to fully justify it to both himself and those present. With more time, it could have been so that such an act wouldn't have even been required.

But necessary it was, and there was no changing that.

"Maybe…I'll become your enemy" pushing himself off the ground was such a task that he would later wonder how he'd ever done it –along with wondering how he'd ever been so weak- But somehow, it was managed. Somehow, amongst the sluggish streams of data surrounding him like a cloud of digital blood, he stood. And he glared. Not at Netto. Never at Netto. But at Shademan, because this was all his damn fault, and so help him, if Netto got hurt over this then… -Even though he knew that this would hurt more than any physical wound could hope to match-

"Rockman…!"

"But it's better than you dying on this boat!" There. He'd said it. There would be no taking it back. Even in what awaited him, those words would continue to be a part of who he was. He only hoped that a certain brunette would remember as such. –though it was doubtless that Netto would be far better off if he just forgot and moved on-

"I'm begging you Netto-kun! We don't have any more time to waste!" They really didn't. For a moment, he paused on what would happen if he failed regardless and ended up spending his last minutes as a deranged beast. What if, Proto forbid, he alone escaped in such a state and left Netto-kun to die? He wondered if this would be the last time he'd ever see his operator.

"Put it in…! Hurry!" There was no time to worry. Either it would work or it wouldn't. He, as the navi gone horribly wrong, would be deleted either way. There was no more to it. There was no more time. This needed to be done.

And still nothing came.

"Netto-kun!" he could hear the grimace; could imagine it down to every last twitch of muscle, every faltered word and reluctant breath. Yet with the expression came the one thing Rock needed to know. The brunette had given in.

"SLOT IT IN!"

So it was said, and so it was done.

There were no words, no marking call of the card's name. There was no need. Though, he doubted he would have heard it anyway. His world was no longer a blend of hues, but was instead taken over by an all-consuming black, blotting out everything he had existed for thus far. He was drowning, the power was choking, throttling him until there was and would be nothing left but a dry skeleton to wave in the breeze. Couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't move, it was nothing but him and the unheard roar of power as the Dark Soul came in for the kill.

He lost Netto.

Surrounded by malevolently swirling data, the program didn't know that he was screaming until he stopped. And by then he was already halfway across the room, buster forgotten and hands ready to reach around that neck and squeeze until there was nothing left and…!

"Rockman!" it only took a lunge to tackle Shademan into the ground, keeping him off of…of…Blues –was that his name?- in an instant and freeing the path to the control program; whatever that had to do with anything. Something about ships…? He couldn't quite recall and… -it wasn't important anyway-

It didn't matter. Ripping Shademan apart was more important. And he did so, grasping the only remaining arm and whipping the body around with strength his lithe form had previously lacked, until the enemy's torso separated from the limb and sent its owner flying into the wall. The Darkloid's body crumbled against it with a decidedly loud 'crack' and…and the program smiled.

Hardly noticing the blue tint that the world around him had now taken on, the navi prepared to push off and follow up on his attack, only to suddenly find the sharp end of a sword pointed to his neck. The blade hummed with ready data, as real a threat to his existence as the 'delete' command on a computer terminal. Covered eyes still managed to stare him down, betraying not an ounce of whatever conflict may have resided within.

"Don't move" the voice was level and calm. The implications were not.

He moved anyway.

And suddenly it was him pointing a charged shot to the other's head, grinning fiercely and tapping the barrel rather contentedly. "Don't move" he mocked. There was a pause as the packet of data considered what to do, followed quickly by the revelation that he really didn't care, and therefore chose the easiest course of action and discharged the shot.

He wouldn't have missed if he hadn't been screaming.

The navi crumpled faster than his darkloid victim had not too long before, screeching obscenities and commands faster than any human could ever hope to comprehend. And yet, Blues was still there, audio receptors ready and willing, picking up every last word until it became nothing more than a mantra that even the carbon based life forms could grasp.

"Delete me!" Blues didn't bother pausing at the command. It would be for the best. Sword drawn and poised to bring itself down through another program's neck, he didn't want or need to waste his processing power musing over what state this would leave Hikari Netto in. It was none of his concern, because if Enzan-sama was in good health, then everything would work out just...

And then Rockman was gone in a flash of light, fading into a raving speck in the distance and simultaneously leaving Blues quite alone. Said navi experienced a brutal moment of silence as Enzan failed in his words and Netto seemed far past the point of rational thought. He frowned in the general direction of the escapee, then logged out and prepared to train until he was sure that there would be no more point-blank buster charges to his head.

Netto threw up.

So…

…Chances are this won't be continued. But the incomplete tag is on anyway :P I need to sleep. I'll fix up any blaring mistakes tomorrow :D and come on, you can't say you haven't wondered at least ONCE what would've happened if Enzan hadn't stolen the dark chip from Netto. Angst machine :D Yeah, and I know the title is weird. Bear with me here. I'm sleep deprived.

long live .EXE!