Hah. Yeah, I know, I was slow. Sorry. But my God, I think it's actually finished!
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Meiru stared on, expressions of shock and dismay colliding against her face.
"There Rockman, there you are, all nice and presentable!"
The blue navi sighed, brushing off Roll's fingers as she chattered animatedly with a vacant shine in her eyes that stabbed into him unwillingly. After six hours of begging, pleading, yelling and hysterics that bordered on the edge of an emotional breakdown, Rockman had finally relented and put on the new, fashionable tuxedo.
Roll edged her head sideways and considered his new look.
"Hmm…I don't know.."
Meiru gave a nervous laugh.
"Err…Roll…I think, Rockman's bow-tie is straight enough…"
Instantly Roll's amiable expression turned nasty.
"Shut up you bitch! What do you know of being a homemaker?"
At once Meiru's mouth closed like a trap, deep hurt sealing it shut.
Rockman raised a comforting palm.
"Ah…I'm sorry Meiru-chan, she's just not feeling…"
"…herself, yes I know", finished off the young girl miserably, her red bangs hanging down sloppily against her cheeks as she lowered her head.
Roll clapped her hands together decisively, finally pleased with her handiwork before her neck stretched out and she peered over Rockman's head.
"Where is that dumb operator of yours dear?"
Rockman's lips curled tightly and his fists clenched just that little bit harder; he was fond of Roll, yes, but Netto would always come first and foremost.
"His name's Netto and he is asleep. I thought I should talk to Meiru first about your new personality before consulting him."
Roll shrugged.
"Whatever Rocky."
Her 'date' twitched.
'Rocky…?'
"Remember Rocky, Roll's not herself", interjected Meiru a little viciously, eyes lighting up with a fire that made him tremble.
'God Netto, no wonder you have such a problem with her sometimes…'
Roll frowned.
"Oi! That's my pet name little girl!"
Meiru gnashed her teeth together fiercely, face edging closer to the screen and ballooning outwards in a temporary fit of anger that governed over her common sense.
"'Little girl'? You've been programmed to be exactly the same age as me!"
The pink navi smirked, fingers artistically snapping at the tips of the glove on her left hand, drawing the data out in a whip-like stretch. The gesture was reminiscent of the Devil Roll they had encountered once before and despite himself, Rockman shivered. There were some enemies he would just not fight.
"Oh really?"
Roll raised her voice, letting a satisfied smile zoom in on the monitor, before continuing.
"Then how come I'm the one with the boyfriend?"
There was a guttural choke and Rockman turned away, unable to bear seeing the unnatural sound being ripped out of Meiru's throat.
"Oh you-" the redhead choked on her own words, angry tears vexing her pale skin as the situation fell upon her shoulders once more.
"Rockman!"
Her eyes sought out his slender blue form eagerly.
"I want Netto. He can fix this! Please…"
Hunching his shoulders, the little navi sighed, already insecure with his own choices. His next action was to flinch however as he felt the trace of famine fingers stroking the nape of his neck.
"Rocky…" crooned the love-struck navi, "when are you taking me away from here? Can't we catch a movie or…or something! Let's blow this joint!"
Straining away from her slightly at the sound of her ill-timed cliché, he caught sight of the faded green glint in her eyes. It was frightening…as though the real Roll was becoming lost in this new personality. He had no wish to see his best female friend erased from his life because of some mistake. Maybe he could talk to her properly in private, get her to recollect some memory that would make her remember who she was.
It was a true mark of desperation that made Rockman utter his next words.
"Let's go."
Meiru was left blinking back salty, water droplets as the two navis disappeared in a fine haze of pixels.
"WHAT?!?"
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000Woodman was not having a good night. Saloma had forgotten to arrange her till accounts properly and so he was having to sort through the swirl of numbers manually. It was no mean feat; he was not a calculator and with no battle chips…well, his solid body proved to be a hindrance as the nifty digits swam through his stubby grip with ease. Groaning he flopped down on his side, wishing for all the world that he could curl up on the sofa like his operator and throw a purple blanket over himself.
He blinked as a particularly cheeky five wiggled its ends at him. Growling, he made a half-hearted swipe at it and idly wondered if Saloma had remembered to water the spider plants this evening.
This rather delicate trail of thought was disrupted by a furious blue fist that knotted itself into his line of vision and punched him clearly in the face. Woodman blinked, shocked that someone had the audacity to attack him despite his formidable reputation. He was shocked further by a derisive feminine snort. It rang hollow with contempt and seemed to be scornful. He was suddenly struck by a dim memory of a young girl navi made old before her time with the craved cruelty of World Three in a stadium so long ago.
He glanced up to see Rockman and Roll before him, the male fists shaking with barely suppressed fury though he had a feeling it was not directed at the pink navi whose attention was now firmly fixated on her partner as she tried to stuff a digital rose between his teeth. She was also making some extremely motherly clucking noises with her tongue as she attempted to squeeze his jaws open with her forefingers.
Rockman gave Woodman a look of death.
"What-did-you-do-to-her!" he ground out in a thin whisper, careful to give his mouth barely enough space for Roll to succeed in her task.
It didn't take Woodman long to figure out what he meant considering the topic of conversation he recalled breaching with Roll. He grimaced. He had warned her but obviously her in-expertise in such matters as virus busting had come to a head.
"Oi, I'm talking to-URG!"
Rockman realised his fatal error too late as he opened his mouth wider to verbally thrash Woodman, only to elicit a delighted squeal from Roll as she happily stuffed the flower in his yawning throat. Rockman's eyes bulged as he gargled noisily and spat out a few petals and thorns, watching them turn into flakes of disappearing data.
Roll frowned.
"Can't you even do one little romantic gesture for me? It is really too much to ask from my one true love?"
Rockman stared at her weakly, not really surprised by her word choice anymore.
Woodman coughed.
"Well…I did warn her…"
The next second he was inwardly cringing again. Rockman's god-like anger was rearing up on his face and practically smiting him with its intensity.
"So it was you! I mean I wasn't sure, she was rambling a lot, but when she mentioned that you helped her change…"
Woodman frowned.
"Wait, you punched me before you knew for certain that I was involved?"
"I'm a little stressed", muttered Rockman, the muscles of his upper right arm tensing a little as Roll dug her claws in.
"No doubt…look, she was miserable. Because of you may I add. It wasn't really your fault but all girls are like this. So I just told her of this rumour…"
He swallowed as Roll let out a loud bawl.
"GOD, I'M SO BORED! JEEZ, ROCKMAN LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!"
She started to tug him over to the nearest uplink.
"Wait Roll, this is your story, remember?" Woodman proclaimed, empathising the word 'story' in particular, allowing the syllables to dot his tongue with a proud, steely tone.
Roll stopped immediately.
"My story…" she murmured, her eyes clouding over with trails of swarming data. She spun round.
"Well okay then! But it better be quick!"
Rockman stared at Woodman with nothing short of amazement.
"How did you do that?"
"It was an educated guess", Woodman replied, "and you'll see why in a minute. Anyway, I told Roll that there was some leftover data from a popular RPG game from a few years back. A dating
game I believe. It was funded by that large-fore-headed girl you know. About some kind of pink princess…"
Rockman's eyes widened as he remembered.
"That game? The one where she turned Netto-kun and his friends into bad guys? We helped retrieve the princess' personality data!"
"Did you?" Woodman seemed uninterested, "at any rate some hacker tried to add some x-rated scenes into a ROM version of the game. And then he put in some additional storylines, tweaking the
princess' personality, adding in some maid characters and so forth. It was very popular on the internet. And there were rumours of a large pile of left-over options being in the junkyard…"
Rockman stared solidly at him, trying to conceal his blushing cheeks with what he hoped was an intimating expression on his face.
"I-I don't get it…why would Roll want data about x-rated…stuff?"
Woodman gave a wry smile.
"I don't think she did. She just wanted you to look at her. So she was going to use the data to install some of the personality from the characters into her systems temporally to become a bit more
confident. You have to remember it wasn't just a romance game, it was a fighting one as well. There were a few types of attack that the hacker edited out and put into the left-out data."
Rockman paused.
"That's…just really stupid."
"Girls do some brainless things in order to try and make a certain guy like them better", Woodman agreed.
But Rockman wasn't listening to him anymore.
"Roll-chan…"
He pulled on her fingers.
"…I liked you the way you were. Why did you have to go and change yourself?"
The fast and furious change in Roll's countenance was electrifying. Rockman flew backwards as she slammed her left fist directly into his waist. Gasping, he thundered along the floor a good few
feet until Woodman extended a hefty arm and seized him by the waist.
"Rockman!"
"I'm…okay", he wheezed along the unspoken sentence hung heavily between them.
No thanks to you.
"Liar", hissed Roll.
She was furious, blue sparks dancing in eyes that had previously been a soul-weaving green. Pure electricity rather than the darkness of the devil chip was running through her systems now and she
was spitting, hissing like an underestimated alley cat.
"You never liked me the way I liked you. Oh sure, you liked Aki-chan, maybe even Medi who was always so goddamn reasonable. Butneverme!"
And with her words stinging through the air, she stomped over to the nearest exit and vanished.
"Roll!"
"Come back!"
There was a taunt hesitance between the two males.
"I should call Netto-ku-no, on second thought, you do it, you call him and work out a solution. You tell him everything that you told me. Tell him how this is all your fault. I'll go and get Roll-chan."
Woodman watched him disappear in a stunned frame of mind.
"I presume he actually knows where she's gone…"
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Racing through the darkness of Internet City, there was an abstract beauty to be found in the dappled shaded of blues and grey that coated the funereal-wrap of the streets. But Rockman paid this
observation no heed, breaths, if they could be called that, issuing out from his thin chest in a fast beat of near-panic. His boots were red to the touch, pounding over tiles he had walked over at such
a calm pace only a countless amount of times before.
And everywhere- mayhem - no Roll, but Mayhem.
One navi was trying to sew himself together, looking down in disbelief at his dismembered limbs. Another, a young girl, was whimpering, cradling her face from view though Rockman could see ugly
deep bars of shame running our from between her fingers in the shape of long fingernails. Feminine fingernails. There were more but he couldn't bring himself to look. And some of these navis…he
recognised them from he battle stadium. They were no pushovers…and Roll hadn't been using any battlechips…
He was almost there. It had to be there, it was the first landmark she picked out after all, it was onl-
"Love-me Heart Chain!"
He barely dodged. Crouched on the sidewall, thanking his battle reflexes and staring up at the Metro Tower where he could make out a faint figure balancing itself out artistically on a round-rimmed
edge about halfway up.
"Damn it!"
Her voice was clear, sharp and annoyed.
"I missed."
Rockman stared at the line of pink hearts deeply embedded in the road where he had been previously. They had scored through the hard data, leaving a harsh, angry line spanning through almost
the entire street.
Roll sighed, snapped her fingers and the chain disappeared.
Rockman didn't waste any time, calling up his famous buster and firing off a warning shot above her head. He was always so accurate these days. He could remember a time when he wouldn't have
even dared to fire anywhere near her.
A shocked look developed on Roll's face as she raised an elegant hand and placed over her chest emblem protectively.
"Would you really shoot me? Me? Pretty, sweet, little Roll-chan?"
Rock's gun stuttered in protest and he lowered it, glancing up at her keenly.
"No…I can't hurt you Roll-chan…you're my friend."
The female allowed a grimace to spite her pretty features.
"Just a 'friend'…how typical Rockman. Nothing's ever gonna change."
Rockman was speechless.
"Roll-chan…"
Already his green eyes were swimming with some form of unspent emotion. Words could only fail to grasp how much he hated this whole ordeal.
The female navi placed a slender finger aside her puckered lips in a shushing motion than gave a tight-lipped smile.
"Don't worry Rockman. You don't have to worry about hurting my feelings anymore. I'm going to become what all your fan girls think I am already. A slut. Some stupid, good-for-nothing whore who dreams of a fairytale but never gets one."
"YOU'RE NOT GOOD-FOR-NOTHING!" Rockman burst out indignantly. A horrific rage swam over his newly-choked out sentiments and now fury grasped his limber frame.
The gun disappeared and left a thin blue glove clenched tight within itself. And it was shaking. Hard.
"You're Roll-chan."
A whisper now. And it was barely breaking, shivering within itself. A little cocoon of sanity.
"That's what I think. You're Roll-chan. Just that. I don't care if your stroppy and opinionated. You think I care? I don't. Roll-chan…you have a lot of lovely qualities. You're kind, pretty, smart, brave…do you ever shiver at the sight of a ghost? No. Roll-chan is Roll-chan. And I'm proud to be her friend. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather spend some of my free time with."
He smiled gently.
"But I won't get to spend time with you if you jump off a big block of data, will I?"
Something in her wavered.
"H-how-"
"How did I know what you were considering? Simple. You were miserable. And you have the tendency to punish yourself and others like Gutsman when you get like that. And I know some part of
you hates hurting the innocent. Some part of you hates what you've just done."
"NO!"
Rockman didn't know why this verbal outburst came out with such rage. Maybe she hated how well he could read her. Perhaps she was silently agreeing with him. All he really knew what that she
had already leapt.
"Roll-chan!"
She was already sobbing, plunging both hands into Meiru's crest upon her body. A crest that spoke of loyalty and love, something Meiru had spent hours designing when she was younger.
"I'm sorry Meiru-chan…so sorry…"
And she dug, even while she was falling, dug, dug deep and hard, wondering if this was even possible. But she could feel it. Some part of her that was foreign to how she was meant to be. She
grasped hold of that wiggling, squirming piece of junk data, hearing it ring her ears with its spoiled bawl and tugged it out…oh, it was so slow in coming out, it hurt…but really, wasn't it whooshing
out of her systems in great, heaving chunks of whimpering cries? Because she was falling…and that really took out no chunk of time at all.
"Hello Princess", she smiled, tight-lipped, pulling out the last few dregs and exhaling harshly. The data fell from her hands in clumps.
"ROLL-CHAN!"
Poor Rockman. Her thoughts were lazy. And then…
Softness.
What?
She jerked upright. Rush 'arfed' at her, stump of a tail wagging. She blinked and saw an immense pile of viruses built up beneath her, all wiggling and squealing in makeshift huddles.
She smiled gently.
"Rush...my hero", she stated giving him a small kiss on the snout. She constantly amazed at his ability to turn up whenever he was needed.
"Roll-chan!"
She paused, no small amount of dread filling her up inside. Rockman was leaping up towards her in great strides.
"It's okay…" she muttered, "I got the data out."
It's no less than how you rejected Dark Rockman.
"That was amazing Roll-chan!"
He was smiling, a warm hue of gold nestling itself into his expression.
"Not many navis can do that! I always knew you were strong…"
"I didn't know I could do that either."
Still I tried.
"Rockman."
She was serious now.
"I said a lot of strange things…didn't I? And I hurt all those navis….there's no going back…I have to heal them!"
He grabbed her by the shoulder as she heaved herself towards the ground.
"Roll-chan…that wasn't you."
She gave a twisted smile.
"It wasn't entirely not me either. Sometimes I get tired of Meiru-chan. Sometimes I want to fight. Sometimes I want to beat you up like Meiru does to Netto."
She hesitated as she saw a disguised laugh choking itself to death within his unsteady frame.
"What?"
"You added the 'chan' back…"
He looked at her.
"I'll call Medi to help out. You can apologise all you want Roll but after this…we have to talk."
She had forgotten how forgiving and…and how refreshing he was. How could she have that? How could she have abused that?
"Okay."
She had learned before how difficult it was to refuse him and shove him out of her heart.
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Meiru was glad. Netto was glad. Rockman was glad. Woodman was relieved.
Meiru had cried. And Roll felt terrible. She had shoved all her power all the last scraps of left-over data and had deleted it entirely. She was fast considering joining up on the new anti-hacker
campaign Yaito had recently stirred up as well.
But she was gradually getting better. She knew she was stronger than she had ever given herself credit for. Maybe even stronger than her beloved Meiru-chan had given her credit for. One day they
would both realise it fully. But for now…
"So…"
"So…"
Rockman was nudging the floor with his boot and she resolutely fingering her hair, having yanked the gold strip over her shoulder and across her chest.
"It's not that I don't want a girlfriend…" he started.
He stopped. Then coughed.
"I do actually quite like you Roll-chan. I just never really thought much about the two of us…well...you know…"
"I'll wait."
He stopped again. Her voice was so quiet.
"I'll wait…until you're ready to decide what kind of girl you want for a partner."
Now her voice was growing stronger.
"I really, really do like you as more than a friend Rockman. You're the only guy I've ever really set my heart on like this. No one has ever caught my attention the way you have. And even if you
don't end up choosing me…I'll still be your friend. I'll be there for you."
He looked at her.
"I wouldn't expect anything less form you Roll-chan."
He hesitated a bit, urging his foot to stop tapping.
"You know…there's a new attraction that opened up recently. They say they've invented something similar to ice-cream for navis. It's not much but I want you to come with me. You alone."
It was interesting, he noted, to watch her surprise transform into unwavering delight.
"Oh Rockman!"
Here it comes…
She launched herself at him with pinpoint accuracy, wrapping herself around him in a way he was very familiar with.
"You can wear that butterfly clip if you want", he told her playfully.
He preferred her this way. And secretly he wondered if perhaps he had been subconsciously dating her all along. They did end up alone together quite a lot, despite net saviour duties. Ghost code
indeed.
"Nothing serious right?" she asked, withdrawing slightly.
"Nothing serious", he agreed.
Roll would always be his friend. There was nothing to stop her from being more. But for now…he wanted to enjoy what little childhood they had left if possible.
"And…I'm okay with that."
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Well, I did warn you that the end result wouldn't be very epic. They're still kids at heart but since the canon coupling is somewhat cute I really wanted to put down my own take on their relationship. And I'm reasonably happy at how it turned out. Thanks to those of you that read this far. And the last chaper came out on St. Val's day no less. Woot!
