Chapter 03: To Be or Not To Be
Execute!
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"Do you really have to do this?" Netto complained as he watched Saito sat on the edge of the steel lab table and Meijin doing god-knows-what with his brother's circuits and wiring.
"Yes," Saito replied. "Apparently, I damaged some of the wiring when I slid for the home run. If I didn't get this fix, you'll have to carry me here and you know with this body I'm not that light." Saito turned to Meijin and smiled. "Thanks for helping me out on such a short notice, Meijin-san."
"No need for formalities," Meijin replied out of habit. "Your father is at the other side of this room finishing your diagnostics, he'll be coming out soon."
As if at the cue, the said scientist walked out of the other with papers in his hand, and a frown on his face. That doesn't look like a good sign.
"What's the matter, Papa?" Netto asked.
"It's about the Copyroid?" Saito asked.
"Something like it," the twin's father replied. "But because this it your sixth time coming here to get your body fixed, I'm going to have to ask you to leave your body behind so I can adjust it and make your body more durable and for you to withstand more impacts than it does right now."
"…But today Mama's making her spaghetti dish," Saito stated. Being able to taste was another amazing function the Hikari scientist added. Netto takes him out to many places to try new dishes but Mama's dish beats any dish hands down. He's looking forward tonight, but if he has to leave the Copyroid right now, he'll have to wait for another month before he could eat that said dish.
"I'm sorry, but it's imper-" the man never finished the sentence. In that exact moment, Meijin tugged another wire and unexpectedly, Saito's leg jerked, kicked forward…and slammed it between the legs of an unsuspecting and innocent scientist…which happened to be the twin's father. Hikari-hakase's eyes widen as he fell onto the ground, both hands over his crotch and papers that were in the man's hands scattered everywhere –the trio in the room shared the 'oh shit' look together-.
"P-Papa!" Saito cried, jumping out of the table, almost knocking Meijin over in the process. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm- Netto, stop laughing! I'm sorry!"
Netto laughed aloud, clutching his aching stomach as Saito apologizes profusely to their father. Passing scientists glanced at the scene and snorted at the sight before walking away –it was the gossip of the month-. Meijin just stood there and watched the scene with a passive expression while making a mental note to never touch that wire again. After five minutes, the younger scientist left to find a pack of ice for the unfortunate scientist.
To Netto, it was the freaking highlight of his seventh grade.
Hikari Yuuichiro never stood within kicking distance of his older son for a really long time.
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Saito didn't run that far from the class. He halted once he made a turn around the corner and waited for Wizard to come by so he could punch the daylights out of the said berserker.
Though, if he's right, he'll need to do more than just punching it.
Course, plans never seem to work when he peeked out from his corner to see the Wizard being occupied with a new figure. What got his attention the most was the figure's left hand whose shape he recognizes as War-rock.
'Then I'm guessing that's Subaru,' Saito thought. 'You have to be an idiot to not notice the similarities…and War-rock's head gives everything away.' He couldn't help but watch the small stalemate between the two figures. 'Maybe I don't need to help them after all.'
He soon regretted that thought when the purple aura flared and the Wizard suddenly threw Subaru back to the wall, making a crater on the wall.
"What power," Subaru commented. "What's with the aura around the Wizard? Is that it's source?"
"I don't like this one bit," War-rock commented. "I don't know what happened to this Wizard but we got to stop him. Come on, Rockman!" Saito almost lost his composure and revealed himself.
'What did he say!?' Saito thought, almost voicing his thought aloud. He made the connection between Subaru and War-rock fusion, but he was not expecting his classmate to be the Rockman he's been hearing about so much.
"Battle card! Break Saber!" Subaru cried, Saito watched War-rock chomped the card Subaru threw and watch the head changed into a drill-like blade.
'This is getting weird,' Saito thought grimly. How does a head turn into a saber? Can War-rock talk in that state? So many questions…and for the sake of his sanity, he decided to ignore the change and let the fight run it's own course seeing how different fusion between War-rock and Subaru's fusion is different from crossfusion.
"Watch out!" War-rock's command snapped Saito out of his thoughts and the navi watched Subaru getting mauled royally by the berserker. This time, Subaru and War-rock went though the wall and this time he didn't leave a crater this time.
'One less damage for the school the fix.' Saito mused. Then the Wizard turned to his direction, spotting the raven-haired boy and roared.
"All right, you got me," Saito said, coming out of his hiding place. "I didn't think you'll have the power to take out Rockman that easily, but I guess a Wizard infused with a dark soul is different from a Navi. A bit different but the symptoms are just the same. Still bent on ruling the world, right?"
"…A bug," The Wizard muttered. Saito blinked. "Bugs…must be squashed!"
"…I don't know what's worse: being called a puppet or a bug," Saito sighed. As much as he wishes to not reveal himself, it looks like he doesn't have much of a choice. Beside…War-rock and Subaru are interesting, they're the first in a long time trying to get him to talk and he spoke more truth than he ever did in a while –translation: he hasn't told a truth in a really long, long time-.
'But if you were here, you would have charged head-first for the fight, Netto,' Saito thought. He checked to see if there was nobody around and closed his eyes. Calling up an old programming, he replaced with his human appearance changed back into a form he thought he would never summon again. 'Even if it's just a small one.'
"Battlechip. Golden Fist. Slot-in."
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"Omph!" Subaru grunted as he landed back first on the hard dirt ground.
"I can't believe a normal Wizard like that could mop the floor with you," War-rock muttered.
"Even a Noise Wizard wasn't as powerful as this," Subaru grunted and winced in pain as he got up. "I'm more worried with the dark aura it had. It's not normal."
"There's no point in standing," War-rock said. "We got to go back in before that Wizard destroys the school along with Saito." Subaru nodded in agreement, wondering how Saito is and where did his classmate ended up hiding. Just as he was about to change his frequency, the unexpected happened. The Wizard shot out of the school, past Subaru and War-rock and skidded across the field. At first, Subaru thought it was Gonta, but his friend complained in the morning he forgot his Transer at home –as usual- so Ox isn't here to perform a Denpa-Henkan with his friend.
"Incoming!" a voice shouted and Subaru jumped back slightly when a figure landed on the spot he stood moments ago. "Well, that was fun, I haven't done that in years. And you have pretty good reflexes jumping out of the way in the last moment." Subaru blinked under his visor and did a double take with the newcomer. He wears a blue jumpsuit, sporting light blue stripes down his sides, ending at his blue boots that are tipped with black soles. He has two yellow shoulder guards and his blue helmet has two ridges running along the top, those ridges come to a stop at the helmet's base and allow his dark hair to stick out like spikes. He has green eyes flashed with determination and amusement, eyes that Subaru was sure he's seen before -but he couldn't put a finger on-. On his chest is a symbol designed looking like a red circle with a black line running diagonally through the center that ends in two triangles, all of which are surrounded by a gold ring.
"Who are you?" Subaru asked. The newcomer opened his mouth but seeing the Wizard getting up, the figure turned his attention back to the Wizard.
"Seriously? I thought using Golden Fist would knock you out a bit longer…looks like the Dark Aura did more than just give you a power boost," the newcomer sighed.
"Dark Aura?" Subaru repeated. Inwardly, he knew he wasn't going to like the newcomer's answer.
"That's what this Wizard is infected with," The figure replied. "Give me a moment, I'll explain once I put this fella to sleep. Battlechip. Paralyze Bomb. Kusamura Seed. Double slot-in," the blue figure called out and from thin air, two small purple-colored balls materialized in one hand while a green football-looking ball appeared in the other. He threw the green ball first, it landed innocently under the Wizard, and it looked down at the thing with confusion. The ground under it turned black and vines shot up and ensnarled the Wizard with an iron grip. He threw the purple bombs, they exploded with contact, electric sparks circulated the Wizard's body and Subaru watched it dropped onto the ground with a loud 'thud.' The dark aura surrounding the Wizard diminished like a dying fire.
"…I want those battle cards," War-rock said, almost drooling. Subaru ignored War-rock's statement. He was more curious with the stranger that had no trouble in fighting the Wizard he had trouble with.
From a distance, Subaru was dimly aware of the police sirens coming their way.
"The Wizard needs to be put in some kind of solitary confinement or somewhere he could the least damage since he's going to attack again the moment it wakes up." The stranger informed. "The best option would be keeping this guy in slumber land until we can reverse the Darkness' effects."
"'Again!?'" Subaru cried. "Isn't there a cure for this?"
"There was…but it's not compatible for Wizards," the figure replied. "So until then, you might see me more around."
"Just who are you?" Subaru asked again. In the back of Subaru's mind, something about the stranger feels familiar.
"Me? I'm a wanderer," the stranger replied. "But rest assure, I am a friend and not a foe...unless you want me to."
"That explains what you are but not who you are, idiot," War-rock muttered. The newcomer merely chuckled waved off-handedly.
"True. True. I guess it would be rude if I don't introduce myself to you since I know your name, Rockman," he said, green eyes look back at Subaru with mirth. "My name is-"
"Rockman-sama!" Both blue fighters turned to see Luna running towards their direction. The stranger raised an eyebrow.
"Fangirl?" the stranger asked Subaru could hear the amusement in the other's tone.
"Unfortunately," War-rock grumbled. "Let's bail." Clearly the AM-ian is annoyed with the fangirl. Subaru nodded in agreement and turned to the stranger.
"Thanks for your help."
"No problem," the stranger said. "I should get going too, bye-bye! Panel out. Slot-in." A square-shaped portal materialized, the stranger jumped in and Subaru watched the portal disappeared, leaving no trace of it ever being there.
Couldn't the guy just change his frequency and disappear?
"Rockman-sama!" Luna cried, launching herself to her hero.
"Kid!" War-rock cried, snapping Subaru out of his amazement and just in time to change his frequency before Luna could latch onto his arm. Then she pouted, stomped her foot and cried in an overdramatic fashion.
"Mou, Rockman-sama, why are you so cruel!?" she wailed.
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"Saito! Are you all right!" Subaru asked as he opened the door to find the said boy in the janitor's closet with a bucket over his head. Saito pulled the bucket off of his head and nodded.
"Just remind me to never hide in this dingy place. It locked me in and I tripped," Saito sighed. "Did they apprehend the out-of-control Wizard?" He tossed the bucket aside, exited the closet and proceeded in heading back to the classroom with Subaru walking alongside with him to gather his backpack.
"Um yeah," Subaru nodded. "The Satellite Police just took it away to find out the reason why it went berserk. The principle issued us to go home since the building's totaled." Saito grimaced.
"Second day of school and already I'm seeing out-of-control Wizards," Saito joked with sarcasm evident in his tone. "Fascinating." Subaru frowned.
"I don't think your parents would be happy to know that."
"Oh, my uncle is my official guardian," Saito replied and Subaru stopped mid-stride and they stood just outside of the classroom. "He's somewhere in Cream land last I heard. I send him e-mails from time to time."
"You live alone?" Subaru asked, he frowned with worry.
"It's not so lonely by myself," Saito replied. "I can take care of myself better than most adults and I'm always off exploring so I never feel alone."
"Still…"
"Then how about you hang out with us today?" Luna's voice startled the two boys. "Since we get to go out of school early, there's still a lot of daylight to enjoy."
"Ummm…" Saito couldn't think of an excuse. His mind just went blank, probably from the –short- battle. Summoning the Battlechips actually took more out of him than exerting physical strength. He'll have to be more careful about that in the future and adjust accordingly –that means Program Advances are a big no-no...unless it's a dire situation-.
Two hundred years has made him rusty –for the first time, he felt like an old man- and the only way to get back in shape would be battling viruses. How troublesome.
"No buts!" Luna ordered. "You're coming whether you like it or not!"
"…Doesn't that count as kidnapping?" The death glare he received shut him up –though he'll have to say, Roll's death glare is scarier. He just doesn't like girls giving him that look, especially when it promises pain-.
"Want to say that again?"
"…No ma'am."
"It'll be fun," Kizamaro said, changing the subject. "Beside, you missed out on seeing the guy who saved Rockman."
"Rockman-sama wasn't saved!" Luna cried. "He could have taken that Wizard with no trouble. Right, Subaru!?"
"R-R-Right," Subaru stuttered. Luna was in her fangirl moment, ticking her off would be the last thing Subaru would want to do.
"Hm? I thought the police did it," Saito said with the most innocent look he could pull. Years of wandering the world gave him time to work on his acting skills, and he became a much better liar than he was centuries ago –Netto would be so proud-.
"That jerk is trying to steal Rockman-sama's reputation!" Luna ranted. "Who does he think he is looking like a wannabe and fighting at such a far distance? He's nothing but a coward." She didn't catch Saito's lips twitched slightly.
'Gee…glad thanks for your opinion,' Saito thought grimly. "Is she usually like this?" he whispered to Subaru.
"Prepare yourself, you'll be hearing this for a while," Subaru warned. Saito rolled his eyes.
"Joy."
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Author's Ramblings: I wrote this in record time! I don't want to write any further, cliffhangers are just fun that way. I suck at fighting scenes, sue me –don't, please. I'm on a college student budget-. Of course Wizards would be a bit confused, Battlechips and Battle Cards may look the same, name almost the same but they're different at the same time. So of course the Wizard wouldn't know that a Kusamura Seed would summon vines. I had to go look up at a Rockman Beast episode just to find the name, I know, I'm lame that way. XP