Chapter 5 – Sci Labs is Under Attack?

"Ooh, I love it, Rokku-chan~!" Roll was as happy just like a little kid who had just been given a huge strawberry lollipop to.

The pink Navi was amazed with the cute lavender butterfly pin that Rockman bought for her. The blue bomber held the pin over the girl's helmet, and it soon was glued onto it. Roll squealed with pure joy and happiness from her gift.

"There. It looks… very pretty on you." Rockman commented with a small smile.

"Thank you so much, Rokku-chan~!" Roll jumped onto Rockman's arms and smiled cutely, while giggling softly again.

She couldn't have received a better present. Plus, even though she could not recall yet, it was from him. Rockman just smiled back at the female Navi. It was a smile that showed pain and longing. Roll didn't notice it, of course, being too busy squealing and giggling over her new head pin as she began walking forward again. The blue bomber looked at the other Navi and his pained expression darkened. He wanted so bad to hug and hold Roll in his arms. He wanted to do it so, so badly. So bad, that it made his insides hurt. He felt his chest burn heavily with his feelings bottled up inside. He wanted to release them, but then Roll's reaction would most likely be the worst one. Since she's with a young child's mind, she might not understand his feelings at all and even, think he's just playing with her. This pain made him recall one time where about the same thing happened. The two Navis were just walking before Rockman had to leave for one of his breath-taking missions. He wanted to invite her to have dinner with him when he'd be back, but he never got the chance to. Only because he didn't have enough courage to ask her out, since he feared her refusal. And Roll never knew of the invitation, because Rockman didn't even tell Netto about it. He sighed loudly, but she didn't listen. After a moment of gazing at the sky, he looked at the Navi he worked so hard to protect. He almost lost his life once. It was a time where he couldn't find her anywhere, and his worry almost got him deleted. In the end, he was able to find her and defeat the villain. But that is not the point here. He looked at the Navi he always looked after. If she was safe, then everything was alright to him. If she was happy, then he'd also be happy. It was enough for him, just to know that she was safe and sound, even if away from his arms.

"Roll-chan… When are you going to remember me again?" he asked himself.

As they walked, Roll casually looked back, only to notice Rockman's expression. Such an expression would always leave her perplexed, for she could not understand why he was so sad all the time. But when their gazes crossed ways, he would always put up a smile. Was it so she wouldn't worry? Somehow, Roll knew that he was still gloomy. And yet, he wouldn't tell her why. He would just smile to her and keep walking. She could only realize that she did not understand him.

"Rokku-chan?" she called out to him. "Are you alright?" she asked, with an innocent expression in her eyes.

"Rokku-chan." Just like that. No emotion at all...

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just… tired, Roll-chan." Rockman lied with a weak smile.

"Ah, okay~" the pink Navi said, in contrast, happily.

Rockman's pained expression would always come back when she turned away from him. There were so many things he wanted to say to her. One of the things that he wished to say, more than anything, was that he was really glad that she was alive and breathing again. Well, not really, really, breathing, but one would understand the point. She didn't even know that he loved her. Something that supposedly is the best thing for someone to be aware of. Roll wasn't even aware of the true reasons of him looking at her with such a painfully sad expression. Truth was, he missed her 'older' other self, but she didn't know about that. He loved her, but, he couldn't tell her anything just yet, which was hurting him most. Was this how she felt before she had her breakdown? He felt worse at himself for thinking he had put her through so much pain…

-FLM-

"Meiru-chan, we're back~" Roll affirmed happily as the two Navis returned.

"Oh, hi. Did you two had fun?" Meiru asked with a small smile.

"Yeah, sure did! Look what Rokku-chan got me~!" Roll pointed madly at her headpin.

"Oh, that's very pretty." The redhead smiled again softly.

"Thank you~" Roll gave a polite nod.

Rockman and Roll were finally back at Sci Labs. The whole group was there, actually. Apparently, they called everyone and decided to have dinner there. Consequently, all the Navis were there as well. Including Enzan and Blues.

"Hello everyone." Rockman waved with a weak smile.

As he spoke, Roll passed by him to greet everyone. The blue bomber looked at her again. He wasn't even aware that his pained expression was quickly returning to his face. Glide was the first to notice this. Then Blues and Iceman. Gutsman noticed some long faces among the group and was left intrigued by them.

"Ne, ne, why is Rockman with such a weird face?" The large Navi asked, poking Rockman's face with his large index left finger.

Roll noticed Rockman's name in between her happy conversations with both Glide and Iceman, which made her turn her face to actually see the blue bomber's expression. He seemed sad. Again. That was the first thought that crossed the pink Navi's mind. She just tilted her head to the side. Just as she was about to say a few words about it, something else exited her lips.

"… Something's coming." What she said made everyone remain quiet for a few moments, and then look at her.

"What do you mean, Roll?" Meiru asked.

"… Over there." The pink Navi said again. This time, she pointed at the front doors of the Sci Labs' network. Upon better check, Glide noticed that the female Navi's antennas were slightly trembling. He looked at where she was pointing at, but saw nothing. Everyone blinked as they looked at Roll again, who kept pointing at the outside. No sooner than two seconds, the alarms' began making noise. Several security Navis ran past the group to the outside area. Roll just lowered her arm as the group got closer to her.

"Wow, that was amazing!" Iceman said.

"How did Roll-chan know that there were viruses coming over?" Gutsman asked.

"I… I don't know." She looked around everyone. "Something in my head just told me that something bad was coming." She explained, while scratching the back of her head. Just like she used to.

"Her antennas give her the ability to tell when there are viruses around." Meiru explained from an opened window. "Good call, Roll." she smiled at her Navi.

"Thank you, Meiru-chan!" the pink Navi said happily, with a small blush.

But the happiness was soon finished, as the security Navis came rushing back into the Labs again. They all looked quite tired. Some of them had some bruises on their arms, legs and heads.

"Rockman-san! Blues-san!" one of them called out. "We need your assistance out there! We are not able to defeat them!"

"Isn't it just a regular bug error?" Rockman asked.

"Sir, no, sir." One of the Navis replied out of breath.

"It's a bunch of Life Viruses, Sir!" another added.

"Life Viruses?"

"Sir, yes, sir. And they are huge!"

"And they can use electricity as well! Most of our outside defenses are beginning to shatter!"

"How bad is it?" Meijin asked.

"Very bad, sir." One of the security Navis said, nodding his head madly.

"Very." A second one added.

"Netto. Enzan." Yuuichiro called out, getting the two adolescents' attention. "Bring Rockman and Blues in. See what you can do about this potential threat."

"Yes, Dad." Netto smiled.

"Understood. We're going." Enzan nodded his head in agreement.

The two turned to leave and took off. Back in the network, all the Navis' eyes were on Rockman and Blues.

"Be careful out there." Glide advised.

"Yeah." Rockman nodded firmly.

As the blue bomber and the crimson Navi rushed towards the entrance, something sparked inside the deeps of Roll's mind. It was the sound of clanking bells. It appeared just as quick as it disappeared. She had only the time to blink once, before a couple of words exited her lips.

"Rokku-chan?" she asked as she looked at him running off.

The blue bomber swiftly turned his torso to the side, so he'd be looking at her, and muffled a few words towards her.

"Don't worry. Just stay there. I'll be back. I promise." He said with a small smile.

"Eh…?"

"Don't worry. Just stay there. I'll be back. I promise."

Those words. Just like he had spoken them before. Just before he had to leave for one of the hardest missions he would ever have. He only had the time to tell her that it would all be fine and that he would surely be back soon. At that time, the pink Navi would have ran to the blue bomber and hold him tight in her arms, and then say she loved him, but now, she did not do anything. Only because her systems were having an override with the intense emotions she just been through. She was not able to hold them for too long, and a few more words exited her lips, without her being aware of it.

"No! Where are you go-"

It felt odd, that gut-wrecking feeling that she wouldn't see him anymore; that she would never be able to talk to him ever again. She would never be able to take walks with him again. Such a wave of sadness entered her little beating mechanic heart. She felt a sudden bitter angst; an unexpected loneliness, and an invisible clutch clawing at her heart. A tight pain that seemed like it was crushing her from the inside out. That's what she felt at that precise moment. Unconscious of it, Roll tried to run towards him, but he was already too far from her reach. She could not understand it. She didn't know why she had felt weird when he turned away from her the way he did. She did not know why she had felt such a strange bitter emotion in her heart when he left. She did not even think when she took those steps forward. She just thought she didn't want him to leave her. She just didn't want to see him go away like that. She felt like screaming, but her brain blocked that thought away from her. She just kept her left arm upwards, extended towards him. It all happened too fast, though. Just as she was calling out to him, it was like something suddenly hit her in the back of the head. Her voice seemed to break as she spoke, like when you're watching a movie and your computer jams and you listen to the actor's voice weirdly for a second before everything gets back running well again. She didn't even acknowledge that she was falling towards the ground head on. She didn't acknowledge it when Glide caught her before she actually fell. He gently held her chin with his right hand and wrapped the female Navi's rib cage with his left arm. Doing so, he was able to ease her fall so that she wouldn't get hurt.

"Miss Roll!" Glide called out, alarmed.

"… Rokku… chan…" she said with a meek tone of voice. She felt her eyes close then, before she lost her consciousness and fell limp in Glide's arms.

"Roll! What happened? Roll!" Meiru called from the PET, distressed by her Navi's actions.

"What was that?" Iceman asked, incredulous.

"I do not know." Glide replied, looking at Roll with a concerned expression.

"Nice hold de gutsu." Gutsman said, always clueless.

Iceman gave him a stare that made the larger Navi flinch and step back a little.

"Hikari hakase! Roll just collapsed again!" Meiru called with a distressed voice as Netto's father appeared in the room to check some situations.

"Collapsed, you say? But she was fine just a moment ago." The 'doctor' said as a bemused expression filled his face.

"I know, but she just collapsed! Please do something!" Meiru pleaded, almost crying.

"Alright, alright. I'll check her systems again. Glide, please bring her over to that Scan Sphere." Yuuichiro motioned to a certain spot of the Lab.

"Yes." Glide did as told and correctly picked Roll up and took her to where the doctor had said.

-FLM-

"Gah! What's up with all these stupid viruses?!" Rockman asked, clearly annoyed with the sudden attack. The more he fired his Rock-Buster, the more viruses appeared.

"Who knows…?" Blues replied, slicing up some viruses on his side. "At least you can compensate from your earlier loss this morning." The crimson Navi teased, quite unusual for him.

"T-That didn't count!" Rockman howled, almost tripping over something. "I was distracted then!" he pouted, deleting one of the last viruses with his Buster.

Something he didn't understand was how the Security Navis couldn't handle these weak viruses. The difference in the power from him and Blues and these was just huge, since he didn't even had the need to use a higher ranked Chip to battle.

"… My point exactly." Blues commented, deleting another one with no effort at all with his Standard Sword and cutting Rockman out of his thoughts.

There was only one Life Virus left. Rockman and Blues stood before it and regained their attack stances.

"Last one." Rockman said, aiming.

"Hm." Blues just nodded his head.

The two took a step forward, but as they were going to attack, a voice was heard.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Will you please leave my little virus alone? It didn't do anything to you!" a Navi jumped into the virus' shoulder, showing themselves.

"That's a…" Rockman began.

"Girl." Blues finished the sentence. "Miss, your viruses were trespassing Sci Labs' private area and infecting them. We had no other choice but to make a move against them." he then explained.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about them." the female Navi said with a nervous smile.

Her long dark-brown hair was visible, for she had no helmet. Her eyes were light blue and two small black thunders were located just below each her eye. The edges of her long hair curved and her clothing was light blue, even though it was a little too small and showed more than it should. The loops of her top were quite falling, showing her beautiful shoulders and neck, being slightly covered with a necklace. Below, her pants were almost transparent and her legs were slightly visible. She also had a blank Navi Crest over each her hip, and of course over her hearing sensors, which meant that she was a Solo Navi, meaning, a Navi without a Net Operator. By her beautiful looks, one would easily say she was a princess from some far away desert.

"Anyways." Rockman called her attention, "I will have to ask you to leave the perimeter at once."

"Oh, alright. I'm really, really sorry, you guys." The female Navi bowed forward.

As she did so, both Blues and Rockman turned their heads, as the female's chest would be clearly far too visible and both Navis were already 'taken'. As she leaned upwards again, the two male Navis looked at her once again.

"I hope I didn't get into too much trouble here." she said, with a sad smile. "Come on now, you. Don't get yourself deleted like your brothers." She motioned to the Life Virus to leave with a wider smile, and it obeyed, dematerializing itself. The female turned towards an Exit Point, but then she turned to the other two. "I'm sure we'll see each other again~ My name's Blitz~" the female introduced herself, with a rather cute smile. None of the two males said anything as she turned around again and took an Exit and left the area.

"At least she was polite to leave right away." Rockman commented, after a moment. "Well, case closed. It was just a Solo Navi with their viruses." He began tapping a report.

"… No." Blues cut him after a while. "… Something was off." He commented.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Rockman asked, bewildered.

"Every Navi is very aware that unauthorized entry within the Sci Labs' network will result in instant removal. That Navi must have been here for a reason…" Blues commented.

"And what would that reason be?" the blue bomber added. "No enemy would ever come here knowing that we are here. They're not that stupid, Blues."

"… I don't know, but just now…" Blues looked away. It was not visible, but under his dark glasses he was frowning.

"Well, anyways, you saw her. She was really polite. Other Navis wouldn't act like that. They'd just trash in and talk nonsense things about wanting to rule the Network and whatever. I'm sure her viruses were just having an override on their programming." He explained.

"… Maybe." Blues said. "… I'm still not too certain about it." he looked at the Exit Point that the other female Navi had taken and he could swear that he saw something blue peering at the two of them with a malicious aura. But then again, it was nighttime and maybe his vision at night wasn't all that good. With no further need to remain outside, the two male Navis walked back inside the Sci Labs' network.

End of chapter 5

AN: Oh my god. I am so sorry for the massive delay, everyone who reads my story. O_o I didn't forget about it, I just had a massive author's block and I didn't know what to write. I absolutely loved Aboredwriter2's ideas and I will surely be using some. Thank you for sending those to me. They're saved in my pc, so that I can read them to get more inspired. :) Well, anyways, you could see one of the Navis, created by me, Blitz. I am going to illustrate them and upload them into my DeviantArt account, so, keep up with that one too. Just remove the spaces. ( w w w . – e x e . . c o m ) I will try to keep writing more, but with school keeping me this busy, I'm not too sure about my chances. I'm sorry I take ages to update. I'm really sorry, readers.

Thank you for reading these notes. The next chapter is already under construction and I will try to upload it as soon as I am able to. I thank all of you, readers who keep up with this fanfiction. Thank you so very much for your past reviews! Please R&R and tell me what you think of this chapter, please!

From Hatto-Chan =3

AN 2: This chapter has been revised and edited properly with better grammar.