For Aquila Aqua: A Netto-Enzan first meeting.
Aquila Aqua: Haha, the customers are so used to it that they just tune it out as long as they don't get involved. It's a wonder that Forte still has his job and that the bar is still popular.
ShadowRock21: I'll consider 'Saito becoming Rockman' to be your request, then! I've been wanting to write that for some time, anyway. Since robots live alongside humans, I imagine that they have picked up on many human aspects that are useful to them, one being the capability to experience emotions. That would extend to the development of romantic relationships. Though, since robots have no need to reproduce, sexual relationships won't be a thing. I don't remember much about the Archie comics, but the Emerald Spears sound very interesting. And I'm happy to hear that you enjoy both of my Rockman fics!
Editor: kaffinee
I don't own Rockman EXE.
Of Skilled Swordsmen and Egghead Pricks
"Hmm…" Netto frowned, peering at a static-filled camera screen. "Weird, I can't get this thing to work."
"Get what to work?" Rockman asked into his built-in communicator as he destroyed a Biri, picking up the Life Energy that dropped from the remains.
"The camera in the boss room isn't working," she explained. "None of Wily's robots or the Robot Masters ever did that. So either Wily made a new robot that doesn't want me to know what they look like, or it's a trap and it's not actually the boss room."
"Then where—" Rockman spun around, destroying a Garu that had tried to sneak up on him. "—where would the actual boss room be?"
"I don't know." Netto groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "It's more likely that Wily made a new robot and set them loose on—" A faint noise outside suddenly attracted her attention, and she raised an eyebrow. That had sounded like an explosion for some reason.
"Netto, is something wrong?"
The robot nodded, then remembered that Rockman couldn't see her. "There's something going on outside. I'm checking it out." She glanced back at the screens, building a mental map of the area her twin was in. "The next room should be the boss room." She glared at the static screen. "I don't think I can help you with anything else other than the usual boss advice."
"Be safe, be cautious, don't come back home half-destroyed," Rockman recited, grinning at the nearby camera. "Don't worry; I'm more experienced than I was before."
"And more cocky, too," she muttered.
Rockman flushed red. "Netto!"
"I'm just kidding!" Laughing, Netto hacked her way into the security cameras that were in the direction of the noise. She paused. "Huh. Well, then."
Biri, Garu, Mettools, and many more virus robots were attacking the area in waves. The unknown robot must have used Rockman's absence to his advantage.
"This guy's actually smart," Netto groaned. Definitely one of Wily's robots. Robot Masters didn't have the ability to try and harm humans, not like robots like Netto, who had free will.
"What was that?"
"Absolutely nothing important. Take your time." Netto glanced at the chest at the foot of her bed, wondering how many E-cans and Life Energy she had hoarded. Hopefully, it would be more than enough. "I'm heading out now."
"Okay!" Rockman chirped, shooting down a Kumonpe.
Netto stood up, stretching. She placed her headset by the keyboard and tied her hair up into a bun. Walking over to the chest, she opened it and picked up the black waist bag at the top. Habitually running a hand along the surface to check for damage, she then stuffed Life Energy capsules of varying sizes and a couple of E-cans inside. Then she put the bag on, nodding in satisfaction, and left the house, locking the door behind her. She sprinted to the area under attack, quickly bringing out her buster and shooting at the first Chikurito she saw.
"Hurry up and get to safety!" Netto yelled to a human male, destroying the Garu that was about to attack him. Really, why did he think a crowbar would be a good weapon? "Leave things here to me!"
The human glanced at her and nodded, backing away and running, hopefully, to the nearest shelter available.
Netto had to silently congratulate herself on being prepared as she quickly popped a Life Energy into her mouth. It would take longer for her to recover damage than it would be if she applied the capsule directly to her wounds, though it was better than the last time Netto had to fight, when she didn't have any recovery items at all. That had turned messy real quick.
As the robot shot down the waves of Mettools and Garu, she waved her free hand around, eyes glowing as she activated her ability. Capsules of Life and Weapon Energy rose up from the remains of the destroyed robots and flew to the palm of her hand as if drawn by a magnet. She quickly shoved the capsules into her waist bag, destroying the next Garu that lunged at her. Breathing heavily, she glanced at a pile of rubble, frowning in confusion at the sounds emitting from it.
Crying?
Netto moved toward the pile, having finished off the last wave of robots. "Is someone in there!?" she yelled, walking around the rubble to see what she could remove without causing the entire thing to collapse.
The crying halted, and a shaky voice answered her: "Y-yes! Please help me!"
Netto grabbed onto a steel beam, lifting it up slowly and throwing it away. "How many people are with you!?" Carefully removing a slab of concrete, she noticed a small hole that had been hidden behind the slab.
"No, i-it's just me…" There was a hiccup. "I-I got separated from Mama when the monsters attacked. It's s-so dark and dusty in here; I-I'm scared!"
"Don't worry; I'm going to get you out soon!" Netto said in determination, continuing to drag out pieces of the rubble. Soon, there was a hole large enough for her to crawl through, which she proceeded to do. As her optics adjusted to the lack of lighting, she spotted a small child with a peach-colored hat and dress. "Hey, can you see me? Over here!"
The child raised her head, blinking at the unexpected light. She nodded slowly.
Netto grinned. "That's great! Do you think you can come over here?"
The girl trembled in fear.
Netto glanced up, then gave the girl a reassuring smile. "Don't worry; I won't let you get hurt."
Hesitantly, the child crawled toward Netto, letting the robot pull her out just as the pile of rubble collapsed in on itself.
"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Netto gently hugged the child, relieved that they were both relatively unharmed.
The child nodded, lifting her head up, and paled. "Miss…" she whispered, grasping tightly onto Netto's shirt. "B-behind you…"
"What?" Netto looked behind her, then had to lunge forward to avoid being skewered on the claw of a Dream Virus. "Why is that thing here!?" She paused, leaning against the ruins of the wall, the child in her arms. Ducking down, she managed to dodge the Dream Virus's next attack. Tugging on the bond she shared with her support unit, Rush, she urged it to teleport to her location. A second later, she hurriedly set the child on top of the dog. "Rush, get the kid to the shelter as quickly as possible!"
It barked in concern. What about you?
The Dream Virus roared, knocking over a portion of a nearby building in its rampage. Netto quickly shoved Rush away, then jumped back before a chunk of former wall could crush them.
"I'm fine! Just get the kid out of here!" Netto yelled, shielding her face from flying shrapnel.
There was an affirmative bark from the other side of the rubble. I'll come back!
"Thank you, miss!" the child shouted, her voice fading as Rush raced to safety.
Netto sighed in relief, then scrambled away when the Dream Virus approached. She fired off a few shots, cursing quietly when they harmlessly bounced off. Stupid Dream Virus and its Dream Aura barrier. Backing away slowly, she failed to notice the wall behind her, and stumbled when she bumped into it. "Wha—oh, come on!"
The Dream Virus raised its clawed hands up with the intent of slicing Netto into pieces. As they came down, however, a red light flashed and separated its hands from its body. As the Dream Virus screamed and staggered away from the light, Netto managed to get a good look at her savior.
A kid who was her physical age stood with his back to her. Eggshell-like hair and a red vest, but Netto's attention was drawn to the weapon held in his hand, a beam saber with a ruby-red blade and a gold-colored hilt.
Oh boy, was she in love. Papa had never let her be within a two-meter radius of one of those! And today she got to see one in action!
This was turning out to be a good day.
"What are you doing!?" the boy said sharply, turning his head slightly to glare at her. "If you're just going to stand there and be useless, you might as well get out of the way!"
Owner of a beautiful beam saber or not, this kid was getting on her nerves. "Yeah!? Well, I didn't see you fighting off hordes of viruses that were attacking the city!" She lifted her buster up, aiming for the Dream Virus's wiring that had been exposed when the kid intervened, and fired.
The shot burned through the wires, causing sparks to erupt from the Dream Virus's body. It screeched as the barrier around its body flickered, then disappeared.
The boy charged forward, ignoring Netto's buster shots that had barely missed him, and jumped. Stabbing deeply into the virus's torso, he let gravity drag him down, the saber creating a deep gash as it descended.
Netto ran forward, grabbed onto the back of the boy's collar, and dragged him away from the robot as the signs of a soon-to-be explosion became evident.
He yelped, then shoved Netto away from him. "What the hell is your problem!?"
"What the hell is your problem!?" Netto shot back, spotting a familiar emblem on the saber. "I didn't think Ijuuin Enzan, of all people, wouldn't be able to tell when something's about to blow up!"
As if to emphasize her words, the Dream Virus exploded, deafening noise and all. Netto stood still as the ensuing gust blew past, while the IPC robot looked at her, irritated.
"And just how did you know who I am?" he asked, deactivating the beam saber and putting it away.
Netto jabbed her finger at the hilt of the saber. "C'mon, I would recognize that emblem anywhere. Plus, out of all the IPC robots registered in the system, only one of them has a stupid eggshell haircut, and that's you!"
Enzan drew back, insulted. "Stupid egg—!?"
"Enzan, I have returned." Netto blinked at the interruption, looking over to the source. A red armored robot had arrived, one with the IPC emblem on his chest and long, silver hair that flowed out from under his helmet.
But what really caught her attention was the limp, injured figure in the robot's arms.
"Rockman!" Netto rushed forward, gently taking her twin from the other's arms and laying him as flat as she could on the ground. His throat was partly torn out, several wires sticking out and ripped in half. His arms and legs have deep gashes scored in them, and his internal circuits were practically about to spill out of his left side. Looking at it made her feel nauseous, and she took a deep breath. "What did I tell you not to do!?"
"N-not c'b-ck half de—" Rockman struggled to say.
Netto's gaze locked onto his throat, and she pulled out several large Life Energy capsules.
Rockman's eyes widened, and he glanced worriedly at Enzan and the other IPC robot. "Wait, y-doing i-ere?"
"Of course!" Cracking open the capsules, Netto willed the nanites to connect the frayed wires together, using Saito's blueprints as reference. "How did you get like this, anyway?"
Rockman waited until his wiring was fixed before attempting to speak. "Magicman ambushed me with virus robots," he explained as Netto moved on to the wound on his side. "If it wasn't for Blues, I'd be…"
"Idiot." Netto sighed, finishing off an E-can to replenish her energy. "Blues and Egghead, you guys can leave now. I have this situation taken care of."
"Egghead?" Blues asked, looking over to Enzan.
He shrugged. "Father will be expecting us back soon. If they don't want help, we don't have to give them any."
"A-ah, before you leave…" Rockman's cheeks became slightly pink, and Netto stared at him in curiosity. "Thank you, Blues. For saving me back there, I mean."
There was a small grunt of acknowledgment. "You are welcome. However, take care, so that you will not get yourself destroyed again in the future."
Netto's eye twitched, but she managed to keep herself from scowling too much. Noticing Enzan giving Blues an incredulous look, she raised an eyebrow. What was that all about?
As the two IPC robots left, Netto exhaled softly in relief, having repaired the worst of Rockman's injuries. A small thought later, and her lips curled up into a smirk. "So it looks like you fancy that Blues person, eh?"
Rockman spluttered, his entire face bright red. "N-no way!" A twitch of his fingers, a quick glance down. "I-I was just grateful that he saved me, that's all! It's not like it was love at first sight or anything!"
"Ohh, so it is. " Netto giggled, helping Rockman stand up. "Nice to know that."
Rockman pouted, then grinned cheekily. "It's not like you're any different, you know. I saw the way you were looking at the other guy."
"Yeah," Netto said wistfully. "He had such a lovely beam saber, even though he was such a prick. Do you think I can convince Papa to buy me one as my activation day present?"
"His… beam saber?"
"Yeah. His beam saber." Netto looked at Rockman in confusion. "Isn't that what you were talking about?"
"I…" Rockman paused, then sighed. "Sure, that's exactly what I meant."
"Huh? It's not?" Netto asked. "What were you talking about, then?"
Her twin snickered. "Not telling!"
"Whaaat!? Come on Saito, tell me! I wanna know!"
"Nope, no way!"
Why did Enzan not have his beam saber when Coloredman was out to destroy him? Coloredman can create clones in here too, so one of the clones just snatched away the beam saber to get him as weaponless as they could.
Support units, besides with each other, can only communicate with their main units, and vice versa. The only exception so far is Meiru, who can communicate with all support units.
There's a poll on my profile in case I ever run out of requests, so check it out if you want!
I'm always up for more requests!
I got kaffinee to ship Netzan and Bluesrock. I'm good at this.