Netto's Awakening: Road To Adolescence
Disclaimer:
Rockman EXE is owned by Capcom Co. Ltd.
The various guest characters appearing in every arc are owned by their respective owners.
Okay...I'm back...and this time a new arc comes in as Netto's junior high school life continues, but gets in to a "legal tussle" as he gets in to the face of a well-known lawyer, and this is where the conflict is about to brew as a "Net-Navi" battle gets mixed in to the mill...
Ch. 9: Nettosēbā to Sūpā Bengoshi
It was now April, and Netto appeared to be in high spirits as he got the results in which he passed the final test and now he is eligible to proceed in enrolling for 2nd year in junior high, and so are Meiru and Tohru, and the trio are now heading for school to their registration as classes are about to start in a few weeks' time. Netto is pleased at how things are going, his relationship with Meiru picking up, though he is a bit worried about Enzan after learning about him getting in to a fight with another "Cross-Fusion" user, though opinion was divided about his motive on why he spared Enzan.
"You seemed to be in high spirits, Netto..."
"Yeah..."
"You and Meiru are getting along well..."
"That's right...though..."
"Hmm?"
"Enzan..."
"That's right...we still have no idea about that other Cross Fusion user..."
"If we hear from him again...then we'll corner him..."
"Okay..."
As the trio are walking by the sidewalk, Meiru and Tohru walked a bit faster, and Netto lagged behind and there the Net Saver heard a ruckus and moments later, a mugger emerged from a shop and bumped in to Netto, and he threw a bloodied knife at him and a bag full of powder before running off, which the teen's hands are smeared with blood and powder, and before he gets the chance to wipe it off, he saw a young girl lying by the floor in a pool of blood, and Netto immediately went to the girl's side, and see if he could help.
"Miss...are you okay?"
By then, a passing policeman happened to be coming around and saw the scene before him, and seeing Netto's bloodied hands and shirt, the injured girl and the shopkeeper, as well as the suspicious powdered bag, the cop has every reason to be suspicious and drew out his gun and aimed it at the teen, while at the same time used his radio to call for backup, and Netto realized the situation he is in, and tries to explain himself but was not given the chance to do so because of the situation he is in.
"mayday...mayday...young girl injured...suspect in front of me!"
"Huh? Wait! I'm..."
"Stay where you are!"
"I'm helping the girl!"
"Hands up! Now!"
"It wasn't me!"
"Stay with your hands up or I'll shoot!"
"Crap!"
As backup arrived, the cops were debriefed of the situation and began to handcuff Netto despite the teen boy's pretests of innocence and was being taken away, just as Meiru and Tohru arrived after noticing that their friend is not with them and alerted by the sirens of the police cars, and seeing that Netto is being taken away, Meiru told Tohru to follow them as she calls Meijin to help bail the Net Saver out, seeing that he is in a precarious situation at the moment.
-x-
At the police station, the girl's father, the shop keeper, arrived and was told of the situation and is angered at the supposed suspect and is eager to file charges at Netto, but at the moment he is looking for a lawyer in order to help file charges of frustrated murder and possession of illegal drugs, in which Netto explained that a mugger happened to be there and threw the "evidence" at him, but then the famed "super lawyer", Suichi Kitaoka, arrived, and is willing to take the shopkeeper as his client and began to question Netto on the charges and the evidence presented to him.
"Hmm...you're only 14 yet you did this..."
"I told you I did not!"
"Then explain why you're holding that knife and the stained shirt you got...not to mention the powder of drugs..."
"A mugger came out of the store then threw the item at me... "
"Hmm...that's a tough one...yet with no witnesses around to support you alibi...then it's on you..."
"But I tell you..."
"Unless someone steps in and prove your innocence...assuming that you are...you're the guilty one..."
"But ...but..."
By then, Meijin arrived and offered to "stand in" for Netto and along with a lawyer, the defense began, as Kitaoka, basing his views on eyewitness, began to grill Netto, while Meiji and the lawyer began to rebut and defend Netto while giving support to his alibi, but Kitaoka wouldn't be swayed as he points out the circumstances of the events and stated that unless there is someone who can prove it otherwise, Netto's alibi would be considered weak and charges against him would push through.
As the day is about to end, neither sides wouldn't budge and the case would be issued to a regional court while police are pressured to file charges even though they find it difficult given Netto's age as a minor though Kitaoka stated that this is no excuse for someone who committed murder and pushing illegal drugs, and insisted that Netto be charged for those aforementioned crimes, further causing anxiety and stress to the 14-year old boy.
Because of the charges pressed against him, Netto will have to spend the night at the detention center while Meijin is assured that Netto's rights won't be violated, and Meijin told Netto to hang tight ans promised that the problem will be solved, and left, and Netto sighed as he gets to spend the night in a detention center while feeling pissed at Kitaoka's arrogance in being a "super lawyer" of Japan after getting in a verbal argument over the case filed against him.
-x-
At his house, Suichi Kitaoka is reading a set of documents pertaining to the case he is handling, and his servant, Goro Yura, came and gave a glass of juice which he is going to drink it.
"Sensei..."
"Yes, Goro...?"
"Do you really think that..."
"You're talking about that boy with the bandana?"
"Yeah..."
"The evidence points out to him...and unless someone would point it out...he's a suspect...probably a guilty one..."
"But still...what if he really is..."
"Until then...that's how the system flows...not to mention that this would help boost my image..."
Goro questions his master if Netto is really culprit or not, but Kitaoka responded by whether the boy is the suspect or not, he will just go with the flow provided by the evidences, and stated that if Netto is just in the wrong place at the time, then sorry for him as this case would help in the lawyer's image as being a capable "super lawyer", in which Goro silently sighed, as he wondered if the evidences were true enough to prove if Netto is guilty or not.
-x-
The next morning, at the police station, Kitaoka arrived and presented the documents and the evidences that would suggest that Netto stabbed the young girl and peddling illegal drugs, which Netto and his lawyer rebutted the charges, reaffirming the boy's innocence but Kitaoka arrogantly rebutted and simply told the Net Saver to just admit the crimes so as to end everything but Netto refused and stick to his beliefs and told him what really happened which Kitaoka scoffed at the reply.
However, a surprise witness came in and told everyone that he is actually a former accomplice of the true mugger who happened to go inside the shop to hide from the mugger after a fallout with him, and there the mugger went inside the shop with the intent to kill his now estranged accomplice, but the witness managed to hid himself and and instead the shopkeeper's daughter happened to be there and shrieked upon seeing the mugger holding a knife and the bagful of drugs, and in surprise the mugger stabbed the girl and ran, just as Netto happened to stumble by and the Mugger threw the knife and bag at him so that the boy would be implicated in the crime.
As Kitaoka questioned the witness to verify it, the witness provided a cellphone video of the mugger's actions, and with the media looking on, the video showed that the mugger is the one who stabbed the girl and threw the evidence at Netto so as to make a "clean" getaway, and the rest is history. With this, Netto is exonerated from the charges and Kitaoka mentally sighed, as this is the first time that he lost a case, and he mentally kept his composure as if nothing happened.
Meijin, Meiru, Tohru and Shigure (who just arrived) all cheered at seeing that Netto is cleared of the charges and now he can leave, which Netto can now head for school for the enrollment, and an hour later the mugger is caught and the girl is recovering and spoke enough to prove that the mugger is the one who stabbed her. Meanwhile, Kitaoka politely answered the media questions about losing his first case which he stated that it was nothing personal but business-related, which he would soon leave.
Another hour later, Netto, Meiru and Tohru are walking home when they saw remaining servants of Shade Man about to cause trouble, and with no one around but Meiru and Tohru, Netto initiated his Cross Fusion and went to the Cyber World as Rockman and takes on the villains, but the trio are unaware that Kitaoka and Goro saw this, and Kitaoka smirked as he finally find a reason to "lose some steam" after losing the case, initiating his Cross Fusion to become Zolda Man and follwed, with Goro shook his head sideways seeing what his boss is up to.
At the Cyber world, Netto is fighting against the remnants of Shade man's cult which they intend to do something they believe would revive their master, but as the battle went on, Zolda Man arrived from a distance and watches the battle, and needing to "pay back" Netto for the "humiliation" he got when he lost his first case, as well as seeing Netto as an "amateur", Zolda man took out his PET, which resembled a sub-machine gun, and puts on a Battle Chip, allowing him to summon his Navi - Magnu-Giga! It resembled a steel mecha as well as a "human-like" Minotaur and it appeared to be packed with heavy arsenal and there Zolda Man inserted another Battle Chip which activates the FINAL VENT attack, and there Magnu-Giga opened its armor to reveal several ammo and blasters all over its metallic bodies, and Netto saw this and is surprised, and immediately ran off, just as The Minotaur-Navi fired away, obliterating the area, killing all of Shade Man's cronies while Netto narrowly escaped, but the impact caused the boy to get a lot of bruises and was thrown out of the Cyber World and back to Tokyo.
"Netto!"
"Are you okay?"
As Meiru and Tohru checked on Netto, Kitaoka was seen returning and boarded his car, just as Goro questioned his master if what he just did is necessary.
"Sensei..."
"What is it?"
"I saw what you did..."
"So?"
"Is it really necessary? He really is innocent..."
"Still...I want to pay him back...but he's okay...but he now knows that this is something that he can't just show off because he's a Cross Fusion user..."
"..."
"Let's go, Goro..."
As the teens leave away to head home, Kitaoka and Goro departed as well.
To Be Continued...
Hope you liked this filler chapter even though Netto was the main character here and managed to get out of trouble, but narrowly escaped serious injuries after a "retaliation assault" from Zolda Man for losing an "important case". Does this mean a future battle between Rockman-Netto against Zolda Man?
That is a possibility since Suichi Kitaoka/Zolda Man is neither a good guy or a villain, but this leaves the possibility of an encounter since neither of the two are in good terms considering what they both went through during the investigation.
Preview:
The next chapter resumes the usual plot, and once again the mysterious fortune teller, Miyuki Tezuka is on the move, this time eyeing Netto as a fortune telling states that his life is in danger, while at the same time gets in the face of Enzan once more...