A/N:
School: (Gives out food and supplies to students)
Student: (Opens bag of rice and throws content at another student)
Me:
Me: Bruh.
A pixel of spare data came into focus, and Forte stared at it for a while longer before he realized he was conscious. Abruptly, the dark Navi looked around. A soft, pale mist covered his immediate area, surrounding him in fog that made it hard to see anything at a distance clearly. It wasn't anywhere Forte had recognized, and the Navi frowned as he struggled to recall how he had gotten here in the first place.
He remained in silent contemplation, before something pricked in his chest. A swell of emotions. Foreign, but familiar.
Sadness?
...No, no. That was much too vague. This was- felt sharper. More focused, still.
Hurt. Disappointment.
There was only one Navi Forte knew of who could project their emotions with such clarity and depth.
"Mega…!"
Without hesitation, Forte began walking to where he'd felt the presence come from, nearly stumbling when the projected emotions seemed to overpower his own. It had been a while since he felt anything quite like this. He had been separated from Mega for too long, and had scarcely done anything to upset his mate to such an extent until just recently with Alpha.
"Mega?" Forte called once more when he finally noticed a faint shadow in the distance. He hurried to make his way closer. "Mega!"
There was only joy and relief when Forte recognized the figure uneather the purple cloak, and the dark Navi grabbed the figure by his shoulders, almost as if to assure himself that this wasn't merely some wicked apparition, or a cruel trick of the light. "Mega, you're alright-"
"Forte." The blue Navi spoke, his voice soft yet firm, stopping whatever Forte had been about to say in its tracks. "...You promised me."
"What?" Forte was confused. "What do you mean?"
"You promised me!" Mega's voice was louder now as the blue Navi stared up at him with his bright, green eyes. "You promised me… That no matter what happens, you won't give in to your anger or hatred… But…"
"Mega…" Forte's heart clenched upon hearing those words. "I… I didn't mean to… it was an accident-"
"You promised me!" Mega repeated, this time accompanied with a sharp jab of betrayal. "You promised me… But you lied! You lied, Forte- You lied to me!"
"Mega!" Forte panicked as he was pushed backwards by the other Navi. As he recovered, he made a quick, desperate attempt to lunge for the blue Navi. "WAIT!"
With a loud gasp, Forte shot upright, a hand clutching his own chest as he heaved. The mist had receded. All that was left was the strange, ominous clouds of the Dark Net swirling above his head, and Forte struggled to make sense of what he had just seen.
What was that? Some sort of vision burst? A hallucination? Was he beginning to lose his mind?
But… Mega was there. Forte saw him, as fleeting as the encounter had been. More importantly, Forte felt him. That much, Forte knew had to be real. It couldn't have been an unconscious manifestation of his own guilt and longing.
Then… A dream, perhaps? Mega had those, and Forte had witnessed how it had affected the blue Navi first-hand. Could he have possibly just had a dream before he came to?
Forte scowled. That was impossible, wasn't it? Unless it was Mega, Forte knew for a fact that NetNavies didn't dream. Forte had never had a dream before in his entire existence. So why would he be having one now?
"RRAAAAGGGHHHH!"
Completely consumed by his own thoughts, Forte didn't realize that another NetNavi had rushed up towards him until he saw the fist a split second away from his own face. When he blinked again, Forte found himself knocked back, staggered, one knee on the ground to support himself. The Navi made a second lunge for him, then.
"This is all your fault!" As Forte's vision refocused, the dark Navi recognized the other Navi as his mate's subservient. "The Mistress…! It's all your fault!"
Shadowman swung his other fist at him, but Forte was aware enough to lean out of Shadowman's reach. As the Black Shadow took a step back, it seemed as if Shadowman wanted to rush forward for another strike, but he was forcibly yanked backwards.
"That's enough, Shadz. You're going to break your own wrists trying to punch this guy." Swallowman joked, but it was clear that his heart wasn't quite in it. The bird Navi looked unusually solem even as he held the other Navi back.
Shadowman hissed and struggled some more, still trying to get to the dark Navi. Forte watched him for a while longer as the shadow Navi continued to stare him down, but he eventually relented. Even so, Shadowman continued to glare at Forte with sharp, disdainful eyes as Swallowman released him and he stood to his full height.
"The pact…" Shadowman grit out. "...It is broken…"
Forte nearly winced as the image of his twisted doppelganger unleashing its attack upon Mega flashed before his eyes once more. There were only two methods in which a pact between a master and a subservient could be broken. The first was if the master had terminated the pact on their own accord. The other was if the master were to be…
"No..." Forte had said out loud, unconsciously. He refused to believe it. He had felt Mega. Those projected emotions couldn't have come from nowhere. Which meant that… "Mega… is still out there…"
"ENOUGH OF THIS FOOLISHNESS!" Shadowman's anger flared once more upon hearing those words. "When will you admit it?! All this needless chaos, all this mindless destruction- It was all of your own doing! Because of your dogged refusal to see your own mate as more important than your need for petty revenge!"
"SILENCE!" Forte screamed back, red eyes blazing with fury. The two other Undernet Navies appeared to tense, anticipating some sort of violent outburst from the dark Navi, but Forte withdrew after his initial yell. When he spoke once more, it was in a soft, hushed voice, almost as if the Black Shadow was talking to no one but himself. "...Mega… Wait for me… I'll find you…"
With that, the Black Shadow leapt into the air before either Undernet Navi could stop him. Shadowman let out an audible snarl, while Swallowman appeared visibly distraught at the sight. It wasn't long before the figure of the Messenger of Darkness vanished amongst the dark clouds and disappeared from their immediate area entirely.
Swallowman's gaze dropped as soon as he lost track of the dark Navi, turning to his Undernet companion before noticing a slight tremble from the other Navi. Swallowman knew that Shadowman had been the Blue Myth's loyal subservient for over a decade, and how much the blue Navi had meant to him, despite them being master and subservient. At a loss for words, Swalloman merely took a step towards the shadow Navi to get his attention, before placing his hand on top of the other's wrist. It was just about as much comfort he could offer him without the other Navi lashing out at him in return. Shadowman looked at his hand, before glancing back upwards to meet his gaze. Their eyes met for a brief moment before Shadowman looked away once more, but Swalloman smiled regardless when the shadow Navi made no move to jerk back from the touch.
"...Shadowman! Swallowman!"
Snapped out of his trance, Shadowman almost appeared to jump as X, Zero and Blues appeared over the horizon and began making their way over.