Moonlit Destiny

Author's Note: Wrote this eighteen years ago. It's full of cringe and OOC moments, but I'm preserving it for posterity. Enjoy the story and R&R.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to or of the Rockman EXE series.

Pairing: Established Netto x Tohru.

Summary:

Dark Chip Syndicate Nebula begins production on a reality-altering weapon. Amidst the chaos, Hikari Netto and his friends must battle countless Darkloids and creatures of another world to save their own.

Chapter 9: Entwined within the Dark Chip

"Netto-kun!" Tohru took hold of his boyfriend's shoulder on his way out the van. "We need to talk!"

"Can't it wait? We have to stop the Darkloids right now!"

"It can't…It's important." Tohru let everything else disappear from his thoughts.

"Well, all right. What is it?"

"It's going to be very dangerous once we get inside. If anything were to happen to you, I'd –"

"I understand." Netto leaned closer. "Don't worry."

Tohru brought Netto into a tight embrace. "I don't ever want to lose you."

"You won't." Netto seemed confident. "I have you to protect me, just like back at the theatre when Videoman attacked."

"Netto-kun…" Their lips lingered on each other's.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?" Dekao freaked out.

"Nothing, Dekao!" Netto played it off. "Now let's get going!"

…

"Dr. Regal, they're here." Yuriko smiled.

"Good. Make sure Needleman keeps them occupied long enough for me to upload the S-Dark Chip into a suitable Navi."

"It'll be done."

…

"There are so many paths. Which do we take?" Yaito noted at least fifteen different corridors.

"We must split up to cover more ground," Mahajarama submitted his wisdom. "Everyone choose."

"Netto-kun!" Tohru halted Netto by the shoulder.

"What?"

"Be careful."

"I will!" Netto grinned, disappearing down the darkness of his selected corridor.

Enzan raced down his twisting hallway, making turns at every corner. He finally came to a stop in front of a silver door. On the wall, there was an iron nameplate.

"Testing lab, eh?" He plugged Blues in, and his Navi unlocked the door for him.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it, Ijuin Enzan? I must say, I didn't expect you to get here so soon!" a woman laughed.

"You? Stay out of the way!" Enzan barked.

"Your friends should be joining us, right about…now!"

World Three, Yaito, Meiru, Dekao, and Netto burst in.

"All the paths led to the same room?" Yaito was tiny but angry.

"Where's Tohru-kun?" Meiru did a head count.

"The path he took must've led somewhere else!"

…

"I have to hurry!" Tohru turned another corner.

"Tohru-kun, there's a door up ahead! I'll disable the locking system!" Iceman informed.

"Save me!" came a scream on the other side, prompting Tohru to freeze on the spot.

"That's Netto-kun's voice!" Tohru rammed the door.

"That works too, desu…" Iceman sighed, finding it odd that the metal door was forced open so easily.

Tohru stood up. A bloody glow seeped through the metal in the room.

"What is this?"

…

"The door behind me leads to the control room. Too bad you'll have to get by me first!" The woman removed her black cloak.

"MARIKO-SENSEI?" Meiru and Yaito couldn't believe it.

"No! I am not your teacher! I am Yuriko of Dark Chip Syndicate Nebula!"

"Plug-in, Needleman! Transmission!" Yuriko sent forth her Navi, followed by Netto and Enzan.

"We'll just stay out of this," Hinoken said calmly.

Yuriko searched her pocket for a chip. "Dark Chip, slot-in!"

…

The S-Dark Chip continued to pulsate, the force of its barrier audibly bending the girders in the ceiling.

"I thought I heard Netto-kun screaming."

"Tohru-kun, it looks like a Dark Chip!" Iceman shivered.

"It must be Nebula's newest weapon. We better get rid of it, Iceman!" Tohru looked around for a place to plug in. "I don't see any entrance ports."

"Tohru-kun, I don't think the equipment in here is responsible for that barrier. I think the chip is making its own, desu!" Iceman stated in a frightened tone.

"You think so? That means I'll have to destroy it from here!" Tohru hit the barrier with a lead pipe, but it pushed him back, a burning sensation shooting up through his fingers.

"Tohru-kun!"

Tohru heard a heartbeat in his head. It got louder and louder, becoming more stressful to listen to.

"Tohru-kun what's wrong?"

"Something in my head." Tohru closed his eyes, trying to concentrate and ease the pain.

"Save me, Tohru-kun!" Netto's voice came again.

"Netto-kun?" Tohru's vision blurred. "What is this? Why does it hurt?"

Netto was suddenly on the floor, curled up in a ball. He was surrounded by shadowy figures, all completely vile and out of shape.

"Save me, Tohru-kun!" Netto screamed again.

"This is the end. The rebirth of Paradise!" a monstrous throat bellowed.

Tohru watched, paralyzed, while the shadows took Netto away.

…

"Needle Cannon!" The blue Darkloid released a barrage of thorns at Rockman and Blues.

The two Navis tried their best to evade, but with Needleman's Dark Chip power boost, it was difficult to keep up.

"Charge Shot!" Rockman opened fire.

"Dark Stage!" Needleman pounded the ground, infusing it with dark energy. His thorns stuck to the panels, causing columns of dark fire to spew in the way of Rockman's attack.

"There's more where that came from, Needleman!"

The Darkloid sprinted toward the two Navis, elongating the thorns on his body.

"Battle Chip, Lost Woods! Slot-in!" Enzan downloaded the chip into Blues.

The red Navi dashed to the right, preparing countermeasures.

Needleman was ready to impale the Navi on his thorns. "Needle Attack!"

But it was a trap.

"Lost Woods!" Blues radiated green, inflicting damage with a punitive twister attack.

"Battle Chip, Double Point! Slot-in!" Yuriko's own chip powered up Needleman further with energy drawn from the tainted panels.

"Hyper Needle Cannon!" The Darkloid leapt into the air, doing several rolls. The thorns on Needleman's body detached, raining down on the entire area, cracking panels and launching Rockman and Blues into the air.

"He's strong! What should we do?" Rockman asked Blues.

"Enzan-sama! A Program Advance!"

"Understood! Battle Chip, Heat Side! Triple slot-in!" Enzan downloaded three chips at once.

"Program Advance! Heat Spread!" Blues burned everything, bringing Needleman to his knees.

…

Tohru cried out in pain, his vision no longer blurry. He shook off the horrible scene of Netto being abducted by the otherworldly entities.

"Tohru-kun! Are you okay, desu?"

"Yes. I'm good, Iceman." Tohru made his way toward the S-Dark Chip again.

"Tohru-kun, wait! The barrier is still active, desu!" Iceman cautioned.

Tohru disregarded Iceman's warning, stretching his arm into the barrier despite the strong current.

"This stupid barrier!" Tohru threw his arm in a diagonal arc, dispersing the energy field.

"EHH? HOW, DESU?"

Tohru chuckled in amusement, squeezing the S-Dark Chip in his hand. "Now it begins."

"What begins, Tohru-kun?"

Tohru snapped out of it. "Huh? What? Iceman?"

"Tohru-kun, aren't you going to destroy the chip, desu?"

"Oh, right!" Tohru tossed the Dark Chip down, flattening it under his shoe. A line of red light appeared from its shattered remains, pointing through the door.

"What's that?"

"Let's follow it!" Tohru chased the shining trail.

…

"WHAT?" Dr. Regal's fist hit the keyboard. "The S-Dark Chip has –!"

His diagnostic devices had gone black.

"Yuriko, the S-Dark Chip has been destroyed! Log Needleman out now! I'm activating a Dimensional Converter!"

She heeded Regal's recommendation, escaping into the control room.

"WAIT!" Netto and Enzan both yelled.

The room shook violently, multicoloured polygons forming.

"They've triggered a Dimensional Area!"

"Huhuhu!" a fiendish cackle infringed.

"Who's there?" Meiru panicked.

A winged Navi materialized. "Don't even think you can get past me!"

"Shademan!"