When you walk away
You don't hear me say
'Please, Oh baby, don't go...'
-"Simple and Clean" by Utada Hikaru (from Kingdom Hearts)
The group, led disconcertingly by Enzan and the otherworld Blues, gained access to the WWW Metroline and proceeded through the empty halls of Skull Mountain. The fortress was quiet and deserted, a fact that unnerved both boys but only troubled the face of the older twin. Netto's expression was laced with false cheer as he tried to make small talk with both Rock and Enzan. Neither seemed much interested in his chattering.
Meanwhile, in the Net, Gutsman carried Rockman through the equally eerie Net version of the fortress, while Roll destroyed the occaisional virus that appeared. When there was nothing to fight, which was the scenario that took up most of the trip, Roll was talking to Rockman to keep him awake. She couldn't risk him falling into a coma, or something like that.
Enzan brought them to the ruins of the main control room and stood back, allowing Blues to step towards a capsule-like machine in the corner.
"Rock, Gutsman," Roll said cheerfully, "We're here!"
Blues, in the real world, stepped towards the capsule and typed in a few keys. The capsule began to glow. "Okay, now we're in a bad fix. We don't know what's waiting for us on the other side, but it only takes one person at a time. When you get to the other world then the capsule, for a split second, leaves you paralyzed. Anyone could run up and grab you when you appear on the other side." He turned. "So should I go first, or one of you?"
"I'll go," Netto volunteered.
"No way, Netto-kun, I will," Rockman argued.
"You should stay with Papa and Blues until someone makes sure it's safe, and Blues can't go first or we'd be defenseless." Rock's azure eyes locked with his twin's brown. "I'm the one that's here to protect you."
"Rockman...Saito-niisan." Netto smiled, backing up towards the portal, "It'll be fine."
He jumped through before anyone could protest.
"Netto!" Dr. Hikari exclaimed.
"NETTO-KUN!" Rockman cried. He turned towards Blues. "What if there's someone on the other side? Waiting to attack?"
Blues sighed. "I guess we wait."
Rock frantically turned back towards the portal. "He was supposed to step back through if he was okay! WHY ISN'T HE BACK YET?! Netto-kun!"
"GET A GRIP!" Blues snapped.
"I...I'm just worried, that's al-AAH!" A sharp pain stabbed Rockman in the chest. His knees buckled and he doubled over in pain. "N...Netto-kun! He's hurt!" Rockman gasped. He wasn't exactly sure if it was Netto or the Virus that was causing him this pain, but for some reason...he knew it was Netto.
"That's it." The ex-Navi gripped the side of the machine and crawled into the transporter on his knees. "I have to go after him."
"Rock, wait--!"
In a flash of light he was gone.
Yuuichirou groaned. "Typical. Well, go on..."
Blues sighed. "Well, looks like we're going too. I'll go next." He stepped through the portal
"No argument here..." Yuuichirou followed close behind, turning to smile briefly at the remaining Net battler. "Keep an eye on things, Enzan."
"I'll do my best."
The doctor stepped into the transporter, leaving Enzan standing alone.
Yuuichirou, after recovering from the shock of the portal, gaped in horror at the scene before him.
His son, Netto, was bruised and unconcious, being held in the grips of Forte.
Blues and Rockman stood in front of the transporter, ready to attack Forte should he make any moves. At least Blues was. Rock was yelling like a maniac.
The normally polite Rockman was cursing using some of his twin's choice words, the harsh language in his soft voice obviously shocking Blues. After relating to Forte what Rock thought of his fighting tactics, his personality and his family lineage, the furious ex-Navi threw himself at Forte.
Not expecting an attack, Forte dropped the limp Netto. "The hell?!" Blues dashed to retrieve the brunette, but wasn't fast enough. A nearby guard joe picked him up sooner.
"Hey!" Blues demanded, forming an arm cannon, "Let him go or-"
"Or you'll shoot, and risk hitting Netto?" Wily's voice echoed through a loudspeaker.
Rockman clenched his fists and hissed softly. "Wily-!"
Blues' voice was cold. "Wily, let him go. It's us you're after."
"Not nessicarily." The Wily from the original universe stated. "You see, the last time I had Rockman captive, I did a little browsing through his programming, and found something quite interesting." He wasn't in the room, but over the intercom, Blues could just hear the grin in his voice.
Rockman's eyes went wide. No! NO! Please, don't let it be...
"It seems," Wily continued, "That Netto and Rockman are connected."
Yuuichirou hung back, a grim look on his face. Rockman's eyes were icy. "And what of it?"
"If I were to have my robots kill Netto, then there would be two pests out of our way - the Rockman from my world would have no body to return to,"
"And the Rockman from my world," Added the second Wily, "Would be dead."
Silence hung heavy in the air for a moment, until finally Rockman's face hardened into a stiff smile. "You think you can take him without going through me first?"
"On the contrary," One of the Wily's sneered, "I already have him."
The Guard Joe tightened its grip around Netto's neck.
Rockman suddenly felt lighteaded. Spots of color danced in front of his eyes, and darkness threatened to overcome him. Kind of unfortunate that the virus decided to kick in at that point, too.
Every limb in Rockman's body was throbbing. His eyes relaxed and the world around him became a spinning blur.
Netto-kun...thank...thank god you're n..not awake f..for this...
Inside the net, Rockman was dying.
"What's wrong with him?!" Roll shrieked, after Rock had suddenly collapsed. "Wake up! Wake up!"
"Roll...my body..." he wispered, able to do little more, "I can almost see it...I'm dying, losing the connection..."
"No! You're alive! Listen to me!"
"Don't die de gutsu!" Gutsman added.
Emdee was silent.
Rock shut his eyes. "And Netto's dying, too...they're choking him...I can feel his pain..."
"No! NO! The twin connection is between Netto and Saito!" Roll fought back tears, "You can't go too!"
"Perhaps," Emdee suggested, "Rockman isn't connected to Saito or Netto, but to his own body."
Roll gasped. "ROCKMAN! Wake up! Please! Don't go!"
...roc...an...ake up...please don..go...
He was drifting. Throbbing. Dying. The virus was only speeding it up.
In one split second, the world went black for Netto, Saito, and Rock.
A moment later his eyes snapped open.
...Rock felt perfectly fine.
...The hell?
He looked around. Roll was crying. Gutsman looked grim. And...Emdee looked indifferent.
"Why are you crying?" He asked Roll.
Roll's eyes went wide. "Did...you just hear that?"
Gutsman nodded. "De gutsu."
Blues looked around. "That's impossible."
"What? What's impossible?"
"You...you were just deleted!" She exclaimed, looking around. "Where are you?!"
"I'm right in front of you."
"I don't see you."
"IT'S A GHOST DE GUTSU!"
Netto found himself drifting dazedly, watching a rainbow of patterns dance against a black curtain. His mind was clear, and he felt no pain...in fact, he felt nothing. He forced his eyes open, blinking away the brightness of the room.
He was flying.
No, he was...floating? The ground was an inch or more below him, and when he jerked in shock his leg passed directly through the floor.
Netto turned and spotted his raven-haired twin eyeing him warily from a few feet away.
"Rock!" Netto's brain was having way too much trouble processing what had just happened. He had come out of the transporter and been grabbed by Forte and thrown to the floor. He couldn't remember anything after that...and now, despite the fact that he could clearly SEE Rockman just nearby, when he turned his head Blues was screaming his brother's name and seemed to be holding another Rockman in his arms."Er...okay, I'm confused."
"Netto.." Rockman breathed, "I think we're dead."
"Dead?" That certainly complicated the situation. "We're...? Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
The Guard Joe tossed Netto to the ground. The body skidded across the metal floor, stopping a few yards from Yuuichirou.
"Dear god..." The scientist gasped, dashing to his fallen son. He pressed his fingers against the boy's wrist, desperately seeking a pulse.
Nothing.
"Netto..." he gasped, lifting the body into his arms. "That must mean...Saito, too..." He looked over at where Rockman lay, dead. Blues was holding the corpse, his face buried in his chest.
Hikari looked down at the boy in his arms. "Netto...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let this happen..."
Tears dropped onto Netto's pale, cold face.
"Netto..."
Authors Notes:
(Marisa) Did I seriously write that?
(Shi) O_O *wail of despair* "Saitooooooooo!!!!!!"
....this story seems to have taken the oddest of turns. o.O