Netto had never seen his father cry before.
He'd also never seen his body from a third person point of view without the aid of a mirror.
Being dead was quite strange.
He should have felt scared, not knowing what was going to happen next. He should have felt sorry for his dad, who had just lost both his sons. He should have felt depressed over the fact that he was dead.
But he wasn't. He felt nothing but...peace.
"Saito..." He whispered, floating towards the ground, "What now?"
Er..." Perhaps Saito was more used to having his soul dragged all over the place, but he'd never encountered anything quite like this. "Ah, what about my Navi body!?"
"Right..." Netto shifted and tried to maneouvre over to Yuuichirou, with much difficulty. Swimming through air was much different from swimming through water.
Sighing, Saito reached for his twin's hand and was surprised to feel flesh beneath his fingers. "Strange, I can't touch anything else, but I can feel you..."
Netto blinked in surprise. "I don't think ghosts can do that."
"Either way," Saito stated, "go check on me?" He swung Netto in the general direction of their father and let go, drifting backwards with inertia.
Netto reached his destination, and made a desperate attempt to stop. After flailing his arms a bit, he finally managed to ceace his movement, close enough to his father's open laptop so he could see the shocking scene on the screen.
Rock's Navi body lay dead on the floor of the net.
"ROCKMAN!" He exclaimed.
Blues and Yuuichirou's heads both snapped up in surprise. Forte glanced around in suspicion. Saito looked around. "I think they can hear us."
Netto spared a moment to stare at his twin. "You think?" he asked dryly.
"Then, keep quiet," Saito hissed. "Maybe we could use this to our advantage."
Netto nodded, watching the scene on the Net over his father's shoulder. A few feet away, Forte and Blues seemed to be having a glaring contest, but Blues was having trouble letting go of his brother's body long enough to fight his aggressor.
Overcome with curiosity, Saito eventually managed to move over beside his twin to watch the drama.
Roll, still clutching Rockman's body, was talking to someone they couldn't see. The twins, overcome with curiosity, watched and listened intently.
Their eyes lit up when she said "Rockman."
"He's dead, too!" Netto gasped.
Saito nodded. "We should try to contact him...maybe even bring him out, but h-" He paused, as a thought struck him. "Hey, wait a minute, I thought you said I was dead."
"Huh?"
"Netto-kun." Saito caught his twin's stare and held it. "What happens to Navis when they 'die'?"
"Er... oh. Um... deletion?"
The raven-haired boy nodded significantly at the laptop. "What's wrong with this picture?"
"Er...it's a body, instead of data bits?"
"Exactly."
Netto looked over at his father, who was still crying.
"Dad..." He whispered, floating over without even realizing it. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around Yuuichirou's shoulders. Apparently, Netto wasn't solid, so he couldn't literally touch him...but he made the movement anyway. "I love you, dad....it's not your fault..." He whispered.
Yuuichirou looked around again, ignoring the sudden chill that came over him. "Netto...?
Saito hung back with a smile until Netto gestured him over. "Come on," he urged. "Say something."
"Umm..." Saito blushed.
"I couldn't."
"Why not?"
"What would I say?"
Yuuichirou could hear the whole conversation. "Netto..? Saito?" He was a bit disturbed. Here he was, holding the body of his dead son, whom he could hear talking to his other dead son.
The scientist put his hands against his ears. "I must be going insane..."
"No!" Netto protested, "No, Papa! Listen to me! Something happened...Saito and I...we're ghosts..I think..."
"Like THAT'S any reassurance to him." Saito chuckled.
"Shush!" Netto retorted.
"You're not helping one bit, Netto-kun! Let me handle this!"
"You? You just said you couldn't talk to him!"
"Would you just shut up before Forte hears us?!"
"He already did!"
"I-" Saito turned around for a moment, only to be face-to-face with Blues, who was still carrying Rock's body.
"All right, Hikari." Blues whispered. He had a free moment to crawl over as Forte had called back by Wily, "I can hear your boys talking," the red and white robot continued, "and I get the feeling you can too."
Yuuichirou nodded hesitantly.
"As far as I've seen our worlds aren't THAT different. So I'm guessing this isn't normal."
"Far from it," Netto grumbled.
On the other side of the room, Forte was looking pleased with himself. Both Wilys cackled. "Well, that's that." Forte said with a malicious grin. "Can I kill Blues now?"
"If you like." Netto's Wily waved a hand dismissively.
"Over my dead body," Rockman growled.
Netto glared. "Okay, that was a bad pun."
"I didn't mean it like that!"
"Blues," Yuuichirou warned, "I think that taking on this Forte by yourself isn't such a good idea..."
"I agree completely. In this case....we simply teleport away. You and I can, at least."
"But...! What about Netto and Saito?" Yuuichirou looked hesitant.
"Papa, if you don't get out of here, Rock might go after Forte himself," Netto grumbled.
Saito rolled his eyes. "What am I going to do, possess him? I can't even touch him. Dad, you and Blues go on, we'll follow! ...Somehow...."
"Possessing him? You think we could?"
"...I was kidding...."
"Details. Give me a hand here would you?" Obligingly Saito grabbed Netto's wrist and swung him around once again, this time directing him toward Forte.
The evil bioroid cut the trip short by approaching Blues. Netto ground to a halt as soon as he reached Forte, stopping comically partway through the robot's body. Forte stood stock-still.
"How exactly do you plan to do this?" Saito called.
"I hadn't really thought that part through yet, but it can't be THAT hard!"
"Netto-kun!"
"What!? I've got things under control." Netto wasn't sure whether Forte was more stupefied by the voice screaming in his ear or the feeling of having someone pass right through him, but he was grateful that the target didn't move. "I'm sure it works just like in the movies--"
He settled down onto his feet and concentrated. Maybe not as easy as it looked in all those films, but... "I think I have it...I'm drawn to a body, even if it's not my own. Come on over, Rock!"
"...uh....no...?"
"Can I ask what they're doing?" Blues hissed.
Before Yuuichirou could reply, though, Netto had evidently figured it out. 'Forte' let out a booming laugh. "AH-HAH-HAH-HAH! Now, Blues, it's time for you to die!"
"Don't you think you're overdramatizing a little?" Saito questioned. "Our Forte certainly doesn't act like that."
"I've never met him," Forte-Netto answered in a whisper. "Come help me."
"Oh, for god's sake..." Saito drifted closer and attempted to imitate what Netto had done.
The brunette-turned-bioroid was trying out his best Evil Smile and glaring at Blues, while attempting to carry on a sane conversation with his twin. "Check this out, I have a buster. Isn't that cool?"
"Yeah." Saito replied with gritted teeth. "How exactly did you do this?"
"How do I charge this thing? I wanna try it."
"Netto-kun....a little help here...."
Netto aimed the buster a foot above Blues' head and managed to let off a blast. "Wow, cool!"
".....hello!?"
Blues and Yuuichirou exchanged a Look. Forte seemed to have lost his mind, and the twins were doing something they couldn't see.
"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!" Netto's Forte-laugh wasn't particularly impressive, Saito had to admit. "Do you want to beg for your life now, Blues??"
Before he could say anything more, however, the more levelheaded of the twins got control. Being the Hikari with the speed, experience, and fighting prowess, Saito immediately sprang forward at Blues and dove behind him, forcing the bioroid to react quickly. Yuuichirou backed away.
Both Wilys looked slightly confused at what had just happened, but 'Forte' was acting normally now. He got behind Blues with lightning speed and wrapped an arm around the helmeted boy's neck, catching him in a headlock.
"Teleport. Now," Saito hissed in Blues' ear.
Without answering, Blues threw his weight to the side and fell, snagging Yuuchirou's leg with his free hand. "Hold on!"
"But--!"
"Go!"
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Shi: Sorry, no time for Author's Notes, gotta runrunrun!