Netto stared at the ceiling and gasped for breath. He felt dizzy and very confused.
"Netto!" Yuuichirou gasped, embracing his son.
"Dad...?" Netto breathed.
"How do you feel?" Dr. Light urged.
"Who are you? Hey--where's Rock!? How did I get back in here?!"
"Shouldn't Rock be waking up too?" Blues questioned, positioning himself by his brother's side.
Shakily Netto lifted his hands to stare at them. "...Alive...? How...?"
"We administered an electrical shock to your body," Dr. Light explained. "Essentially we 'jump-started' you."
Yuuichirou had joined Blues at the other side of the table. "I don't understand, Saito should have come back too..."
Netto turned to look at the body on the nearby table. "Rock...?" He breathed. Shakily, he pulled himself off the table, and nearly collapsed due to his lack of strength at the moment. "Rock! Wake up! Please!" He shook the robot's shoulders. "Rock!"
He really didn't have enough breath to be shouting like that. But he wanted his brother back.
"..Netto-kun?"
"Rock!" Netto looked around, seacrhing for the source of the voice. "Rock, you're back already?" It wasn't surprising, he really wasn't that far from the lab when Netto faded away.
"Netto-kun!" Saito exclaimed, "You're alive! But how...?"
"They brought me back somehow...but...Rock, why aren't you alive too?
"It's because that's not his body." Blues stated.
Netto whirled. "What?"
"I think that since it's not his real body, his spirit hasn't been pulled back the way yours was."
Inside Yuuichirou's laptop, the Navi Rockman and his companions listened to the conversation in the outside world in horror.
"So I'm dead..." he whispered. He pressed his face - no, he didn't have a body, so he had no face - He pressed his being against the screen of the PET, watching his 'family' converse with Netto and Yuuichirou.
He felt ready to cry as a realization hit him. I might never be able to be with them again. He floated towards the ground, as if his knees had buckled under the heavy emotion.
"Rock?" Roll called, "Are you still here?"
"Y-yeah..." He murmured. His voice cracked.
Cocking his head, Gutsman asked, "What's wrong de guts?"
"I miss my family..." Rock sighed. "They're right over there, but I can't go to them, hug them, or even let them know I'm okay..."
"But, really, you're not okay." Roll noted, motioning towards the body in her arms.
"Well, yeah, but that's not the point." Rock added. Man, that girl really does know how to ruin the moment.
Roll carefully set the body down and strolled over to the screen.
"Who's that girl over there?" She asked, "With the pink dress?"
"That's Roll - my version of her."
Roll's eyes went wide. "That's Roll? That little stereotype? Dear god, no wonder you didn't recognize me!"
"Hey, don't insult my sister," Rock said, more harshly than he meant. Roll fell silent.
"Sorry..."
"No, I shouldn't have...I just feel really alone all of a sudden..."
"Don't worry," she soothed. "We'll find some way to switch you back."
"Hikari-san is most talented at such things," Emdee added.
"Thanks..."
Outside the laptop, it seemed at least one other was thinking of his Navi counterpart. Saito drifted closer, reaching out a hand to brush the screen. His fingers, of course, passed directly through it. "If there were just some way to get me back in there..."
He looked at the screen, and was shocked to see that he could see two versions of himself - one lying on the floor, the other pressed against the screen.
"Rock?"
"Rock?"
Those were the first words those two had ever spoken to each other.
"You can see me?"
"Yes, can you see me?"
"Yes."
Finally, after a moment, they both said simutaniously "So I guess you're dead too."
"I'm confused de gutsu!" grunted Gutsman. He could hear both Rocks talking to each other, but he couldn't see them.
"How on earth did we get into this..." The boy who had once been Rockman.EXE smiled weakly at his other half. "To see me...you...like this is so surreal."
"Just as strange as it is for me to see myself from inside a computer." Rock replied.
"Roll-chan, Gutsman? Can you hear me? I miss you guys too..."
Somehow knowing he wasn't alone in the strange predicament comforted Rock. "If I ever get back in my body..." He trailed off, uncertain how to voice his thoughts.
"It's okay." Somehow Rock.EXE knew what he was thinking. "Being out here is great, but I belong in the Net. I...know how you feel."
"It kind of makes me wonder, though..." Rock started, "How on earth did we get switched in the first place?"
Rock.EXE shrugged and shook his head. "I have no idea."
The original Rock stared off to the side, deep in thought. His eyes widened. "Hey, wait a second! How did Wily know we switched bodies?!"
"What if..." Rock.EXE started, "What if they were the ones who switched us?"
"You know...that's not impossible. I mean, when you get right down to it, the two of us are just computer programs, and those are easily moved..."
"Not necessarily." Yuuichirou stated.
Rock.EXE whirled. "You were listening?"
"Both of us were." Dr. Light added. "And switching you to isn't as simple as you make it sound, Rock. You two are computer programs, yes, but there's the factor that you're from different worlds, not to mention that one's a robot and the other's a navi. This means that you two would be two different types of programs as well."
"What amazes me is that you two weren't killed in the switch, however that may have occurred." Yuuichirou continued. "A navi program isn't designed for controlling a robot, and vice versa. I think, somehow, the two Wilys found a way to convert the programs so they'd work with each other, and used that on you two."
"Then, he built some sort of machine?" Netto questioned, getting unsteadily to his feet.
"That seems the most likely..." Blues said. "It certainly seems like something our Wily would do."
Saito's laugh echoed through the room. "Ours is too busy trying to take over the world, but he specializes in computers and communication...I'll bet if anyone could find a way to contact a parallel dimension, he could."
"If they got in contact with each other, who knows what they could do--!" Rock said. "Getting rid of us was just the first step!"
Netto grinned widely. "If this world's Wily is the one with the mechanical expertise, then the device used to switch you has to be here too. All we have to do is destroy it!"
"What do you mean all?" his twin shot back. "You're not taking on Wily! And I...well, I can't!" Even though Netto couldn't see, Saito clenched his fists and gestured at his transluscent body.
"However....I can..." The smile on Blues' face reminded Rock so much of Netto that he wondered just which brother was parallelling which.
Dr. Light coughed. "Right now, returning both Rocks to a body--any body, at this point--should be our first priority. We can decide what to do about Wily once they're safely anchored."
Roll had moved to the offline bioroid's side, holding his hand in her own. "But how are we going to do that?"
"I can only theorize," Dr. Light said slowly. "But I might be able to...to modify Rock in some way to make him more susceptible to Rockman.EXE's program. He can easily be returned to normal once they've returned to their bodies."
"I think I see what you're saying," Dr. Hikari replied. "If their personality programs are changed slightly to be more like the counterpart, there's a chance their souls will be more willing to return."
"You're going to change Rock's personality?" Netto looked horrified.
"Hey, what!?" The expression on Saito's face mirrored his twin's.
"Our Rock can easily be changed in his current state," Dr. Light explained. "At the moment he is no longer a living machine...although he's not functioning, the programming he had before he became alive is still there.With Dr. Hikari's help he can be altered to be more like Rockman.EXE. Doctor, would the same be possible for your Navi's program?"
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," Saito said sourly.
"Don't we get a say in this?" Rock echoed in an almost identical voice.
"They're alike enough now, de gutsu..."
Dr. Hikari nodded. "I can only do it with Saito's permission, of course, but it can be done. And undone, once this situation has been resolved."
Everyone looked at Saito, who was still in the general direction of the laptop. The youngest Hikari twin somehow met his brother's eyes, though his hesitant glance seemed to run right through Saito into the computer behind him. "Rock...?"
"I..." Flustered, he glanced at the scene inside the Net.
The green-eyed Navi held his gaze. "I don't like the idea of being reprogrammed..."
"No more than I. Anything could go wrong...we might stay that way, and no one would ever know the difference."
"I would." Netto's voice was so close that Saito almost jumped in surprise. The brunette stood behind him, his eyes tired and worried. "I promise, I won't let anything happen to you, brother."
"Netto-kun..."
"I'm with the kid," Blues said with finality. "I'll get you back somehow, Rock."
"Blues..." A smile lit up the ex-bioroid's face.
Netto held out a hand, palm up. "Rockman..."
Saito reached out to touch it, hesitantly. His fingers passed through his twin's, but somehow Netto knew, and smiled. "Well?"
"I don't like it..." Saito said shakily, wishing his brother's hand was solid enough to grab...anything to stop the unsettling feeling of fear that had began to bubble up inside him. "I don't like it...but I'll do it."
The other Rock nodded in agreement. "Then I will, too."
~ end chapter ~
Author's notes:
(Marisa) WAI! *glomps Rock original* You're so brave, Rocky-chan!
(Shi) *tackles EXE Rock* You too, Saito-kun! Hontou ni saikou da ne~!
See you next time!