Begin!
Thanks for your help, Mr. Famous." Lan scooped up Maylu's repaired PET and tossed it over to the redhead.
"It's just Famous!" The adult brunette shook his head in exasperation. "And I was glad to help."
"Lan!" MegaMan shouted from his PET, drawing everyone's attention. "You've got a message!"
The Net Saver unclipped his PET and raised it to look at the screen. "What is it, MegaMan?"
"It's from your Mom. Sean showed up at your house, he's had a run in with those other two guys that he was with before. He's safe at your house, but on the verge of a nervous breakdown. You need to get home, now."
"Right." Lan checked with Maylu and received a nod of approval. "I'm on my way, tell Mom I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."
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"I just can't help but worry about him," Missy slipped back into the closest thing she'd ever had to a home. "He's been gone for so long and we have no idea where he is."
"There's nothing you can do," Red, Missy's Navi, answered from her PET. "All we can do is sit tight and wait on Gregory or Slim to find him and bring him back."
"But you know now much Sean dilikes them, he'd never go with them willingly. In fact, I think that they're the ones driving him away."
"I wouldn't be at all surprised," Red shrugged. "but like I keep telling you, there is nothing you can do."
"I can't believe that." The red-head paused and buried her hands in her pockets as she stared down at the ground. "I don't know why I care so much for him… I can't abandon him to whatever random chance may throw his way. I just can't do it."
An unexpected voice entered the conversation. "You don't have to."
Instinctively, Missy's spine tingled and she drew herself to her small height. Looking up, she found Gregory and four other 'tough' teens looming over her.
"You weren't included in this conversation." The red-haired girl glared at the unwelcome newcomers. "So scram."
"You wanted to help Sean; well, here's your chance." Gregory clenched his meaty hand. "We need you to send a message to Sean, one he won't quickly dismiss."
Missy instinctively took several steps back as the stocky teen and his band of thugs closed in on her.
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Higsby groaned as he tumbled out of the taxi and stumbled onto the sidewalk. This entire day had been nothing but one nightmare after another.
And after his 'accident' today, the chip nerd had a sudden, almost inexplicable, hatred of insurance companies and their little 'Net Terrorism' clauses.
But that wasn't the highest thing on his priority list right now. The next thing that he wanted to do was to get indoors; soak in a long, hot bath; and get some sleep. Sleep, that's what he needed, a nice long snooze.
A snooze that he wasn't about to get anytime soon.
As the brunette adult mounted the steps to his apartment, he reflexively reached into his pocket for his key- and realized that he didn't have it. Higsby grumbled over his Shuko-like bad luck under his breath, annoyed as he realized that he must have lost his keys in the near crash.
Which, of course, meant that he wasn't about to get into his apartment anytime soon.
At least, that was what he had thought- until he remembered NumberMan. Jacking his Navi into the Network, the chip nerd instructed his Navi to open the locks and give him access to the house.
No sooner had NumberMan tried to override the computer than he found himself surrounded by a flood of standard Net Police Navis.
One of the NP Navi's stepped forward, identified himself as the commanding officer and placed the calculating Navi under arrest.
NumberMan's blubbered attempts to explain went unheeded.
Outside in the real world, Higsby found himself surrounded by Net Savers as well.
It turned out that someone had been robbing houses in the area, and an anonymous tipster had reported someone trying to break into a house on this block…
All of which added up to one major disaster, Higsby was being mistaken for the burglar, and there wasn't anything he could say to change that.
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Sean closed his eyes in a desperate attempt to block out the images flooding his brain. Every mistake, every goof he had ever made came back to haunt him over the next several moments as he relived his disastrous life. He was a nervous type of person, and cursed with a memory that refused to leave him in piece. He was a doubter, a person who could relieve the events and conversations of days, months, and even years ago- wondering if maybe he had said something different, or taken a different course of action, maybe things would have turned out better. Maybe if he had tried harder, he wouldn't have had to leave the home, or fall prey to those rotten abusers… or get hooked up with Scratch… and then the ultimate thought that plagued him, maybe he could have saved his parents.
He just wanted to curl up and withdraw from the world. To avoid becoming involved with anyone else and most likely screwing up and letting them down again.
"You O.K., Sean?" Lan exploded into his house and immediately found Sean and his Mother sitting on the living room couch.
The gray-haired boy shook his head silently and curled his legs up against his chest and then wrapped his arms around his knees.
Haruka glanced at Lan. Despite her best efforts, Haruka could easily see that Sean wasn't allowing himself to be comforted by anyone, including himself.
Lan, realizing that he'd have to proceed with caution, slowly walked over and sat himself down next to the mute boy.
The two just sat there for several seconds, neither one speaking.
Finally, Lan broke the silence.
"Rough day?" It was a lousy phrase, but the best he could come up with.
Amazingly enough, it broke through Sean's defenses and sparked a response.
"Yeah."
"You know…" Slightly encouraged by those words, Lan decided to proceed with whatever popped into his mind. "Sometimes when I have a bad day, it helps to talk about it."
"I can't talk. I can't say anything." Sean kept eyeballing the carpet. "I can't."
"O.K…" The brunette Net battler shrugged and decided on a better course of action. Reaching into his folder, Lan retrieved a Battle Chip and held it out to Sean. "While I was out, I picked this up for you… I thought it might come in handy."
The gray-haired kid slowly removed his right hand from his knees and accepted the chip. His eyes exploded open in disbelief. "Dream Aura… Level 5? But… I can't…"
"Yes, you can," Lan corrected his companion. "because it's not the chip that's important- it's the connection between us. I'm your friend, I'll always be there for you, and this chip is just a little reminder of that."
"But, I don't have anything to give you." For a brief moment, Sean wished that he had actually gone through with his earlier intent and swiped that North Wind Chip. He still wasn't sure just why he had refrained from strealing the cartridge, but he had. "Now I wish I had-"
Lan blinked as Sean cut himself off. "Wish you had what?"
The gray-haired kid swallowed, and then decided there was no hiding it. "Taken that North Wind you wanted..."
"Sean, you don't have to repay me." Lan replied, completely oblivious to that confession, "I'm your friend, I'll always stand by you, and not because of our gifts to each other."
Even as he stared at the chip in disbelief, Sean couldn't keep himself from thinking… "If only you knew."
"And if you're ever in trouble," Lan mentally held his breath as he spoke his next sentence. "you can come to me and I'll stay with you until we get it worked out."
"You really mean that?"
"I do." Lan nodded back, "That's what friends do. We stick by one another."
Silence descended upon the two, as they sat there for several more seconds. Neither one was quite sure just where to take the conversation from this point.
Sensing that there was nothing more to be gained, Haruka broke into the conversation. "Now that that's settled, why don't you two come in and get some supper?"
Sean's eyes lit up at the word 'supper'. Forgetting about his troubles, Sean scrambled off of the couch and headed for the kitchen table.
"I still can't believe it." Lan shook his head in disbelief. "He's got the biggest appetite I've ever seen."
"Second only to your own." MegaMan quipped.
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"See ya, tomorrow, Sean." Lan propped his arms behind his head and closed his eyes in preparation for the welcome sleep to come.
"'Night, Lan." The gray-haired boy glanced over at his friend who was sprawled out on the floor.
At the brunette's insistence, Lan had camped out on the floor in a palette of blankets and pillows while Sean took the bed.
Sean stared up at the ceiling, his mind a jumble of memories and thoughts. The doubts just wouldn't leave him alone… and he desperately wanted to drop off to sleep so that the memories would leave him alone.
The gray-haired kid didn't know how much time had passed, he just knew that he definitely hadn't slept. For all Sean knew, it could be midnight…
And the time of night might have explained why he was the only one that heard the almost silent sounds that were barely hanging in the air.
Sean blinked, not quite sure what he was hearing.
Then it registered- they were sounds he had known for most of his life.
The gray-haired kid's eyes flew completely open as he recognized that voice. Frantically scrambling out of the blankets, Sean bolted off of the bed, his foot accidentally sliding on the floor and striking Lan's shoulder.
Miraculously, the brunette snapped awake from the blow, and sat up to see his friend exploding out the door and down the hallway.
Wondering what was going on at this time of night, Lan groggily forced himself to his feet to follow the boy.
Sean raced down the stairs and scrambled around the corner. The closer he got to the sounds, the more his hopes faded that he wouldn't find…
"Sean?" Lan's voice drifted down the stairs. "What's up?"
The gray-haired boy didn't answer- he was too focused on the task at hand. He reached the front door and clicked the locks open.
The door flew open…
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"Sean?" Lan reached the bottom of the stairs and glanced around. "Sean, what's wrong?"
It was then that he saw the door standing wide open.
And what he saw on the other side of that door rocked him to his very core.
End Chapter!