Act 2:
Always in Darkness,
Forever in Darkness…
A couple of days have passed since Netto left town. The search has been going by an intense pace. From officials, and newscasts. But still, no sign of Netto.
All of Akihara has been turned upside down since Netto disappeared so suddenly. Over any the park, Meiru was sitting on the swings. She seemed rather unpleasantly sorrowful rather than worried. "Netto…" She looked down at her boots as she tried to close her eyes… but in the darkness of her eyelids, the moments were still present like a picture… From the first day she met Netto, the times she was saved by him, when both of them went on the date to Castillo, the moments when they got closer together, to the day when Netto ran away, with his faint echo with his last words… "Let's just pretend nothing of this happened…" Opening her eyes in disappointment and sadness… "It's all my fault… Please, Netto… forgive me…" black clouds, indicating that it was going to rain heavily were covering The sky. And as the sky cried, Meiru didn't moved…
Cibah City, the second largest city in Electopia after Densan. But the development was so fast that the poverty rate was increasing… Over by the center of the city, people were mostly indoors because of the heavy rain. Following the maze of alleys between buildings, there was a dark gloomy spot. A young man was sitting by there, covered by a cardboard box blocking the tears from the sorrowful sky. "Netto… Are you… crying?" Netto was covering his eyes with his wrist. "No… It's just… I don't know what to do anymore… I was weak, and I will always be weak…" Rockman curled his fist as he tried to knock some sense into Netto. "Come on Netto! You cannot be down like this! You know Meiru and the others would never betray you!" "But they did… Meiru and Enzan… Then Dekao… And what about Yaito? They've all betrayed me…" Rockman kept his moment of silence… Netto had a very strong point… "And… my mother too… like Father never existed in her life… and… I don't know what to do… I just… wanna close my eyes and look into the past… but it doesn't help… maybe, my life no longer has a point…" Rockman kept a longer pause as Netto said there words… "Oh, maybe I can help… Netto…" That was a mysterious voice from the shadows… it's tune was heavy, yet with a soft English accent… "Huh? Who's there!" Netto stood with a menacing look against the shadow… the one in the shadow stepped forward, as his face was recognizable… "Long time no see Netto…" Netto was astonished by the man… a man long gone for quite a while… "Re… Regal!" "Yes Netto. It is me, Dr. Regal. How'd you been?" "But… this is impossible! You were supposed to be dead after an accident in Scilab concerning Soul Server!" "Yes, but the explosion not just caused me the scar on my back, but also triggered my erased memories… then, I went to the shadows with everyone not knowing, reviving Nebula. Therefore, I am back, as Dr. Regal, leader of Nebula, the Dark syndicate." "Do I even care?" Netto was obviously not listening to Regal's words. "I see… I know what you have been through… Netto… Losing your father, yes. Quite a horrible accident if you ask me. But losing the trust of all of your friends treating you like some minor lowlife bug and your dear mother betraying the memory of Youchiro like a simple prostitute?" "……" Netto looked down keeping a long pause… "And what you want, is the respect they had for you in the past back. Don't you, Netto?" "…… Yes…." "I know how you feel Netto. First, when I was rejected from Z-Nation's board of science for my ideas. Those who admired me went against me, and betrayed me taking my ideas… that hurt… then I realized, they were too using the Darkness…" "Darkness?" Netto was wondering… even doubting his own meaning of the word Darkness. "Yes… Darkness in people's soul is the hatred and negative feelings. And as you might guess, your friends have darkness in their hearts to betray you in such hostile way. And as Darkness being part of everyone, then just an overflow of Darkness is natural to happen. Don't you think?" Netto was doubtful… was what he was fighting all these years worth it? "Yes, Netto. You know what to do… You want respect back… and the way to get it back, is to use a darkness stronger than theirs. Then it's natural that the weaklings follow those stronger than them. So, what do you say? Are in? or are you out?" Netto kept silence. But Rockman shouted out loud. "There is no way we will ever join you Regal! Not as long as we live!" "Netto?" "……Yes… I'm in…" "NE… NETTO?"
"All this time fighting for good, yet I was never recognized, or praised by real people…" "Netto! You are not saying that, are you? You saved the world! And even if the world never praised you, your friends did!" "Praise me by betraying me? Do you call that exactly the good praising from friends?" "NETTO!" Netto faced the facts, facts that Rockman still wasn't able to face… "Good… you know that this world indeed runs in darkness… even if it mat not seem like it on a shell, everyone runs by their own darkness." Regal stepped closer to Netto as he grasped his hand, giving something to him. "And it may appear that Rockman does not agree with our ideas…" "Are you crazy Regal? There is no way I will ever join your ranks! NEVER!" Netto's hair was covering his eyes. Yet, his wicked smile was visible. "Well, I know that Rockman is a hothead most of the time…" Netto turned, and his hair uncovered his dark brown eyes… wait… they had become… bright crimson red… and his eyes were outlines with an evil shade. "But he always turns with the appropriate incentive…" Netto showed Rockman what he was grasping, what was transmitting its Dark power to him… a… "A… Darkchip?" Rockman was shocked… Netto, grasping a Darkchip in that confident way…
"Now you just see, how Rockman agrees with our ideals.. Slot in! Darkchip!" As the Darkchip slid in the PETs Chip recognition slot, a sudden shot of a sudden feeling poured into Rockman, which then turned into pain. Rockman screaming and grasping his helmet trying not to give into the Darkness. "WHAAAAAARGH!" "Now, will you agree with us Rockman?" "Ne… Netto! You… you cannot do this! Think on the ones you love! Think… how would Meiru feel… if she saw you like this!" "SHUT UP! SLOT IN! DARKCHIP!" The second Darkchip… this time, the power was stronger… and the pain was sharper… "WHAAAAAAAAUAAAAAARGH!" "That should teach you not to talk and follow my orders!" But yet, Rockman was still resisting. "No… Not like this… YOU CANNOT GIVE UP LIKE THIS!" "SLOT IN! DARKCHIP! TRIPLE DOWNLOAD!" "AAAAAAAAAARGHHH!"
Meiru was trying to get some sleep on her desk… like if she had nothing else to do… Ever since Netto left, she was torn apart… "Netto… please forgive me…" From the deepness of her thoughts, with her eyes closed, she felt something… a part of her heart, being covered in Darkness…
"Boy! You are persistent, are you?" "I…. I….. Ne……tto….." The continuous use of Darkchips, plus the effort to reject them was leading Rockman to a mental crash. Barely keeping his sanity, trying to hold on the ledge of sanity he had. "Very well. Let's use another Darkchip!" ah…. Ah…" With bare sounds, but still, deep pain, Rockman had come into what was a mental crash… no reaction, nor movement… complete vegetable state… and this opened the door of his data to the darkness. In the deep pits of his soul, the Saito.Bat program, his ultimate program of light, and Saito's soul rested until it was called forth again… but, the darkness spreaded around him covering the light sphere where he was. And as the darkness covered every bit of light, his heartbeat came to a slow stop. And thus, Saito Hikari was now…. Dead…
As the last heartbeats stopped their sound, a dark glow came from Rockman… and with it's glowing gone, he opened his eyes… covered in a dark shade, bright crimson red… "You're right… those ungrateful good for nothing deserve to be punished…" "I see you finally agree with us Rockman… as you have to since I am your operator. Or should I call you… the TRUE Drk Rockman…?" "That name suits me… I am Rockman, but the true side of Rockman." Regal chuckled with these two new allies. "Hm hm hm hm… I see… very well, I guess you won't be needing that colorful outfit anymore… you need something to suit your darkness… come with me, we need to talk on our plan…"
Netto and Regal walked into the shadows… and thus, Netto was now in the side of Darkness… now known by the name of Evil Netto. And his Netnavi, Drk Rockman. Ready to fight for the new Nebula… but, the current series of events would determine whether Netto is completely on evil, or not…