Chapter 7; Guilt Trip
Netto woke up in his bed under the covers, in his pajamas. He thought it had been just a dream, because he'd been saved by the shining armor knight from the river under the bridge. That he'd simply dreamed it, and he'd been in bed asleep the whole time. But taking a glance at the floor, he saw the clothes he'd been wearing yesterday in a sopping wet heap. He'd jumped in the river alright, but how could a figment of his imagination save him?
Netto jumped nearly ten feet out of his bed when he heard someone snoring softly right next to him. Looking towards his right on the other side of the bed, he saw MegaMan sleeping on his bed with him! Netto blinked his eyes, but he wasn't dreaming. MegaMan must have been the knight in shining armor... because MegaMan was drenched too. If this was so, how was he here in the real world with him? He was a NetNavi that couldn't live outside the internet or the PET...
"Mega?" Netto put his hand lightly on MegaMan's shoulder. He was real, it wasn't a dream. MegaMan stirred out of sleep, and opened his eyes. When he saw Netto, he gave a warm smile. "Netto-kun..." He yawned, stretching his arms and legs.
"DON'T EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!!!!!" MegaMan shook Netto silly by his shoulders. "Ack OK OK I'm sorry!!" Netto said so MegaMan would stop shaking him. He fell on the floor, dizzy. MegaMan sat down on the bed, and looked angrilly at him. "I'm not going to leave you alone until you tell me why you did what you did last night. Or what you tried to do." Netto looked down at the floor, depressed, and feeling guilty too. How could he forget about MegaMan? He was his best friend... he'd have helped him through it. "I let my emotions take control of me... I couldn't get them out." Netto stated. "And that's my fault, because I wasn't helping you through anything." MegaMan said of himself, hanging his head even lower than Netto's. "Mayl can go to Hell, Netto-kun, but don't let her bring you down with her." MegaMan said, startling Netto at his choice of words.
Netto thought about it. Mayl really wasn't worth dying over. Just, all the emotions drove him over the edge. He wanted to die. But now that the emotion overload was over, he didn't want to die at all. It was all because Mayl pushed him over the edge. "You're right, Mega. I was stupid..." Netto confessed. MegaMan nodded. "I don't even know why you would even think about taking that sort of action. You have a lot to live for, you have a person who cares for you, you've got this whole world." MegaMan said. Netto frowned sadly. "I don't have anyone who cares about me, Mega, my parents aren't around much and everyone I know either wants to get me in trouble or use me for their own benefit." Netto said. "And if you'd died, there'd be no one left who'd miss you, right?" MegaMan questioned. Netto nodded his head.
MegaMan put a hand on Netto's shoulder. "Netto-kun, listen to me. Taking your own life is a bad idea, why didn't you take me too? I probably couldn't live without you anyway." MegaMan said. Netto was stunned by his words. Really? "Never mind that. You're going to be late for school if you don't go now, you know." MegaMan pointed to the clock hanging on the wall. It was 8 AM and class started at 8:30. Netto nodded his head and put clean clothes on. He went to the bathroom the brush his teeth and when he got back he saw that MegaMan was in his PET now, waiting for him.
Netto tied his bandana on, which was still wet by the way, and took MegaMan with him this time. He ran down the stairs with his backpack and books, and grabbed the usual piece of toast and ran out the door on his way to school. Now it was 8:12, with a good chunk of time to spare. Netto thought to himself as he walked down the sidewalk towards school. Mega... really felt that way? He actually said that? What the heck? He had no idea that NetNavis could get so attached to their operators... did all Navis act this way? And he'd never heard of a NetNavi coming alive out of their PETs, let alone save their operator from jumping into a river or something. But he didn't know all that there was to know about NetNavis. "Netto-kun...? What are you thinking about?" A voice stirred him out of his thoughts. "I was thinking about you." Netto said. "Oh. I was thinking about you, too." Came his answer. Before the two of them could share what they'd been thinking about, someone called his name.
"Lan!!" Netto turned around and saw his two classmates running up to him, Dex and Yai. Dex was the school bully, but was nice to Lan only because he was a fellow classmate. Yai was the rich girl of the town, and was also a friend of Lan's. But they weren't the kind of friends that a guy would want. "Yo, what's the deal? We saw you with a strange guy in the park late last night." Dex said. "What are you holding back from us? Huh? Huh? We told you not to hide any secrets from us!" Yai said. Netto tried to ignore them but it was impossible with Yai's annoying voice grating on his nerves. They only wanted to know so they could spread gossip. "If you won't tell us, we won't be your friends anymore." Dex announced.
Netto looked at them, a bit scared because he knew that they were telling the truth. They would do that to him, just sever their 'friendship' with him. But did Netto really care? If he lost these two, then he wouldn't have any friends left... "I'm not going to tell you anything!" Netto screamed at them. "Just go away and leave me alone." Both Yai and Dex looked at him. "If that's what you want. But believe me, you're going to be left all alone for yelling at us like that!" Yai said, and stormed off towards school. Dex followed her after giving Netto a look. After they were gone, Netto exhaled a deep breath. MegaMan looked out from his PET. It happened again... What was going on? Netto was losing his friends... was it because of him?
"I thought she'd deserve to be yelled at like that. But I guess I got what I deserved too..." Netto said to MegaMan. When MegaMan saw Netto's sad face, he felt what he was going through too. "I knew that someday they would do this. I couldn't let them know who exactly had saved me, because they'd tell the whole school and everyone would be all over us... I couldn't just let that happen. Besides, I meant to keep you a secret! Right? So that's what I'm going to do." Netto said, his voice wavering like he was about to lose it to a bout of tears. "That's right, Netto-kun. But cheer up! Surely that's not all the friends you have." MegaMan said. When Netto didn't answer him, he knew that he was wrong. "You've... got no more friends?" Netto nodded his head sadly. And MegaMan didn't know what to say.
When Netto walked into class, everyone turned away from him, ignoring him as if he were the plague. Yai and Dex had gotten there, and must have told the rest of the class students something about him. Just what it had been was beyond his imagination, but the feelings he felt made him feel all the more unwanted. He tried to ignore it though. He wished that MegaMan would say something, but he hadn't said a thing since he'd asked if he'd had any friends left. He obviously didn't... So instead of dwelling on the problem that today brought, he focused on his classwork.
When he took his notebook out of his backpack along with his math binder, he reminded himself that he hadn't done his homework from last night! So not only was he being ignored by the entire class, but he was also in trouble for not doing his homework. But when he opened the notebook, he saw that the homework had been done. Also, there was a note behind the homework: Just so you won't get in trouble in class tomorrow! -MegaMan . Netto's entire face lit up. Sitting down in his seat, the class commenced.
While Netto was taking class, MegaMan was taking a 'class' of his own, searching through the upcoming report cards for the classmates of Netto. He snickered to himself as he pulled out the report cards of Dex and Yai. They would pay dearly for what they had done to Netto. He changed the A's on Yai's card to F-'s. And Dex's was pretty bad already, mostly C's, but he changed them to F-'s too. Under teacher comments he put 'not nice to classmates'. He put them back in order and left without being spotted. He did feel guilty after, but distracted himself by going virus-busting in the school network. Just a few Metaur viruses and Fishys and Quakes... nothing too major.
He stayed away from the principal's section because he might get caught by somebody. No one knew who his operator was, so why did he care anyway? It felt great to be so treasured by somebody and to be kept a secret. He could do so much! But... he knew that it wouldn't last forever. The WWW already knew about them, for instance. "Speaking of the WWW... I wonder what big plot they have planned for next time?" He wondered as he gunned down some stray Metaurs. 'Whatever it is, Netto-kun and I will be ready for them!' He thought as he plowed through some viruses that had lined up in front of him, getting ready to strike. "I wonder if they're tracking us down right now..." He continued to think to himself. He wished that he hadn't said that, because the whole school network rumbled, throwing everything out of order! All the programs got behind him in a panic, and MegaMan didn't know why they hid behind him. But he saw someone advancing towards him, and immediately stood his ground.
It was a WWW NetNavi, and it meant business. Well, it looked like it did, but MegaMan wasn't about to ask. It looked like a guy with a big brain and who was quite tall and thin. "If you've come for MegaMan, that's me. Now just get it over with and leave everyone else here alone!" MegaMan said, standing up for all the little programs crouched behind him. They all looked up at him as if he was their courageous savior, or something like that.
"I've come to DELETE you, MegaMan, whoever happens to get in my way is not my problem." The NetNavi said. MegaMan growled at what it had just said. "Well then I'll DELETE you before then, WWW NetNavi!" MegaMan said, and starting charging his buster cannon. "It's NumberMan. Let the battle commence." MegaMan shot off his charged shot and it hit NumberMan square in the chest. It threw two dice, which rolled on the floor. There were two sixes. MegaMan was engulfed in a giant explosion. "The power of the explosion depends on the dice." NumberMan said matter-of-factly. MegaMan burst out of the smoky cloud coughing, with a ready-charged shot up his sleeve. He let it go, and it hit NumberMan head-on. "For a WWW NetNavi, you sure are a weakling. I don't even have my operator with me, and look. Barely a scratch." MegaMan laughed as he blew NumberMan skyhigh, sending it offline and back into its PET. All the little programs cheered for him, thanking him for getting rid of the WWW Navi. MegaMan restored the school network, and returned to his PET just in time for school to end.
Netto looked really happy as he raced out of the classroom. Yai was sobbing her eyes out as if she'd lost someone dear to her and Dex was a bit shaken up. Netto was way ahead of everybody for a reason. He didn't want them to say anything to him or treat him like he was a terrible person. Actually, he wasn't even thinking about that anymore. He was so happy that he had a friend like MegaMan, he couldn't care about anyone else. The sun was shining, the kids were playing in the playground, and the town was alive. How could anyone be sad? Well, except for Yai and Dex, but Netto was happy about that too!
"Thanks Mega! Oh man what happened to you?" Netto said as he looked down at the PET in his hands. MegaMan was all dirty and battered by NumberMan's explosion. "A WWW NetNavi attacked the school's network. But he was no match for me!" MegaMan said proudly. Netto laughed along with his NetNavi. "They're really annoying, aren't they?" MegaMan agreed with him all the way. "I was virus-busting earlier too. It's boring when you're in class! I had to find something to do." MegaMan said. Netto nodded his head.
"They have classes for NetNavis too, you know. Lessee, there's virus- busting class where you learn techniques, and I don't know any others." Netto said. MegaMan laughed. "Hah, I could teach the class some new techniques!" Netto laughed. "True, very true." MegaMan smiled at his operator's better personality. "I'm glad you're so happy, Netto-kun." MegaMan said. Netto gave him a thankful smile. "It's all thanks to you, Mega! Thanks a lot!" Netto smiled brightly down at him. MegaMan smiled back. "Thanks for being there for me in bed last night. And for bringing me to my senses. I can't thank you enough, Mega." Netto continued. MegaMan hid the blush that was creeping onto his face. "Geez, you're making me blush, Netto-kun!!" MegaMan cried out. Netto laughed immensely. "But anyway, you don't have to thank me." And the two friends went home.
-At the WWW's base, the truth has been discovered!- : "Ah I finally found what we had been looking for all along! The plans for Project ANNIHILATE THE WORLD!!!!!! But where is the device that the plans are for???" = "What are you babbling about now?" : "Where is the PET you bungling buffoon. I know you had it with you and your sticky fingers." = "Oh you mean that piece of junk? I thought it wasn't working and took it to the PET shop." : "You did WHAT?! Oh man, the old man is going to have your head if you don't get it back." / "'Old man'? You two had better get it back, if you value your lives!" ( a horrified scream can be heard in the distance ) = "Yessir! I mean Ma'am! I mean Sir! I mean-" / "Go to it you idiots!!" : "Yessir!"
Netto woke up in his bed under the covers, in his pajamas. He thought it had been just a dream, because he'd been saved by the shining armor knight from the river under the bridge. That he'd simply dreamed it, and he'd been in bed asleep the whole time. But taking a glance at the floor, he saw the clothes he'd been wearing yesterday in a sopping wet heap. He'd jumped in the river alright, but how could a figment of his imagination save him?
Netto jumped nearly ten feet out of his bed when he heard someone snoring softly right next to him. Looking towards his right on the other side of the bed, he saw MegaMan sleeping on his bed with him! Netto blinked his eyes, but he wasn't dreaming. MegaMan must have been the knight in shining armor... because MegaMan was drenched too. If this was so, how was he here in the real world with him? He was a NetNavi that couldn't live outside the internet or the PET...
"Mega?" Netto put his hand lightly on MegaMan's shoulder. He was real, it wasn't a dream. MegaMan stirred out of sleep, and opened his eyes. When he saw Netto, he gave a warm smile. "Netto-kun..." He yawned, stretching his arms and legs.
"DON'T EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN!!!!!" MegaMan shook Netto silly by his shoulders. "Ack OK OK I'm sorry!!" Netto said so MegaMan would stop shaking him. He fell on the floor, dizzy. MegaMan sat down on the bed, and looked angrilly at him. "I'm not going to leave you alone until you tell me why you did what you did last night. Or what you tried to do." Netto looked down at the floor, depressed, and feeling guilty too. How could he forget about MegaMan? He was his best friend... he'd have helped him through it. "I let my emotions take control of me... I couldn't get them out." Netto stated. "And that's my fault, because I wasn't helping you through anything." MegaMan said of himself, hanging his head even lower than Netto's. "Mayl can go to Hell, Netto-kun, but don't let her bring you down with her." MegaMan said, startling Netto at his choice of words.
Netto thought about it. Mayl really wasn't worth dying over. Just, all the emotions drove him over the edge. He wanted to die. But now that the emotion overload was over, he didn't want to die at all. It was all because Mayl pushed him over the edge. "You're right, Mega. I was stupid..." Netto confessed. MegaMan nodded. "I don't even know why you would even think about taking that sort of action. You have a lot to live for, you have a person who cares for you, you've got this whole world." MegaMan said. Netto frowned sadly. "I don't have anyone who cares about me, Mega, my parents aren't around much and everyone I know either wants to get me in trouble or use me for their own benefit." Netto said. "And if you'd died, there'd be no one left who'd miss you, right?" MegaMan questioned. Netto nodded his head.
MegaMan put a hand on Netto's shoulder. "Netto-kun, listen to me. Taking your own life is a bad idea, why didn't you take me too? I probably couldn't live without you anyway." MegaMan said. Netto was stunned by his words. Really? "Never mind that. You're going to be late for school if you don't go now, you know." MegaMan pointed to the clock hanging on the wall. It was 8 AM and class started at 8:30. Netto nodded his head and put clean clothes on. He went to the bathroom the brush his teeth and when he got back he saw that MegaMan was in his PET now, waiting for him.
Netto tied his bandana on, which was still wet by the way, and took MegaMan with him this time. He ran down the stairs with his backpack and books, and grabbed the usual piece of toast and ran out the door on his way to school. Now it was 8:12, with a good chunk of time to spare. Netto thought to himself as he walked down the sidewalk towards school. Mega... really felt that way? He actually said that? What the heck? He had no idea that NetNavis could get so attached to their operators... did all Navis act this way? And he'd never heard of a NetNavi coming alive out of their PETs, let alone save their operator from jumping into a river or something. But he didn't know all that there was to know about NetNavis. "Netto-kun...? What are you thinking about?" A voice stirred him out of his thoughts. "I was thinking about you." Netto said. "Oh. I was thinking about you, too." Came his answer. Before the two of them could share what they'd been thinking about, someone called his name.
"Lan!!" Netto turned around and saw his two classmates running up to him, Dex and Yai. Dex was the school bully, but was nice to Lan only because he was a fellow classmate. Yai was the rich girl of the town, and was also a friend of Lan's. But they weren't the kind of friends that a guy would want. "Yo, what's the deal? We saw you with a strange guy in the park late last night." Dex said. "What are you holding back from us? Huh? Huh? We told you not to hide any secrets from us!" Yai said. Netto tried to ignore them but it was impossible with Yai's annoying voice grating on his nerves. They only wanted to know so they could spread gossip. "If you won't tell us, we won't be your friends anymore." Dex announced.
Netto looked at them, a bit scared because he knew that they were telling the truth. They would do that to him, just sever their 'friendship' with him. But did Netto really care? If he lost these two, then he wouldn't have any friends left... "I'm not going to tell you anything!" Netto screamed at them. "Just go away and leave me alone." Both Yai and Dex looked at him. "If that's what you want. But believe me, you're going to be left all alone for yelling at us like that!" Yai said, and stormed off towards school. Dex followed her after giving Netto a look. After they were gone, Netto exhaled a deep breath. MegaMan looked out from his PET. It happened again... What was going on? Netto was losing his friends... was it because of him?
"I thought she'd deserve to be yelled at like that. But I guess I got what I deserved too..." Netto said to MegaMan. When MegaMan saw Netto's sad face, he felt what he was going through too. "I knew that someday they would do this. I couldn't let them know who exactly had saved me, because they'd tell the whole school and everyone would be all over us... I couldn't just let that happen. Besides, I meant to keep you a secret! Right? So that's what I'm going to do." Netto said, his voice wavering like he was about to lose it to a bout of tears. "That's right, Netto-kun. But cheer up! Surely that's not all the friends you have." MegaMan said. When Netto didn't answer him, he knew that he was wrong. "You've... got no more friends?" Netto nodded his head sadly. And MegaMan didn't know what to say.
When Netto walked into class, everyone turned away from him, ignoring him as if he were the plague. Yai and Dex had gotten there, and must have told the rest of the class students something about him. Just what it had been was beyond his imagination, but the feelings he felt made him feel all the more unwanted. He tried to ignore it though. He wished that MegaMan would say something, but he hadn't said a thing since he'd asked if he'd had any friends left. He obviously didn't... So instead of dwelling on the problem that today brought, he focused on his classwork.
When he took his notebook out of his backpack along with his math binder, he reminded himself that he hadn't done his homework from last night! So not only was he being ignored by the entire class, but he was also in trouble for not doing his homework. But when he opened the notebook, he saw that the homework had been done. Also, there was a note behind the homework: Just so you won't get in trouble in class tomorrow! -MegaMan . Netto's entire face lit up. Sitting down in his seat, the class commenced.
While Netto was taking class, MegaMan was taking a 'class' of his own, searching through the upcoming report cards for the classmates of Netto. He snickered to himself as he pulled out the report cards of Dex and Yai. They would pay dearly for what they had done to Netto. He changed the A's on Yai's card to F-'s. And Dex's was pretty bad already, mostly C's, but he changed them to F-'s too. Under teacher comments he put 'not nice to classmates'. He put them back in order and left without being spotted. He did feel guilty after, but distracted himself by going virus-busting in the school network. Just a few Metaur viruses and Fishys and Quakes... nothing too major.
He stayed away from the principal's section because he might get caught by somebody. No one knew who his operator was, so why did he care anyway? It felt great to be so treasured by somebody and to be kept a secret. He could do so much! But... he knew that it wouldn't last forever. The WWW already knew about them, for instance. "Speaking of the WWW... I wonder what big plot they have planned for next time?" He wondered as he gunned down some stray Metaurs. 'Whatever it is, Netto-kun and I will be ready for them!' He thought as he plowed through some viruses that had lined up in front of him, getting ready to strike. "I wonder if they're tracking us down right now..." He continued to think to himself. He wished that he hadn't said that, because the whole school network rumbled, throwing everything out of order! All the programs got behind him in a panic, and MegaMan didn't know why they hid behind him. But he saw someone advancing towards him, and immediately stood his ground.
It was a WWW NetNavi, and it meant business. Well, it looked like it did, but MegaMan wasn't about to ask. It looked like a guy with a big brain and who was quite tall and thin. "If you've come for MegaMan, that's me. Now just get it over with and leave everyone else here alone!" MegaMan said, standing up for all the little programs crouched behind him. They all looked up at him as if he was their courageous savior, or something like that.
"I've come to DELETE you, MegaMan, whoever happens to get in my way is not my problem." The NetNavi said. MegaMan growled at what it had just said. "Well then I'll DELETE you before then, WWW NetNavi!" MegaMan said, and starting charging his buster cannon. "It's NumberMan. Let the battle commence." MegaMan shot off his charged shot and it hit NumberMan square in the chest. It threw two dice, which rolled on the floor. There were two sixes. MegaMan was engulfed in a giant explosion. "The power of the explosion depends on the dice." NumberMan said matter-of-factly. MegaMan burst out of the smoky cloud coughing, with a ready-charged shot up his sleeve. He let it go, and it hit NumberMan head-on. "For a WWW NetNavi, you sure are a weakling. I don't even have my operator with me, and look. Barely a scratch." MegaMan laughed as he blew NumberMan skyhigh, sending it offline and back into its PET. All the little programs cheered for him, thanking him for getting rid of the WWW Navi. MegaMan restored the school network, and returned to his PET just in time for school to end.
Netto looked really happy as he raced out of the classroom. Yai was sobbing her eyes out as if she'd lost someone dear to her and Dex was a bit shaken up. Netto was way ahead of everybody for a reason. He didn't want them to say anything to him or treat him like he was a terrible person. Actually, he wasn't even thinking about that anymore. He was so happy that he had a friend like MegaMan, he couldn't care about anyone else. The sun was shining, the kids were playing in the playground, and the town was alive. How could anyone be sad? Well, except for Yai and Dex, but Netto was happy about that too!
"Thanks Mega! Oh man what happened to you?" Netto said as he looked down at the PET in his hands. MegaMan was all dirty and battered by NumberMan's explosion. "A WWW NetNavi attacked the school's network. But he was no match for me!" MegaMan said proudly. Netto laughed along with his NetNavi. "They're really annoying, aren't they?" MegaMan agreed with him all the way. "I was virus-busting earlier too. It's boring when you're in class! I had to find something to do." MegaMan said. Netto nodded his head.
"They have classes for NetNavis too, you know. Lessee, there's virus- busting class where you learn techniques, and I don't know any others." Netto said. MegaMan laughed. "Hah, I could teach the class some new techniques!" Netto laughed. "True, very true." MegaMan smiled at his operator's better personality. "I'm glad you're so happy, Netto-kun." MegaMan said. Netto gave him a thankful smile. "It's all thanks to you, Mega! Thanks a lot!" Netto smiled brightly down at him. MegaMan smiled back. "Thanks for being there for me in bed last night. And for bringing me to my senses. I can't thank you enough, Mega." Netto continued. MegaMan hid the blush that was creeping onto his face. "Geez, you're making me blush, Netto-kun!!" MegaMan cried out. Netto laughed immensely. "But anyway, you don't have to thank me." And the two friends went home.
-At the WWW's base, the truth has been discovered!- : "Ah I finally found what we had been looking for all along! The plans for Project ANNIHILATE THE WORLD!!!!!! But where is the device that the plans are for???" = "What are you babbling about now?" : "Where is the PET you bungling buffoon. I know you had it with you and your sticky fingers." = "Oh you mean that piece of junk? I thought it wasn't working and took it to the PET shop." : "You did WHAT?! Oh man, the old man is going to have your head if you don't get it back." / "'Old man'? You two had better get it back, if you value your lives!" ( a horrified scream can be heard in the distance ) = "Yessir! I mean Ma'am! I mean Sir! I mean-" / "Go to it you idiots!!" : "Yessir!"