"We're nearly there, Forte...can you believe it?" Netto said while resting on the ground. It had been another month two and a half months ever since the two of them had their argument in the forest. The two of them didn't talk about it after that, which suited Netto just fine.
The two had been running into several delays that kept making them lose time on the road. Whether it be from something small like Netto stopping at a town to wash his clothes; or to something huge, like discovering another lab on the road.
Man, I didn't expect a place like that to hold us up for so long...Netto thought as he brushed some of his hair out of his face. Much to his annoyance, his hair had been growing at a rampant pace and was now at least shoulder length. It also didn't help when his bangs kept falling across his eyes. But then again, it wasn't really the lab holding us up, was it? That city was in chaos, and we had to find a way around...
It was true. It was right after they explored the lab and took anything that would have helped them. Netto was going to the small city to rest when an old traveler stopped him.
"Child." the old man stated while holding Netto's shoulder, "Do not go in that city. If you even step one foot in there, you will bean immediate target by all the gangs in there.
Netto blinked. "Gangs?" he asked incredulously. The old man nodded.
"Yes. Several gangs have occupied the city, and all inhabitants have been driven out." Netto's heart sunk at that; his plans to go into the city for some help were now gone. "Even more, the gangs are constantly are war with each other. Because of that, all gangs kill anyone that steps foot within their turf, as they are constantly paranoid."
The boy absorbed all the information with a shocked look. "But...why? What are they fighting for?" The old traveler just snorted.
"Don't be so naïve, young one. Some humans just fight for the hell of it, and this is one of those times. From what I've seen, they have nothing to fight for other than turf, which isn't much incentive in a destroyed city." he grumbled before turning around. "They just fight for the sake of fighting in a world like this...they have nothing to live for, after all. Humans exist to kill other humans, after all...You'd do good to listen to me, boy, or you will regret it later." The old man then started walking off, leaving a gaping Netto staring after him.
"...he isn't serious, is he?" Netto whispered, "There is no way..."
"Netto." Forte cut in. The boy immediately looked at the navi, surprised. The caped navi hardly ever said his name; whenever he did, it was usually something important. "I would listen to him."
"What!" Netto exclaimed while looking staring at Forte. The navi shrugged.
"We may not know much about this world, but the old man probably has more experience than you. Besides...what he said about humans was correct." Netto continued to stare as Forte shifted slightly.
"How so, fin-head?" he asked quietly. The navi sighed.
"As that man said, the humans occupying that city have nothing to live for...so they take out their frustration on everybody else. Stepping into that city would be suicide." he said calmly, looking at the bewildered expression on Netto's face.
"But...that's..." Netto stuttered, trying to think of something to refute Forte's statement. He sunk to the ground when he found he couldn't think of anything at all. "Are people really like that...?" he asked sullenly. "Not just here, but everywhere?"
Forte nodded. "It is the truth. Humans will always fight...they always have and always will. It is inevitable. And even then, most people die at the whims of others; most of them not caring what happens. Remember it, human."
Netto shivered a bit before looking at his map. He had to get his mind off the subject. "Now we have to find a way around the city..." he muttered. "Wonderful."
That was a month ago. Since the city in question was surrounded by mountains, he opted to travel around them. However, it took him nearly two weeks just to do that, and he had lost major time. Forte was really grumpy the whole time, so he avoided annoying the navi when he could.
Laying back on the ground, Netto stared at the discolored sky. "Humans will always fight...they always have, and always will." he repeated quietly to himself. Just the thought of that depressed him. "Sure, humans always fight over stupid stuff, but to the extent of killing each other for no reason at all? I know it's possible, but..." Netto sighed, sitting up as he did so. He didn't need to think on such a thing at the moment.
"So human..." Forte drawled out, "How much farther to go? I'm starting to tire of your constant presence." The boy gave the navi a hurt stare, but he knew he didn't really mean it. Forte just said stuff like that to rile him up.
"Well..." Netto then took out the map and checked with the coordinates. "It's not much farther...possibly only a day's walk from this point." he said before rolling up the map. "And even then, we don't even know if what's there will help us...it's the only thing we have going for us at this point, though."
The navi grumbled again before falling into silence. Smiling, Netto picked up all his things and continued down the road. "I think there's one small town before we reach the Environmental System, so we can rest there." he said while walking.
"Fine. Let's just get going." the navi grumbled.
For the next few hours, everything was fine. Netto was making good time, and was attempting to make some idle chatter with Forte. Like always, he only responded with snorts or the occasional 'hmm'. Soon enough, the town came into view. "Alright! Nearly there..." he exclaimed excitedly. He was about to continue walking when something caught his eye. "What's this?" he wondered as he looked at the object laying on the ground.
"Human!" Forte snarled, obviously unhappy that Netto had stopped. "What are you doing? Stop staring at the ground and start walking!" However, it seemed that the boy had not heard him. Forte growled in annoyance. "What the hell are you staring at anyways?"
Netto just unhooked the PET from his waist and pointed the screen in the direction he was staring at. Forte widened his eyes in confusion. "What is that?" the navi questioned. Netto shook his head.
"I don't know...but it looks like a leg." he muttered. "A metal one, to be exact...see? It's all rusted." Netto pointed out while looking around. "Why would a metal leg be all the way out here, though...?"
That was when he noticed even more rusted parts on the hill he was on. "What the...?"
"Something is off." Forte stated while narrowing his eyes. "I'm sure there is something up here...and I don't think we're going to like whatever it is." Netto looked at him in confusion.
"You're getting that vibe too, aren't you?" he questioned. Forte just nodded in reply. "Good, so I'm not the only one. Maybe we should check this out..."
"And waste even more time?" Forte growled out. Netto glared at him.
"The town isn't even that far away! We can explore around here for a little bit. It wouldn't hurt, would it?" he asked exasperated.
Forte grunted. "Fine. Just don't take forever." Netto nodded and started exploring the hill even more intently. For a few minutes, he couldn't find anything real odd. Just as he was going to descend the hill and walk towards the town, he saw another group of metal parts not too far away.
"This is starting to get a little freaky." he muttered before walking towards the parts. Leaning down to inspect them, he found something really odd. "This looks like...a head?" he said while his eyes widened. "Is this some sort of robot?"
"If it is, then it must be a very ancient one." Forte stated from the PET. "From the way the parts are all strewn about, I'm assuming no one has been up here for quite some time."
"But why though?" Netto asked no one in particular as he examined the robotic head more closely. He then noticed something by the 'ear' of the head. "A plug-in port?" he said in surprise, "That's odd...hey Forte, could you plug in and check it out?"
"Alright...but we're leaving after this, understood?" he growled, annoyed that they were taking too long on the hill. Netto nodded in reply.
"Plug in! Forte, Transmission!" he cried as the infrared beam shot into the port. "Forte, since there is no power running through the head, you have to be extra careful. I'm using the battery power from the PET to keep you in there, so explore as quickly as you can!"
Forte looked at his surroundings. "It doesn't look like there is much here, so I don't think it will take too long." he said as he walked along the path. For a few minutes, he just explored around the pathways, trying to find something of interest. It wasn't until he nearly reached the end of the whole path that he found something. "Well...this is new."
"What...?" Netto exclaimed, confused. "What are those things?"
Forte was standing in front of some weird, orange colored blob. There was some sort of red nucleus in the middle of it as well. From what the navi could see, there were numerous blobs on the path in front of him, blocking it completely. "They don't look that tough." Forte snorted, seemingly unimpressed. "They're not even moving."
Netto narrowed his eyes a bit. "You may be right, but..." he trailed off as he started to ready his battle chips, "I don't want to take any chances. We'll attack one and see what happens." Netto then took one chip from his pouch. "Battle Chip, Neo Variable Sword! Slot In!"
Forte's right arm changed into a slim sword with a curved edge. Growling, he rushed at the blob and swung downward. Although he was able to cut into the blob, Forte soon found that his arm was stuck. "What the heck is this stuff?" he growled in annoyance as he wrenched his arm free. Leaping back, he analyzed the blob more intently. "The goop itself is tough...but I think I know it's weakness." he stated as he charged forward again, this time stabbing directly at the red nucleus. The sword pierced through the goop and struck the nucleus, which shattered upon being hit.
Almost immediately, the goop gave off a hissing sound as it dissolved. Forte smirked.
"How did you know how to deal with it, Forte?" Netto asked curiously.
"Far too easy...a virus like that has it's weakness out in the open. It's only means of defense is its skin, but anything that can overpower it or pierce it makes it useless." he snorted.
"And you figured all this out just by attacking once? Impressive." Netto commented. Forte looked away to hide the small blush that rose on his cheeks.
"Shut up." The brunette snickered at that before getting some more battle chips ready.
"Alright, since we now know how to delete these things...let's keep going." Forte nodded and dashed his way towards the next blob.
For the next few minutes, Forte continued to destroy even more blobs as he made his way to the platform where the path led. His first sword had long since worn out and Netto sent him a Samurai Sword to replace it. Unfortunately, the sword was about to give out as he destroyed another blob. Growling, he changed his arm back to its normal state. Only one blob left, and he had no weapon.
Shrugging, Forte gathered some energy into his right hand. "Oh well...might as well do it the old fashioned way." he said as he leaped up. "Earth Breaker!" he cried as he slammed the energy down into the blob, obliterating the nucleus inside. The blob gave off one last hiss before melting. Forte slightly panted to regain his breath. "Whew...alright, I'm satisfied for now." he said while he smirked, "It's been a while since I've had a workout like that."
Netto raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You call that a workout?" Forte snorted.
"I wouldn't expect you to understand, human." Netto shrugged.
"Oh well...time to see what those things were blocking." he muttered as he looked around the area via the PET. At first, there was nothing of interest to see. However, he soon caught sight of something didn't think would be there.
"A door!" he said incredulously, "It can't be..."
"What's so special about a door, human?" Forte growled, "You look far too surprised for something simple like this."
Netto stared down at the navi. "This isn't an ordinary door, Forte! It's a Past Vision!"
"A Past Vision?" Forte repeated, confused. Netto nodded.
"I've seen these things before...they record memory and simulates an area of the past based on that memory." Netto explained, somewhat excited. "If a Past Vision is here, then it has to be an important memory, doesn't it? I mean, those blobs weren't just there for no reason, right? They had to be guarding this."
"I suppose." Forte shrugged. "You want me to go in there, huh? If it gets us out of here quicker..." he sighed as he stepped through the door.
Immediately, Forte was greeted with the sight of plains and hills. "What the hell?" he muttered as he looked around. "You weren't kidding, were you human?"
"No, I wasn't!" Netto huffed, annoyed. Forte snickered. "Anyways, look around. Hopefully something will come up soon."
Forte grunted as he wandered around the plains, searching for anything that might seem odd. Suddenly he heard a loud yell. "What was that?" Netto queried, startled by the sudden yell.
"It sounded like a group of humans yelling..." Forte was then cut off by a loud gunshot.
Netto's eyes widened. "What was that!" he exclaimed as he looked at the surrounding area through the PET screen. Forte narrowed his eyes and ran to where the noise was made. He stopped when he set his eyes on the commotion below.
"What is this...?" Forte breathed, his eyes slightly widening. Netto was stunned.
On the plains below, there were two throngs of people fighting. One group was clothed in some sort of gray uniform, and the other group was in a dark red. Strangely enough, the group clothed in gray had groups of robots with them; it was remarkably similar to the one Netto had found on the ground.
Suddenly, there was silence. "What are they doing?" Netto asked quietly, although he already knew the answer. Suddenly, the gray clad group charged at the red group, guns blazing. Netto watched in shocked horror as countless bodies dropped dead, blood flying everywhere. Both the humans and the robots mowed down the opposing group in a matter of minutes, but to Netto, it felt like an eternity.
The grey clad group then lined up as a short and pudgy man made his way through the ranks. Neither Netto or Forte couldn't hear what he was saying, but he suddenly pulled out a revolver and shot the last surviving red person through the chest. The gray clad group cheered before assembling back into ranks and marching on.
"General." one person's voice called out. "One of our robotic soldiers was destroyed by the enemy. Should we retrieve it?"
The general snorted. "No, leave it where it is. If it was destroyed so easily by those scum, then let it rot. I don't care." There were some more cheers before the voices drowned out completely. Netto felt his legs give out, horrified by what he had seen. Forte quickly plugged out, silently watching Netto's reaction.
"Horrible..." he let out, somewhat shaken by the vision. "Just plain horrible..." he let out quietly, looking at the ground. "Why? What were they fighting for that warranted them killing each other?"
Forte stared at Netto. For a second, he looked really worried before he resumed frowning. "Netto..." the navi said quietly, wincing at how worried he sounded. He wasn't supposed to be worried about the human, was he?
Netto was now trembling, holding back tears of anger. "What was it for? Wealth? Power? Or was it just the thrill of killing people!" he all but yelled. Forte was taken aback; Netto was currently sounding like...
You. The second voice in his head piped up. He has seen only some of the horrors humankind inflict on each other, and he is shaken by that. At this time, you should comfort him.
Comfort him? Forte thought incredulously, What makes you think I'll do that? I don't care what he thinks-
That's where you're wrong. The other voice said. You know you want to help him get over this...because he reminds you of yourself when you were alone. Despite everything you say, you do care what he thinks of you, and subconsciously, you know he cares about what you think of him too.
Before Forte could mentally retort to that, the voice left with one simple message; Ask yourself this; do you really want someone else turning out like yourself? Forte closed his eyes for a moment and sighed, turning back to the trembling human.
"Netto. Calm down." he said loudly. Netto stared at him in shock; why was the human hating navitelling him to calm down instead of gloating? "I know that watching humans kill another is hard, but you can't act like this." The brunette just gaped at him.
"Is this what you and that old guy meant? That humans live just to kill each other?" Netto felt sick to his stomach; he wanted to throw up, but he had nothing in his stomach to do so. Forte shook his head.
"No, humans do not live just to kill each other. Some have purposes...I would have thought you knew about this already." Netto was surprised at what Forte had just said; the navi was also surprised at what he had said as well.
"I do know, but...it's hard to think clearly after seeing something like that." he said as he stopped trembling and stood up on shaky legs. "Let's get out of here...I need some sleep." Netto grumbled as he made his way down the hill. Getting back on the road, he took the PET and stared at Forte. "I thought you said you hated humans." The brunette muttered quietly.
Forte scowled. "I still do, human." Netto stared blankly at him.
"If you still do, then why did you help me? If anything, you should be gloating..." Forte stared back at him.
"...I just didn't want you to have a breakdown before we got to where we're going. Just helping you out of necessity." he said coolly. Netto suddenly smiled at him.
"Thanks, Forte." Forte blinked before he turned away to hide his blush. Why does this human keep making me feel this way? Why does he keep making me feel...wanted?
Netto then checked the PET's battery. "Uh-oh...it's getting low." he muttered as he replaced the PET on his belt. "We're lucky we're almost there..." His eyes then trailed down to where the PET was.
...for some reason, I don't want this to end... Netto thought sullenly. I miss my family and friends, but I don't want to abandon Forte...
Netto didn't want to admit it, but he liked having Forte with him as a partner, maybe even as a friend. The navi was abrasive and rude, yes, but he could somewhat relate to him. Even more so after the Past Vision.
Closing his eyes and letting out a sigh, he made a promise.
I won't let Forte be alone again. After this is all over, I'll ask him to come with me...I'm sure papa, Rockman, and everyone else would understand...I hope.
With that thought finished, he continued his way towards the town, and ultimately, the Environmental System.
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Next Chapter: Hollowed Halls: Now Netto and Forte are finally at their goal: The Environmental System. As they explore around, more information on what has happened to the desolate world is revealed; and Netto doesn't take too kindly to it. Meanwhile, Sera has grown tired of her 'experiment' and now plans to eliminate the two wanderers. Can Yuna stop her in time?
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Author's Notes: Whoo, nearing the final stretch. Only a few more chapters to go before Bonds is finished.
However, a sequel is planned for a later date, so look out for that when this fic is finished at last.
Next chapter hopefully coming out soon.
Thanks go to Quatre Winner and JK Fie'r for betaing.