Well, you know what? We didn't end up going anywhere anyway, should have planned it better. Oh well, here's chapter three! Which is relevantly short, but no matter, important things happen. Thank you once more for the reviews, it's nice to know someone out there enjoys this story.
-
Chapter Three: It Begins
The world is but a burial ground. Life is taken and thrown to the Earth, rotting and becoming nothing but soil, dirt that is overlooked in time's every moving process. But like dirt, each speck of life finds its way somewhere, in your eye or otherwise.
And dirt existed everywhere on him. Shoved into his mouth and clogging his nose. He couldn't make a sound, but he really didn't want to, there was a pain in his stomach that would not go away.
He could hear sounds of moving soil, feet crunching on the ground, and worried calls. If he'd had the sense at the moment, he would have thought of the possibility of any of this.
He was a Navi. There was no real dirt in the Net.
"Netto! I've found him!" came a cry, familiar in tone. Rockman coughed, damp soil spraying everywhere, and tried to move.
"And he's alive! Help me get him up!" Another familiar voice, feminine and excited, appeared from nowhere beside the one that had just spoken.
He felt his arms be tugged and the mud shake from him, he could finally breathe and his nose was now unclogged. But his stomach still hurt. He hissed in pain, refusing to open his eyes.
He heard a gasp, it sounded relieved, and something grabbed him from whoever had held him in the first place.
"Sai…"
Netto? The voice sounded just like his. He slowly opened his eyes and squinted, a blurry vision of brown hair and chocolate brown eyes came into view.
He felt himself be hugged tighter, and the world became dark again, his forehead felt heavy. Like someone was laying their own on his, he coughed weakly.
"Come on, Netto-kun, we've got to get him out of here before he dies!" the female voice warned. Meiru? Now this was becoming strange.
The world came into focus once more, and he was lifted from the ground, his head resting on something firm. Netto's chest, he presumed.
They began moving, he could hear the chatter of the three people. The other voice had to be Dekao's, its deepness was hard to ignore.
He stared at his lap, he was wearing jeans. Jeans…? He didn't remember ever having a clothes upgrade.
"Man, he's quiet." Dekao commented.
"Yeah, well, if you had a big slash mark through your stomach, I don't think you'd be talking either." Netto snapped.
So, that was what the pain was. He closed his eyes and exhaled, wincing at the sharp pang it brought.
"Netto! Oh my god, Saito!" Papa's voice, worried. He tried to just think about breathing, his body hurt enough already. He overlooked the name, thinking it might have slipped out by accident.
The darkness was swimming before his shut eyes. He could feel the tendrils of sleep lick at his sore body, and he allowed himself to be gratefully swallowed by sleep.
-
There was metal everywhere. Sheets of it scatter across the ground, rusted iron limbs and parts of internal gizmos lying forgotten beneath the shadow of a towering building.
It was tall, like a modern castle made of silver and glass. There were seven stories; each had at least two windows on it. There was no door, no distinguishable entrance leading into the fortress.
Guards—robots that looked like their default Navi counterparts—were stationed on every side, door or no door.
Surrounding the glorious structure was trash, disposable items that lost all value right after creation, or maybe even later.
A young man, average in size and covered in dust and dirt, appeared out of the rubbish, clutching what looked like a black PET but with dark-colored blades sticking out of it on all sides.
The man, months past his eighteenth birthday, strolled his was casually up to the guards. They peered down at him, as they were much taller.
"Permission to enter?" he smiled up at them smugly. Stupid Robot Navis, he bet they couldn't tell a person from a trashcan.
The one he had spoken to stared at him for a moment before looking at the one beside it. It nodded, and the guard tapped its gun—each was equipped with a laser sniper—on the wall behind it.
The metal wall suddenly slid open, and the man merely walked on in, his gait filled with self-confidence.
Inside was the equivalent of a large factory. The young man walked over to the rail and looked down, he could see machines reaching out mechanical arms and placing metal body parts on conveyor belts. More Robot Navis, some default and others original, ambled about the building. Some carried cardboard boxes up and down the stairs while others hurried about fulfilling duties.
"Namu?" the man turned at the voice and found Robot Navi Swallowman standing behind him.
"What?"
"Ultimate-sama wishes to speak with you."
The man, Namu, just nodded and pushed past Swallowman without another word.
-
Namu Koruku never realized how long the walkways actually were. He'd been walking for ten minutes already, and he still hadn't reached the master's chamber.
He held tightly to his PET, he'd not put it away since arrival, and he glanced down at it instinctively.
He'd just returned from a very successful mission. He'd infiltrated the Resistance's main water source, and it was now nothing more than a hole with constantly gushing water. Although the plan had gone as it should, something happened that did not. His navi, Cyber.EXE, had been locked in a battle with the Navi of the son of Hikari Yuuichirou when the whole system crashed. Cyber did not escape in time. The Navi naturally materialized back into the PET but was unconscious and not responding.
He clenched his hand tighter around it; Cyber was the only thing he cared about in this life, ever more than his own.
He halted as he reached a large, cylinder-shaped door. He knocked.
"Come in," the voice was smooth and deadly. Koruku slowly pushed the door open and took a few steps in.
The room was dark save for five rectangular windows—ocean blue in color—lined up next to each other at the farthest end of the room, casting an eerie dark blue glow across the walls and the floor.
Koruku shut the door and noticed a figure, its back turned to him. It was hovering in place, staring into the blue of the windows.
"You summoned for me, Ultimate-sama?" he kneeled and bowed, waiting patiently for the Robot Navi's reaction.
"Yes…yes I did." It turned around and red eyes gleamed in the ocean of blue. It wore clothes similar to that of Cyber Elf X from Rockman Zero (this is the best I can explain it, sorry) but instead of blues and greens, it was dark blues and blacks. No helmet graced its head, allowing its black hair to be seen.
"Your mission went without fault, am I correct?"
Koruku nodded, not looking up out of respect.
"And how is your…Navi?"
Koruku's hand shook as he placed the PET into the out stretched hand.
He heard the sound of it being switched on and a hum come from Ultimate, "Tsk, tsk. Now isn't this a pity. And Cyber was one of our best fighters too."
Koruku's eyes widened. No, he couldn't really be gone. They could fix him; they had to be able to fix him. They always had.
"His data is destroyed beyond repair, I'm afraid." Ultimate commented, voice like a quiet, moving river. He handed the PET back to its owner, and Koruku took it without another word, messy green locks falling over his face.
He peered at the motionless, orange Navi, green visor covering his closed eyes, and shark-finned helmet dented and half destroyed. Cyber had always been a rather enthusiastic Navi, always ready to help Koruku out if in need. But it was as if Koruku was staring at someone else's Navi, this could not be his own.
"But because you have done so well since you were recruited here, I will make a deal with you." Ultimate's boot-covered feet took a step back.
Koruku continued to stare at the screen, having heard his master but not wanting to respond. This could not be his Navi, not Cyber. Cyber always bounced back when he got hurt, would always be better the next morning, ready and revving to do something else.
This wasn't his Navi.
Ultimate did not seem bothered by the lack of answer and merely continued speaking, "I will bring Cyber back under one condition. There is an assignment I have been rather hesitant on ordering my followers to perform, as cowardice as humans are; I expected many to start backing out. I also expect no less from my Robot Navis as well. But you, you have no choice. You cannot back out, or I could simply take away Cyber's life once more." He paused, and Koruku waited, unbelieving and dazed.
A hand once more appeared in front of his face, "Do we have a deal?"
Koruku stared at it for a moment, feeling as though he would be signing off his life if he took it, and then looked back down at the orange Navi.
"Koruku-sama! Let's go, let's go! I can't wait anymore!"
"Calm down, Cyber, you're in always such a hurry."
"Nu-uh."
"Don't give me that."
"Aw, but Koruku-sama! I'm excited because I get to battle alongside you!"
Koruku clenched it suddenly.
He took the gloved hand and shook it.
"Good…" Ultimate Rockman chuckled, "very good…"
-
Enzan's head hurt. It was the first thing that came to mind as soon as consciousness was within his grasp.
He was lying on his back upon hard concrete. He groaned, inching his ocean blue eyes open and realizing he was staring up into the sky.
After a few minutes of just lying there, he pushed his torso off the ground and blinked dizzily as the world swam before his eyes.
Placing a hand over his closed eyelids, he waited until he no longer felt as though he'd puke, and peered around him.
Yuuichirou lay by his side, seeming unconscious, and as Enzan continued to scan the area, he realized that everyone was.
The white haired boy stood and begun making his way towards the building.
Netto had rushed in there before the blast of light; he had to see if he was okay.
The door still swung open, hinges creaking, and Enzan walked into the building gingerly, unsure what could be lurking in the shadows.
He didn't know where to start but chose the closest room on his right. It turned out to be a laundry room, and Enzan highly doubted he'd find Netto here.
This went on for a few minutes, Enzan peering into room after room in search of the messy haired boy, until he came upon what looked to be a kitchen.
It was old and dusty, as though it hadn't been used in years. Kitchen appliances littered the counters, cabinet doors were roughly yanked open, and Enzan could see nothing occupying them. On the counter near an old fashioned microwave was a box of newly opened crackers, Enzan jumped as his foot scraped against something.
It was a PET, Netto's PET.
He kneeled down and observed it, a battlechip rested beside it on the ground. The PET's screen was crackling with static.
He looked around, nothing but these two items gave any indication that Netto had been here. But he'd never leave without his PET, especially when Rockman was in danger.
Then, it hit him, and Enzan felt rather foolish for not realizing it sooner.
Netto had disappeared.