Ah. Here we go: chapter four! Yay, more reviews:D Reviews make me happy.
And now that I think about it, I'll just tell you this: This fic, in the Rockman.EXE timeline, can be placed at the after Stream but before Beast.
All right, here you go. Read all ready. It's another short chapter. They probably won't stay too terribly long. -shrugs- Oh well. Please enjoy!
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Chapter Four: Everything Is Wrong
It was really warm, like sleeping on a soft, fluffy cloud. He didn't want to move, feeling that if he did he would break the spell, but this did not stop his mind from sluggishly awakening. The sounds of beeping and the dull shuffles of moving feet floated into his hearing.
"Saito-kun?"
The word caused him to stir even more. That was Netto voice. But…why was he calling him…
The room flashed before his eyes in white and greys. Tile decorated the walls and ceiling, dark grey curtains covered a window to his right. Rockman thought he'd gone colorblind when the sight of Netto's head appeared thankfully before his vision.
"Saito-kun! You're awake!" Netto cried in relief, smiling.
"Netto-kun…" Rockman smiled as well. The boy was now grinning ear from ear. The Navi shifted into a sitting position and blinked when he noticed that Netto was wearing a different set of clothes. The boy's shirt was completely black and on top of that was a blue jean vest. The bandanna was the same, Rockman was relieved to see.
Then, his eyes widened.
What was he doing here? In front of Netto? He was a Navi! This wasn't possible!
He looked down at his hands and brought them up to his face, he still wore blue gloves, but they were of a darker shade, and he could see his fingernails.
Fingernails…
Rockman looked back up at his operator. "Netto-kun…what happened…?"
"Oh! Well, when the resistance's water tower exploded, you were hit with a bit of the debris and it made a big cut on your stomach." Netto explained, rubbing at his head. Rockman noticed he was sitting on a chair beside the bed.
"Saito-sama! You're all right!" Rockman nearly jumped, the sudden cry startling him.
Netto laughed, reaching down in his pocket and pulling out a PET. It was dark purple.
"Gabba's been worried about you ever since he found out. I swear he's become a permanent spazz." Netto chuckled and handed Rockman the PET.
Rockman stared at the boy for a moment before looking down at the screen.
Standing there was, of course, a Navi. It was purple, its helmet slightly chunky and tightly clinging to the Navi's head. It was small, reminding Rockman of his own design, and the symbol on its chest was a cogwheel. Its face looked strained and worried.
"Saito-sama? Are you all right? Can you hear me?" It, by the voice, sounded male. The Navi watched him nervously.
"Um-um-I-I-" Rockman didn't understand what was going on. How could he be…how was it possible that…
He touched his face.
How could he be human?
"How is your brother, Netto-kun?" Another voice, this time from Netto's PET, which lay untouched on the sheets, slid smoothly into the silence.
"He just woke up, Classic! The doctors said he'd be all right!" Netto spoke into the PET, excited and breathless.
"I'm glad," came the curt reply.
Rockman frowned.
"Netto-kun…who're you…?"
"Hm?" Netto looked up. "Oh, Classic, my Navi, remember?" He also handed his blue PET to Rockman.
The once-Navi took it, and his hand began to shake as he stared at the Navi inside.
It looked exactly like him except its color was silver instead of blue.
The insignia on the Navi's chest was his own.
Rockman let the PET drop from his hands.
Everything was wrong.
--
"Netto's missing!"
"But so is Rockman!"
"What are we going to do?"
"They couldn't have just disappeared!"
Exchanges like these were all over the Science Labs. It had been a day after the kidnapping, and the disappearance of both Netto and Rockman. The three criminals had escaped and left poor Dr. Mikuro lying helpless on the ground. They'd untied him and taken him back to the Labs by helicopter. Currently, he and the rest of those who'd been at the scene stood in an interrogation room. Enzan paced the room while Meiru merely whimpered as she sat, curled up, in a chair. Yaito stood beside her, trying to help comfort her.
Yuuichirou was worried and wary. Above all else, he was mostly worried. Something had happened to both boys while the rest of the Navis and those inside were left untouched. Roll was holding up better than poor Meiru, but she still felt dazed by the experience. Blues didn't see how the disappearance could be possible; Rockman had disappeared right before his eyes. The other two Navis, Coinman and Sliceman, fled not a moment after by command of their operators.
"Dr. Mikuro Tadao," Yuuichirou said after a moment.
The scientist was short and stocky with a large, bushy grey mustache and no hair other than chunks on his sideburns. He wore half-mooned glasses, and his lab coat was rather wrinkled.
"Yes, yes, I know. You're going to ask me about the blasted 'Eradicate'! Get it over with, I'd rather be out drinking lattes and eating cashews, at least it wouldn't be a waste of my time." Mikuro huffed, looking off to the side. His hands were clasped behind his back. Yuuichirou got the impression that this scientist thought he was the best thing created since the light bulb.
"Yes, well, if you'd rather I'd get to the point, fine. My son and his Navi have disappeared, there was a flash of light just before this occurred. What happened to them?" Yuuichirou said this calmly, folding his arms over his chest.
"Hmph, the stupid mongrel pushed the button, that's what happened! I shouldn't have hid it so openly, but I never thought anybody would be after my baby!" Mikuro exclaimed, frowning and reaching up to smooth out his mustache.
Enzan grit his teeth.
"All right, but what happened to them?" Yuuichirou demanded, slightly annoyed.
"They've obviously been sent spiraling through time and space. I don't know where they've landed, but it's some place opposite of our own. Now, if you'd excuse me, I'd like to go clean up my home. The stupid fugitives wrecked the whole place, hope they didn't trash my watch collection." Mikuro brushed invisible dirt of his sleeve and turned to head towards the door. He was stopped by Enzan.
"How do we get them back?" Enzan asked calmly, placing a hand on the scientist's shoulder and squeezing it.
"Ow-ow! Okay, okay. Careful, I'm fragile." He hissed and tried to wave off Enzan's hand. The white haired boy let go but did not budge, continuing to stare icily.
Mikuro inhaled deeply. "I don't know," he answered simply, "I worked for years perfecting its ability to work, not its ability to bring the subjects I sent back. I never got the kinks out. So, there, the two are never coming back. Now may I go? I have to feed my fish; they pine if I stay gone too long."
"What do you mean, they're never coming back!" Meiru gasped, eyes widening.
The murmuring intensified around the room by a tenfold. Yuuichirou held up a hand to quiet the noise down.
"Is there anyway you could reverse the effects that sent them to wherever they are and cause them to be taken back here?" The younger scientist asked.
"Well, yes, probably. But it's really not my problem, so, good luck with your life! Maybe you can adopt another son; you know how many orphaned kids are out there!" Mikuro tried to move around Enzan, but the boy did not allow him passage.
"But a helpless boy and his Navi are out there alone, what if they end up in a place that's dangerous!" Manabe exclaimed. "Don't you have it somewhere in your heart to help them?"
Mikuro placed a hand on his chin and thought for a moment. "Well…I am very busy…and this predicament does not stimulate by amazing thinking abilities. So, no, no I don't. Goodbye!"
Enzan then suddenly held out a large wad of cash right in front of the scientist's face.
"What if we pay you?" Enzan asked.
"What do you take me for, a cheapskate? I'd never hire out my astonishing abilities for money!" Mikuro took a step back and yanked at his collar importantly.
Enzan sighed and reached into his pocket, taking out a wallet and beginning to dig through.
Mikuro watched curiously as the boy pulled out a checkbook and begun scribbling something down with a fountain pen.
"What have you got there?" Mikuro asked, trying to peer over the checkbook's leather casing.
Enzan tore out a piece of paper and handed it to the scientist. Mikuro took it, and his eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets when he saw the number.
"235,610,000,000 yen!" The scientist shrieked. (That's about two billion in US dollars, I believe. I dunno about euros or anything though.)
"Well?" Enzan raised an eyebrow.
Mikuro quickly shut his mouth, as it had been hanging open, and crossed his arms, "Fine, but I want to be paid by the hour on the hour."
Enzan rolled his eyes while everyone else glanced at each other in relief.
"Okay, let's get started then!" Yuuichirou cried, clapping his hands together and gazing around the room expectantly.
--
"We're sorry, boss. We never planned for this to happen—"
"Silence! I want no more of your excuses! The Eradicate is not in my possession, I expected to be holding it in my hands by now!"
Deguchi grumbled and looked down at the floor. Beside him, Drug and Mik were glancing around the room nervously.
"'Ey, Mr. B, don't take it ou' on us. Deguchi's the one that pushed the button." Drug pointed out. He was chewing on a toothpick. Deguchi silently cursed his name.
"Button?" their boss sounded interested.
"Something on the keyboard, sir, it was hidden out in the open so I didn't know that it was even there. It caused a big flash." Deguchi explained.
"It gave us time to get away, though!" Mik told their boss excitedly.
"Quiet, you fool!"
Mik flinched at the harshness of their boss's tone.
"What kind of flash, Deguchi?"
"Very white…really bright…almost blinds you."
"Kinda like staring at'a room tha's completely white." Drug supplied.
The man that sat upon a large, leather swivel chair hummed.
"I want you to go back."
"What?"
"You heard me, Deguchi!" Their boss roared, and Deguchi winced.
"I want you to study that keyboard again," the man told them calmly, placing a lit cigar at the side of his mouth, "I think you might have accidentally stumbled across the Eradicate. You fools are good for something after all."
Deguchi could almost hear the man grin.
"Well, didn't I say leave? GET GOING ALREADY!"
The three hurriedly spun around and began to quickly walk out of the room.
No, the man hadn't told them to leave.
But, it didn't stop them from doing so.