Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Rockman.exe or any of its characters.
Special thanks to Jenrya282 my beta and inspiration.
Thanks also goes out to to my reviewers: Dreigon Master of Dragons, Rose Kitsune.EXE, and grandmaster p.
Mark of the Beasts
Nettos telepathic communication 'blah'
Saitos telepathic communication "blah"
Chapter 4
Eight hours after Meijin called Laika the Sharo NetSavior arrived at Dentech International Airport with the Tretonin in tow. "Are you certain this will help Netto? It hasn't even been approved by my government for human testing yet." said the young soldier, his voice echoing his doubts. He looked the scientist right in the shades knowing he would never removed them and said, "It's only been test thus far in simulations and virtual environments..."
"If the situation wasn't as desperate as it were I never would have asked this of you, but after I saw the test results I knew it had potential." Meijin replied. He sighed and looked at the container Laika had just removed from his coat. "I've also run tests on my own using that data and I'm convinced this is by far the best shot the Hikari's have got." He noticed the blue eyebrow lift and guessed why, "I should also tell you that Rockman is also depending on this. Your a good friend to them and I do hope you won't be get into any trouble for this."
The blue-hair NetSavior smirked slightly and replied in an almost playful tone, "Don't worry about that. Let's just say an old friend in the medical wing 'misplace' some of the tretonin and before I realized it the stuff had found its way into your hands." He thought back to the conversation he'd had with the man earlier and knew the situation must be desperate for them to pratically beg for an untested medicine which had him worried. The younger NetSavior had helped him in the past at the rare metal mine and he was prepared to return the favor.
For once Meijin had been completely suprised by Laika. It was not like him at all to do something like this, maybe Netto really has been rubbing off on him. "Hopefully none of his other habits have rubbed off.", he thought imagining a cocky Laika running around all over Sharo. That thought disturbed him far too much for his comfort. He then turned back to Sharo's best and in a serious tone said, "There's more. There are somethings you've not been aware of for certain reasons, but Dr. Hikari instructed me to fill you in on the way to Sci-Labs."
All emotion on his face quickly vanished and he asked, "What things could be this important?"
Pocketing the container he glanced around in every direction before answer the soldier, "Not here. Too many ears around." The boy had a right to know after risking a courtmarshal for his actions and he could see the curiousity bubbling in the boy's eyes. Both entered the car on loan from Dr. Hikari and he began to tell the tale...
The car arrived at Sci-Labs and all the workers could hear one of the occupants shout, "WHAT!"
Immediately upon exiting the car the shade sporting programmer was pinned to the car door looking at a very angry NetSavior. "Netto...and Rockman...they're really...!" he asked in disbelief. The man he'd pinned quickly nodded his head. He released his victim and marched directly into Sci-Labs searching for one person in particular. Searchman who had listened to everything thus far was still in shock over the recent revelation and just watched as his NetOp searched for someone.
Yuuichiro had heard the booming voice from his workspace and knew the cat had just been let out of the bag. "He took that as well as could be expected.", he thought to himself. He waited for the door to be thrown open and was not disappointed.
"You know what I want to hear! So let's hear it!" Laika demanded.
The doctor folded his hands in front of himself and replied, "Rockman is Netto's twin brother. Rock was once human boy named Saito Hikari, but he died of HBD less than a year after birth. I tried to save him by using his genetics as a blueprint to make a new kind of navi." He watched the teen and knew it was a lot to take in all at once especially when combined with the details of the twin's current condition.
The blue-haired teen looked at the brilliant doctor and asked, "Can I see them please?" He watched as the twin's father led him to the giant room where the boys where two beasts were shackled down to cold, metal tables. One quick glance at the restraints revealed thick, metal holding them down. Both figures were covered with monitors put in the usual places. The two figures appeared to be sleeping, but he knew that it was an artificial coma to protect everyone else.
"Now you can see for yourself just how bad things really are." came a voice from behind both men.
Turning around the teen he found that Meijin had managed to slip up on him with his being aware of it. "Darn! I'm letting myself get too distracted." he mentally scolded himself. "When might we be able to speak with them again?" he asked out of concern for a comrade. He watched as Meijin hand the container over to a passing doctor and gave instructions.
"Soon. I hope." said the spikey hair programmer.
Laika and Searchman watched as the Tretonin was run through some final tests before Mr. Hikari gave the ok to administer it to his children. The doctors and nurses injected the drug into the an IV that had been inserted into the altered teenagers along with something else he was unfamiliar with.
Mr. Hikari walked over to the NetOp and said, "The second injection is something to bring thing out of their comas. They should wake up in about two hours, so to be on the safe side we will heighten the security in this area in one hour. That should give us time to do so discreetly." He watched as his ally nodded in agreement, but he couldn't help notice that the boy's eyes held doubt. "What's wrong?"
The reply came quickly, "I just have a feeling something is going to go wrong. Maybe it's all my field experience speaking, but you should probably be ready for anything to happen." With that he walked over to the wall and proped himself against it.
Forty-five minutes later Laika caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked up at the hybrids to see nothing but two boys, monitors, and IV's. "I could've sworn I saw somthing move." he mentally spoke to himself. He pulled out his PET and gave his navi orders, "Searchman be on your guard. I think that something is about to happen earlier than the good doctor anticipated."
"Yes sir." was the reply from the snipper navi.
The young NetSavior watched closely to make sure that he wasn't imagining things. The something caught his eye quickly as it was revealed to be the tail of the Greiga beast swinging back and forth. "DR. HIKARI!" he shouted, but it came too late as both beasts opened their eyes and quickly tugged on their restraints.
Yuuichiro and Meijin were followed into the room by thirty armed guards with the same choice weapons as before. The beasts broke their shackles and lept towards the incoming humans causing them to scatter. Laika tried to tackle the Falzer beast and was rewarded with a backhand that sent him into some boxes of medical equipment. The hybrids were surrounded by the guards quickly leaving no way for them to escape, but the creatures had other ideas as they both disappeared in a shimmer of pixels.
The twins' father quickly realized where the two had went, "Laika send Searchman into Sci-Labs network! That's where they've gone."
"Searchman! Jack In! Power Up!" opened the NetOp. Looking at his screen after his navi entered the system all that could be seen is the remnants of deleted navis and those in critical condition. "How could they have done this...and so quickly too?"
"Sir! I'm going after them.", informed Searchman before he followed the trail of destruction.
The two expert programmers looked at each other and then ordered all available resources be used to try to find the boys before the Commissioner found out about this.
Yuuichiro had been waiting for some sign of the beast navis to appear on the news or something, but it never came. Instead the doctor received an unexpected phone call, "Hello Meiru. What can I do for you?" He knew he sounded too cheerful and thought she might catch on to something.
"Hi Mr. Hikari. I kinda...need your help with a...strange matter." replied the young girl.
"Now's not the really the best time." said the navi expert.
She looked at him with a pleading look and informed him, "I kinda have this strange guy...here right now. I know this is going to sound weird..." She waited for him to nod before she went on, "He looks like..."
Before the scientist could hear what she was going to say the PET was knocked from the girl's hand. "Meiru are you alright?" the doctor yelled into his own terminal. At first he thought maybe one of the boys had shown up at her home and attacked her, but then he heard giggle. "Huh!"
"Will you stop that for just a minute?" the redhead spoke as she could be heard pushing something off of herself. She walked over and picked up the fallen device. "Sorry about that. He seems to be really...playful right now. I should probably start at the beginning?" she watched as the man agreed.
-Flashback-
The young Sakurai was walking home from the Dentech Library. She thought she'd heard something following her several times, but evertime she'd turn around nothing would be there. She figured she must be too stressed since she'd heard about Netto's accident. "Please pull through this Netto." she prayed in her mind. She was letting her thoughts wander when a shadow appeared in her path. Looking at the source of the shadow she found herself face to face with a gun.
"Hand over all ya's valuables and I might just letcha leave here with ya life." her mugger stated. The man was hidden by the darkness and she could really make out any details except for that it is a guy.
She wanted to shout for help, but knew if she did he would certainly kill her. "Please I don't have anything." she pleaded.
"Now why don't I's believes ya?" the mugger sneered. Walking up the girl he slapped her onto the ground and stood over her before saying, "Last chance girlie. Money or bullet. Which will it be?"
She tried to reason with him again, "Honestly I don't have anything on me. Please...just leave me alone." After she spoke those words the man assaulted her again this time with his foot to the stomach.
"Little brat." he paused lowering the gun to her face and then he started to pull the trigger. Before the hammer could be pulled all the way back the man was sent into a tree by a black blur.
Looking towards her savior she found a bizarre creature that looked identical to Rock's Greiga form, but that can't be right. He couldn't be out here. She heard a twig break and saw her assailant raising the gun again. "LOOK...OUT!" she shouted.
The beast looked at the man and disappeared from view only to appear right in front of him. He picked up the man and threw him into the base of a nearby tree before raising his claws to his prey. He dropped his claws intending to slice through the filt before him when the girl threw herself between himself and the roddent.
"No! Don't do it! You can't kill him." she scolded the beast shaking her finger at him.
The human tried to attack the Greiga beast again while he stared at the girl, but he was rendered unconcious by a well aimed tail slap to the face. The creature hadn't turned when he countered the suprise attack and then tried to gently move the red head, but she just wouldn't let him. He wondered, "Why doesn't she want me to kill him? He hurt her..." The stronger being then realized a strange feeling had come over him as he looked at the delicate figure in front of him. "She needs me, me to protect her." thought the hybrid.
She noticed him relax somewhat before he moved behind her wrapping his claws around her chest and his tail around her waste. He then proceeded to nuzzle her neck and she figured she had to get him out of here first. After Meiru got him home with her she could now see he had the Hikari family logo on his chest and thought to herself, "Maybe Mr. Hikari will know about him then?" She used the phone to call the police and report her attacker. The police assured her that they had him in custody and she should come in to handle somethings soon. Then she picked up her PET and used her link to Mr. Hikari's personal terminal to call him.
-End Flashback-
Yuuichiro looked suprised at her tale and managed to mutter, "He protected you?" The young Sakurai heard him and nodded. "Atleast one of them has been found" crossed the man's mind. "Keep an eye on him. I'll be over right away."
As expected Netto's father arrived minutes later with some of the armed guards. He reached under the rug and pulled out the spare key. Once inside he found something he didn't expect. There in Meiru's room was said girl laying in the arms of his son. Netto appeared to be asleep and his host was the same. The men tried to gently pry the teen out of the boys firm embrace, but couldn't manage to do so. They then attempted to move his hands and caused the hybrid to awaken.
"Mmmmm...Me..ir..u." the sleepy boy muttered. Opening one eye he found himself surrounded by men and...in a familiar room. When he realized where the room was both eyes shot wide open and he stumbled with his words, "Meiru...How did I end up here?" He then noticed the sleeping figure in his arms and started glowing red. Thankfully the faceguard prevented anyone from seeing that. "Meiru...Meiru why? How? When? What?"
The sleeping teen heard the last part as she too woke and sought confirmation, "Netto?" The boy nodded and she hugged him causing him to stop all movements.
"It would appear as thought the Tretonin had a delayed effect." came a new voice into the convesation.
Looking towards the source Netto found his father smiling at him. "Papa? How did I get here?" he asked. His childhood friend cut Dr. Hikari off and told him of earlier events. After hearing all this he moved his hand to comfort his aching head, but he found his hand was not human anymore. He inadvertently let out a growl before he started panicing. As he recalled his transformation he started to become hysterical before he felt a hard blow to the face. Looking down he found his crush glaring at him and her hand recoiled for another hit.
"Netto calm down. Everythings going to be ok. Right Mr. Hikari?" the teen spoke. The question soul didn't respond and looked away saddly. "Please tell me there is something you can do for him?" she begged.
Netto's father turned back to his little boy and spoke, "I can't...I can't make him human again without killing him in the process." He saw his son starting to lose it again and tried to comfort him, "I might be able to make a program to disguise his appearance. He won't be completely human, but he'll look it when he wants to." He saw the hopy quickly replace the fear in his son's eyes. "I do have one question for you though." he directed to his kid, "Where is your brother? Can you sense him over your link?"
The NetSavior closed his eyes and reached for the connection. He searched a little and found his twin, "He's already on his way here."
Sure enough not five seconds after uttering those words Saito appeared on the nearby computer screen with Roll beside him. "Sorry about the trouble. I feeling much better than before." stated the blue navi.
Roll didn't say anything as she thought about Rock's confession to her. He'd told her that he was a human reborn as a navi and about the 'link'. It was a lot to take in all at once and she was sure that when Rock's...no Saito's brother informed Meiru both would need to be there to talk with one another. The pink navi understood how important it was that Saito's secret be kept. After all to many people what Dr. Hikari had done was unethical and to some maybe even immoral.
'You told Roll about yourself didn't you?'
"Yes. Yes I did."
'Any reason in particular?'
"Yeah...I love her. She wants to be closer to me, but I couldn't let her do that without knowing my true history."
'I understand. I'm just afraid of telling my crush the truth. I just know I'm going to get hit with something.'
"-Chuckles- Come on. It won't be that bad."
'Yeah right. Your in love with the non-violent one remember? Speaking of Roll...how did she find you?'
"I was flying over the streets of Netcity and lost conciousness. I...I fell on top of her."
'You fell on her! At high altitude? How is she alright?'
"I wasn't that high. Just a few feet above the streets."
'Oh. Ok.'
Seeing his sons together again and in control he had to ask, "Are the two of you feeling well? The beast's nature under control?"
The twins looked at each other before Saito replied, "We are fine. The instincts are still there and strong, but we can manage for now."
He looked his kids over as he dwelled on his suprise that their beast's natures were still strongly present. He was glad they were ok and knew he should get them back to Sci-Labs for now. He told the boys it was time to go back and that the girls could visit as long as they could control themselves before he had the guards escort the hybrids back.
During the trip back Yuuichirio explained the use of Tretonin and the twins now being navi-human hybrids. After hearing all the information both boys became very selfconcious. For Saito it wasn't so bad since he'd been a navi most of his life, but for Netto it was difficult.
'She'll never want to be with something like me. I should've told her how I felt when I was human.'
"Meiru cares about you. She won't let something like this discourage her if she really cares for you. That's not to say you won't have to give her time to come to terms with the new you."
'You really think so? I mean I look like some demon from one of Wes Craven's movies.'
"(Saito suppressed a laugh) You do kinda look like that don't you?"
'Your in the same boat brother. You have no room to talk.'
"Like dad said he'll find a way to help us both. Besides now we can actually touch each other."
'Yeah...your right. We haven't been able to do that since we were babies. You know what this means right?'
"What are you up to?"
'It means you can finally show yourself as my brother. Obviously people can't know we're part navi, but we can let them see the human you.'
"I didn't really think about that. I just got so caught up in being able to be with you again that I completely overlooked that."
'Yep. Now you can be out here all the time.'
"Which means I can make you clean your room, do your homework, and attend school with you."
'You know how to kill a good idea don't you?'
"I'm serious. I can leave the cyber world and live in your world with you again. Of course I'll still visit with my friends in here."
'Speaking of that...why are you still in the cyber world? Why not come back out here?'
"-Saito leaves the cyber world- I'm going to love this."
'-Netto smiles- You sure are. We can eat all kinds of food, stay up late playing games, and everything else you've ever wanted to do.'
"-Saito frowns- Of course we still have to wait for papa to come up with something. And even then we have to prove we can keep the beasts inside of us in check."
"OH CRAP!" shouted the oldest Hikari. "I forgot to call Laika and Searchman off the search." he said while rubbing the back of his head.
