Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Rockman.exe or any of its characters.
Mark of the Beasts
Nettos telepathic communication 'blah'
Saitos telepathic communication "blah"
Chapter 8
The twins made it to the TV in Ms. Mariko's room just after the introductions as Kero was coming on the air.
-News-
"Good Day Dentech City! This is everyone's favorite anchor woman Midorikawa Kero bring you this unbelievable news breaking story. My guest today is fellow reporter Eugene Hughes. Take it away."
"Thank you for those kind words Ms. Kero. This story centers...around the Hikari family."
"The Hikari family? For those of you who don't know, Netto Hikari is the second place winner of N-1 Grand Prix as well as the Netbattler who defeated Grave, Nebula, and the alien entity Duo. There is also Dr. Hikari, considered the most brilliant man on earth, and his wife Haruka Hikari."
"That's true, but Kero there is one Hikari you didn't mention."
"No I pretty sure there are only three Hikaris in the city."
"That's were the lies begin. Here's where the history lesson begins people... Twelve years ago Haruka Hikari gave birth to twins...Netto Hikari and Saito Hikari."
"Saito Hikari? I've never met or ever heard of him for that matter."
"Not surprising. Saito Hikari died when he was about a year old of a rare heart condition called HBD."
"So what's so interesting about this? Deaths are hardly a reason to declare a 'News Breaking story', especially after almost eleven years!"
"I'm getting to that Kero, just stay with me. Like many parents out there Dr. Hikari was not willing to accept the fate handed to his son, so he took matters into his own hands."
"Oooo! What did he do?"
"Yuuichiro Hikari used his own son's genetic material and neural scans to resurrect his son...as a navi."
"A navi! That's not possible!"
"I assure you it is. In fact you've met that navi. He goes by the name...Rockman.EXE."
"You mean Netto's NetNavi?"
"I do."
"That's quite an allegation. Do you have proof?"
"Of course. -Research documents appear on screen- As you can see here in these files, in Dr. Hikari's own handwriting I might add, you can clearly see exactly what he did."
"This does look convincing, but do you have more incriminating evidence. The references to his son are vague at best."
"I knew you'd say that, which is why I also brought this with me. -Pulls out tape recorder- Pay very close attention Ms. Kero. -He pushes the button and the conversation between the twins is overheard-"
"This is...is unbelievable. It's totally a breach of ethical protocols..."
"It doesn't end there my dear."
"-Kero stares at Eugene in surprise- Go on."
"Somehow Dr. Hikari has managed to turn the twins into navi-human hybrids. Look here. -A picture of the scene at the Metroline train wreckage showing both hybrids- These are what the Hikari boys have become...abominations."
"Uh...Well folks you heard it here first. This highly unethical and tragic story of the Hikari family. We'll be back after these messages from our sponsors."
-Commercial-
Immediately after the commercials started Meiru looked towards Netto and found that both boys had pale white faces. The youngest seemed to be having difficulty not throwing up. "It'll be alright, Netto. We'll make it through this."
The sickened teen managed to look up from the trash can he was hovering over and snapped, "HOW? HOW CAN WE MAKE IT THROUGH THIS? DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT THAT MAN SAID?"
She knew that this could be easy on him, but that didn't stop his words from hurting her. "Netto, if it makes you feel any better I already knew. My feelings for you haven't changed in the least." The last part caused her to blush and she was glad her childhood friend missed it.
"You knew?", he questioned. "If that's true then why didn't you say anything? Do you hate me for not telling you?", his voice was cracking and he knew that he was likely to break down in tears.
Meiru sat on the floor next to him and wrapped an arm around him. She then laid her head on his left shoulder and said, "I figured it out listening to all your talks with Rock. You were never good at hiding anything from me...And I don't hate you. I was a little hurt that you didn't tell me at first." She felt his head shoot up and knew he was looking at her red hair, "But when I thought about it I understood why. That took a lot of courage Netto." The two locked eyes with each other and they moved closer together.
Before their lips could touch Ms. Mariko broke it her room causing them to jump apart. "Netto, Saito come with me now. I don't think the two of you want to be around for the crowd headed this way." She noticed the spaced out look still on Saito's face and shook his shoulder trying to regain his attention.
Seeing that his teacher was failing the youngest twin used the 'link' to snap Saito out of it. "Sorry little bro...I guess I just kinda got to me."
"Don't worry about it, but lets get out of here...like now.", the other hybrid said as he and everyone else made a break for the door.
At the same time at Sci-Labs Dr. Hikari was sitting in Meijin's office frozen in absolutely horror at what he'd just witnessed. "I've got to go. I have to get my kids before they get hurt. People just won't understand them.", he began ranting.
'Shades' stop the man before he could leave his office, "Old friend if you go out there now it's entirely likely the people of this city will have your head. Allow me to go...officially I've had no idea about any of this. I can get them out of there and to some place safe."
The other scientist didn't want to agree, but he knew Meijin was right. "Please don't let anything happen to them...They're the most important people in my life." This was true about the twins and his wife even though he didn't mention her both men knew this was an unspoken fact.
Thinking several steps ahead as always 'Shades' informed the doctor, "I think it best if you guys crash at my place. Right now it's probably too dangerous for you or your family to be at home. I'll arrange to have them brought discreetly to my place." With that Meijin rushed out of his office after leaving the key to his home for Yuuichiro.
"Now Mr. Eugene Hughes...Let's find out who you are.", he said in anger as he accessed the Net. He'd locked the door and cut off the lights to make sure nobody knew anyone was in the room just to be safe. "I won't let you destroy my family and get away with it.", he privately vowed.
"Enzan? What are we going to do? We can't just let anything happen to them.", Blues said to his NetOp. He knew about Rock and now he was truly worried for his safety.
"I agree. Let's get to the school. Laika are you coming?", the mutant haired teen said.
"Yes. I never abandon a fellow soldier.", the Sharo native spoke. He looked to Searchman and saw him nod in agreement as they both headed towards the parking lot of IPC.
"You do realize Netto's not a soldier, right?", Enzan asked as they reached one of the covert cars that had been setup for such emergencies.
"He is a soldier. Just not in the same sense as myself.", Laika stated as the teens entered the car.
Understanding what the other NetSavior meant Enzan started the car and they quickly headed for the school. They would probably have to fight students, parents, and mobs of reporters just to find their friends, but no matter what they couldn't hurt anyone. Enzan hated situations where he couldn't fight back and this was certainly one of them. If he did fight anyone he could trigger a riot, so he and Laika had to proceed with extreme caution.
Back at the school the small group had managed to thus far avoid the majority of the students and faculty searching for the twins. Well...all except Yaito and Dekao who were now standing in front of them with arms crossed. Silently they were demanding to know why they'd been left out of the loop.
"Sorry guys, but we can't talk about this right now. We need some place safe to hide.", Saito informed as they tried to make their way around their two friends.
"This way then.", Little Yaito said as she lead them to a supply building at the back of the facility. When they questioned how she knew about this building she simply stated, "It's the only place I could think of where I would normally never be caught dead at."
After the group made it inside and locked the thick metal doors Netto and Saito had to explain the truth in detail to others. "So Rockman and Saito are really one and the same?", the young blonde asked.
Saito nodded and then said, "Yep. I'm Saito. Born human, died, reborn as a navi, deleted, brought back again, and now finally I'm a navi-human hybrid. Chaotic life, no?" He was acting far more cheerful about it than he cared to admit and his brother knew it.
The largest kid turned to Netto and angrily demanded, "Why didn't you come clean about this soon? Didn't you trust us Netto?" He finished by punching the smaller boy right in the face.
With his enhanced speed the teen could have avoided the attack, but he felt he did deserve it. "I trust you all Dekao, but this secret could have hurt too many people. Just look at the chaos it's caused now that that Eugene guy blabbed to Dentech City.", the green-eyed boy said as he recovered from the attack. He knew that most people would hate both him and his brother. To top it all off there was also a very good chance that his father could lose his job at Sci-Labs because of such a scandal.
When the nearly bald teen struck his brother Saito felt his beast instincts demanding retribution and through the link he knew Netto was feeling the same thing. The only reason Oyama was not injured was because they managed to keep their human minds in control thanks to the training they hadreceived from Mahajorama. "Don't you dare touch him again Dekao...or I won't be responsible for my actions.", he snarled at the larger boy.
He knew that Saito was serious as his eyes changed from emerald green to blood red. Being the tough guy he is he didn't want to admit that he completely terrified of those haunting red eyes. They seemed to hold some much strength and sheer destructive power behind them. "Sorry. I...I just don't like being left in the dark."
"It's ok. I understand how you fee...You see I wasn't told about my brother. I found an article related to him and then things got chaotic. Eventually he told me who he really is when I nearly died. Not a fun way to find out about someone I might add.", the Greiga hybrid stated as he nursed his sore cheek.
Before they could say more everyone heard a student shout, "They're in there!" Immediately the student body started ramming the door trying to get in.
"You guys go out the back window. Dekao and I will hold them off while you guys get out of here.", the bossy told them. The nearly bald teen tried to object to him being a distraction, but that ended when she pointed out that the window was far too small for him to fit through.
The twins thanked them both and dashed out the small window, however, when Ms. Mariko tried to climb through she got stuck. "Go on! Get out of here.", she urged them as her eyes filled with fear. Knowing they had no other option the remaining three made a break for it. As they looked back they saw a students, faculty, and lots of reporters chasing after them. Obviously their friends wouldn't be killed...maybe hurt trying to hold the others back but that was it. The twins swore they would make Eugene pay for what he's done to their family.
"So it's begun.", Iris said as she watched the three students from her perch on the roof of the school. "The pain they are experiencing now is only going to get much worse. Please be strong for us all.", she said as she watched the three students jump over the fence and run for it.
