Papa bass 8
'Where am I?' Forte wondered as he walked a filthy backstreet...
Not, not a virtual back street... an actual back street, somewhere in Verkhnyaya Dobrinka
...
He knew that street.
He passed by Netto... He wore all white and was begging God for food by signing.
"Did you finished your homework?" Forte asked, despite himself.
"Yes, I won't have to do them anymore," Netto answered with a grin, swaying to a song only he could hear. Beside him was an empty space.
"Chudesnyy, Saito's waiting for you back home... do you know where home is?" Forte asked as he affectionately patted the boy, who slid his right hand under the white bed sheet he wore and took his mangled heart out, a black and gold tread stretching out in the distance.
"Thank, Kiddo. I'll see you at the shrine; I hope your dad won't kill me this time." And with that, Forte followed Netto's heart to his brother.
He passed many servers and pasturing ground; he even got some flowers for his beloved.
Then, he walked into a prison shaped like a transistor; there, viruses lurked and hissed at the father of two. They would not let the hero pass.
Forte bit his lips in frustration as he put the dried flowers in the square bush, in the birds' nest beside the eggs. "Alright, Flappies' I shall pass!" He declared as he destroyed the opposition.
Despite his numerous exploits, they kept coming telling Forte how this area was off-limits, and only the verified personnel could enter the place.
Well, Netto's heart was telling him to go there, it was authorization enough.
Eventually, he grew bored of the Ghosties and Canons; he didn't want his emblem to break again since he was a dad... and Granddad would be sad.
He enters the maze filled with cyber-minotaurs. Not getting distracted by his perks stuck in tiny cages.
"I will get you out soon; I just need to give Six to my wife," Forte spoke to no one in particular as anxiety gripped his heart; He had to get to his baby... Netto's heart was beating with less vigour.
He opened the elevator door and jumped down the empty shaft. There, he landed like a leaf in the dark dept.
He counted to four and broke the fourth wall, flying to where the black and gold tread let him, his eyes burning from the tears.
He found a door... he could not read the numbers or the nameplates but committed them to memories anyway.
He broke it down since it had been locked for so long...
Inside, ancients computers showed a heartbeat, and Anubis stood over a sarcophagus. In his hands, he held a tiny heart... this heart came from a tiny, frozen mummy, its chest wide open.
The dog-headed God of the dead turned to face Forte. His glasses catching the light.
"You Shouldn't be here, Pharaoman." He spoke like a nerd.
He hated nerds.
"It's Pietrov, you yoping twat!" Forte growled as he levelled his buster with Anubis nerd. He needed to get Saito out of his coffin.
He was about to shot the jackal when... he woke up.
He was still sitting on his sofa... Roku curled up on his lap.
"Papa?" Son spoke quietly... if not disturbingly weakly.
"What is it, Roku?" The Herald of darkness asked as he wrapped his arms around his little son.
"...I'm cold, and... my heart hurt." His little Godling cuddled deeper in his Papa's chest. "and the bad man..." He shuddered. "He wants me gone."
Unfortunately, nothing could be picked up from Roku's little body... save for his numerous tremors.
Forte sat straighter as he held his precious son to his heart.
Forte heard a growl and Mety's... whatever a Metaur does when very concerned.
"Hey, boy's... what happens? Can you show me?" The herald of darkness addressed the king of all bugs.
Gospel nodded and sent a connection to Forte's head gem... and then, He could see what had just happened.
He was playing with Roku, and the sweet boy showed him a picture of two yellow people dancing with their arms raised above their heads.
"See Gopal, the one in yellow is Gaura, he's God... an this is Nitai, he also God but a servant." He joyfully explained to his buggy friend, keeping his voice low. "They show the... riligin practice of the age..."
'He's slurring his speech...' Forte frowned at the memory; his little Roku was more eloquent then that.
"Metaur?" The waddling head asked as he tilted his whole body.
"It's like this! Let me show you." Roku said as he got to his feet and lifted both of his arms up to the sky, and he began to sing as quietly as he could. "Hare Krishna, Hare Krisha, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare~."
Fortes brows reached the rim of his helmet as he looked down to his precious son, moving away from the sight of his happy, carefree child and to the sickly Godling.
He was weakly clutching Forte's cape, his face sometimes tightening with pain, sometimes slackening with exhaustion. His eyes were glazed over and...
He looked so feeble; a mere Metaur could accidentally kill him.
Speaking of which, Mety was by Forte's foot; his concern for Roku was as clear as his eyes and helmet.
"Metaur?" The tiny virus quietly asked. And Forte could guess that he was asking what was going on with his master and if he would survive.
To both of those questions, the Herald of Darkness could only give an uncertain and minuscule shrug. Resuming his perusal of the Gospel's memories.
The memory kept going, and despite Roku's best attempt, his voice raised until he was chanting and dancing exuberantly, not even paying attention to how his cloak did nothing to hide his body.
The Herald of darkness cringed... who the Hell would design a cyber-God with human anatomy? 'But... maybe he was not made by anyone.'
He resumed the playback. Wonder how he, Forte, the menace who never slept soundly, managed to be deaf to a trio of dancing Cybernetic.
He held his Roku closer, hoping that he would see him do his silly dance in person.
And then, in the memory, Roku stopped dead in his track, his joyful face twisting in pain.
Forte's... whatever he had in the place of a heart stopped dead too, following the example of his son.
He clutched his heart as he began to breathe like a landed fish, clutching his play mat as he bit back his scream of agony.
Seeing the state of their playmate Gospel and Mety ran to his aid, whining, licking Roku's face and... Doing whatever a Metaur does when trying to revive an ally.
Meaning... it was signing in algorithm.
Forte looked down at his little son, a being more fragile then what he had anticipated.
He pursed his lips... If his idea for world conquest and genocide had been discarded, they were now completely decimated.
Oh yeah, sure... he could absolutely force his kid to take over the world and destroy everything, but... was it really worth it?
Well, despite his fragile heart, Roku was still a Godling. But maybe he had another faith then destruction.
'Maybe he would grow out of it?' Forte wondered as he leaned back, for Roku had fallen in a night of deep sleep after the day's event. Event's that caused the herald of darkness to lean back in his armchair, ready to fall asleep again.
And... Forte did. Still holding Roku, hoping to... those Other gods that he would still be there when Forte would wake up again.
As it turned out, running in Cyberspace was not that different from running in the real world, and as Netto sadly discovered, it caused him the same pain in his chest.
'Why does it hurt so much?' Netto wondered as he tried to catch his breath, holding onto a directory as a wearily looked out for viruses. 'I'm an idiot... useless without Rockman.' And how his older brother would have held him back... and scold him for doing something so stupid.
Netto had somehow found his way to the dark side of the internet, the one which everything was made to scare, disgust and disturb. There were no real rules safe for the law of the strongest.
Rockman was an uncommonly powerful Navi, and even he would thread with caution.
After being town in the TV by Partha-Sharathi, Netto had gleefully ignored Moiya's children plea for him to remain where he was. Wanting to find Saito as soon as possible.
He knew forte, and he knew Forte would be too shocked to see a 'human' waltzing in the web before sucker punching him. Netto had it all planed out...
Well, he was now lost in cyberspace, having lost Bhuta and Hari-Priya somewhere around the cheeseburger network, And Partha was busy fighting this amalgamation of Viruses. Lavanga was not there and...
And Netto had never been so scared in his life...
'I'm an idiot...' He thought as he managed to straighten, his heart now beating as close to normal. He looked around the virtual environment, the lights, the lines...
They had all looked pretty at first, but now, they hurt his eyes.
The novelty of being on the web had quickly worn off for the NetSaver. He knew his Mama, Moiya and plenty of others would ground him for years to come, but he would take their combined grounding overstaying in this place.
It was not the same as full synchro either. But... maybe this was because he was in the bad part of the web since Netto usually felt at home in cyberspace. But usually, Rokman was with him... part of him.
This part of him was gone, and the Netsaver slowly realized that there was not much he could do without his brother.
Suddenly, Netto heard the sound of a virus he had the misfortune of triggering.
It was a champy... A dark web champy.
Immediately, The young Net Saver's heart raced, causing pain to shoot from it. Ignoring it as he always did, Netto managed to get to his feet... he was about to break in what he hoped was a good enough run when the fiery Virus came into view.
"Champy..." The fiery boxer growled menacingly, his fist blazing.
Netto wanted to run, but the pain robbed him of his legs... 'Why do I have to be the worst runner in my class...Rockman, Saito, where are you?'
"E... hello... champy." Netto addressed the aggressive virus. He could try and run... but he knew he would not make it far. "N... Nice weather were having."
The champy hit both gloves together with a deafening sound, sending embers dancing everywhere.
Netto swallowed thickly... "H... hey I... I'm not armed, you know... it's... your better then a bu-"
"CHAMP!" The fiery Virus lunged at the unpreparedness cyber-fae. Its blazing fast, the same colour as the sun, pulled back as a painful promise.
In this moment of pure helplessness, Netto did the only thing he could.
"NITAI! NITAI!" He screamed out to God for Help.
Suddenly, the Champy was slashed in half, has he dissipated in null-data, his Savior was revealed.
It was... "Prometheus..." Netto wheezed as he felt tears of relief.
The reaper-like fae didn't seem as happy as Netto was; he stalked to the youth, his pinprick eyes glowing an intense red.
"What the HELL were you THINKING?" Prometheus roared. "DO YOU KNOW HOW MOTHERFUCKING DANGEROUS THIS PLACE IS, YOU MORONIC BITCH?"
Netto just kept holding his firewall for support; even this frightful sight was enough to paradoxically calm him down, forcing his heart to slow down. They would live...
"P-Prometheus." The NetSaver wheezed as his aniki closed the distance between them and crushed him in his arms.
"Do you know... do you know how worried sick you've made us, Netto? Do you know?" Prometheus asked as he buried his nose in Netto's mop of unruly hair.
To be honest... Netto knew but didn't care in the heat of the moment.
"You could've gotten killed." Prometheus rasped, holding Netto protectively to his emblem. "I don't... Don't make me... Don't be like her..."
"Prometheus!" Ekachakra's powerful voice floated in, and indeed, the azure angel landed without the sound of the web's ground. "Prometheus, did you?" His voice stopped as he caught sight of Netto.
The net saver froze as he realized just how many people his little escapade disturbed.
Eka stared, his eyes filled with tears. He swallowed them back as he pressed the right side of his head.
"Moyia, It's Prabhu... Prometheus found Netto." Ekachakra conveyed to his wife, whipping away the tears that escaped from his eyes. "Yes, He's fine; Prometheus has him well secure in his arms." The Azure angel turned his gaze back to Netto. "He knows what's waiting for him... I see I see... Ah, Miss Haruka. Yes, Netto's fine if a bit pale and scared."
The more Eka spoke to his mother; the more Netto felt his ears burned...
If Only Saito were there, if only his big brother would have been there to stop him from doing something so stupid...
If only...
If Only...
"Harin... Haruka?" Maya addressed her friend. "I think you should go and take a shower."
For her part, Haruka thought that this was the most... idiotic thing she could do at the moment. Netto had been found safe. But he would have to answer for this little stunt of his.
"Haruka... the fact that your ranting and raving out loud is reason enough for you to go and cool down." The mother of seven ordered. "And I know Pandora's taking the full brunt of your anger."
"Can you blame me?" Haruka shot back from her side of the couch. "My son... My son just entered the cyber-world and ran away to find and fight Forte!" The brunette did her best to keep her voice down. "How would you react if one of yours would put themselves in this type of situation?"
"I would stop, take either a shower and a bath... and once I am calm and stable, then I give the sauce," Maya instructed, looking at the human woman with the eyes of a very busy mother who knew how to raise the start of a dynasty. " When you correct your child, you have to do it with plenty of love and the least amount of anger... or the same, if they are real rascals. If you're calm, then you can control their foul mood and prevent things from escalating much."
"Yes... And if I'm calm and happy, then I won't be able to go through Netto's thick head about how he had been told to stay in my TV set and not to run to go look for Forte!" She raised her voice, causing Croire to cry and Pandora to stare at her wearily.
Maya leered at the inscented mother. "And if you yell at your preteen like that, how do you think he will react?" She asked, with a quirk of her full brow. " He will get mad at you, you will be madder at him and in the end, Netto will get even more restless and angry, and the next thing we know, he joined a street gang because he wants to get back at you."
Horror replaces anger. "NO, Netto would never do that!" Haruka blurted out loud enough to wake up the sleeping twin.
Maya picked up Croire, gently rocking her to stop her tears. "Shh-shhh Lala, lala~, la~la... aaaah! Aaaaaah! Om shantihe Shantihe Shantihe!" She crooned before returning her attention to Haruka, a look of triumph in her ice-cold eyes. "Oh really? My dear, have you heard of teenage rebellion?" She asked. "Listen, I've had a childhood friend who went from being like Netto to a rebel... Last I heard, he was still serving time."
...
"Where is the bathroom?"
"you can use mine downstairs; I'll see if I can find you some new cloth that'll fit you."
"Wonderful!"
Flying with mister Ekachakra Prabhu and Prometheus would have been more fun and thrilling if Netto had no idea what would have been waiting once out of the virtual world.
He knew his mom's anger... and he had seen a glimpse of Moiya's wrath too.
It was cold like ice when his mother would be like a blazing fire
'It's unfair! When they do something stupid, no one yell's at them. But when I do something stupid...'
"Are you Alright there, Netto?" The azure angel asked, his back broad enough for Netto to fit in comfortably between his wings...
It was interesting how Ekachakra's wings didn't need to flap to keep him aloft. And it made for a very smooth ride.
The young man remained quiet. Yes, he was unhurt... but for how long?
When he would go into those crazy dangerous situations, Rockman would be with him, usually to save the world.
And as Netto had just learned...there was nothing much he could do without his big brother.
He felt a hand on his back, It was Prometheus.
He looked... calmer, but still, incredibly creepy with his pinprick eyes and skull helmet taught.
"You want to save your brother... isn't it?"
The young brunette didn't say anything.
"I understand... Saito's your best friend, after all."
"He's my brother..." And it was the second time he had failed to save him. Netto felt pressure behind his eyes as tears once again welled up, blurring his vision.
He was so close... yet so far.
"Pro... can you take him?" He heard Ekachakra.
It seemed this was all it took for Papu to take his honorary brother from his father's back, and once again, Netto was in the teen's arms, fighting against his tears.
"Hey... Parikshita." The older teen spoke up as he slowed down his flight speed. "You don't need to hold back... be manly enough to cry, alright." He roughly spoke.
The young man, the Savior of the world, soon to be a teen as he turned thirteen, held Prometheus tighter, burying his head in Aniki's shoulder.
Dekao told him he never cried and had openly sneered at him during the briefing bout Rockman's hard reset.
But with Prometheus, the creepy, easily angered and very harsh young man...
Netto let go... He had messed up again. And this time, the world would not survive his screw-up.
Somehow, it made his mama yelling at him for being a foolhardy idiot seemed nice.
Back at the Volnutt-Dei household. The rest of Moiya's children had returned to base... and Partha had receive a proper scolding from his mother.
Haruka had to admit, it was awe-worthy to see how the tall blond had managed to instill a sense of shame in her youngest son without resorting to anger or harsh words. By the end of it, the redhead was properly repentant, promising to work on his anger.
"I can't believe he listened to you like that," Haruka told her friend as she waited for the rest of the family t return. "Usually, it takes me plenty of yelling to have Netto listen to me." She admitted as she readjusted her shawl.
She wore something Moiya had called a Gopi skirt. It was... She had never worn a skirt so long before. And she especially liked the colourful scarf that came with it.
And as Moiya had predicted, her anger and worries had faded. Oh, Haruka was still mad at her son. But after her shower, plenty of fancy new cloth and a snack, Netto's mother felt ready to face anything with poise and grace.
It also helped that Lumine had coached her about the pitfall of emotional decisions. And this could indeed be applied to everyday life.
"Well... if you always yelled at him, obliviously Netto has developed a resistance to it." Moiya explained. "My mama and Papa never yield at me, saved for one time." the mother of seven reminisced fondly. " I... don't exactly remember what I did, but I know mama had been scared... but otherwise, they would always scold me with so much love, I didn't want to disappoint them again."
"I see." Haruka pensively nodded. "Would it work too with his horrendous report cards?"
"Ah, that? I don't think so, but shaming him about it will do even less." Moiya managed to sound friendly despite the jab. "We all have a certain amount of learning ability, I was a terrible learner, and I failed my fourth grade..." She revealed as she popped in a fried piece of savoury dough.
Haruka's eyes widen. "Really? But how... how can you work without it?"
"I use my Natural abilities. And really, in my case, reading and writing never were a problem, it's just when they added those overly fancy grammar and advanced mathematics that glitched me over." She made a face. " Not for lack of trying, I'm just not into those things, you know. Besides, Mom taught me the important things, like cooking, medicine and prayers."
"I... see." Haruka could be excuse for not trusting her words. "So... you are a stay-at-home mother."
"Yep!" Moiya happily chirped. " Well, I still go out in the web and-" Suddenly, a bell chimed. "Oh, hey! Our missing men are here." She happily informed Haruka as she got up to the TV.
'Right... Netto's with them also.' Now calm and with a clear mind free of worry, Haruka began planing her angle of attack.
"Hey Prabhu! Papu!" Moiya greeted through the TV. "Hey, Netto!" She reached through the frame and pulled Haruka's son out as if he weighed less then he was.
The moment he emerged from the TV... something Haruka still had difficulty believing, she practically flew to her son, engulfing him in her arms... but not before giving him a good look over.
His eyes and cheeks were red, and it was clear he was dreading what would come next. Usually, Haruka would have felt some triumph in the fear she had managed to instill in her reckless son...
But with Moiya's words about rebelling children, only dread filled her heart.
Netto was unhurt, but Haruka could see that his eyes still held some steel behind his fear.
"Netto..." She embraced her son... a son she had also almost lost. "Please, don't you dare go out like this..." Haruka shakily said as relief flooded her being. "You have no idea what's out there... you don't know anyone who could reach you if something would go wrong and... and you don't know how to fight!"Her voice broke as she spoke those words.
Well... that was wrong. Netto knew full well what lurked in the web. But what was available to him as a NetOp and as a Cyber-fae were not the same. He had no armour, not weapons. And Haruka had no idea what he was facing.
She chuckled as she realized what she had been thinking. No, she was worried because her baby boy was growing up and was no longer clinging to her skirt. He would soon be a teen and would give his attention to his friends and girls... or boys...
Or whatever tickled his fancies, really.
Netto was a prodigy when it came to Netbatteling, his strategies were wild, on the fly, and his connection with Rockman meant that they were always of one mind.
But now... Saito was gone, and Netto... Netto didn't have those fancy forms the other Navi... the other Faes had.
He had no operator, no one to back him up... no one to pull him out if anything went south...
She held her son closer, breathing in his scent as she felt him buried his nose in her shoulder.
Her baby was safe; he was alive... he was in her arms.
'Oh... if only I had never given birth to you... if only you and your brother would have remained in my womb.'
Netto Hugged her closer; his whole body was shaking like a dead leaf in the wind.
It was clear Haruka's son was stewing over something... and Haruka had a feeling she knew what it was.
After that, The Vaishnavi and the rest of her brood debriefed everyone about Saito's current situation; Lumine was there, offering emotional support to his student and best friend.
He had also explained what a net-avatar was. It was en empty Navi, a vessel for the operator to control in the virtual world. And while it seemed like a good idea, it had been discovered that adults would suffer from mental degeneration as they integrated with the avatar, leaving their bodies essentially vegetables... and dead after a week.
"It had been theorized that children would do better since they have an amazing amount of Neuroplasticity," Lumine explained as he stood in the middle of the room, having returned to a more casual set of cloth.
"Um... what's neuro..." Netto trailed off.
"Neuroplasticity means how your brain can change and adapt to different situations and environments." The science experiment gone a bit better then expected began as he crouched to the young boy's level. "At your age, Netto, you have an amazing ability to learn and change." he touched the young man's tousled head. "This is why children from age five upward go to school to learn. And this is also why babies can pick up anything their parents do and hear. From talking to walking, passing by accent and plenty other process parents and stranger do without knowing it."
"Basically, Lochana. It means that the young brain is an information sponge." Ekachakra mercifully spoke in layman's therm. "And it can easily change and adapt, while us old bogies can't... not without a hefty dose of efforts anyway."
Lumine got up, a bit miffed at the simplistic explanation. "Yes... Yes, that's... quite the astute description. I... Couldn't have done it better." He grumbled. "But to return to what I was saying, there had been talking about plunging young children, and were talking toddlers, to visualizers, essentially turning them into pseudo-fae's."
"Oh, Krishna." Moiya covered her mouth, horrified at this information. "That's..."
"And you think...Saito's one of those who got connected to a virtualizer?" Haruka asked as she held her Netto closer.
"I don't think so. I know so." Lumine spoke with clear gravity. "What Forte's calling his son is the base rig... and from what I could observe. Saito... Haruka. I know you don't like to talk about this, but we need to know... when was Saito... when did he die? How old was he?"
"Three," Haruka answered curtly, her mind already working on this puzzle. "In the pictures, you showed me... He looked like a sick five-year-old, six... maybe."
"M... Haruka... Saito... Saito's alive?" Netto spoke up from his mother's side; he looked quite tired.
Haruka felt her heart painfully break... her baby boy had not called her Mama... he had called her Haruka.
'Netto was able to go in the net just like Moiya's Family... I couldn't.' It didn't take a genius to figure out why Netto was sort of giving her the cold shoulder.
"Yes... Yes, sweetheart. Saito's alive... and he never was in the web."
A peculiar look covered her dear son's face. "And... Are you my mother? Is Yuichiro... my real dad?"
The matriarch of the Hikari household turned to Moiya for some support, and the Vaishnavi understood her heartbreaking conundrum.
"Haruka... You gave birth to both Netto and Saito, right?" The pious blond asked with a soft smile.
"I do; I still have the scar to prove it." It had been a complicated birth for numerous reasons.
"Alright... and do you know who...put them in there?" The Vaishnavi asked meaningfully.
'And that's an...' Haruka's eyes grew horrifically wide as realization hit her. "... I... think it's Yuichiro."
"You... think?" Moiya raised an eyebrow. Same as Ekachakra das.
Beside her, Netto was staring at his mother, his confusion clear on his tired face.
'Tonight, your heading straight to bed. You haven't slept right for too long, sweetheart.' Haruka thought, ready to send her boy to bed early so that she and the Vaishnavas could talk about this very adult subject.
"Netto?" Bhuta pipped up... He didn't look quite as exhausted as his siblings but still looked about ready to curl up in his futon. "Can we go to sleep? In my room?"
"No! I wanna sleep with Netto!" Partha managed to wake up enough to protest. "I'm sorry I threw you in the TV... can we all sleep together tonight?" he added.
Netto looked at his two new friends, back at his mother... and then at Moiya.
The Vaishnavi caught her husband's eyes before she shifted her gaze at Haruka. "You know what... It's late enough, and Netto to return to school tomorrow."
Haruka's son groaned.
"She's right, you know. We've found Saito, and he's... in good hand." While she hadn't heard much about Forte, save for some snippets here and there, it felt weird for Haruka to considered her other son to be in good hands with what amounted to be a rogue-Navi marked as a threat for humanity.
Netto made a face.
"I'll tell you everything tomorrow, right now... you need to sleep, alright?"
Netto grunted as he rubbed his eyes and followed the two other boys.
'Another night sleeping over.'
"So... you're not sure if your husband injected Saito and Netto in your womb," Moiya stated without much of a preamble the moment no sound came from the bedroom.
Haruka's cheeks burned with shame, the way her friend had said it... "No, I'm... I can barely remember this night." She shamefully admitted.
The three remaining Cyber-Vaishnava expected glances. "... Haru-dear. I know it's a very private question, but... can you remember what happened before the conception?" Lumine asked as he tried not to cringe.
Haruka held her head as she did her best to remembered the act. "We... were in university. Yuichiro was learning under his father Tadashi and... I was an engineering student. It was at the end of the third semester when... one of his friends threw a party."
Ekachakra grunted as he pensively rubbed his chin while Lumine and Moiya narrowed their eyes suspiciously.
"There was plenty of booze, and a few bartender students attended and..." Haruka's cheek got a touch of colour. "And... I got drunk, as in... drunker then usual."
The Vaishnava couple... plus Lumine, narrowed their eyes even further.
"Yuichiro... he leads me to his room... it was closer then my dorm and... I woke up the next day... naked. Same as him."
"You know... what he did was illegal." Moiya was the first one to speak. " Another question, how bruised where you when you woke up? Any abnormal sent? painful breast? Bite marks?"
"No." Haruka shook her head as he cheeks burned. " I had a terrible hangover so... it didn't register as odd."
"And this is why booze is a plague to this world," Moiya grumbled. "Call me whatever you want, but if your pleasure makes you sick the next day, then you lose more then you gain."
"And let me guess..." Ekachakra began, his brown furrowed and his lips pressed in a thin line. "You became pregnant with Netto and Saito."
"Yes... I... I was about to get them..." Haruka began but could not finish her phrase. "But Yuichiro saved them... and he told me not to worry, he already had a steady job under his father, and he had enough to take provide for whatever facilities I would need... and medical treatment." Her voice trailed off.
"He... He would be there sometime but... I... I had to give up university; he would not let me continue and... I have no idea what happened, but I was kicked out. I had to give up my dream... and after Netto and Saito's birth, I tough it wiser to give my full attention to them." Tears welled up in Haruka's eyes.
She never thought she could feel so betrayed. She thought wrong.
Moiya sat beside her friend again, holding her hands. "It's alright, Haruka... It's all right. You raised them well, and I'm sure even my mom and dad would praise you for what you did."
"I can't believe this ass hole... He... what did he do to me?" She asked Moiya as she tried to keep her voice down. " How did this happen?"
"Miss Haruka." Ekachakra began, his voice grave. "You may want to have a DNA test done for your son... I know a trustworthy person."
"Oh, and what am I supposed to tell Netto? That Yuichiro is not his dad? That I... somehow conceived without having a dick up my-" Haruka stopped herself when she saw Maya visibly cringe.
"Sorry... I just-" But before she could apologize, Moiya had the woman in her arms. "It's alright, Haruka... I know... I know what your going through is hard."
"Hard." Haruka's voice wavered. "I feel like... like everything I knew was a big lie... Saito didn't die, my two son's are from another race entirely and my... the man I married, this barely-there, irresponsible egghead... he ruined my life..." he eyes grew wider as she covered her mouth.
"Haruka?" "Haru-chan?" Both Lumine and Moiya asked the aggrieved mother of two.
"He... He never loved me." Came the devastating revelations. "He... he just wanted... He..."
"Haru-chan!" Lumine gently shook her shoulders. "Haruka... I know you've been cheated by him. In more ways then one."
"Hey, nothing's proven yet." Moiya cautioned. "For all we know, either Haruka or Mister Hikari has some latent Fae genes. Crossbreeding is not unheard of."
"Still, better we do a DNA test," Ekachakra stated as he got up from his sofa. " I will contact my sister back home... Moiya, I would prefer if Haruka and Netto could stay home until everything gets sorted out... if it's alright with you?"
"No, it's perfectly fine... I don't feel safe to leave her alone."
But at this point, Haruka could not deny the possibility that the Hikari had used her as breeding stock... ruining her promising career. Not she didn't want Netto and Saito to have been born, but maybe it would have been better? 'no... no... Haruka, that's a terrible thing to think about.' But she could not help but think were she would be today if she would have remained at the university... would she be happier? Would she have found a better man than that ball-less freak?
Was this the right choice? To listen to this one-night stand and keep her pregnancy? Maybe she should have given up the fetuses for adopt-
"Haru-chan?" Lumine broke her out of her dark mind. " My dear Haruka, what happened was Karma, and know that your choice to keep Netto and Saito saved the lives of millions. Including Moiya-chan, Croire-chan and Pandora-chan." He reminded his dear friend.
Haruka realized that he was right... Since without Netto and Saito, Rockman would not have been there to foil the WWW times and times again.
And... She doubted her life would have been any better without Netto... But... to used as such... by a man she thought loved her...
"I... I feel..." She hugged herself... feeling as if she was covered in gunge and detritus.
"It's fine... I think we've had enough for tonight." Ekachakra spoke with finality. "Miss Haruka, I would request you and your son to remain with us until Saito's body is found. Alive." he got up and made his way to his office. "Moiya, please protect Haruka and Netto... and-"
A spark glowed in Moiya's eyes. "Yes, Swami."
She leads Haruka down the basement. There, Moiya settled the afflicted woman on her futon as Prometheus, the ever-thoughtful if rough youth, bought some chamomile and cardamom tea.
As the blond cyber-fae massaged Haruka's ever stiff shoulders, the mother of two finally let go of a decade worth of grief.
Back in the boy's room, Partha-Sharathi and Bhuteshvara each held one of Netto's sides. Their older friend was in one of Prometheus's shirts. The net-saver was asleep, exhausted by the 'day's event.
"... He's one of us," Partha informed his night owl of a brother. " Do you think he's-"
"I don't know, Part... But, he does look like Papa, don't you think?" Bhuta admitted, keeping his voice low.
Partha hummed. "I don't know... Pita had bright green eyes; Netto's eyes are dark."
"Netto's Mama's eyes are brown. And Rockman's eyes are green."
"Yeah, but I saw a picture of Mister Hikari; he has green eyes and brown hair." Partha finished his argument. "And... If Tadashi was in the web, then there's a chance the gene skipped a generation."
Bhuta made his grumblewhine as he hugged his maybe-half-brother closer... He didn't want his best friend to be connected with the Hikari names... not if those people were part of the Slavers.
Then he paused, pressing his ear deeper in Netto's chest.
"Bhu? Something's wrong?" Partha asked with all the concern in the world.
Bhuteshvara didn't say anything, just listening to Netto's heartbeat. "I don't know Dasihe... but... Netto's heart doesn't sound quite right."
Partha made a face. "Bhu... I know that has the gene for that, but... that's a terrible thing to hope for." He quietly scolded.
Bhuta grunted, keeping his eyes closed as he listened more... 'No... I know I heard a weird noise.' But then again, he was prone to wishful thinking. 'Oh, Krishna... I hope... if Netto's has a broken heart, may you fix it like you fixed mine.' He prayed. 'Or... make sure he remembers you at the time of death... but better if he would live... if you don't mind.
After some moments of silence, Partha laid back down and fell asleep, drained by the last few days. And Bhuta could finally talk with mister Tadashi.
The ghost was in the darkest corner of the boy's room; he held his face in his hands as he sobbed. He looked the same as when he had fried his brain with the visualizer.
Bhuta gave a last glance at Netto, noting how pale his face was. Sure, his close call in the web had left its mark... and then there was the other revelations that came with it.
Still, it was nighttime, the time where ghosts, both good and evil, hobgoblins, and other subtle entities that would bump in the night would roam.
It was an inauspicious time for sure... but perfect to gather some information.
As Bhuta's spiritual master had told him, dead man do tale tales if one had the ability to listen. And Bhuta definitely could.
The waifish boy gingerly got out from the crook of Netto's arms and rolled onto the floor. Silently making his way to the weeping form of Hikari Tadashi, Netto's grandfather.
Yesterday, the ghost of the scary scientist had divulged some information, but it was clear he was holding back.
Still, anything would help... Krishna wanted this terrible human trafficking to stop.
He just knew it, for Krishna, his other best friend had told him.
"Mister Hikari Tadashi-Sama." Bhuteshvara greeted the ghost. "Do you have more to tell me?"
Tadashi raised his head from his hands, his dead and empty gaze wearily staring at the thin boy. "You... are one of them."
"Yes... I'm a Vaishnava."
"You are a... Cyber-Fae..."
"That's just my body." Bhuta patiently said, used to the hatred he would garner due to his birth.
Of course, he would never hate his birth as the eldest son of Ekachakra Das and Maya Devi Dasi. His hearth health may be poor, and his life span short compared to his siblings... and not human enough for humanity. But this God-given birth was a gift, for his parent and siblings were Vaishnava's, first and foremost.
And such birht was the rarest gift of all.
"I... Have nothing more... to say to you..." Tadashi hissed.
"Why?" Bhuta asked innocently.
"You... are not... human."
"Well, duh. I'm a spirit soul...Why tough?" he asked again, channelling the same energy as a curious four-year-old would have.
"You are... a wild Navi... Dangerous... uncontrolled." Tadashi's face darkened.
"Why?" really, Buta could go one for hours on end.
"Too powerful."
"So your envious." there you go, Hatred was always rooted in envy, lust and fear. "You know, I'm still under my parent's authority, and my Guru's authority also. So I'm not really free to go out and kill random people." and he never would, he had no reason to. "How about you? Who controls you?"
"No one," Tadashi answered with some pride.
'AH yes, pride. Another poison for the spirit soul.' Poor thing.
"So... what Tell's me your not dangerous?" Bhuta prodded with a slight grin.
"I'm human."
"No, your not." The little Vaishnava shot back. "A human's not a ghost... and you died ten years ago." He informed the poor soul. "Now, before I let you go, I have one question for you." the waifish boy asked as he put his hands behind his back, swaying back and forth. " Is Netto and Saito Human?"
Tadashi's eyes' grew frightfully big as he clamped his mouth.
"Is Yuichiro a human?"
"Yes..."
"Is Haruka human?" He then asks... but it seemed Netto's paternal grandfather didn't want to entertain the Vaishnava.
Oh well, it was more then what Bhuta had hoped for. "Thank you." the little boy bowed down and went to his special drawer and pulled out his special bag. Once this was done, he went to Tadashi. "Here... I'm sure you must be hungry." the waif addressed the ghost with compassion.
He opened the bag and showed the content to the forefather... or supposed forefather. Tadashi gained a look of pure greed as the fragrant remanent of Sri-Krishna Prasadam met his nose.
"You can take as much as you want sir, it will make you feel better, trust me." hello understatement.
Tadashi looked at the content like the starving man he was, he leaned over the offering, and smelled it trice.
On the third whiff, a miracle happened.
Well.. not a miracle, per say. For all of those who know of the Glories of Prasadam would simply nod and give prayers of Gratitude of the Lord (Jagannath) for this great mercy.
Instead of a rotund, seventh-something doctor in robotic with a terrible degree, dubious moral and damaged mind. in front of Bhuteshwara stood a Vishna-Duta, glowing with eternal yought and bliss, his eyes bright, alight with supreme consciousness.
His complexion was a dark as the middle of the night, his natural, sun-like aura making him seem even darker. His four arms reached his knee's, all perfect limbs bedecked with golden ornaments like armlets and bangles. His broad chest was laden with priceless necklaces made of pearls and rubies, lockets and opulent garlands of fragrant flowers never seen on earth.
He wore a golden dhoti folded neatly over his hips and another silken cloth on top, its colour a deep red. A golden belt circled his broad hips, and toe-rings shone in the dark room, reflecting the Vishnu-Duta's natural effulgence.
The spiritual being, the servant of Vishnu opened his eyes, revealing their lotus-like form and dept to the ghost-like child. A grateful smile painting his rubby-red lips.
He began to speak to the boy; his voice is now as deep and beautiful as the rumbling of a monsoon cloud. His curly black hair spilling from his golden helmet.
"To you, my dear saviours, I ow everything." The purified soul bowed. "I had been wandering this phenomenal world, transmigrating from one body to the next, enjoying and suffering the results of my previous actions, never able to achieve relief from my scorching senses, of which the mind is the chief. You have freed me from my karmic bind, opened my eyes and the door back home, back to godhead. Oh, greatest of all benefactors, Please ask this servant anything of your heart desire." the liberated soul prayed.
Bhuta almost asked the re-awakened messenger of God for Krishna-Bhakti, but knowing that the Vishnu-Dhuta would have no business in the transcendental world of Vraja, the little boy held his tongue.
"I know it's going to be very mundane on my part, but I would need to know if my two friends, Netto and Saito are the Sons of Yuichiro and..." he paused, it felt so wrong to ask such a mundane question to a liberated soul.
He should ask for... you know, the realization of the Lord's greatness, at least.
The Vishnu-Duta smile. " Ask your father, but know that you are right," he answered cryptically before boarding the transcendental airplane waiting for him, thousand of Vishnu-dhuta's and their wives expecting their friend's imminent return home.
Once the amazing plane was gone... a plane Bhuta knew could have taken him to his ultimate home. The young Vaishnava sighed and smiled.
He quickly and quietly ran out of his room and went down to his father's office on the first floor.
This office was quite simple; there was a pair of mattresses on the floor with plenty of bolster pillows. The lights were soft, and his low desk, his personal computer sat beside a picture of his and Partha's Guru. He was talking to someone on skip.
"...Yes, I think I may have found another-"
"Pitta! I spoke to Netto's paternal grandfather; he went to Vishnu-Loka... Tadashi got liberated, and Netto and Saito are my half-brothers." He spoke loud enough for his father... and his aunt to hear. "Hi, Aunt Madri."
On the computer screen His father's twin sister waved back. He broad smile making her round face even rounder. "Hey, Bhuta, how my favourite nephew's doing?"
Bhuta gave her a thumbs up. "I have two more brothers now... but one of them is... He's..." his face fell.
He heard his father sigh. " Jaya... Hey, Mad. I know this whole situation got confirmed, but I would still need to run a DNA test as soon as possible."
"No Problem, Brother. Sudharshan will send you the kit asap. You should receive it next week; then you'll have your confirmation in a month if everything goes well." Madri spoke with great enthusiasm.
"I see. Thank you for your help."
"Bro, I did nothing. Alright, I'll talk to you soonish." and with that, Madri's connection closed just as Bhuta's sniffle caught his Father's attention.
"It's alright, Bubu," Ekachakra said as he let the oldest climb on his lap. "I already told Madri about our avatar situation..." He sighed as he ruffled the waifish boy's mop of hair. "... Bhuta, Netto will need all the support we can give him., same with Haruka."
"Yeah... I don't think his... Mister Hikari will want to stay after his lies are exposed." The young boy buried his face in his father's Kurta.
He may not need to sleep... Much. But it didn't mean he didn't want to be with his daddy for the night.
Yes, Jagannath Prashadam can indeed liberate any soul it comes in contact with, same with Krishna and Gaura-Prashadam.
And hey! a Self-Cameo... since I sort of look a bit like Mega Man X, but chunkier and harder.