11
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Yuichiro was not a brave man, and he would never fool himself into thinking that he was a paragon of integrity. He was a man of science, the one meant to bring humanity to a better future... one that would have a lesser impact on the planet. Morality and ethics be damned.
And this being, uploading humans to the web since sending them to space was not a viable option, not after NASA had crashed and admitted that nobody went to the moon and that all the space rocks and sand were just some petrified wood.
Of course, uploading humans to cyberspace sounded... well, even more out of this world. There was a race of electromagnetic beings, sometimes called fairies, other times, Hertzien that lived there.
The internet was actually older than one would expect, for it existed in the photonic planes of existence... and the beings that lived there were human enough to crossbreed.
This had been his father, Doctor Tadashi's idea... to kick start the next part of human evolution. To make them all transcend their human body by crossbreeding the next few generations with those cyber-elves of old. And for this, they needed material.
The material is Cyber-beings and their DNA-rich bodily fluid.
Of course, those creatures may be made of mostly high vibration, but they were also known to live among humans. For their native land had been damaged beyond repair when world war three erased everything.
And there, in the lower vibratory realm, capturing them and extracting their DNA was a walk in the park.
Or, that is what they thought.
Now, His father was doing his research behind everybody's back. Under the government's nose and the powers that protected those creatures... until one day, he kidnapped one.
He was on the cusp of adolescence... just about to be ripe.
Tadashi called him specimen X, the father of all Net-Navi.
There was also a second Fake, but this one was too unstable, acting like a cat and rolling on the ground. and sometimes flying in rage and making noise with her mouth.
They released her to the slums bordering Gauranga land. nobody would miss her.
And after plenty of harvests, the second part, to inseminate the donated eggs was a go...
So many were born, the woman willing to be used agreeing not to say a word after being generously paid for their silence.
Those were usually from third-world countries and didn't mind the pain, both physical and emotional. But eventually, some watchdogs got a whiff of their operations and Tadashi had to shut it down, but not after having enough slave-Navis to keep the production ready.
Those... were not very stable, unfortunately, and their powers were lacklustre at best.
But... this had not stopped Tadashi, oh no, instead, this event seemed to have freed him of whatever mundane moral and ethic he had left and instead... invented the Avatars system and the Neural Pulse synchronicity Modulator... or just the pulse system, for short.
For his part, Yuichiro, now old enough to help his dad, began to hunt for perfect candidates to inseminate. Since it was clear that humans and navis were compatible, his next logical step was to spread the seeds as far as he could so that this ancient race would once again saturate the population and, using the principle of the vacuum and social media, migrate them all to cyberspace.
So he did his first test run while still being in the university, the girl he had picked up had nothing very special, and to be honest, was easily forgettable.
The insemination happened quickly, and she woke up the next morning thinking she had sex with a complete stranger after a well moistened frat party.
And thus, Yuichiro went around, saw untold horrors, sometimes got laid but that was not his goal, why would he waste time with a woman when he had the entire world to save and a species to make.
And then... he received a call...
One of the girls somehow remembered him and, with her lawyer, (how did she manage to pay for that!?) demanded that Yuichiro provide for her soon to be twins.
He managed to get out of paying the ridiculous settlement by agreeing to marry her...
It had been... and interesting experience, it had almost been enough to make him forget about his altruistic goal. And when the twins were born...
Oh God, it had been so awkward, to hold them and act as if he was getting attached to the bundles of flesh, knowing that they were not fully human.
They were half-faes.
And then... One of the leeches fell sick, he had a heart disease, HBD... something most of X's batch had, Shamefully enough.
Oh well, he was still young enough to participate in the young Avatar Project. None of the two specimens had shown interest in the web, despite having a TV big enough for them to crawl in.
X's imperfect DNA had clearly been diluted with the inclusion on the human's genome. And thus had lost all interesting potency. And no more Fae's were available, having grown wary of humans. After that, he had released the now clearly dying pure blooded Fea out somewhere in Gauranga land, the place where all rejects go to die. He was from there originally, anyway.
Yuichiro had been about to scrap the whole project and moved to the Banana republic, turning off Saito's life support when a certain Doctor Wily brought his Chaos along and somehow managed to enroll Netto in the Madness.
And then, he'd realized that Saito and Netto had this wonderful Bond, a Fae Ability that let Netto enter the cyberworld through Saito's Avatar.
This... this was a breakthrough. Something that could be of use but... how?
The future of humanity depended upon it.
But what was even more interesting was how Powerful Saito's Avatar became without any mental degradation. Unlike what happened to his own father.
And thus, Yuichiro observed them and kept maintaining Saito, giving special chips and encouragement.
In the span of three months, the brats had saved the world over three times and Yuichiro was more than sick of hearing of Doctor Wily... or lord Wily and his hair-brain scheme to take over the world. Of course, it forced Saito and Netto to push himself to their limit, Heck, without the Alpha debacle, Netto's Ability to withstand radioactivity with no consequences would have remained hidden.
He had so much to learn from those two, the next step in human evolution, perfect hybrids between two perfect races.
And then Saito's avatar got eaten by the unstable alpha, causing his original body to suffer from yet another heart attack.
It almost woke him up.
Thankfully, Tadashi had saved a backup avatar in a specialized server in Sci-lab.
Yuichiro will admit it though, to see Netto reunite with Rockman had been the sweetest thing he'd seen. It had almost made Yuichiro give up his quest to elevate humanity from beings of matter to beings of lights...
Almost.
But, his duty to humanity came first, and thus, he had to step up his research with Saito.
Then a flash of genius overcame him.
Saito was still attached to his body and not the body of Rockman. He just needed to make the switch!
Maybe destroying the body of flesh would let his specimen migrate to the body made of electricity and sound! And he would have to awkwardly explain why his electricity bill was so high, nor why he had to have medical supplies shipped in every month. And he would finally get one over Shuuseki.
Oh sure, so he managed to get a Navi wife, ineffectually breed her and stuff her in a Pet. And then pass her disappearance as a sudden death due to a mystery illness.
Amateur, Yuichiro's goal was to digitize a human mind and consciousness to make a new NetNavi, the next step in human evolution. Not to make them slaves.
they were too temperamental for that.
And then, an unexpected windfall. Subject X came back. In his full armour and looking healthier than ever. And he got caught along with Forte. The second strongest Net-Navi in existence.
Now, this was perfect. Since Yuichiro had potentially two, or even more if he could get X's mate and offspring to cooperate for the greater good and Cossack's Son...
Oh the new batch of DNA would make some powerful Navi's, And give him enough material to inseminate whatever he wanted. and even if the best of Scilab's scientists would fail his task, the zennies he would make out of it would be enough to bribe everyone needed to get out of trouble and live the rest of his life on a private island... Cattlox, if he remembers correctly.
And then... Forte decided to once again remind Yuichiro why he was considered the worst menace to society. This used to be a security testing Navi, meaning that, if there was a flaw somewhere, the ass would exploit it without remorse.
And he did, copying the entirety of Yuichiro's computer. And threatening him with unfortunate exposition...
Now... Yuichiro could have easily called Forte on his bluff and extracted whatever Data he could from subject X. (the only Data they'd managed to gather from the Fae had been biological in nature. So to have digital data from a digital being! Oh, his inner scientist was practically salivating at the thought.) but... the risk simply wasn't worth the reward, especially since he'd heard rumours that Netto, the healthy twin, was starting to get ill more often, and his Physical class was showing that his blood pressure was not as it was supposed to be...
No... he had to get out of there, destroy his old test subject and...
Well, to destroy X and Forte... Forte was known to return from deletion and full deletion.
And thus, Yuichiro, being the coward he was, decided that, in the end, this venture had not been worth it. And thus, he cut off Saito's life support and ran away, not even bothering to turn off the computer subject X and Forte were in.
Instead, he went outside the hidden room, went to his other, more legal computer and sent his already written two-week notice to his boss. (He'd already forgotten his name. Oh, wait, it was mister Famous... well he hoped mister Famous won't mind being thrown under a proverbial bus, he knows he doesn't.) and, looking at the door behind him, gently and nonchalantly began his walk to freedom.
No one will stop him, and if they do, then he only has to say that it's his son's birthday soon, and, for once, wants to spend it with his family.
And thus, he walked, counting the time it would take for Saito's body to finally die and for Forte to break out of the computer with Subject X. And so far, he would be able to make it to a taxi and probably to the plane before the authorities get their collective asses in gear.
It was perfect, foolproof almost.
Unfortunately for him, Yuichiro had not thought to include a literal act of God in the variable.
As he turned the corner, approaching his ride to freedom, he nearly bumped into Netto.
Both adult and child let out a surprised yelp, Netto holding his heart as he gasped and wheezed for breath. and yet didn't keel over despite how sick he looked. (Riiiight, Subject X's DNA was imperfect, yet another reason to ditch the flawed specimen, it was such a shame that he would not be able to harvest anything from Forte Either, since the Russian specimen was impossible to control and break.)
"Hey! Dad!" Netto wheezed, and Yuichiro shamelessly hoped his heart would give up right here and there, he didn't need any witnesses. "Where... Where are you... Going?"
"Oh, I'm... ah..."
"Are you going home?"
"Yes! Yes, I'm..." Yuichiro sputtered. "I'm going home and I... I will make dinner so your mother won't have to work overtime again."
Netto narrowed his eyes, and Yuichiro felt his heart stop.
"Dad... don't lie to me, where are you going?" Netto asked with balled-up fists. " You never return home, you never bother, not even for me and mom's birthday, not even for Saito's funeral and anniversary."
Cold dread clawed its way up Yuichiro's back.
In his fear-dazed state, he could barely hear his second specimen slur something along the lines of 'Where is he?'
This... acted like the trigger it was, and Yuichiro rejected all pretext to have any affection for this boy.
He roughly punched him in the middle of the chest, knowing that this would be all that was needed to stop Netto's heart. And, not bothering to look back, he fled the site of the crime.
He'd never killed anyone in his life, he'd never thought his first kill was a boy who had once called him dad...
But not even his regrets would stop him from leaving this place...
And not even God would help him escape from them.
~0~
"NETTO!" Bhuta screamed as he tried to claw his way out of the P.E.T his family was inhabiting, his own wail buried by Prometheus's own. "Mom! MOM~~"
"Shit... Shit... Oh Krishna, please help us." The imposing Queen of the under web shamelessly cursed as she used her viral attribute to scoure the PET's code, trying to find a back door, an exit... a bad line of code, anything that would let her and her kids exit the damn contraption and assist Netto.
And yet, the assembled Devotees also knew not to get their hopes up. Krishna was not there to order, and while He loved to serve his Servants in all manners, Krishna's will was also supreme.
If Krishna wanted their Parikshita to live, then nothing would kill him, not even time.
But if Krishna wanted Netto, the spirit soul inside Netto to leave his current shell and gain a new body...
then no one could stop Him.
Outside the PET, they could hear the young boy gasping for breath, hell, they could practically hear the arrhythmia.
"Mama..." Haripriya began as she held Lavanga, both had tear-filled eyes. In front of the screen, Prometheus kneeled with his palms pressed together, desperately praying to God to save his little brother.
"Start Kritana." Maya spoke with Finality.
They were stuck in the PET, at least, until someone plugged it in.
And, since Netto would have died under suspicious circumstances, they would have to play witness and escape before they were deleted.
Or worse...
"Oh Krishna." The fearsome woman felt tears filling her eyes as Partha-Sharathi began leading the kirtana, his loud and boisterous voice clear despite his clear sorrow. Lavanga, Haripriya and Bhuta followed.
Prometheus's voice had choked up long ago, and Moiya's own would not cooperate.
'I'm a death doula and a Hare Krishna, I should be able to chant for him...' But how could she, when her entire family was at risk.
'No... not my entire family, Krishna's family.'
And then... she felt it, an electrical current that pulsed harder and stronger, it was as if Netto's sick heart was giving one last hurrah.
If she would have been outside the twice damned Fae trap, she would have borne witness to electricity crackling as Netto's body switched from Human to Navi, his emblem pulsing in time with his sick heart... and Saito's heart.
And after a flash, Netto and the Fae's in his PET were gone.
~0~
"Fuuuuuck~" Forte muttered as he ran through codes after codes after codes looking for a breach, a cinch in the armour, a pinhole, anything that would let him break out, and drag X out of his PTSD induced funk...
And get to Saito... Roku, now suffocating in his goddamn casket.
He could literally feel his heartbeat through the metallic box, growing weaker and weaker as the second ticked by...
'Hey... wait a minute. How come I can hear his heartbeat?' But before Forte can waste more time trying to figure out something like that, light floods the dark room, and a second heartbeat, one as reedy and sick and Saito appear.
When Forte and X's eyes could finally see again, both fathers felt their hearts stop.
It was Netto... and he looked as pale as death itself, his lips a worrying shade of blue. wearing the modified green version of Rockman's armour.
He heard X gasp, tears pouring from his eyes at the sight. His whole body was shaking... and it was for another reason then PTSD.
"N... Netto? Netto, what the hell happened to you?" Forte roared from inside his trap. "C'mon kid, don't-" 'Don't die on us too!' His voice choked as the reality of the situation crashed over him like a solar wave.
Netto got to his feet and painfully made his way to the computer where Forte and the weeping X were stuck in.
He fell to his knees and began to wretch.
Forte watched helplessly as the boy who, not even six months ago, kept foiling his plan, now reduced to an ill child...
It was wrong...
It was so wrong.
Beside him, X had folded his palms and was fervently praying to his God, to Hare, Krishna and Rama.
And Forte... did the same... but without the folding palm thing of the eye closing. Oh no, the Herald of Darkness didn't want to rip his eyes away from the ailing Hero.
There was nothing he could do... save use his voice.
"OI! NETTO!" He screamed out, feeling like his heart was about to burst through his throat. "Don't let that shit get to you! You defeated me Kid, you roasted Alpha wiped the floor with Wily and smacked my bitch Gospel hard enough that it's now playing Nanni Dog with your brother (Oh God! How will Metty and Gospel react... Oh Saito, please live.). Don't let that shit Kill you, you hear me!"
Netto sat back on his heel, Whipping his mouth with the back of his sleeve, the fire determination burning brightly in his eyes despite his state of near death.
In the back of his CPU, Forte wondered how Netto managed to... teleport here, it wasn't like he was a Navi... right?
But then… he now read as one.
The ailing boy tried to get to his feet, but no energy was left in him to move his heavy limbs.
Beside him, X kept repeating the Maha-Mantra as tears poured from his eyes. And unbeknownst to the herald of darkness, so were the Navi's in Netto's PET.
The boy kept crawling closer and closer to the trapped computer, every movement leaving him breathless as cold sweat poured from his forehead, he looked to be right about to collapse, never to get up again.
"NETTO! NETTO, KEEP GOING! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR PLAN IS-"
Netto sat back on his knees and managed to pull out his PET and plugged it in the trap machine, codes strolling by as the Navi's were uploaded from the dinky little machine to the hellhole.
Forte was about to blow a gasket at the kid when he realized that this was all he could do at the moment.
He was in no way, shape or form able to go look for a hidden jack in one of the machines.
Suddenly, Forte and X were shoved to the side as data cubes loaded in the holding cell... six of them, to be precise. 'Holy crap, how the hell did they manage to fit everyone in there?' He gaped at the sight.
The six figures, the herald, knew them well. They were being whispered about in the dark web.
The Harpy was there, the carrier of messages, the Data-thief and the destroyer of so many scams and dark dealing.
The Dragon, the destroyer of miscreants and warmer of heart. The heroic Navi looked terrifying on the battlefield, but his burning shots would turn warm for those he would rescue.
The Fairy-Mermaid, the dredger of the dept and Data-retriever. Rumour had it that the girl could swim in the Ocean of Corruption unharmed, and had the amazing ability to recover and restore whatever systems had been lost.
The Phantom, the Ghost. Nothing was known about him, only that there was a slight chance that he was but a myth, a hacker from another planet who could enter any network, and steal whatever file he so desired.
Then there was the reaper... the scourge of the underworld, He who hunted the hunted.
Forte had the Misfortune of meeting him once...
And yes, the world's strongest Navi had chosen to remain a hidden element, the guy and his sister had this... insane energy, this killing intent that practically took a physical form. And it made Forte realize that... he had to grind a whole lot more if he wished to be able to face them.
And then...
Forte felt his entire mainframe freeze at the imposing form looming over them all. Her colouring was mostly black and red, her golden mane floating behind her, being carried by the waves of viral energy pouring from her.
Her eyes had this... otherworldly glow, the coat that floated about her hips were giving the already imposing system an even more awesome presence, and her wings...
They looked like demon wings like Shademan had... but Forte knew those were more than fancy anti-gravity programs.
They had the same algorithm as the Alpha build...
"You... are The Omega 00.02 Zetta," he whispered in awe.
The fearsome woman, the mother of all Viruses, spared nary a glance at the Herald of Darkness. If he wasn't stuck in a bind, He would be worshipping the ground she walked on.
"Harini, Lava!" She snapped like the commander she was, the primal data flowing from her mirroring her emotions. "Harini, I want you to fly as fast as you can and Alert Dalcini and her Husband Dharma. Tell them that we have another HBD case and he's crashing, and mess whatever you see about Hikari Yuichiro."
"Yes, Mom!"
"Lava! Freeze whatever bank account and computer this poor excuse of a human being has, don't let him out of your sight."
"Yes, Maya!"
As she kept giving orders to her kids like a general, or the best of Queens, Forte realized that her mere presence was filling the computer with viral data, essentially making the trap her own fortress.
Then he felt the internet reconnecting with this particular terminal. the Omega program had done the impossible... this was supposed to be only one way.) And the two girls left as figures of lights. Not even bothering with walking.
"Forte!"
"Yes, Ma'am." He snapped an uncharacteristic salute.
He didn't have any choice, this woman simply commanded respect. She was... she was Omega, the last stage, the ultimate one…
First came Alpha, then finally Omega.
A and Z.
Sure Forte was scary and powerful, especially with his ability get but...
This Navi... The Omega Navi... She had no abilities, no special thing save for being Her and controlling the viral source Code...
That's what Serenade had told him when Forte had mockingly asked the wielder of Masamune if he could meet this Mercy to beat them up and take this power for himself.
Serenade had given him this look, this smug look that implied a knight humouring a pauper at a jousting game desiring against his King.
He had told him that Maya would face when she deigned to give the herald some of her ever so precious time...
Maya was Mercy... and Mercy just so happened to be the Omega to Alpha... the one they had lost. The one who was taken.
"Forte!" Mercy barked. " Don't have a frigging meltdown on me." Her words were like the sound of a whip. " I need you... I need you to close your eyes. I'm about to blow this computer up."
"WAIT!WHAT!"
But Maya did not wait. She grabbed her Traumatized Husband, sheltered her last three kids in her wings and Overwhelmed the computer with pure viral energy.
The Herald of darkness barely had time to shutter his eyes and cover his audio receptors as he clung to her for dear cyberlife. He felt himself being shifted, pulled away through some sort of ultra-thick jelly and...
the smell.
Oh dear God (Krishna, Rama, Gaura whatever They want to be called at the moment.) The smell was stomach-churning, and from the sound of the Viral queen and her mate, they were of the same mind as well.
It smelled... Forte had no reference, but something dead and bleached could be it...
And it came from the coffin-like box Roku's body was in.
He rushed to it, mildly aware that Prometheus was at Netto's side, cutting away his shirt and coat.
He looked so pale... practically dead.
Deep in his heart in the little cozy hole his Son had dug from the ashes of betrayal, Forte Prayed to Roku's God that...
That both would make it out.
~0~
Prometheus had a shit life...
His mother had disappeared one day, leaving them with a man that had called himself their father.
That man had then proceeded to change then, modify him and his sister to be turned into the herald of Omega, the God of destruction.
His training consisted of abuse, pain and starvation. And the only reason why Prometheus was alive was because his little sister had made friends with a Mama Fae (The actual Omega, a really sweet mama this one) and her husband ... and then had committed suicide so Prometheus would not cook himself to death due to a fever.
Yeah... knowing his dear sister's body was swinging in the wind had done wonders for him... like, he really did want to follow her since, you know, he would have to face his... dad, alone and who knows what the Sicko would've done with Pandora's body?
Better not to think about it again.
Then he was saved from the brink of death, he didn't remember anything about the hospital, not the shrink, and even less about the lawyer and the CPS... but he did remember Maya and Eka, and their four kids.
Cute little shit that broke down all of his walls just to give him hope.
Eka became his dad, and Moiya...
Moiya was the mother he wished he had... and he had five siblings to help him cope.
And they were relentless. Even if it was just one of them quietly sitting in Prometheus' room, reading or quietly chatting, they made sure their new big bro would not feel alone as he dealt with everything that happened to him.
It's not hard to see that it had been a smooth road, especially with all the uncertainty about whether or not Moiya really was about to rebirth his sister.
And then... eleven-month after Pandora's life-saving suicide, he came home to see his nosy neighbour sleeping beside Moiya and a pair of tiny newborns.
And after his foster mother explained the situation, Prometheus unofficially took their tiny stalker as his new baby brother.
Seriously, the small fry saved the world more times than any adult, he was a bad-ass...
Now, this badass was fighting for his life. And Prometheus was once more watching a sibling's steady walk toward death.
He intellectually knew that Netto would change his body, and like his sister, he would take birth again and they would have to deal with a dead body, his grieving mother and...
and he would lose another sibling...
'No, no, FUCK NO!' Whether he cursed aloud or in the privacy of his mind was not his problem. Prometheus had done his homework, having learned under the tutelage of Damodhara Prabhu, Bhuta and Eka's doctor back in the holy Dham.
He dragged Netto away from the cluster of wires he was one and away from Moiya and the still shaking Eka, his Foster mom knew how to deal with a panic attack.
In his peripheral vision and hearing, he could hear little Bhuta chanting and praying to God. He had dropped his armour since...
Well, there was still a chance of his own heart failing, so, for everyone's sake, Bubu had to chill or else.
Prometheus grabbed Netto's discarded PET and, taking the half-fried cable (not good.) and, after a brief inspection, came to the (godly) realization that only the plug and five centimetres had burned off.
He ripped that out and striped the healthy wire down. Then, wrapping it in his highly conductive hair, made a sort of long, thin needle.
Prometheus connected to the external hardware using a different stand and, after hacking the portable computer, turned it into an electrocardiogram for the fae.
Then, he cut away Netto's shirt, having already opened his coat... and after sending a prayer to God and an apology for what he was about to do.
He took the long needle... and plunged it in Netto's pulse node at the top of his heart, essentially stabbing him.
His little brother made a sound of pain, and Prometheus was surprised he was not screaming his lungs off.
But then... this was Netto, and Netto was not a fragile human.
Still, the look of pain that crossed his pale face broke Prometheus' mended heart all over again.
"It's OK, Ototo... It's alright, I'm here. Where here... just keep breathing for me." The grim-reaper like Fae begged as he gently hugged the younger boy. Trying to convey how much he adored him.
But... he also knew that he was the only one who could even give him a chance to continue living, at least, until Dalcini arrived.
He could hear Forte curse and rage as he tried to figure out Rockman's coffin. From where he stood, the thing didn't have an oblivious way to open it.
Not that he had the time to really look into it, for at the moment, Prometheus' one and only concern was to keep Netto alive as long as possible until Hari-Priya came back with their Doctor in tow.
If a cardiologist would scrutinize what was on, they would see the HBD... and not much else.
But for Prometheus, what was on the screen was the last thing he wanted to see in one of his siblings, let alone in Netto.
His heart... and his Prana was scrolling down, he would not live long.
Cursing under his breath, Prometheus went through his chip folder and took the highest level healing he had. Hopefully, it would stall down the cascade.
Netto let out a whimper as tears flowed from his dulling eyes.
Oh, this would not do...
'But you can't stop death, Prometheus.' He heard Ekachakra warn him in his heart. 'Doctors can't save their patience, Boats in the oceans can't save drowning men, and no parents can stop the death of their child.'
A chill covered Prometheus' burning hot body... this was a reminder.
He would fight to keep Netto's life running until nothing else could be done for him... and if it came to that.
Detachment, Detachment... and even more detachment.
Still, he now had to do his best and leave everything up to Krishna. And Truth be told...
Truth be told, Prometheus was not strong enough for that, so he prayed and hoped that Netto would live another day... otherwise...
He activated the healing chip, expecting to see Netto's life number rise up...
Only to receive an error message.
ERROR_403. UNABLE TO USE: FULL SYNCRO IN EFFECT. PLEASE APPLY TO UNIT ONE AND UNIT TWO.
Prometheus had not the slitghtest of hint as to what it meant, and instead, felt his heart plummet.
That is until Forte roared like a lion and ripped Saito's coffin lid off realisng a stench so bad, he forgot to breath and freeing a kid… Rockmans true form from it's embrace. And activated his own healing ability.
~0~
This was a nightmare... worse than what he could think after a night of intoxication.
His Roku was there, in this Goddamned Box. The hub light was closed, meaning that the suicide of the death trap was as dark as Forte's soul before he'd met Saito...
no, before He'd Met Rockman and Netto.
Before he got another goal then just destruction.
Before he found Miss Haruka's picture in the ATM... and Before he knew she was a real person.
As he looked everywhere for a way to open the damn box, Forte could not help but frantically pray to God not to lose his Godling, to let his Roku die like this.
This was and his NETop Netto. Those were two amazing warriors, saviours of the world... the only place they had the right to expire was on a battlefield, or better yet, from old age, surrounded by their loved ones...
Not... like this.
The Darkness in Forte's lightened heart crawled forward. Would Netto and Roku get deleted...
There would be nothing to stop Forte from falling back into his old habit.
'And how about Metty and Gospel? How would they react? How the hell am I supposed to tell them my son's-" He could not even finish his phrase. The thought was too horrible for him to even consider.
But he still did...
rage built up in his heart, and in a show of wrath and desperation fuelled by the loss of two children, Forte ripped the lid apart.
He was Forte, His strenght and power knew no bound.
Once the lid was off, water and a terrible stench poured out of the cursed container, and despite the low light in the room (no wonder Yuichiro was always wearing glasses.), the sight that was revealed to him broke him.
It was... a child. So small, so thin and pale. His skin is practically translucent. His limbs were twig-like and he was covered with wires and tubes everywhere. One was piercing his lower gut, one was going down his throat and one was down his nose. He had wires stuck to his chest and his whisp-like hair. Brown hair the same hue as Netto's own.
It was Saito... it was his Roku in the flesh, his Godling... his boy. Cloudy water was covering him, and his chest was all too still.
In a desperation only parents knew, Forte practically dove in and yanked his Roku out of his watery grave and removed the useless tube for his mouth.
Whatever damage he had done would be for future Forte to deal with and moan over... right now, he needed to get his boy to breathe again.
The tear-laden face of Haruka, the heartbroken Metty, Gospel's mournful howls...
'God, no... I won't let it happen... he can't, he can't die like this!" He mumbled as he accessed his ability hoard, picking as many healing ones and activating them simultaneously, only to come across a stumbling block.
Apparently, because Netto and Roku were in full Syncro, they have to be healed together.
He takes one able to let him know what's happening to his back, The reapers looking at Forte with a look of deep despair as he holds Netto... the poor boy won't last long.
"Reaper, on three, heal!"
"Got it!"
"Three!" Forte wanted to say one, but... His boys were out of time.
Thankfully, the reaper was so high-strung that the moment the word was spoken, he activated the powerful healing chip, at the same time Forte activated his ability.
Light filled the room, rivalling with Maya's viral glow.
It didn't take too long for the whole place to fall to darkness again, but He could feel Roku's health was... not as worrying.
For now.
His boy even opened his eyes... at the same time as Netto.
Then in one voice, looking at Forte, both spoke.
"ℙ? ﾝﾕﾡ?"
...
If Forte burst into tears, it was not spoken of for years to come.