Papa Bass. 12
—-
They were all back at Moya's place… somehow.
The kids were all back too, even the fairy-mermaid and the Harpy.
They were safe… but it was clear that they didn't manage to catch Yuichiro, not with how tearful La… The blue one and angry the green one was.
(Yes, Forte could see her tear. And to be honest, he felt like tearing up too.)
For one, He was not in Cyber-space anymore. He was one of the Faes, a lost one… a powerful one.
He was neither a program nor a human. He was other.
He was a cyber-fae, a being that was so subtle, it could use radiowaves for everything.
And he was… They could be easily subdued with CHips and more waves.
The Family… Maya was the… She was the source of Serenade's power.
Rumour has it that she was the mother of all viruses, and, in Forte's opinion, calling Omega Zero, the Matrix, a mere rumour?
Yeah, so whoever started that was about to receive Forte's fist in his teeth.
Since… you know… the Herald of Darkness was now slumped on their family's couch, questioning everything he knew about himself, Net-Navis, his dad and whether or not Eka was the Legendary X…
Stupid, of course, he was… not only was he the source of all Net-Navis… but all net Navis were basically his illegitimate children…
Born of his…
Forte never felt this sick in his life, and it was not because Moiya's home smelled like blood and soon-to-be teenagers, it was not because net-navi's younger then Forte's were basically born of an illegal greeting program (he was not one of those poor souls illusioned in thinking they were slaves to humans… alright, maybe he was). But because it was the smell of Netto and Roku's lifeblood! (on top of it all!)
Forte closed his eyes and got to the closed curtains., he wanted to go out, to escape, for his life to return to normal…
But those flimsy curtains were now stronger then the strongest of firewalls… not that Forte could not break through them but…
No one wanted any fragile humans to come knocking at their door and be face to face with one mentally messed up and emotionally vulnerable Herald of Darkness…
Instead, he returns to… how he's not so the normal day turned to shit, and then… the rescue mission.
After Forte and Prometheus had managed to stabilize both of his k- the two net Saviors. The very much afflicted Eka then showed that, despite having a meltdown, a mere blast-proof door could do nothing against his hacking expertise.
Really, if Forte was not holding the original body of his dying son, more fragile then an old temp file from an obsolete coding language, he would have been thoroughly impressed.
He was still impressed, by the way… since, at this moment, the most powerful Navi in the world felt weaker then a Metaur.
"Aw, shift." he had to warn Metty and Gospel of the new development… 'Wait… does Haruka knows? Shift and enter how will she react? Where is she right now? Is she safe? Is she alone? Oh God, I hope not. She must know what happened with Netto and Saito, I heard Maya speak on the phone. Shift, Shift, Shift!' The herald of darkness got up and he began pacing back and forth in the living room. He could not escape to the cyberworld, since the little ghost had unplugged the TV the moment Dalshini and her husband slipped through he screen and went down to the basement, giving everyone the order not to come down until they were out and the twins were stabilized.
Forte shuddered. He had no idea what a destabilized human would act… he only knew what would happen to a Net -Navi.
Deletion when they could not it together, literally, fragmentation on the source code level…
He'd seen it happen… hex, he had been the cause of this.
Once again, Forte felt sick, but since he'd never eaten food, there was nothing to eject.
Still… to think that his son, his little Roku was destabilized… that he was… dying!
He was dying… along with his brother Netto… They would die… just like that.
No big fight, no adrenaline rush… no glories at all.
Netto and Saito would die due to a defect… a fucking defect…
At this moment, Forte wanted to cry, rage, destroy Akihabara and curl himself into a miserable little ball in the middle of the room and weep.
How was he supposed to process all of those emotions? How was he supposed to stay sane!
He wanted to sit down, but the moment he did, he felt jittering and too hot, so he got up, but once up, he began to pace, and he wanted to curl under the coffee table, break the damn thing and throw it out the window, he wanted- He wanted!
Suddenly, one of Maya's twerps ran to the door… and Forte Noticed that Someone was out there.
Who was it? The net police? Some other authority?
Lavanga opened the door… it was some pink-haired dude with a pinch walking in with a basket full of fruits. And behind him was…
Haruka.
She looked horrible, her eyes red and puffy she wore a different shirt and a pair of flannel pants instead of her iconic skirt. Her hair was unkempt and she wore no make-up…
Their eyes fell on Forte, and the Herald of darkness stiffen.
What the hell was he supposed to do? He could not attack them, he could not run since all electronics were turned off to save on the bandwidth, and he didn't want t move away from Saito and Netto… his little Roku and the best damn human ever to walk the earth.
There, he said it.
Sure, Netto had this annoying habit of messing up Forte's plan, and he'd almost destroyed the world once on accident but…
The kid had guts. He was brave yet not foolhardy. Still, he was still young and made plenty of mistakes, and was sometimes feisty and had yet to feel the sting of betrayal… but…
His grim taught were interrupted when he felt a teary missile hit him on the chest.
Now, Forte was used to carrying the tiny and barely-there Roku on his hip, he was used to his ghostly hugs and even a few innocent kisses on his cheeks… but mostly, the dark Navi was used to hits and buster shots… not a hug.
And definitely, not a hug from Haruka, the woman he thought was out of his reach.
'This means nothing, Forte. This means nothing at all.' The Herald of Darkness reminded himself as he wrapped his powerful arms around the delicate woman…
Well, delicate, the theme was rather misleading since she had… muscles under there.
It was clear that Haruka was doing more then just cleaning around the house, or that house chores were the most intense exercise on the planet.
Still, to feel something wrapped around him, the heat of another body… the blood pumping through her veins, the hitching breath, her strong heartbeat… her warmth.
It was so unlike the tiny ice cube he had held on the way here.
Despite his desires to remain strong and unfeeling… his emotions had another plan.
Like making him remember how limp and cold Roku was in his arms, a sharp contrast to the little ball of sunshine who illegally uploaded himself in his stone-cold electro heart, infecting him with the positive virus.
He was about to… he was…
Aeolus and his daughters walked in unnoticed by the two parents, for they were too busy crying out their pain.
~0~
Hours went by as Forte and Haruka sat on the couch, holding on to one another as they waited for the surgery to end. They ended up talking about Roku and Netto.
And Admittedly, Forte didn't have the same relationship Haruka-chan had with Netto, for she knew her son… both of them, for well over twelve years. While Forte only knew them for a few months.
Still… the attachment was still there, and the Herald of Darkness could not help but feel as attached to those two as if he's lived with them for that long.
"Wait… he ate how much?" Forte asked with a chuckle, his mind, for once, away from what was happening to the two teens downs the stairs and instead, in the process of falling in love with three persons at the same time.
"He ate an entire roast, half of the biscuits and all the oven-backed char… and he still had place for dessert." Haruka retold her favourite story about her son and how she should have known he was not human.
Humans' gut capacity didn't exceed two litres, what to say about a six-year-old.
"Huh… you know, I did human would grow obese when overeating but… Netto's always looked a bit skinny." Forte spoke up, feeling better now that he had a warm body, a live body pressed to his side and not… you know.
'No, don't think about it… don't think about it… you'll burn this bridge when you'll arrive, not before…" He kept telling himself as he did everything in his power to be distracted about what was happening in the basement.
"Yes… Moiya told me it was a mix of inadequate power source and… his heart." Haruka lowered her eyes, more tears threatening to fall and stain her shirt. " This, his ability to absorb radiation, his ability to synchronize with Rokuman." She sobbed again and the towering Navi brought her to his side, for comfort…
Of course, at the state they were, who was comforting who.
"I should've known… I should've known something was going on." She sniffled and Forte gave her yet another tissue, amazed at how wasteful they were.
The tissues, not Haruka.
"The way Hikari-san would measure them, the way his doctor friend would come over…" She sobbed. "He killed them… he killed my babies…"
'He killed mine too.'
And thus, the two crushed parents comforted each other.
~0~
Hour ten passed, Moiya, with the help of Partha, was cooking dinner while Haruka was watching over Asha and Shreya.
Lavanga, Bhutashvara and Hari-Priya were on their ridiculously overpowered laptop, literally plugged into them as they talked about how to take down Hikari san-and sci-lab… and why not their rivals too.
Really, those three, despite being the most spiritually inclined tweens he'd met, were scary when they put their heads together.
"If he still lives, then he can still hurt Papa." Hari-Priya had spoken simply. "Krishna can take care of the bad guy… but it doesn't mean we can't offer our help."
"Yes, but you are still children, and children should not have to deal with hunting down a bad man when their brothers are undergoing surgery." Moyia chided from he kitchen. "Besides, from what I've heard from Sangita, this man is now outside our reach."
"But not God's reach," Bhuta muttered darkly.
"Yes… but you shouldn't act like that Bhuta, we should not wish harm on anyone."
"Mom… I heard you plan his murder." Lavanga deadpanned.
…
Moiya cough. "Right… well who said I was a saint…" She muttered as she returned to her cooking pots. "But I don't think pursuing this man will lead to anything. I know you two have already destroyed his online reputation in such a way that nothing will ever make it better… but we can't lose ourselves in a quest for vengeance."
"But Mama~" Hari Chirped. "Were not doing this for ourselves! We are doing this for Netto, Saito and papa!"
"I need some air," Forte spoke as he got up from the couch. It may be his first time in an actual house… and already, it felt stifling.
"You can't get to the net yet." Moiya, Mercy warned.
"I know."
"But… I'm not sure but, why don't you go to my hubbies room and reboot out of your Navi-vesha and see what would fit you." The blond woman addressed the dark Navi.
Forte raised a brow. "Reboot?"
"Well yeah, like what we did once we were out of the net." She tapped the centre of her chest meaningfully. "Like that… and you say 'reboot!'"
"Why?"
"Voice activation, can you imagine accidentally 'booting' in public? Or in the middle of a fight?"
"Yeah, that would suck," Forte admitted with a snort, the Image of Moiya (who was essentially topless under her sari due to feeding issues with her two babies.) dropping her fearsome attire to be a housewife in the heat of battle was hilarious…
But it would be better with Haruka protecting her kids from her ex with a Gatling gun…
"Yeah… I need to get my head cleared.' Forte thought as he massaged the bridge of his nose.
"Forte?" Haruka asked.
"It's… alright. Just tired…"
"And probably hungry."
"Partha, you're always hungry." Lavanga shot back.
Taking this opportunity, Forte climbed up the stair, resolutely ignoring the sound of a simultaneous heart surgery happening in the basement and all but ran up the stairs and to Eka's room.
The afflicted Fae was not there, for he had many people to contact to try to stop Hikari-san. And, as he had told Forte, he wanted to do something other then just wallowing in the past or fretting about the future.
It was all in God's capable hands, after all, he just needed to be a willing puppet for Him.
Good for him. Forte was definitely not ready to surrender to something he could not see or speak, let alone defeat.
Ekachakra's room (Apparently, he and his wife slept in a different part of the house, Moiya having taken the basement because it was cooler and she was a creature of darkness… his words, not his.) was… very clean and yet still felt lived in.
There was a dresser, a commode and… a futon on the ground.
There was a makeshift nightstand and on it was a red, leather-bound book (fake leather since those guys were all vegetarian and worshiped the cow also with God.) with golden decorations. There was one of those portable reading lamps that could be used as a desk lamp, a simple chair… and that was it.
It was… well, by the smell, (so that was the use of his nose.) he knew Eka-san was sleeping there, but he didn't keep anything there that indicated that fact.
It was… it felt like entering someplace sacred…
After forcing his legs to move, the Herald of darkness closed the door behind him and leaned back on it…
This… had not been how he imagined his day to go…
Well, he expected more meetings and playdates with the Lovely Haruka (way better then what Forte had imagined at his loneliest.
She was soft and sweet, she had a heart of Gold and her way to show her love and support was through cooking. She was also rather simple, and her attempt at Vigilantism was really Lumine keeping her safe.
But… was it bad that Haruka was a simple housewife? Was it bad that she didn't pop out from the bunch?
She may be Generic to some… but she was still unique in her own way.
She loved her sons as a normal woman would. She cared for them the same also.
Haruka was not plain or boring, no, she was normal.
And there was nothing wrong with that, and Forte… found it attractive.
Forte found a normal, everyday woman attractive.
Something caught his eyes, it was a mirror.
He'd never seen his reflection in the past… and he had to admit.
…
He looked extremely out of place with his black body, his unwieldy helmet, his purple-red eyes and his…
Shorten cap…
"Look! Papa! I look like you now!" Roku chirped as he showed himself off.
Forte sat heavily in the chair as he clutched his…
Heart… Forte had a legitimate heart.
It was the freakiest thing ever… to have something that pumped blood, an actual organ.
Funny, the moment he had it… it was already broken.
The dark… Navi? Cyber-Fae aggressively shook his head and jumped to his feet. "No, get it together forte, this is Rockman and Netto, it's not some heart problem that will keep them down. And I'm sure I can find my way through he afterlife to get them back! Yeah!" He cheered himself…
And then he realized that he was definitely not alone… not with the sound of life that floated from the lower living space.
"Right… right… rebooting." Forte muttered as he removed his cloak, and stared at his emblem.
The sign of the cut was… it was still there, but his emblem was whole.
He touched it… it was the Cossack Family emblem.
He belonged to the Cossack family, an ancient line from Russia, from Cremia.
He used to hate it… he used to hate seeing his emblem, the mark that he was used and lied to my this heartless man.
He sneered. Oh, how he wished to rip it out and throw it in the trash bin.
And yet… This was one of Roku's gifts.
Roku had been the one who fixed it.
Forte touched the healed-up gash as he remembered his little boy's hands on it, his sweet, innocent kiss… his playing with Gospel and Metty.
Forte shook his head and-
"Yo, Forte Prabhu-" Prometheus suddenly opened the dorm "Mom sent me to tell you that you need to ap your emblem twice and call 'reboot'. She said the declarations are not important, it just sounds cool… but it can put you in the right mindset… and she told me to help you if you need any help-"
"I don't need any Help!" Forte snapped as he hid his emblem, feeling absolutely naked without his cloak. "Just shut the damn door and let me deal with this… alright?"
"... Yeah, sure. Sorry, I…" Propmethsu fidgeted."I'm worried for those two…"
"Wait… didn't you stay with Dalcini and her Husband?" Forte asked, fearing the worst.
"Yeah, I did," Prometheus said, a haunted look maring his eyes. "Nothing's wrong, the Surgeries going well,, they… are right it, re-tracing their heart with the medical alloy…" The mint green quickly assured. "It's just… in medicine, they always tell you that… they tell you to never deal with a friend or a family member, same with the autopsies."
"Oh…"
"Yeah… It was rough." The younger man rasped. "I'll give you some privacy, yell if you need help."
Forte grunted as he waited for the door to close.
Once alone again, the Dark Navi looked down to his emblem… and tapped it twice.
Nothing happened.
"Ok then…" He mumbled as he tried again, this time, with a magic word. "Reboo-"
A thousand memories of his past flooded him, his mother, her hair teal and curly, his father, a normal man with a passion for electronics.
He had a sister… Kalika.
He loved his sister… and he loved his family, and his family loved him back.
People, bad people had found them… they were living in the middle of the wood with very little contact with he outside.
They took his mother, calling her 'Alpha'.
But this was wrong… her name was Marina Cossack, and she was a Fairy.
An awesome fairy that could fight bears and steal from the rich. She was flirty, fun and oh so loving and caring.
He loved his mother.
And she was gone… as with his sister.
His sister had fallen to a stray bullet, and his mother, in her grief, had attacked their pursuer, giving his dad the opportunity to run away with his precious son.
His only family left.
After that, they lived in Siberia as far away from civilization as possible, only going out to get medicine and food when needed, never keeping a schedule, always keeping them guessing.
Forte grew up bitter and lonely, resenting his dad for not fighting, for running away like a coward and for letting his mama and sister die.
And yet… Mikhail always had loved for his precious son.
In his teen, Forte managed to hot wire his dad's old Subaru to have fun in the nearby village.
He met a group of other teens and learned of the underground fighting rink and bars. He networked with other men and women angry at the world in general, he learned how to drink and smoke, and he learned about how to win a fight and how to get stronger, always stronger.
He decided he never wanted to return to the isolated cabin in the Siberian frostt, and instead, got himself a shitty flat with some others.
He had girlfriends, but none of them was what he was looking for, even tried man only to ask what the big fuss was about?
One day, he ran into his dad again…
He was so happy to have his precious son back and almost got to have his Pietrov back with him in the damn cabin.
But pietrov wanted nothing to do with the man. Even if he was half-starved, even if he backup a few nasties from his one night and sometimes two nightstands, even if he was dirty, his lungs burning due to the cheap cigarettes and whatever crack he managed to get his hands on.
He disappeared in an alleyway… only to be stuck on the back of the head.
He managed to catch a sight of his assailant, a man with a face hidden behind a balaclava, behind the man, his father desperately reached out, pure, unadulterated rage filled his otherwise docile eyes.
When he came too… He was Forte. And his previous memories had been wiped clean.
The first thing he saw was a tired, crying man with blond hair and a beard smiling at him.
"Hello, my precious son."
Forte once again opened his eyes and stared.
Gone was the skin-tight suit, what started back at him was… human.
He was a blond man who looked of undetermined age, but it was clear he was no teenager.
He wore ripped jeans with a dark thermal suit to keep him warm. A black shirt with he name of a trashy band he could remember nothing about rested under a sheep skin, bomber jacket.
He wore ear stretchers and, where were those spike goggles?
But it was his face and eyes that really caught his attention.
If he would wear a beard, he would look like his father. Even his eyes were the same.
The one thing Forte tough was how… dated everything looked. 'I look like a weird teenage robot from Russia.' he thought with a sneer.
The next was…
"Holy shift… I look so outdated," he whispered as he moved closer, trying not to think too much about how…
About how he truly was the son of Mikhail Cossack.
'My precious son…'
My precious son…
He was…
Forte… Pietrov Cossack fell to his knees, feeling the very real pain coursing through his bones, the beating of his heart, the hair filling his lungs…
"I… I…"
"Hey… Forte?" Someone, Prometheus, called out to him, breaking Forte… Pietrov out of his major freak out.
The man (he was a man, he was… way too close to human for comfort… he could hear his heart beating in his chest, he could feel the blood-stained air fill his nose and lungs, he could feel the scratchy, unclean cloth on his skin and the ghetto stitches on his stomach.
"P… Prometheus." He stutter as he took an uneasy step toward the young man. "What… what the hell am I?"
It was so weird… to feel his pebble-filled shoes and that one hole in his sweety socks… the scratchy fabric of his unwashed shirt and…
He stank… he was thirsty, hungry, and yet his was tied in a knot over the fate of his son and…
And Netto.
His other boy…
He… if he wanted to remind his father of Roku, and enter into an actual relationship with Haruka…
And what was the deal with his memories? And his father…he had an actual father, and a mother, and he was not just another cyber-slave but-but-but-
His spiral was stopped when he felt a pair of hand-ground him. And once his visions returned, it was not Prometheus in front of him but Ekachakra.
The jovial man's lips were set in a straight line and his brows furrowed in clear worry.
Pietrov felt his heart stop… 'Oh no… no, no,no, God, please-"
"They are fine, Forte, the surgery was a success," Ekachakra assured the man standing in his room. "But… I'm worried about you. How long have you been in the net?"
"I… I don't know, long enough I forgot I was…"
" I see, and what is your name now?"
"It's Pietrov Cossack… the son of Mikhail Cossack and-"
"And a Fae…" X spoke quietly, his eyes understanding more then what mere words could carry.
"She… She got killed." Pietrov felt water flowing from his eyes. "And I… I had a sister…" And after that… he dissolved into tears.
~0~
Sometime later, Forte… Pietrov had calmed down, either that, or he ran out of tears.
Whatever he was not crying anymore…
And for the love of him, it was hard to hate himself for showing an oblivious weakness when the guy next to you managed to cry more then you… and when he tells you that it takes strength to cry.
Apparently, being Forte meant that he only felt rage (what he felt at the moment of his kidnapping and forceful conversion.) he also felt love for his father...
since, despite not wanting anything to do with this man, Pietrov still loved him.
Let's just say he no feared the moment Roku and Neto would enter adolescence... it would be bound to be... rather messy.
Nevertheless, now that he was human again, Pietrov was back at having his pre-navigating brain.
Not that it had been any good, since he'd burst his neurons with whatever booze and substance he'd managed to get from the streets of Moscow.
Still, nothing a recovery chip ( and a mild and lovely scolding from Eka.) could not Fix.
Still, he had also been advised not to depend too much on those, for healing and destroying your brain through booze and crack would eventually cause it some nasty permanent damage.
After Thast, Forte (Pietrov, his name was Pietrov.) Got he the chance to reacquaint himself with the shower... Japanese style.
He wasn't too sure or keen about the whole bucket washing thing and showering while sitting down. And while the bath looked extremely inviting, Forte (Pietrov) only wanted to get clean and get out, since there was still the Issue of his boy going through post-op.
Wich... yay, they'd made it out alive. (As if Netto and Roku would die from anything less the Forte Himself.) but now...
now what?
oh... And...
Pietrov... had a call to make.
Still, the first step was to get done, the second step was to get dressed, and the third one was to go down and face the Fae-Family as another one of their kind and...
Yeah.
Yeah, Forte... was out of his dept, and don't let him get started o the fact that he was born a half-fae... not even a full Navi!
...
Yeah, he felt like shit now. And his whole crusade to end humanity just crashed and burn further since, you know, half of him was organic and, while he was sure he could easily delete what made him human out of the sheer will, disgust and hatred... there was no way he could to that to Saito.
He could not do that...
Not anymore...
Forte sighed as he did his best to brush his hair, and tied the resulting mess in a poney tail. His face was still marked with a pair of purple lines that evoked evil tear tracks.
Urgh... he didn't want to have people think he was a weak-ass man with feelings...
But then, from what he had heard and seen from the Volnutt-Dei, having feelings and showing them didn't mean that they were a bunch of weeklings. They just knew how not to be overwhelmed during the heat of battle.
But it was OK to precess whatever crap had happened. And it was ok for a man to cry, and it was alright for a man to like soft things, and wear fancy, glittery jewelry and make-up. And it was perfectly fine for them to coo at cute things and the like.
And it was perfectly fine for to be a stay-at-home mom with... six kids.
"Yopping hell..." Forte... Pietrov cursed as she finished drying up. He felt better like a few layers had been pealed off. And yet... he felt as if he had just woken up from the Matrix and now had to relearn everything.
He grabbed a new set of cloth. A bit too small for him, but Eka had shown him how to wrap what amounted to an Indien shawl around his hips. And the long shirt was serviceable since Eka had a rather strong upper body.
Considering that his armour had a huge pair of working wings, Pietrov was less surprised by that then the fact that Mister Tear managed to bag himself the Queen of the under web.
And that the blond devil loved kids and would pass most of her day raising them with love, affection and... God-consciousness.
Once he felt less like a tourist. Pietrov walked out and down to the first floor. There, the kids were helping Moiya transform the living room into the dining room. Complete with tiny tables for them all.
Haruka was also helping... but by how she kept glancing back at the stairs leading to the basement.
After he touched the last step, Forte cleared his throat awkwardly.
Predictably, all eyes went on him.
The Kids gasped as they crowded around the Herald of Darkness, while Moyia covered her head with the top part of her saree, even going as far as to hide her arms.
Haruka, on the other hand... was openly staring at him.
Pietrov (God, it was so weird having a human name...) Felt rather flattered that this fully human woman liked what she saw.
Especially when she looked away with a faint blush staining her cheeks.
"So... I heard the surgery was over?" he asked instead. "it was..."
"A complete success, as always." The guy doctor, a guy who was so brown he was almost black. (Forte... Pietrov didn't remember his name, only the name of his wife, Dalcini.) spoke as he emerged from he basement. "now, obliviously, there will be in pain but, I have installed some painkilling programs and a boosted super-healer. They… well, I'm sure Netto will be able to wake up tomorrow and start school a week later wake up tomorrow, at the latest. If not, contact me and make sure they are securely plugged into your wall outlet... but I don't think there should be any problem since, despite how long their Anachronistic heartbeat lasted, there was very little damage."
"And how about Netto's... He was stabbed!"
"Yes, and by Prometheus' mercy, He still lives." Dharma (yeah, that was his name.) informed Haruka. "It's plain speculation at this point, but I suspect the super healing chip and Forte's healing ability did most of the work, Dalcini and I only had to fix the faulty heart trace and nodules, nothing more."
"And... how about Roku... Saito?" Forte managed to ask without demanding the answer with his buster... not that he knew how to manifest it in the real world...
or... was it the carbon world?
"and you are?" Dharma asked for neutrality.
"I'm..." The revealed Fea paused as he chewed on what he was supposed to say. "I'm Pietrov 'Forte' Cossack... and I'm Roku... Saito's Father." He sdaid wihtout faltering.
Maybe it was too soon... but he would never see Ruku as anything else but his son... same as Netto.
"ℙ? ﾝﾕﾡ?."
Dharma looked at Forte dubiously, then his gaze shifted to Haruka.
'Shit!'
And then... despite not knowing each other for that long, he felt the fully human woman latch onto his arm. "I... Pietrov and I have been dating for a few years, I had no idea he was forte, only that he saw my Sons as his own."
"Ma'am." Dharma began his lips drawn in a straight line. "You are a terrible liar."
"Not about he fact that he sees my sons... or at least, one of them, as his own son."
"I was the last Navi who was in contact with Rockman before he got hard reset after a series of fatal errors. And... I guess I'm the one who stopped him from completely desynching with his body."
Dharma made a thoughtful humm. "I see... I did notice some data was missing from him. Nothing too important, I assure you, only the vast majority of his memories." The doctor deadpanned.
Petrov's face fell in horror, feeling sick to his stomach.
"Wich has now returned to him, thanks to your quick thinking when healing him." Dharma quicly assured. "He saw you as his father, isn't it?"
Pietrov swallowed thickly, feeling a pressure build-up behind his eyes as his throat close up.
Well... that was it...
Roku was gone... it was only Saito left... or Rockman. EXE.
Dharma's face closed up, but his sorrow was still clear.
"Saito… he survived the surgery, but… I don't think he'll wake up. His body… he's extremely weak, anything could kill him. I will say his chance of survival is rather dim but…" he sighed. "Prepare for the worst, it's all I can say."
"Can we... can we go see them now?" Haruka, bless her soft heart, asked as she kept her hold on Pietrov. Probably not to crumple again. "Please... I trust this man with the life of my son, and so far, he did not disappoint me."
"Yeah... no pressure Forte." It was not like his waifu he had drooled over nightly spoke to her picture and fantasized about was holding onto his arm, basically throwing the gauntlet.
There was no way forte could disappoint her.
Because... you know...
Omega Zero was staring right at him from under her veil, her blue eyes now a warning red.
Yeah... no pressure, no pressure at all.
Dharma looked at the duo... and sighed. "Alright, you may go down. But I need to are you tough, while Netto is healing well, it's Saito we have to be worried about."
"Me too." pietrov readily admitted.
"Doctore, my ex is responsible for this... he... Saito." Haruka's voice choke as she leaned onto Forte for strength.
The taller man wrapped a protective arm around the most normal woman in existance, hoping she could remain a simple woman with little to no grief for the rest of her life.
"Yes, we know... alright, you may go down, but please, don't try to wake them up. Saito and Netto will wake up once their body will finish their system repair… as much as they can, anyway."
"Alright, thank you, doctor."
"Hare Krishna, Much oblige." the doctor and his wife inclined their head and moved away from the basement's door. "I and my wife will stay around, we are just a call away."
~0~
the walk down was... both nerve waking and anti climactic.
There was nothing to fight... only the sound of rhythmical beeping that proved that both boys had managed to live through the surgery.
The sight, on the other hand, had frozen both Pietrov and Haruka. Both adults held onto each other as they fought against their tears.
Netto and Saito were laid on a raised bed, something that definitely wasn't for humans for it was floating off the ground. Both had their eyes closed and a tube going down their throat.
And it took everything in Forte not to rip those out too... as he did for his son.
Both looked extremely pale, but Saito looked the worst of the two.
He was practically skin and bones... and his skin translucent. And soi, so small… he looked like an abnormally small nine year old with skin so pale, it was translucent.
Haruka began to sob as she held Pietrov closer.
And Pietrov... stayed with her.
She was his Waifu, and for years, he took comfort from her picture.
And today, Pietrov would give comfort to her.
~0~
Hours passed sluggishly now that the hardest part was (hopefully) over. And the two adults began to talk again, quietly.
This time, Haruka asked Forte if Yuishiro... Hikari had revealed why he did what he did.
Forte shared what he's managed to get from the computer... meaning, not much.
Well, there were a bunch of Highly encrypted Emails but... Forte... Pietrov was terrible at deciphering them.
Thankfully... and apparently, Lumine (the immortal creep who just so happen to be friend with his... with Haruka.) knew how to do it...
Of course, he would.
Also, apparently, Haruka had tried to become a cyber vigilante, a Hacker...
thing is, she was not all that good, and it was mostly Lumine being her Gofer.
Not that he minded, apparently, what Haruka lacked in technical knowledge, she had it in heart.
And this beautiful, saintly heart had not just snatched Lumine's about Forte also.
Nevertheless, Pietrov was still thoroughly impressed by the length this seemingly unassuming woman was willing to go to keep her two children safe... and yes, she counted Rockman as one of her own waay before she knew he truly was Saito, her first born.
She also liked to cook, as in, cooking was her passion, and she was always willing to try new things and bring them to her potluck with the other woman. But overall, she was a rather average woman...
a comfortingly average woman, with average goals. Someone who was simple and who could not lie to save her life.
Someone Pietrov wanted to protect and care for, someone he wanted to see smile.
And... well...
She was rather soft, sweet and appealing outside also. And now that Forte knew that he was more... human then what he'd a first believe...
well, first, let's wait for the twins to wake up and recover before making a fool of themselves. Who knows? It may not work out.
So, he just had plenty of ours talking to Haruka as they waited to their...Haruka's boys to sleep off the surgery and whatever else had happened, Saito already had a feeding line going down his stomach and pumping him with the nutrients he lacked in a bid to let him survive yet another houre..
It was risky, and they started with a weak solution first to make sure it would not overwhelm him, but so far, so good.
Yes…
Better remain positive… even if it was clear his Saito would not make it… not without a miracle.
… Forte… Pietrov… remembered the pain of loosing his mother and sister. The rage he had felth, the helplessness.
What he did to cope.
And now, he was about to lose someone else, someone who had healed his heart. Hell, he would never have remembered his full past without his Roku.
But now… what else he could do but hold Haruka as she cried. Then hold Siato;'s twig like hand as he counted every breath he had.
Haruka was with him, beside Saito... but had started beside Netto... the poor woman had cried that she could not be with both of her babies at once...
Now, pietrov could not really know what she felt... but he knew he wanted to be nearby when his boy would open his eye.
Even... if he didn't remember him.
Nevertheless, Pietrov... Forte knew he would not be able to sleep... he had so many questions and fear running through his mind to let him rest.
Oh no, the wicked could easily rest, it was the good one who could not sleep.
Still, there was something he could do...
He got off from he ground, readjusted the warm blanket and the modem closer Netto, gently petted his Roku's forehead and freshly shopped hair (it had been dread locks at that point, and Pietrov needed to do something 'useful.') cracked his back (Bug, he was old.) and emerged from the basement and into the quiet living room.
Everyone in the Volnutt-dei household had returned to sleep, and from the sound of it, some were even snoring.
'Lucky bastard... Guess Krishna will let his Devotee's rest while the rest of us suffer.' He grumbled as he unlocked... well. Locked the door like a dumbass because the Family just doesn't lock their door...
But considering who the mother is, Any thief who would dare enter would be dead and atomized rather quickly.
so... after figuring out their door (the most embarrassing experience in his entire life. Forte was out in the fresh night air.
The moon hung high in the sky, gibbous and lovingly pregnant. The air was pleasant in his nose and skin, feeling the playful breeze p;playing in his hair...
He took a deep, slow breath as he took it all in, and released it...
"God... I missed this..." He breathed out as he stretched, wanting to light himself one... but realizing that maybe he shouldn't since the acrid taste and smell would ruin the whole vibe... and to be very honest, it felt great to be out of the musty, blood and plasma smelling basement. It helped to clear his brain... and to plan out the next step.
Wich was to contact Cossack... To contact his dad and...
try to make sense of his memories and everything else...
and maybe... just maybe apologize to the man since, from what Forte remembered, Pietrov had gone through a very intense teenager stage.
"But God? Krishna, Gauranga... where the hell am I supposed to start? I don't even remember his phone number." He leaned on the fence as he buried his face in his hands. He had too many emotions to deal with at the moment... too many for someone who used to be called the herald of darkness.
"And I have yet to contact Metty and Gospel, fuck my life." Why did it have to be so complicated? Maybe he should have left Rockman to die...
' and then what?' Forte wondered. Without Rockman... only Serenade could offer him a good enough fight. And even then, Serenade had lost to Rockman, meaning they were weaker then the kid.
And... He would not have met the delightful Haruka, nor the Primal Viral Queen and her spawn, nor would he have known of Ekakchakra...
and he would never have the sweet Roku with him... and he would still be an angry, Nihilistic ass wanting to commit genocide on a race of dangerous idiots.
And he would have remained in blissful ignorance of his true nature as a Halfling.
Even if he was most probably dying… Forte. Pietrov could not fin it in himself to hate what had happened.
Still... he desperately needed to talk to his dad.
Suddenly, he heard a gasp and a man popped out of a random bush on the other side of the street.
It took no time for Forte to jump to his feet, ready to delete whoever dared to sneak up on him and his family...
Only to see...
"D-Dad?" he whispered as he started at the other blond man, a PET in his hand.
It was Mikhail Cossack, staring at his long-lost son.