A/N: Short chapter, but I felt that going any further would totally ruin it. Also, you might find it sweet.
Btw, I do not own Rockman and anything coming from Capcom. I do own the plot idea, though. And the writing. Yep. Writing's mine.
Az.
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Boarding the plane had been easy. All he had to do was hide amongst the luggage at night and enter the cargo section when people weren't looking. Getting off was another thing, however, because after twelve or so hours of flight they had landed in the late morning.
Grumpy and tired for not having been able to sleep at all, Netto observed as the hatch to the cargo bay was opened and the baggage unloaded by two workers. Because of being nestled in the farthest corner he had found, the two men hadn't noticed him. The only good thing about the whole trip was that he had learned how to fly, but that still required a lot of concentration.
"I don't think blowing something up will help me out this time…" he muttered to himself as he tried to take a glance at what laid beyond the hatch. From the angle he was in, however, all he could see was the treadmill used to move the suitcases from the plane to the truck below.
The truck was a perfect hiding spot, he decided, and it would carry him from the plane to the airport without being seen, but he still had to find a way to get past the two workers without being caught. And he didn't even had enough time to plan since he could see the men slowly making their way towards his location.
Crouching behind a stack of suitcases to avoid being seen by the passing workers, Netto sighed to himself. Maybe there was no way to get out of that situation undetected and, deep down, he didn't mind being seen as he was now, but he knew that there were people out there that were out to capture him and get something out of Forte, whom had angrily retorted with a "hell if I know!" once he had asked him what it was.
On the other end of the cargo bay, human, Forte's voice brought his mind back to the present and his gaze instantly focused where the navi had pointed him to. There is a door, behind it a ladder that leads to the passenger zone of the plane. You might find a way to get us out of the mess you put us into.
Netto bit down an angry and frustrated remark as he crawled towards the door. Although he was sure it wasn't his fault for ending up in that situation – it was either the plane or three or more days of boat - Forte was at least helping him out, even if in doing so he added insults and accusations of being totally incompetent.
"You're such a… a…" the boy growled under his breath as he opened the door as soon as the two men were back to the opening, quickly disappearing behind it. "You know what, never mind…"
Ignoring Forte, whom was muttering something to himself, Netto closed the door with a soft click and climbed the ladder until he reached the hatch that would lead to the passenger zone above. After listening for a few seconds to see if there were people still present, the boy carefully opened the lid and peered through a narrow fissure. When he confirmed that no one was around to watch him crawl out of the cargo bay, he hauled himself through the hatch and stood in the middle of the corridor.
His eyes scanned up and down the plane until they landed on the door leading to the cockpit. He wasn't a pilot, but if he pressed a few buttons he was bound to cause something that would distract people long enough for him to get out of the plane.
"It's worth a try…" he sighed in resignation as he trudged to the door and opened it. He found himself staring at a slew of levers, buttons and indicators, or whatever they were. Crouching low to not be seen from outside the front windows, he quickly pressed, pulled and turned whatever he could reach until all the lights came on and an annoying whine came from the speaker overhead.
Mission accomplished, Netto quickly hightailed from the cockpit and crawled back into the cargo to wait for the first opportunity to jump out of the plane and into the truck. Opportunity that came as soon as the two men noticed that the front lights of the large vehicle were on and blinding anyone unfortunate enough to be in their path.
Congratulating himself for the well executed, improvised plan, Netto ran down the treadmill with silent steps and hid under the luggage in the truck. From there it didn't take long for the airport staff to solve the problem he had willingly caused, classify it as a random computer problem and return to their routine.
"Man… I want to go home already…"
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Enzan drummed his fingers onto his desk at home, frustrated. After coming back from Amerope, he had instantly started his research on 'MedTech" - Michiro's company - but so far he had only gotten the basic stuff. Name, address, what it was supposed to do and why it had been closed. He hoped that Rockman would have more luck in his search at SciLabs.
"Enzan-sama."
The boy adverted his eyes from the monitor and looked at the hovering screen coming from the PET. Blues had just come back from a stroll on the internet and had a very light frown on his masked face. "I found nothing regarding the company that we already didn't know, but I have heard concerning rumors about a… 'movement'…"
Enzan raised an eyebrow. "A movement? What kind of movement?"
Blues shook his head and sighed in deject. "I'm not sure, Enzan-sama. I overheard two navis talking about it in hushed voices, but when I tried to get closer, they apparently recognized me and left in a hurry. Whatever it was, they don't want the officials to know."
The boy tapped a finger on the surface of the desk and hummed. "Then it might have something to do with whatever Netto is involved in."
"Should I inform the officials and SciLabs?"
Blue eyes closed and the white haired boy shook his head. "No, not yet. Keep it under wraps until we have something real in our hands to make the accusations. If whoever is behind all this realizes that we know, they might go into hiding…" he paused a few seconds to think. "Let Rockman know, though."
The navi nodded his head and disappeared into a shower of data as he exited his PET.
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"Hey, Forte," Netto's voice was barely audible over the racket of the freight train he was traveling on. "How long have we been stuck like this?"
Having found out that they had landed on the farthest city from where he lived, the boy had reached the train station and had boarded the first train directed towards home. Now he was sitting inside one of the containers, an empty one, leaning against one end and observing the hole he had made on the opposite wall in order to enter. All that while holding a cold cup of instant ramen he had forced himself to snag before boarding.
Eleven days and fourteen hours. Give or take.
The boy smiled at the quick reply and grabbed a few noodles with his chopsticks. "You know, you're easier to get along now," he commented as he munched on his food before making a disgusted face at the taste. "You don't insult me as much as you used to when we first woke up."
I still hate you, human, Forte hissed back in anger and indignation. But considering the fact that we're stuck in the same body and we share the same brain, sadly, your headache is also mine.
The black navi could vividly remember that time, five days ago, when he had almost caused damage to his host's brain by yelling so loudly that the boy thought he was going to have his ears bleed. As much rewarding as the thought was, Forte had found out that the stabs of pain brought by headaches weren't fun.
Netto raised an eyebrow in amusement as he forced himself to drink the remaining soup. "That's what you get for screaming in my brain," he said while he squeezed the paper cup and chopsticks in one hand and incinerated them with some of his dark powers. He had been practicing a lot lately, and manipulating all that energy to form spheres into his hands had become much easier, almost second nature. Floating and creating different shapes, like Forte's swords, still required a certain level of concentration that he couldn't afford during a battle.
As soon as I'm out of your head, human, the navi growled heatedly and mentally narrowed his cold eyes at the boy. I will wrap my hands around your neck and slowly squeeze the life out of your pathetic body.
The reply he got from his host was far from what he had hoped to attain. Standing up, Netto rolled his eyes and reached the hole in the metal to peer outside. "Sure, sure," he muttered dismissively with a wave of his hand. "I wonder where we are. I don't recognize the place…"
Knowing that there was no way he would be able to scare the boy while he was stuck in his brain, Forte growled under his breath and stomped as far away as he could from his host's consciousness. You'll pay for this. I swear it.
Netto sighed heavily and leaned against the molten edge of the hole to watch the land pass by. "Why do you hate us so much, anyway?" he suddenly asked, curious as to why his unwilling partner was so full of hate and anger towards humanity.
It is none of your business, human.
Sighing, the boy moved away from the hole and started to float around the inside of the container. "Fine, fine. Wallow in your hate and rage for no apparent reason," he grumbled, crossing his legs and letting his arms rest on his knee. "You'll only deteriorate that way. Not to mention that it makes you weak."
Before Forte could retaliate, Netto lifted a hand into the air. "Wait, let me finish first," he paused and flopped backwards so that he was floating on his back, looking up at the rusty ceiling and letting his cloak brush the ground. "You are strong, Forte. Few could battle you and hope to get away with their lives, but… have you ever wondered how strong you could be if you set your mind in protecting something you care about?"
I don't need to protect anything but myself, human, the navi spat back with a mix of indignation and insulted pride. And all I care about is myself.
Netto rolled into the air and 'landed' on the ceiling, letting his arms fall limply towards the ground along with his cloak. "Not enough," he replied without a second thought. "At one point self preservation will tell you to run and hide to heal your wounds, but if you have to protect something you won't be moved until either you or your opponent gets deleted, and I assure you, Forte, that in this case, deletion is not an option you will take. Not to mention that you could discover a power that you would have never thought possible to have."
At the mention of power, the navi suppressed his need to insult his host and listened with a curiosity that he had never thought possible for him to feel. To him, power was everything. It was the key for survival. The more you had, the less enemies were stupid enough to face you.
"Like that time I faced Dr. Regal cross fused with his navi Laserman," Netto continued with a small smile as he felt that he had gained Forte's full attention. "He literally wiped the floor with me and Rockman. Not even my best battle chip had any real effect beside stall him for a few seconds."
The boy then righted himself and took to hover in the middle of the container, letting his cloak surround his body in a safe embrace. "When I thought we were done for, well, guess what happened?" he paused for a moment and felt the navi get irked for the interruption. That made him chuckle in amusement. "All the navis that Regal captured and used for his worldwide Dimensional Area lent me and Rockman so much power that the giant Laserman was a breeze to beat. A kick here, a punch there and the final charged shot from the Rock Buster was all that was needed to defeat the guy."
Silence filled the air as Netto landed back onto the ground and returned to the hole to watch the fleeting landscape. "That's what I meant with 'if you really want to protect something, nothing will stop you."
Forte was frowning, but instead of insulting and retorting with angry words, he was quiet and was thinking about what his host had said. He refused to stoop so low as to care about something that wasn't his own persona, but now he understood why Rockman had overwritten his program during their fight against Nebula Gray. Despite willingly offering his Ultimate Program, the blue navi was so dead set in protecting his operator that his will overpowered his own.
So that's why…
At the murmured words, the boy slightly lifted his head. "Did you say something?"
No, nothing, human, the navi replied as he slowly withdrew from his host's consciousness once again to think and sort his emotions. He could feel a mix of disgust, wonder, anger, hate and envy. Just leave me alone.
Understanding the predicament of his companion, Netto nodded his head. "If you need me, I'm here."
I don't need your help, human.
The boy smiled from behind the rim of his cloak and returned his gaze back to the land outside his temporary shelter. Forte had sounded tired and gloomy and he had managed to steal a quick 'glance' at his emotions, which told him that his words had shaken the foundations of the navi's beliefs.
"I know, Forte," he said after a short pause. "It was just for your information."
The only answer he got was a short and disgruntled humph.