A/N: Ok, this chapter is NOT my fault. Netto and the others just dragged me along with their plan for it. *cough* So yeah, the angsty stuff I had planned for them will have to wait…
Anyway, 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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After sleeping for over twenty four hours, Netto woke up in a cold sweat and tangled up in his cloak. He couldn't remember the dream he had, or if he had one at all, but he could clearly remember the fear and pain it brought.
Slowly sitting up and massaging his forehead to ward off the dull ache, the boy looked at his surroundings. The dusty room in the clock tower was as he had left it last time he remembered being awake, with the clock ticking rhythmically to his right and the used medical kit to his left.
"Forte…?" he asked in a whisper, not wanting to disturb his companion or reawaken his migraine. "You still here?"
What is it?
Forte sounded exhausted, just like him, and in no mood to be angry. "Just wondering if you were still alive," Netto replied as he folded his cloak back into a pillow of some sort and returned laying down. The fins on the helmet were cool looking, but they were a huge hassle when he wanted to sleep on his back, forcing him to turn his head to the side.
The black navi scoffed. Why would you care, human? I'm your enemy. I hate you. I want to kill you.
Netto rolled on his right side and gently scratched at his left upper arm. The blood had dried and the gauze had become attached to his wound, making it itch. He would have to change the dressing, but not now. He was still too tired to worry.
"You might be my enemy and you might want to kill me," Netto replied, yawning and curling up as tightly as he could. "But that doesn't mean that I won't worry. You're stuck with me, and no matter how much hate and anger you feel for me and my kind, I'd still feel bad if you died on me before we solved this mess…"
You disgust me, human, Forte replied, oddly unable to feel real disdain for his human host. Everything of you disgusts me. I hate it. Hate it with all myself.
He wasn't sure why he was still talking with the human boy, nor why he continued repeating that he hated him and his stupid ideals so much. There was no need to prove that to himself, nor to the kid, whom had been reminded several times in the past already.
Slowly stretching onto the dusty ground, Netto sighed heavily and sat up once again. "Stop all this hate, Forte," he said softly as he grabbed his folded cloak and let it fall around his neck and shoulders. "I'm not saying to become buddy-buddy with me and my friends, but at least… I don't know… find a hobby and live your life."
I thought we already went through this issue last week, human.
Knowing that he had cornered the black navi and he had scratched at his defenses, Netto hummed to himself and dropped the issue. Perhaps he was being too curious and friendly for his own good, but that was who he was. He'd rather be friends with someone than hate their guts. At most, all he could do was to have a heated rivalry…
The boy turned his gaze onto the clock and watched the gears spin until his stomach growled loudly. "I want curry," he declared to no one in particular. It had been so long since he last ate some good curry, and although he seemed to not need as much food and water as he usually needed, the last time he had gotten something in his stomach had been four days ago. It was time to hunt for food.
"We don't have money on us, do we?"
Forte snorted lightly. I'm not a bank account, human. And I have no use for money. To me, it's just another useless human creation, he paused and, for a reason he couldn't understand, he searched his persona for any money anyway. If I need something, I just take it.
"Forte," Netto almost whined and let his shoulders slump. "I'm not a thief. I can't just go out there and get things without paying. It's wrong!"
Then you would die because of that stupid ideal, human?
The boy stood up and floated towards the hatch on the ground that led downstairs. After learning how to fly, he had found that moving that way was much easier than walking, not to mention that he was still sore from the fight of the previous day. "Look, I know it makes no sense to you," he said as he landed, crouched down and opened the lid with his good arm. "But the world has rules that people have to follow or life would be impossible. Navi share a lot of these rules too, and I bet that even the Undernet has its own set."
Before Forte could reply, however, Netto sighed and floated down through the hatch. "But you have a point there, I need food, and I have no money," he conceded as he started to slowly descend down the length of the tower. "And I can't go home like this. Mom is going to have a heart attack…"
Playing with one of the two scarf-like strands of cloth hanging from his neck, Netto thought at where he could go to find food. With home ruled out and SciLabs off-limits until he spoke directly with his father, the only other place that he could go to without having to deal with too many people milling about was Yaito's secret hideout.
The large tree-house, although security was tight, was used only when he and his friends needed a place to meet, making it a perfect hideout. On top of that, the fridge was always filled with the best stuff and the cabinet always had a topnotch first aid kit.
It's still light out, Forte's words woke the boy up from his thoughts that were slowly directing themselves to curry. Going out now is… not a good idea…
Netto smiled and tilted his head slightly to the side. "Worried, Forte?" he chuckled as he felt the navi's indignation explode at the verbal jab. "Aw, stop that. I won't tell anyone! Really!"
I am not worried, you despicable human! the navi hissed furiously with, Netto decided, a probably red face. I just don't want to deal with those sorry excuses for navis that are so bent in getting their filthy hands on me!
The boy lightly landed on the ground and became serious. "You're worried. Alright," he commented before he reached the door of the clock tower and peeked outside. Apparently, after yesterday's materialization of viruses, the officials had issued some sort of curfew or people had just decided that going out was suicidal. Either way, the deserted streets would only make his life easier.
Tying the two long strands of cloth behind his neck and letting his cloak envelop him, the boy opened the door and, after a final check to make sure no one was really around, he left the safety of the tower.
He floated gently through the streets, looking left and right at all the damage the virus attack had done. "Man… look at this…" he muttered as he rounded a corner. "The attack did more damage than I thought…"
Destruction is everything you deserve, human, Forte commented idly as he kept his senses on full alert. He wasn't worried about encountering that Paladin guy since they had dealt him an almost fatal wound, but he wasn't ready to get caught by those green converters again. Especially not that soon.
Netto floated past a wrecked car, briefly glancing at it before he focused on the path ahead. "What makes you think that we deserve complete destruction?"
The black navi took several seconds to think. You have nothing good in you, human, he eventually said, voice soft but firm. You are deceitful and want nothing more than to use everything and everyone for your own good, no matter how wrong it is for your own standards and rules, he paused and felt anger and hate swell up inside him. And what you don't need anymore or find that it threatens you, you destroy.
Netto landed in the middle of the road and lowered his head. Forte's explanation for his hate made sense, but the boy knew that not everyone was like that. There were a lot of people out in the world that cared for certain things more than their own life, like Mariko-sensei, his teacher. She would do anything to help the kids she was entrusted with every day. And his parents and friends too. They were always there when he needed them.
Having nothing to say and knowing that Forte would just ignore any attempt to defend his race, Netto silently resumed floating through the streets while keeping his senses on full alert. Like the navi, he wasn't worried about having another run in with Paladin, or even his friends, but his presence in the open would still draw unwanted attention.
And attention came several minutes later in the form of several humans tailing him and failing miserably at keeping themselves hidden from his enhanced senses.
I still don't understand why you decided to walk in daylight when we're being hunted…
"I was tired of hiding and there is no way that Paladin is coming out after that blow we dealt him," he replied as he continued to calmly float through the city as if nothing was happening. He then smiled slyly as his eyes caught sight of a long and tall fence with a hole in it. "Besides, oh… you are going to love this, Forte."
The navi paused for a moment and raised an eyebrow at that. Oddly, those words had piqued his interest. Love what, human?
Netto's eyes narrowed and the sly smile became a wide, almost insane grin. "Just you wait, Forte. Just you wait…" he supplied as he flew above the fence and entered the immense garden belonging to the Ayanokouji family.
Staying safe into the air high enough to avoid any trap but low enough to avoid detection from the mansion, the boy quickly made his way through the trees. He expertly avoided the searching gaze of the cameras and all the laser sensors present everywhere on the property until he reached his destination.
As he had expected, the tree-house wasn't used at the moment. All he had to do was enter his security code in the panel next to the door and he would have full access without any alarm going off. "Curry, here I come!"
With a large smile, Netto flew to the door, punched in the password and disappeared into the safety of the small house. Rubbing his hands, he flipped a switch on the wall and watched as a large 3D monitor and several console appeared on the other side of the room, and as he suspected, the first thing to appear on the display was the root menu of the main system.
After quickly grabbing and heating up a bowl of curry, the boy flopped onto the couch in front of the monitor and grabbed a remote. "Let's see how they are doing," he commented with a grin as he navigated to the security camera feeds and brought them up.
Several images appeared, showing shots from the entire property. Most of them had nothing interesting in it, but with a command from the remote he was holding, four images were enlarged and brought to the front.
"Looks like we're on time for the show," Netto commented as he placed the remote onto the couch next to him and grabbed a spoon. On the monitor, he could see several men and women silently trudging through Yaito's garden, unaware of the cameras watching them. Everything was quiet for a long while, but that only helped in building the excitement the boy was feeling.
I don't see anything that I would lo---
Forte was interrupted as a scream coming from the speakers filled the air. Glancing at the upper left image, both spectators watched as two men were showered with powerful jets of water coming from several hoses hidden in innocent-looking fountain statues. The two unfortunates were thrown from their feet and landed against a small wall only to be kept there by the flowing water.
Oddly entertained by the unusual show, both navi and human watched as three men and a woman found themselves cornered by several mechanical animals in the lower right image. Three other unfortunate souls meet their demise in an ensnaring net that let them swing from a tall tree.
"Oh, wait, this is the best part!" Netto commented as he enlarged the right upper image to full screen. One single man, the last 'survivor' of the bunch, carefully made his way through a meadow, gun in hand and turning his head left and right. Although he was wearing sunglasses, the boy could clearly see that he had a very worried expression.
The man then paused in his walking and watched towards his left with a terrified expression on his face just before he turned to his right and fled as fast as he could. The camera followed his movements and the two could see that he was running from several small and loud contraptions.
Are those…
Forte was speechless as he watched an armed - and probably trained to kill – human run in circles chased by a bunch of lawnmowers and screaming in pure terror. He observed as the man was literally herded by the infernal machines through the entire meadow, several bushes, some rose bushes and a tennis court, where he was nailed by several tennis balls, until, exhausted, he collapsed to the ground and was run over by the lawnmowers.
"That gotta hurt…" Netto commented as he finished his curry and grabbed a marker from the table in front of him. "But hey, that's what you get when you enter Yaito's property without invitation."
Are those…
The boy grinned and watched as the trampled man struggled away from the deactivated machines only to be caught by a large metallic cage a few seconds later. "Yup. Yaito-chan's lawnmowers of DOOM. Learn to fear them!" he replied before laughing loudly.
Mood considerably lightened by the 'show', Netto floated to the cabinet, grabbed a first aid kit under his right arm and, still holding the scribbled bowl in his left hand, left the tree-house.
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He had to admit it. Yaito Ayanokouji's house was impressive. With a mansion as large as a palace and with an even larger garden, Enzan was surprised that the young girl hadn't gotten lost already. Maybe it had something to do with having lived all her life in that place, he decided.
Ignoring the unusual hole in the fence, the boy walked up to the gate and pressed the bell button, instantly getting a response out of it. The voice was stoic and clear, and to some it would have been unnerving.
"Enzan Ijuin, official NetBattler," he replied as he held up his PET and displayed the badge to the camera. "I've been called here to deal with some trespassers…"
To tell the truth, Enzan had absolutely no clue why he was called to deal with a simple case of trespassing, but Yaito had insisted so much for him to be sent that the police had no other choice than to give in to her demands.
"Miss Ayanokouji has been waiting for you, Mr. Ijuin," the voice replied just before a butler appeared in front of the gate from seemingly nowhere. "Please, follow me to the mansion."
Enzan stared at the man with a raised eyebrow, recognizing his voice to be the same one that had come from the intercom. Was the man living inside the pillar housing the doorbell? Coughing and dismissing the image of a butler crammed inside a stone structure and answering to anyone that came for a visit, the boy followed the man through the gate, a very long driveway covered in pearly white pebbles and into the mansion.
There, Yaito greeted him with a smile and dismissed the butler with a wave of her hand. "Enzan," she said. "I'm glad you came. There is something you have to see."
Her smile faded and she motioned for him to follow her lead. "As the police probably told you, earlier today we had people trespassing. They were all caught by the security system and we have handed almost all of them the police…" she paused and frowned. "Well, one of the butlers found a message on one of these guys so we decided to keep him here until you came."
She opened one of the many doors and walked inside the room with her secret crush tailing behind her. Enzan narrowed his eyes at the unconscious man laying onto the bed in front of him. He was so bandaged that he reminded him of a mummy…
Not catching the boy's perplexed expression, Yaito walked to the side and grabbed something from a desk. "I can't make any sense out of it," she said as she turned around and held out a bowl for Enzan to take. "But maybe you have a clue on who left this."
The white haired NetBattler grabbed the offered item and examined it. The inside was dirty with curry and on the outside rim there was a scribbled message that read 'a gift for Enzan' in a very familiar handwriting.
"Blues," he spoke as he took out his PET. "Call the NetPolice, have them move this man to a secure location for interrogation. Netto just sent us another clue to the puzzle."
Replacing the PET back to his belt and holding the bowl in his hand, Enzan looked up at Yaito with a confused expression. "What happened to this man?" he was not going to believe that Netto had done this to the poor guy.
The girl blushed and adverted her eyes somewhere else than the boy standing in front of her. "Oh, that… well, it was the lawnmowers…"
At those words, Enzan felt a cold shiver run down his back.
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--(Random cutouts time!)—
The boy grinned and watched as the trampled man struggled away from the deactivated machines only to be caught by a large metallic cage a few seconds later. "Yup. Yaito-chan's lawnmowers of DOOM. Learn to fear them!" he replied before laughing loudly.
Forte grinned madly. I want one of those!