A/N: Remember, this is not betaed, so expect errors and odd phrases even if I do reread the chapter before I post it.

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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The first thing that Forte noticed when he regained consciousness was that he was back to being in control of his own body. The second thing was that he couldn't move and the third was that he was being held firm by several cables wrapped around his body in a way similar to that Regal had used on him and Rockman.

Trying to remember how he had ended up in that situation and feeling rather irked for not being able to get out of the tangled mess he was in no matter what he did, the black navi looked at his surroundings.

The place was the desert of the Undernet, but there was something off coming from it that told him that the location was merely a reproduction of the real thing. Looking at the cables holding him, he noticed that half of them were coming out of the ground while the other half was hanging from somewhere high up in the black sky.

Nothing moved.

Except that plume of dust in the far distance to his left.

Still not knowing why he was hanging in a mass of cables in the middle of the copy of the Undernet Desert, Forte dedicated his time into freeing himself. Task that proved itself to be harder than he had thought since after around half a hour later he had managed to just get his right arm out.

Grunting, he grabbed at one of the cables hanging from the sky and yanked at it with all his strength, wanting to tear it away from whatever it was holding it up. The only result his action had, however, was that the cable he was holding, instead of snapping, coiled around his forearm and immobilized it.

And that wasn't the end of it either. More tendrils grew from the main cable and snaked down the entire length of his arm and around his neck and face, almost blocking his sight. Coupled with the fact that he seemed to be unable to summon any of his energy, things weren't looking bright.

Stopping his struggling and letting his eyes scan his surroundings again, Forte noticed that the cloud of dust he had seen earlier was closer. It was still quite far away, but judging from how much distance it had covered while he had been busy with the cables, he guessed that it wouldn't take more than two or three hours for it to reach him.

His eyes narrowed at the flying dust. For a brief moment, he had felt something coming from that direction, as if someone was calling for his attention. But if had been brief, and dismissing it as an annoying joke of whatever place he was in, he resumed fighting his way out of the cables.

Forte…

Eyes widening in surprise at the faint call, he turned to look at the moving dust and realized that it was much, much closer than before, meaning that he had been wrestling with his bindings for more than he had thought.

Forte..!

Forte knew that voice. He had been stuck with its owner for too long to forget the bright tone belonging to that human boy.

I'm coming!

Raising an eyebrow, the black navi watched as a figure came close enough for him to see it. It was still hard to make out who it was because of all the dust and the mirages the heat of the ground created, but Forte could make out that it was clad in black and that it was running. However, it wasn't long before he was watching a copy of himself waving at him with a tired but happy smile.

Forte! I finally found you! Netto declared as he took a jump and tackled the bundle of cables the navi was stuck in. You have absolutely no idea how long I have been looking for you in this insane place!

Without hesitation, the boy plunged his hands into the mass of cables surrounding the black navi and started to fish around for something. Instantly, the wires came to life and started to curl around his body to stop him. Man, what's up with megalomaniacs and tentacles?

"What are you doing?"

Saving you, Netto answered as a cable coiled around his neck and tried to pry him from where he was. It should be here… ah!

What Forte felt was something being yanked away from his chest, and looking down he noticed that the human was holding up several small wires that writhed for a few seconds before going limp. The cables holding them up into the air became inert and flopped onto the ground, taking with them both human and navi.

Emerging from the mass of cables, Forte looked down at the boy as he struggled to right himself. "You have a few things to explain to me, human," he growled as he grabbed the kid by the neck and hauled him up so that he could watch him in the eyes.

I don't think it's the right time for that, Forte, Netto replied as he pointed at the direction he had come from. Ugly's coming and, trust me on this, you don't want to go near it without your powers.

Red eyes followed the indicated direction and the navi noticed that Netto hadn't been the one producing it. The thing would only surface for a brief moment every so often, but he could clearly see that it was huge. Even more than Nebula Gray had been.

Slightly darker than the sand it sunk into, the beast was a giant worm with two fins at its sides and a shark-like head. After resurfacing again, the exceptionally large virus opened its mouth and displayed countless rows of needle-like teeth, resealing hundreds of smaller airborne viruses.

This is a good moment to start running.

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After having successfully outran the giant Sand Worm virus – the boy named it – and having taken refuge amongst large rocky formations, Forte was holding Netto by the neck again. The only difference was that this time the navi had slammed him against a rock wall and was pressing him against it.

"Explain."

Forte's voice was cold, but Netto wasn't bothered by it. Let me go and I'll explain, he replied calmly as he returned the navi's cold stare with his own defiant one.

"What makes you think I will let you go? Now that I'm back to the net and you are here, I could easily kill you," red eyes narrowed and the hand holding the human boy against the rock tightened its grasp a fraction.

'Could' being the keyword, Forte, Netto replied smiling in confidence as he reached up to his left upper arm and squeezed it.

The pain that came from upsetting the wound had its desired effect and the navi released him and took a step backwards to look down at his own left arm. It had only been a dull ache, nothing that could stop him, but that wasn't what had stopped him from crushing the human's neck in his hand.

Yup, Netto said as he sat down onto the ground and leaned against the rock wall to rest while he brought his left hand to rest on the cut on his right side. The wounds weren't bleeding nor hurting as they normally would do, but they were still uncomfortable. We are still connected. My pain is your pain, and vice-versa. So, if I die, you will probably die with me.

Forte glared at him for a few seconds then turned around and started to walk away. If he couldn't kill the human, at least he could go as far away as he could and return to live his life in the real Undernet.

Wait, Netto stood up and bounced after him. I don't think this is the real net…

When the navi stopped in his walk, the boy halted in his pursuit and sighed as he received yet another glare. What I mean is… he paused and looked around at the vertical rock surfaces standing tall around them. I have these visions… they come and go… sometimes they last for a while, sometimes they are a fraction of a second, but…

Forte watched as his human copy, save for a few details on his suit, struggled with his words with a deep frown on his face. He could even faintly feel his uneasiness, sense of dread and the need for a cloak covering his back. Dismissing the minor problem of a missing cape, which he was missing too and that he could recreate later, the navi focused his full attention onto the boy.

I think we're not really here… Netto said after a while. Forte actually noticed for the first time that the boy wasn't moving his mouth when he spoke, but seemed to communicate with him with his own mind. Well, we are… but… ohhh… this is so hard to explain…

"Perhaps it would be easier if you told me what you see in these visions of yours…" Forte growled as he crossed his arms. He had a suspicion of what the boy was trying to explain because he could feel that there was something wrong with the desert they were in. Then there was the fact that his abilities had seemingly deleted themselves from his persona.

Netto closed his eyes and hummed for several seconds. I see… I see a room, he said as he tried to remember those few clear images he had seen. There are a lot of computers in it… people working on them and walking back and forth, saying something about not being able to find the code. We are being held by an invisible force high up into the air enough so that those people can easily reach our chest and head…

The navi listened until the boy was done, then raised an eyebrow. "We?"

Opening his eyes and looking into Forte's red ones, Netto nodded his head. Yeah. We, he said with a light frown. We're still stuck together in a Cross Fusion or I wouldn't be here and talking to you using my mind instead of my mouth…

Deciding that there was nothing more to talk about, Forte uncrossed his arms and turned around to walk further into the maze of rock. Although there was probably nothing useful for him where he was headed, wandering aimlessly was always better than staying still and wait for that giant Sand Worm to tunnel its way to where they were.

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Three days later, at least according to Forte's accurate assumptions, the two were still wandering the faux Undernet Desert. So far they had managed to avoid another direct encounter with the Sand Worm and its minions, but both human and navi had the feeling that they wouldn't be able to last much longer.

Already Netto was struggling in his steps, breathing hard and half curling into the safety of his cloak. More than once Forte had to stop and let the boy rest, and although he was disgruntled at the fact that he had to slow down for him, he could feel the increasing tiredness of the human. Even he was starting to feel the effects of whatever was happening to their shared body in the real world.

Red eyes scanned the horizon and located the dust cloud that the Sand Worm created while moving. The giant virus was currently heading away from them, but he wouldn't be surprised if the thing turned around at the last minute and chased them again. And with only his fading strength and a half-dead boy as an annoying luggage at his disposal, he decided that going in the opposite direction of the Sand Worm's current route was the best idea.

Turning to his left and walking down the dune they had been standing on to survey the desert, Forte suddenly noticed that there was no sound of dragging footsteps following him. He stopped and looked back up at the top of the hill, growling under his breath at the body laying face down onto the sand.

Unable to just leave the human behind like he would like to do, the navi walked back up the incline and prodded Netto with his foot. "Hey, wake up, human…" he grunted. Seeing that he received no reply, he shifted his cloak onto his back and kneeled next to the downed boy, shaking him by the shoulder.

Again, he received no reply so he rolled the boy onto his back to slap at his face as violently as he could without actually hurting his own face because of their link. However, he stopped and unconsciously winced when his eyes wandered to Netto's right side.

The cut wasn't bleeding, nor there was dematerialization of data, but it looked like it was starting to get infected. Knowing that their current bodies were mere representation guided by their consciousnesses, he narrowed his eyes in anger. Those disgusting humans, the ones that had captured them, were apparently not treating the wound. Not that he cared about the boy, but if he died, he would follow him in his destiny…

"You are taking the burnt of it, aren't you?" he asked the unconscious boy despite knowing that he would not receive an answer. He stared at Netto for a while before he snorted and hauled him onto his shoulder. "You own me one, boy."

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When Blues logged into the server that was trying to hack into Forte's Ultimate Program he was expecting to find a small place full of data and a lot of high security, not an exact reproduction of the Undernet Desert that seemed to never end no matter in what direction he looked at. Right now he was standing on top of a cliff and was overlooking a sea of dunes.

"Enzan-sama," he called, opening a video link with his operator. "Our search might take longer than we thought…"

Enzan cringed as he watched the light brown expanse his navi was in. "Is there anything particular? A landmark or a structure?"

Blues shook his head and was going to reply negatively when something in the distance caught his attention. "Actually, there is something. A cloud of dust. And it seems to be moving in my direction."

"Check it out, but keep your guard up," the boy ordered as he stepped to the side to let two policemen and a cuffed scientist walk past. "Mejin just told me that this system does not support any kind of chip and disable your standard weapon, so all you have is your speed and strength."

"Yes, Enzan-sama."

The navi cringed at the prospect of fighting against something with the only use of his limbs, especially if that something was a certain Black Shadow. Even if his abilities were stopped by the system and they were roughly matched in speed, Forte still had the upper hand in strength.

Still, he had to find the black navi and get him out of the server if they wanted to unhook him from all the machines without permanently damage his data. Not that he wanted to save him since Forte was their declared enemy, but he had a feeling that he had useful information. There was the problem of making him talk, but they would come to that when it was time.

"Did the search party found Netto yet?" he asked as he jumped from the cliff and landed on a dune below in a crouch. Before departing for the mission, Commissioner Kifune and Dr. Hikari had held a debriefing and had given him a map of the place.

Located in a forest north of Netopia, the base was several hundred feet underground and was a complex maze that had more than one policeman lost while they searched the rooms for any hidden person. It had taken them hours just to cover the main parts and had just started with the less used rooms. Forte had been easily located, but Netto was still missing…

"No trace of him yet," Enzan replied as he shifted his focus between checking his navi and watching Mejin frantically typing away at a console, trying to either find Forte's location in the server and finding a way to unhook him without actually finding him.

Behind the two, a team of medics and scientists were scratching at their heads as they argued on how to best treat the navi's wounds. They had been roughly patched just to stop the bleeding, especially the one on his side. That wasn't the problem, however. What befuddled them was that the injuries were a mix of real flesh and data.

They knew that in a Cross Fusion it was the human host that suffered injuries while the navi was damaged only if the emblem on the chest was hit. This was completely new to them and more than once one or two of the scientists suggested that they should just let the navi die for his crimes.

"Blues, I'm leaving for a while," Enzan said as he glanced behind his back with a frown. He knew very well of Forte's crime score, but that didn't mean that he was going to let him die that way. "Call me if you need something."

Blues nodded as he ran through the dunes in the direction of the dust cloud. "Yes, Enzan-sama," he replied, closing the video link but keeping a direct line with his PET open.

He spent the next thirty minutes in running and leaping through the dunes until he was finally close enough to the cloud of dust and sand to see something huge swimming his way. A shade darker than the desert and with armored plaques on its back, the thing was longer than anything he had seen and moved in the sand like a shark would do in the sea.

Having a feeling that there was no way he would be able to defeat such a creature without at least his basic sword, he jumped out of the way in time to not be run over. Once the beast had thundered past him, it sunk into the sand and disappeared.

"Enzan-sama," he called as he opened a video link with his operator. "I have found an extremely large creature lurking in the server. It might be a new kind of virus…"

Before Enzan could reply, the ground shook and the sand parted just before hundreds of teeth rose towards the black sky. The mouth that appeared afterwards let out a loud low-toned wail that sent sand and navi up into the air to reveal a never ending black pit. Jacking out of the net seemed to not work because of some interference the beast was releasing and that left Blues to fall down to certain deletion.

Enormous jaws started to close around him and the navi twisted around in search of a way out or at least a place where to land without having to go all the way down to the creature's stomach. The teeth, although sharp, were wide and far enough from each other to get a good footing without getting hurt by the needle-like tips.

He prepared himself for landing on one of the deeper teeth, knowing that if he missed he would end up in a worse situation. Before he could twist in midair and gain a correct trajectory however, he abruptly came to a halt and swung there for a second before he looked up at the hand grasping at his long hair.

Letting his eyes go past the hand, Blues focused onto the navi that was holding him. Forte was crouching onto one of the teeth, holding the tip with his other hand to steady himself and looked weary.

"You are going to be my ticket out of here," he grunted as he pulled Blues up enough so that he could get a hold onto the tooth he was standing on.

Standing up, Blues carefully observed his "rescuer" from head to toe. He stood tall as usual, with his cape enveloping him and his stone cold eyes looking down at him from behind the rim of the cloak. There were subtle changes, however. Like in the way he was slightly leaning to his right and had his left shoulder a bit lower than his right one. And his eyes were blinking a lot, as if warding off tiredness.

Then, as the huge virus righted itself, gravity changed and soon the two navis were standing onto the soft gum, eyes still not leaving the other in fear of a surprise attack. That is, until Forte turned around and walked away into a seemingly random direction with the silent agreement that Blues would follow.

"I have been looking for you," Blues said as he followed the cloaked navi from a safe distance. There might be an unspoken truce between them, but it was better safe than sorry. "We believe you know certain details that would be useful for us."

"What makes you think I will answer your questions?" Forte asked, voice cold as he continued to walk through the forest of teeth.

Blues observed how the other navi had a slight limp every time he placed his right foot down. He either had a wound on his leg or on his side that really bothered him. "You said it yourself," he replied warily and unable to determine Forte's next move thanks to that cloak of his in the way. "You need me to get out of here. Let's make a deal. I help you, and you give me the answers I want."

Forte stopped in his walk and slightly turned around to glare at the other navi for a few seconds before he closed his eyes and resumed walking. "It's a deal," he said calmly.

Releasing a sigh that he didn't realize he was holding, Blues resumed following the other navi to whatever destination he had set. "Do you know what they want from you?"

Taking his time and deciding that for the moment he would keep his host a secret for a reason he couldn't understand yet, Forte followed a seemingly random path until he could see the tooth he had tied the boy to so that he wouldn't slip down the beast's throat and into its stomach. "A code," he replied with a snort. "Those pathetic humans are going to pay for doing this to me…"

Blues frowned at those words, but followed in silence until Forte stopped at one of the teeth and untied something from it while spewing insults under his breath. He watches as the cloaked navi crouched down and used his right arm to grab it and hide it from his view, probably not trusting the Official into seeing it yet.

Respecting Forte's distrust towards him, Blues remained where he was and opened a video link with his operator only to find that the signal was being jammed by whatever the large virus was emitting. "You have any idea what this code does?"

"No," the disgruntled reply came quickly. "Those incompetents did a mess and next thing I know I'm in the real world. And before you ask, no. I don't remember what they did, nor how they got their filthy hands on me while I was in the Undernet."

Anger boiled and his hands clenched around the human he was holding for a second before relaxing once again. There was no point in expending the last of his energy on a rage that he could not unleash. He would have to wait for that, but the first occasion he had, he would make those humans regret thinking that they could use him.

Busying himself onto reestablishing a link with his operator, Blues occasionally glanced at the crouched figure of Forte. Although they both knew that he was probably going to see whatever it was before too long, the black navi was still highly reluctant into uncovering his prized possession. "Do you know where Netto is? He's Rockman's operator."

The sudden question froze Forte where he was. He knew very well where the human boy was, but he felt reluctant in answering that. Distrust and confusion suddenly clawed at his insides and he unconsciously narrowed his eyes and clutched at the boy-copycat in his arms.

He was saved from answering when Enzan's voice filled the air, gaining Blues' attention. The navi glanced back at the still open video link and noticed that his operator's image could be faintly seen through the noise. Instantly, he summoned another window and started to type at it to adjust the signal as best as he could.

"Blues!" the white haired boy exclaimed as he finally managed to contact his navi. "What happened? The signal got jammed when you got swallowed by that giant virus."

Blues nodded his head and glanced towards the other navi. "The virus is apparently able to release a jamming signal, Enzan-sama," he replied returning his eyes onto his operator. "I am currently inside its mouth. I found Forte."

Enzan nodded before he turned his head to have a brief talk with Mejin. "We think we can bypass the jamming signal and get you out of there. However, Mejin believes that Forte can't go anywhere but his materialized body."

"Understood, human," the black navi replied from his spot. He didn't like to collaborate with anyone, much less if they were Officials, but he knew that he had no choice so he grabbed at the link when it appeared in front of him. Holding the boy with his right arm so that he would be able to carry him through the link too, he opened the file and activated the code inside, disappearing in a shower of data along with Blues.

Outside, in the real world, Enzan and Mejin watched as the green converters deactivated and cables snapped off from Forte's chest and head, finally releasing the materialized navi. He took a step forwards and smiled, muttering something that they couldn't hear before he collapsed to the ground.