A/N: Thanks to Mistrevar (DA)/Zephyra Cobalt () for helping me out again! And yush! Rockman finally gets some good airing time!
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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When Meijin entered the main laboratory of SciLabs carrying an unconscious and wounded Forte, everyone was silent for several long seconds. When the young man placed the navi onto a table and looked up at his perplexed coworkers, however, the room exploded into a cacophony of questions, demands and protests.
"If someone has anything to say about Forte's presence at SciLabs, they will come to me," Enzan firmly stated loudly enough to be heard by everyone. "For the moment, he will be held here and his wounds treated. Do I make myself clear?"
Silence filled the room again and the pale faced men looked at each other before filing out of the room as quickly as possible. Everyone at SciLabs had heard of Forte's past, and although no one had a clear knowledge on it, they knew that the navi hated them with a passion. If he woke up, they didn't want to be there to witness it.
"Looks like I'll have to do it," Meijin said as he walked to a cabinet and retrieved some medical supplies. He wasn't sure how he was going to heal the navi back to full health, but he was going to start with the flesh side of his body. The data, although it had dematerialized around the wounds, seemed stable enough and he had a feeling that it would recompose itself when the cuts on the flesh were treated and the infection had receded.
While he cleaned the cut on the navi's right side, and frowned at how infected it was, Meijin had to stop himself from prodding and poking Forte. The temptation of examining him and find out how he was sustaining a materialized form in the real world without the aid of a Dimensional Area was great. And then there was the fact that he appeared to have a body composed both by data and flesh.
Unless it was a Cross Fusion, but… it made no sense if there was no Dimensional Area active to maintain Forte's data in the real world. And the black navi would rather get deleted before merging with a human…
"They held him for almost a week and they didn't even bother to clean this…" he muttered eventually, not happy at the extensive infection he was dealing with. Forte might be an enemy to all humans, but there were certain limits at how you treated a prisoner.
"I will talk with Commissioner Kifune about what to do with him," Enzan suddenly said, almost making Meijin jump and drop the roll of gauze he was holding. "We still need answers."
The young scientist nodded his head as he hauled Forte up into a sitting position and started to bandage his side, glad that the navi was completely oblivious to anything that was happening to him. "I'll keep an eye on him," he replied, nodding. "Maybe surround him with a Dimensional Area. Normally it wouldn't keep someone as powerful as him restrained for long, but I doubt he is going to wake up any time soon."
Enzan nodded and left the room, leaving Meijin alone with his charge. The scientist glanced at his back as the automatic doors closed with a hiss for a moment before he turned his attention back to Forte with a sigh. "Or at least I hope so…" he muttered to himself as he went on the other side of the table and grabbed the navi's left upper arm, cutting the dirty bandages.
Carefully prying the gauze away from the clotted blood with the aid of clean water, and knowing that the wound he was currently working on had been inflicted in a fight a couple of days before his capture, he wondered how Forte had suddenly become so good at treating them. Perhaps he had looked up the information somewhere, but it still made no sense to him. There was something he was missing, and he had a feeling that this "code" Blues had told them about had something to do with everything.
His hands worked quickly while his mind played with all the elements he had. Theories formed and were discarded in a span of a few seconds until Meijin was left with nothing but the mysteriously materialized and unconscious Forte sitting on the table in front of him. After finishing treating and bandaging the navi's upper arm, he gave another sigh and placed one arm around his back and one under his knees, scooping him up.
Despite being materialized and having a partially flesh based body, Forte was slightly lighter than a human kid of his same build. He looked down at his face, only partially seeing it because of his helm. "So this is Forte, uh?" he asked to himself. Now that he wasn't rushing, he could really give the navi a good look. He had heard the story from Dr. Hikari, or as much as the man had witnessed back then, and knew that he was dangerous, but the longer he stared at the unconscious Forte in his arms, the more he felt that something was off.
Deciding that he wouldn't come to any conclusions unless he spoke with Forte directly, he walked our of the laboratory and took a left, directing himself to the basement where they kept all of the prototype Dimensional Area devices they had built before finally coming up with their own version of the converters. And maybe have a few scientists volunteer to find something comfortable for Forte to lay on.
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When Enzan entered the conference room, he entered into a madhouse. People were screaming in anger, Rockman was trying his best to be heard above the loud voices without shouting, Yuichiro was sitting at a desk at the front of the room and worriedly looking downwards and Kifune and Manabe were listening at the scientists without showing any kind of emotion.
"Ah, Enzan-kun," the woman standing next to the Commissioner said with a smile. Upon hearing the Official NetBattler's name, everyone became quiet and turned their eyes on the boy as he walked through the room and stopped in front of the main desk. "Could you please explain what's happening? We heard you brought Forte back with you."
The boy nodded and took out his PET to let Blue log in into the monitor Rockman was using. The two greeted each other with a nod before turning their attention to the room and its occupants. "As I stated before, Forte seems to be against this new criminal organization and that was confirmed when the navi that called himself Ninja took him prisoner six days ago. When we managed to find him in the server of a computer trying to crack into his Ultimate Program, he told us that they are looking for a code they installed in him without him knowing or willing it."
His blue eyes scanned the room and glared at anyone that dared to interrupt him. "That said, I believe that he will be an ally, not an enemy," he took a pause and watched as the older scientists opened their mouths to protest. "Despite him hating us, I have a feeling that he needs our help with something and we need answers that he might have."
Rockman cleared his throat and gained the attention of everyone. "Not only that," he said with a nod, eyes filled with determination. "Blues has told me that when he questioned Forte of the whereabouts of Netto-kun, he went uncharacteristically tense and silent. I think he knows where he is, but for some reasons, he is uncomfortable in answering."
At those words, Yuichiro had to repress the need to bolt for the door and find the black navi. Even if it was a supposition, Rockman knew Forte better than anyone else that wasn't Cossack. If Rockman believed that Forte had an answer to where his Netto was, he believed it himself. "I know what he did in the past, I was there myself," he placed his hands on the desk and let his head fall down. "But if there is a chance that he knows where my son is, please…"
Kifune placed a hand onto one of the man's arms and gently brought him down to sit again. "I understand your worry and the need to find him, but," he paused and sighed. "We can't ignore his past or the fact that today he might be an ally, but tomorrow, once he's healed, will he still be an ally or will he destroy us all?"
"If that happens," Rockman replied without hesitation, "I will deal with him personally."
Enzan nodded. "And we will help," he said as he glanced at Blues, whom nodded back with a faint smile, before he let his eyes watch every single scientist present into the room. They still didn't like the idea of letting the rogue navi live, but they seemed to understand the predicament of their superior.
"Alright," an old man said as he stood up from the chair he was occupying. "But if something happens to SciLabs…" leaving his sentence unfinished, he turned around and walked out of the room, soon followed by all the others and leaving four people and two navis behind.
"You have to forgive them," Yuichiro said as he looked down at his folded hands resting on the desk. "Some can't forget what Forte did in the past. Because of his peculiar way of testing security, he was more of a bother to them than a help, so they came to hate him."
There was silence for several seconds as everybody was too busy absorbing Yuichiro's words until the image on the monitor split forcing the two navis on a half while on the other appeared Meijin. "Ah, I see the meeting has ended," he said while at his back two people closed the door of a glass structure and activated the device. "I have placed Forte inside one of our successful prototypes for the Dimensional Area. He's still out, but I have gotten several visits demanding for increased security, so I was wondering if Rockman and Blues would be so kind to come and help."
As the two navis nodded and disappeared in a shower of data, Meijin's image enlarged and became full screen. "So, what did you decide?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the troubled faces the four were wearing.
"We're keeping Forte here until further notice, Meijin," Yuichiro replied with a tired sigh. "He might be an ally this time. And Rockman believe he knows where Netto is."
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He knew that place. The most important events in his life had happened there. His activation, his first meeting with his creator, but most of all, they had tried to delete him. He brought his hand up to his navi emblem and felt he scar on it. He had left it as a reminder of what humanity had done to him and how much he despised them and all the navis that associated with them.
Gritting his teeth, he looked up and noticed how dark and empty the place was. Then, so suddenly that he could do nothing, something lunged at him with an almost unholy screech. He avoided being slashed by leaping backwards and looked up at his assailant, instantly recognizing him. He was the same navi that had wounded him in the past.
The navi stood up and raised his sword, then a window appeared next to him and Cossack's eyes glared at Forte with contempt. "I should have never created you," he said in a booming voice. "You were a mistake! Delete him!"
The window disappeared and Forte felt too shocked to avoid the next lunge. The sword slashed at his chest and data flew everywhere as the blade cut through his frame and his emblem. Dazed, the navi staggered backwards and fell to the floor on his knees. "A… mistake…?"
He hated humanity. He hated it all, but at the moment Forte could do nothing but feel betrayed and in pain. "So I was really nothing to you…? Just an experiment that didn't come out as you wished?"
Cossack had abandoned him long ago, he knew that, and he hated him too, but his words still managed to hurt him to the point that he was unable to fight back. He watched as the security navi raised his sword high up into the air and waited for deletion.
That is, if the navi wasn't distracted by a rumbling coming from his left and a shout of "Gangway! Stampede coming thru!" just before he was trampled and then carried away by hundreds of ostriches.
Forte watched as the stampede passed in front of him with a thunderous roar, leaving an upturned and broken floor in their wake. When the large group of running birds disappeared into the dark distance, one stopped in front of him. It was different from the others, though, as it was larger, gold colored and wearing a light armor of sort. And there was this unexplainable source of light coming from behind the creature that made the rider appear as a black figure.
Mumbling something about his herd not listening to him, the rider dismounted and stood in front of Forte. The light at the back disappeared and the figure appeared for who he really was while the armored ostrich stood faithfully next to him. "Are you going to sit there all day?" Netto, in his human appearance, asked as he held out a hand to the navi.
Forte raised an eyebrow and started to realize that this was not reality, but a nightmare that was slowly turning to insanity thanks to the boy standing in front of him. He felt relieved because that meant that the earlier event had been a machination of his own mind, but he also felt doomed, he supposed, because it meant that he was stuck with him even during dreams.
"Forte?"
Red eyes looked up into the roundish brown ones of the human kid and he frowned deeply, swatting the offered hand away. "I don't need your help, human," he hissed as he looked away. "Just go away. Leave me alone for once!"
Next thing he knew was that the boy sat down behind him and leaned onto his back. "I can't," he replied as he idly played with the reins of his 'steed'. "You called."
Forte gritted his teeth and clenched at the ground with his fingers. "I am sure I did not call for you, human," he hissed angrily. There was no way he would call for help, much less if that help came from something he hated so much.
Netto nodded and hummed, letting the navi have his moment of hatred. "Yeah, you did," he countered, sure of himself. "I was running through a meadow with these ostriches and everything was fine, then something broke the spell and I suddenly knew that it was all a dream and that I had to come. And so, here I am."
"I don't want your help," Forte replied weakly as he glanced at where the window had been and shivered in disgust at how much Cossack's words had affected him even after ten years. Then the weight at his back moved and he suddenly found himself laying onto the ground and looking up at the determined face of the human kid. He hadn't realized how much he was leaning onto his back until now.
Netto wordlessly placed a finger onto Forte's emblem and the wound started to regenerate itself. "But you have it. Like it or not," he replied after the large gash had disappeared. He then stood up and offered his hand again. "So, you either accept it, or I'm going to shove it down your throat. Forcefully, I might add."
"Why?"
The boy grinned and his eyes filled with a spark of emotion that Forte was not sure he could recognize. "Because I want to."
"Because you want to…" the navi whispered to himself as he focused his eyes onto Netto's outstretched hand. Not because it would avoid him feeling his pain, nor because it was the right thing to do, but because he wanted to.
When his white gloved hand grasped Netto's and he was hauled up onto his feet, the last thing he saw before everything faded away was the boy smiling. "I won't betray you, Forte."
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Wondering why dreams always ended when the good part came or when there was a big resolution of some sort, Netto slowly opened his eyes and noticed that he was looking at several psychedelic hexagons belonging to a dimensional area. They were smaller, however, so he knew that this was not the characteristic dome that could envelop an entire city block.
He was laying on a mattress on the ground and he was covered by a light blanket and although there was no pillow, he was very comfortable and felt refreshed despite the stiffness and soreness in his body.
Looking past the Dimensional Area's wall, Netto noticed Meijin working tirelessly on a console while Enzan watched and supplied some advices from time to time. Blinking away the sleep, he sat up and groaned softly as his side flared with pain, forcing him to lean onto his left arm and wince at the pain he got from the cut on his upper arm.
Then hands grabbed his shoulders and forced him back onto the mattress while Blues' voice called for his operator and Meijin's attention. Lifting his right leg up, Netto kicked away whoever was holding him down and groaned again as his right side protested painfully.
After that, things went downhill from there and before he knew what had happened, he was laying onto his chest and two sets of hands were pinning him down as much as the two owners could. And since they were navis, Netto, whom was weakened by his wounds and over a week without food, was unable to move at all. Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, he relaxed under the firm hold and watched as Meijin and Enzan walked to the Dimensional Area and looked down at him.
"Ah, I see you are awake, Forte," the scientist said. "You should take it easy for a while. You don't want those wounds to reopen. And the infection really did a number on you. You were out cold for three days."
Three days…? Forte grunted, apparently just having woken up.
"We're going to let you go, ok?" Rockman, whom was the one holding him down by the shoulders, said as he slowly decreased the strength of his pin. "Just, don't do sudden movements or you're going to be stuck to this mattress more than you want to."
Closing his eyes and finally giving in, Netto didn't move from where he was when Rockman and Blues lifted their hands from him. For a moment he wanted to protest and tell them to get him to a real bed because he was Netto, but something actually stopped him from greeting his friends like he wanted to.
He could feel it. The distrust coming from Forte was intense, especially towards Meijin. He was still not entirely sure why, but the leftovers of that nightmare he had broken into to help the navi had cast some light onto Forte's past. Especially that open wound. It had been terrible to see, and if he focused long enough, he knew that he could also feel a phantom pain on his chest.
No. As much as he wanted to tackle and hug everyone, Forte deserved to be listened to too. That was why he would wait and act as him until the navi decided it was the right time to disclose their problem to SciLabs' staff.
Listening to Blues talking to Enzan and Meijin once again and feeling Rockman's eyes on his back, Netto remained silent and motionless until the automatic doors of the lab opened and more people walked inside the room.
Three sets of footsteps, Forte supplied as he tried to ward off the sense of dread he was starting to feel. He didn't want to be stuck somewhere with a lot of the people that wanted him deleted and the boy too weak to stand up and fight back.
"We were on our way here when we received your message, Mejin."
Netto had a sudden conflict of emotions as his father spoke with his assistant. Happiness against hate and anger, relief against fear and the need to hug the man against the need to blow things up and run away.
He listened to the two men talk about the status of his wounds and about all the possible theories on how a navi could materialize in the real world and have a partially flesh body. Cross Fusion was mentioned, but both were highly doubtful towards that particular theory. The other two people, Manabe and Kifune, spoke only when they had a question for the two scientists.
Inside the Dimensional Area, Rockman kneeled next to the downed navi. "Forte," he spoke softly but at the same time with determination. "I… please, tell me where Netto-kun is."
The only reply came in the form of a very light cringe before the black navi turned his head away and tensed his body. Rockman watched Forte's still form with slightly narrowed eyes. It was just like Blues had told him. The black navi was reluctant in answering that particular question and that strengthened his belief in him knowing where Netto was.
Still, he didn't press the matter further despite the urgent need to know. That would only make Forte less willing to talk than he already was. He just hoped that waiting didn't result in Netto dying or he would never be able to forgive himself if that happened.
Sitting down onto the mattress and giving Forte his back, Rockman folded his legs and curled his arms around them. "I hope you're ok, Netto-kun…" he whispered to himself as he let his head rest on his knees.