A/N: This chapter was quite the struggle, especially the first part in the school. But the last part, the one with Yuichiro, flowed like water. Yuichiro is really a good boy. Thanks to him, this is the longest chapter so far! I just hope Yuichiro is not too OOC…

Special thanks to Mistrevar (DA)/Zephira Cobalt (FanfictionNet) for always helping me past the random blockages I come across.

As always, forgive me for the errors I was unable to find.

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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Enzan's eyes were narrowed and his walk was more of a stomping as he and Yuichiro walked through the halls of Netto's school. After Roll had come to SciLabs in a rush to deliver the news that Netto had left another message, he had caught a glimpse of Forte smirking before the navi hid his face from view yet again.

"He knows," he said to the man walking next to him. "Now I'm sure of it. Forte knows what's happening to Netto."

Yuichiro placed a hand onto the boy's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "I have a feeling that he will talk when he is ready," he replied softly. "Forte has a reason to be at SciLabs, or he would have killed us all already. That, however, doesn't mean that he is ready to trust us with everything he knows…"

Enzan frowned. "He is mellower, though," he supplied as he remembered how much Forte was willing to be helped. "And he seems to trust you, doctor."

The scientist nodded his head and hummed. "It's a very weak trust, Enzan. I can see it in his movements. They might appear to be calm and calculated, but in truth he is tense and ready to blow up anything that is potentially harming to him. I wouldn't expect anything less from him after what he went through…"

The two reached Netto's classroom and found Meiru, Dekao and Yaito standing in front of the door. The three smiled upon seeing them and the red haired girl opened the door for them with an excited smile. "The message makes no sense, almost as if he wanted to pull a prank, but I know it can't be. This morning I went to see how his mom was doing, and he wasn't back."

Not having gone home for the past four or so days, exactly since Forte had been brought back to SciLabs, Yuichiro was grateful that the girl had been so kind as to go to see how his wife was doing. She wasn't doing well and was able to sleep only when she was too tired to stay awake.

After quickly greeting each other, the group entered into the classroom and stared at the scribbled board. There wasn't a corner that wasn't filled to the brim with lines.

"'Eat your curry'?" Enzan asked with a raised eyebrow. Unlike before, this time the message truly had no sense and Netto had left nothing behind. Maybe this was just to tell them all that he was alright and that there was nothing to worry about. "This might be just to let us know he's ok."

"So," Yaito's voice came from his back and broke him out of his thoughts. "You know what's happening, right?"

The white haired boy turned around and looked down at the girl without betraying any emotion. Part of him wanted to tell them as much as he could because, being Netto's closest friends, they deserved to know, but at he same time he knew that giving them any information would get them involved in too much danger.

"You shouldn't get involved," he eventually said, turning back to the blackboard and ignoring the loud protests coming from the other three kids. He looked up at Yuichiro, who was looking down at a holographic display coming from Rockman's PET, and watched him for a few seconds "It's too dangerous."

"The surveillance didn't catch anything," Rockman said after coming back from checking the school's security net. "Netto either knew how to avoid cameras or he came in from the window…"

At those words, Enzan snapped out of his thoughts and looked towards the window. They were at the second floor, so it was impossible for Netto to climb in from the ground unless he used a long ladder that he would be unable to lift by himself, and getting in from the roof would be pointless because he would have to enter the school to reach it.

He walked to the window and pulled it to the side, finding it open. His eyes narrowed and his fingers tapped onto the windowsill as his mind started to connect what he knew together to form one theory, albeit as crazy as it was.

He didn't know why, but he was sure that Forte had helped Netto get inside by flying him up there. He hadn't personally seen the black navi leave SciLabs, but Yuichiro had mentioned that he had left his office-laboratory shortly after eating and hadn't come back until late at night.

He would have to talk with Forte and ask him about Netto again, but there was the problem of making him talk without annoying him. The fact that the navi was somewhat peaceful at the moment didn't mean that he would be happily chatting away with him.

Taking a deep breath and releasing it in a slow sigh, Enzan closed the window and returned to Yuichiro's side. He watched the man exchange a few more words with his son's navi then replace the PET in his pocket. "We should go back to SciLabs," he said tiredly. The sleepless nights spent to muse on Forte and the whereabouts of his son were starting to catch up with him. "There is nothing more for us here."

"Then we're coming with you," Meiru declared after being silent for so long. She and the other two kids had limited themselves on watching them. "If Netto is back into the city, then we're going to help find him, right?"

In response to her question, Dekao crossed his arms and nodded while Yaito walked up to Enzan and pointed a finger at his nose. "Don't you think you have a right to keep us out," she said with a determined expression on her face. "Netto is our friend and we're not going to sit back on this."

Yuichiro placed a hand onto the blonde girl's shoulder and smiled. "Thanks, it means a lot to me, but you shouldn't get involved this time," he said as he looked at her in the eyes. Seeing her resolve, however, he paused for a few seconds before sighing in resignation. "Alright, you can come to SciLabs. But… promise me that you won't do anything reckless."

The trio of kids nodded in agreement and moved to the side so that Yuichiro could walk out of the classroom. Once Meiru and Dekao followed him, Yaito flashed a victorious smile at Enzan before following her friends with a gentle, happy humming.

Enzan watched her disappear through the door, then sighed. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

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Netto was bored out of his mind. Sitting all day in the darkest corner of his father's laboratory-office wasn't his idea of how to spend his free time. Even Forte was starting to get restless, so, after weeks of coexistence, there was no need for the boy to ask if the navi wanted to take a stroll around.

Careful to not reopen the healing gash on his side, Netto stood up and floated towards the door, opening it and warily looking at the wide corridor and the large boxes piled at the walls.

I don't pick up any kind of energy signature… Forte said after a few seconds. As soon as the boy had seen the cargo, he had instantly felt his suspiciousness regarding it. Having learned to trust the kid's instinct, he had quickly scanned the boxes for anything potentially harming.

Netto hummed under his breath but didn't move from the doorway. "Still…" his eyes narrowed and he slowly floated to a stack of boxes to his right. His hands moved past his cloak and grabbed the lids of a large box, opening it and peering inside.

"Hell!"

But before he could bolt towards the safety of his father's office, green energy crackled to life and he was dragged back towards the center of the corridor exactly in the middle of four green converter-like devices that he came to call 'Leeches'. In a desperate attempt to escape their clutches, he grabbed the doorframe with a hand and tried to pull himself away.

"Increase the output! Don't let him get away!"

Netto recognized the voice belonging to one of the older scientists of SciLabs before he gasped in pain and lost his hold on the doorframe. Still not wanting to lose so easily, he used all his strength to fight the pull and the searing pain coming from his side as his movements disturbed his wound.

The pull eventually became too strong and he was dragged backwards until he was pinned in midair by an invisible force. He growled in anger and looked past his shoulder at the approaching bunch of scientists that wore wide and victorious smiles on their lips.

While the others started to pry open the cardboard of the boxes that hid the four Leeches and maneuver them onto four small trolleys, one of them, an old man that seemed to be the leader of the small group, walked in front of Forte and observed the trapped navi with a critical eye. "Not so powerful now, are you?"

Striking when the human opposing them is away… Forte sneered, feeling burning hate and anger swell within him. They are such filthy…

"…cowards." Netto hissed in fury as the mental boundary between him and Forte broke again. He shot forwards his right arm and grabbed the scientist's wrist into an iron grip, then he used his left hand to hoist the old man a foot into the air by the neck. The scientist's free hand grabbed the navi's left forearm and tried to pull it away from him.

Brown eyes became dark red and narrowed into tiny slits as they observed from behind the rim of his cape the man struggling with fear clearly visible on his face. Netto and Forte smiled and then, with a twist of their hand, the wrist of the scientist they were holding was broken with a loud snap.

When the man thought that he was going to choke because of the steadily increasing pressure at his throat, his colleagues increased the output of the green colored devices they had copied from the one Forte had destroyed. This made the navi howl in rage and convulse, with the end result of losing his grip on the scientist, who fell on the ground on his behind.

"Get him to the lab," the man hissed in pain as he cradled his fractured wrist. "We're going to crack him, see what makes him able to materialize in the real world and then we'll delete him."

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The news of the attack at NetPolice's headquarters came when they were almost back to SciLabs. Enzan, having taken his own limo instead of Yaito's, was currently speeding towards the besieged building as fast as the driver could go. "As soon as we are there, take cover," the boy explained as he leaned to the right to not be thrown against the side of the car when it took a sharp turn.

The driver nodded and floored the pedal for several seconds until he made the car screech to a halt a block away from Enzan's destination. "Good luck, sir," he said with a small smile as he watched the boy jump out of the car and run towards the large crowd of viruses in the distance.

As he ran, Enzan heard the car start up again and leave. "Without Netto and Rockman, it's just you and me, Blues," he said as he glanced up at the sky. Meijin would activate the Dimensional Area Generator as soon as he was within range of the viruses.

"Those viruses aren't a real threat," the navi replied from his PET currently holstered against his operator's belt. "Those navis, however…"

Enzan nodded as he remembered how Forte had barely won against the white navi and had been caught by surprise by Ninja. "They pose a real threat," he said, frowning. If the black navi, who was the strongest of the Undernet, had troubles defeating one of them, then he knew that he would have to be extra careful.

Stopping as close to the viruses as he could, Enzan took out his pet and readied his synchro-chip, and, as on cue, the Dimensional Area began to appear. When the dome had successfully been established, the boy inserted the special chip and initiated Cross Fusion with his navi. Light enveloped them and when it faded, Enzan had become Blues.

"Let's get this done quickly," the boy said as he summoned his default blade and charged towards the NetPolice headquarters. The viruses never saw him coming as he quickly moved through the enemy ranks and cut their numbers. Sidestepping the occasional attack and using powerful chips for the larger viruses to take them down in one hit, within ten minutes the army was reduced to a bunch of scattering critters.

"Impressive," a voice suddenly spoke from behind the boy's back, alerting him of the new presence and making him twirl around with his sword at the ready. Blue eyes locked onto a white humanoid figure and Enzan tensed, preparing for a difficult battle as he recognized the sword-type navi that had fought against Forte during the previous virus attack. "You deserve the reputation people have given you. However, I believe you will lose today. Your friend gave me the name Paladin."

The sword attack came fast and Enzan barely parried it with his own blade and a grunt. No wonder Forte had been hard pressed to defeat this navi… his swings were powerful despite his lean form. "You know where Netto is? Tell me!" he demanded as he pushed his opponent away and readied himself for another attack.

Which came as fast and violently as before. "You don't know?" Paladin asked in amusement. "I have to give him credit… he stays hidden and sends you random messages without you noticing until he is already gone. He truly has learned to be crafty when he needs to be…"

Laughing to himself, the white navi swung a second time and sent Enzan flying against the external wall of the NetPolice's headquarter, visibly denting it. The boy grunted loudly and staggered once he landed on the ground.

"But today his game of hide and seek has come to an end," the white navi said as he advanced towards the dizzied boy. "As you fight so valiantly to protect the people within this building from me and the viruses at my command, my comrade is preparing to strike."

Enzan's eyes widened in shock at the revelation. "A… decoy attack…?"

Paladin suddenly appeared right in front of him and flashed a wide grin. "Exactly!" he exclaimed. "I've been sent here to keep you busy. Maybe kill you in the process, but that would be a waste in my opinion. Dark Mu is looking for strong people like you."

Enzan instinctively raised his sword and swung, then jumped away from harm's way. "Dark Mu? That's the name of the organization that has been seeking navis to add to their ranks and has been hunting both Netto and Forte?"

For a split second, the boy had the sudden feeling that he knew where his friend was, but there was no time to stop and think about it at the moment. He would have to do it later when the white navi wasn't trying to cut him in half.

Dodging to the left and finding an opening in his opponent's attack, Enzan lunged with his sword. Instead of hitting Paladin, however, the blade landed on a white shield. The two struggled for a few seconds before parting and circling each other.

After a few seconds, the two met with clashing swords, then did a fine dance of attacks, parries and dodges. "Is your boss called Osamu Michiro?" Enzan asked after a while as he pushed his blade against Paladin's.

The white navi chuckled and increased the strength he was putting on his sword, forcing his opponent to slightly backtrack. "I see you did your homework, boy," he said with a light grunt. He had to admit that the official NetBattler was stronger than he had expected. "Yes, our leader is Osamu Michiro, but he prefers being called Emperor."

"How cliché…" Enzan replied as he moved to the side unexpectedly and let his opponent stumble on his steps. "So, what he wants from Netto?"

Paladin straightened and turned around, rushing at the boy and slamming his sword against Enzan's. "He has something that belongs to the Emperor," he replied as he retracted his blade and did a series of fast stabs that his opponent was hard pressed to dodge. "And he wants it back at all costs!"

As Paladin swung to slash the boy's chest, Enzan jumped away and summoned a Variable Sword. "Blues, contact SciLabs, tell them that there is going to be another attack somewhere else soon, if not already ongoing," he said as he readied one massive Sonic Boom attack. "Tell them that they are after Netto."

It's no good, Enzan-sama, the navi replied with a grimace in his voice. There is a jamming signal being broadcasted from somewhere.

Enzan gritted his teeth and swung his Variable Sword, letting the Sonic Boom fly towards his enemy, who easily dodged it by jumping to the side. The energy slash didn't stop, nor followed him, and went crashing against a small building next to the NetPolice's headquarter, cutting a corner.

"He's playing with us…" Enzan growled as he watched the piece of building hit the ground with a thunderous crash. "Blues, try to locate the jamming signal. We need to contact SciLabs as soon as possible."

Yes, Enzan-sama.

As Blues became busy in trying to locate the source of the jamming signal, Enzan jumped after Paladin and locked swords with him again, growling in frustration. The navi was an excellent swordsman, and he knew it.

"Soon," the white navi taunted, knowing that if Enzan lost his patience he would commit errors. "Your friend will be captured and we'll be back in posses of what he stole."

Enzan narrowed his eyes and delivered a kick to his enemy's side. Not expecting the sudden move, Paladin was unable to parry the attack and ended up flinching away. "I'm sure that if Netto was able to avoid getting caught by you until now," the boy replied to his opponent's taunts. "He will be able to get away again."

Paladin's eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't be so sure, kid," he replied with an 'I-know-it-all' grin.

Enzan frowned at that and hoped that he and Blues were fast enough in dealing with the decoy attack or that Netto and SciLabs knew of the real attack and acted accordingly.

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Having lost contact with Enzan as soon as the Dimensional Area had been deployed, Yuichiro bolted out of Yaito's limo as soon as this one screeched to a halt in front of SciLabs. Followed by the three kids, he ran past the still broken doors of the entrance and into the left corridor, directed towards the laboratory that controlled the Generator.

Meiru and the others were confused upon seeing the destruction the entrance hall had gone through, but refrained from questioning because they knew that the man had more pressing matters to attend to than explaining to a bunch of kids why the place was so trashed.

They came to a halt, however, when Netto's father almost screeched to a stop and threw his arms out. "What's the meaning of this?" he demanded angrily.

In front of him a group of his colleagues were pushing around four trolleys carrying the same number of Leeches. Amongst them, suspended in midair, Forte was struggling weakly to free himself.

The old scientist, who sported an improvised bandaging to his left wrist, turned around and frowned. "Ah, doctor Hikari," he said as he walked up to the younger man. "We are just doing what we should have done as soon as he was brought here. And you will not interfere. Forte must be eliminated."

Yuichiro's eyes narrowed and his body tensed. "No," he declared, barely able to keep his anger at bay. "Not only you accused him of something he didn't do and tried to delete him just because he wasn't under your absolute control, but now, ten years later, you try to do the same even when he didn't lift a finger against us?"

Taken aback by Yuichiro's irate words, the older man remained silent for a few seconds before he straightened and cleared his throat with a gentle cough. "Look at this," he said as he lifted his broken wrist. "He did it."

"And who was the one that attacked first?" Netto's father replied quickly. "You were, weren't you? I bet that he was just wandering around until he stumbled in a trap you came up with. You have to consider yourself lucky if he only broke your wrist…"

His brown eyes then moved from his colleague to the struggling navi and noticed how his attempts were getting weaker by the second. "Out of the way," he declared as he shoved the older man aside and walked towards one of the devices with a determined gait.

"Doctor Hikari, what do you think you are doing?" the older scientist asked as he followed Yuichiro. "This navi is dangerous! He must be eliminated!"

Yuichiro stopped and glared at the man with hidden fury in his eyes. "Dangerous, yes. But did you realize that if Forte wanted to destroy us all he would have already done so?" he then turned his attention back to the struggling navi and steeled himself. "Get out of the way. I'm going to do what I should have done ten years ago."

Before he could do anything, however, the wall exploded sending dust and debris everywhere. People ducked out of the way and peeked out of the safety of their improvised shelters only when things weren't flying. Yuichiro was the first to stand up and look at the navi standing between him and Forte. "You," he exclaimed as he recognized Ninja thanks to the description Enzan had given him.

Ninja looked at him briefly before he shifted his attention towards the black navi trapped by the four devices. "Well, I didn't expect that someone else would do the job for me," he commented as he walked towards Forte and ignored everyone else. "I'm not sure how you managed it, but I thank you for your hard work. Now I will be taking him back with me."

"Not if I have something to say about it," Yuichiro exclaimed as he rushed past the navi and rammed one of the devices, throwing it to the ground. For a moment nothing happened, but then sparks flew out of one end and the green surface dulled, signaling the deactivation of the Leech.

Realizing what the scientist was trying to do, Ninja bolted after him with his sword unsheathed and ready to strike. He was halted, however, when the remaining three devices exploded with a shower of green sparks and Forte was enveloped by a very thin layer of dark energy.

Everyone stopped in what they were doing and observed as the navi floated where he was. His face was hidden by the rim of his cloak and helmet and he appeared perfectly calm, but the aura he was giving off clearly stated that he was far from calm. After landing onto the ground, Forte's mouth was pulled into a deep frown and he walked towards the man that had dared to imprison him.

Knowing well to not get in the way of someone like Forte when he was beyond furious, Ninja quickly stepped to the side and let the black navi walk past him. His eyes narrowed and he sheathed his sword. "Looks like my plan failed. There is no way I can trap him again when he's out of control…" he muttered before he glanced past the terrified old scientist. "But I won't leave empty handed."

With a snap of his fingers, several Condor viruses materialized and flew towards the trio of shocked kids. There was no time for anyone to do something and as Yuichiro screamed at them to duck and hide, the viruses carried Meiru and the others away, quickly followed by a retreating Ninja.

Yuichiro stared at the hole in the wall the enemy had used to escape, then his attention was brought back as the colleague that had devised the trap to capture Forte screamed in pain. His brown eyes searched the old man and found him pinned against the wall by the black navi, who was bending his right arm behind his back at a very unnatural position.

When loud cracks filled the air, Netto's father shook himself out of his stupor and looked around himself. He had to find a way to calm Forte down, or people would start to die soon. One way was to try and talk some sense into the navi, but he didn't seem to be paying much attention besides breaking the man's arm as much as he could.

His eyes then traveled on Forte's upper left arm and noticed the still present bandaging. That gave him an idea, but he needed some time to get what he needed. "You," he called as he walked to the nearest young scientist and crouched down next to him. "I need you to run to the infirmary and grab some sedative. Quick."

Nodding his head, the young man stood up and bolted down the corridor, happy to go as far away as possible from the crazed navi, even if only for a short amount of time. After watching him go, Yuichiro turned around and stood up. "Forte," he called steadily as he slowly walked towards him. "Forte, stop, please. It's not worth it…"

At his words, Forte did pause for a brief moment. He knew that voice. Part of him wanted to follow its instructions, but the urge to punish the man that had hurt him was too strong. His hands tightened and bones started to crumble under the pressure as the navi planned to make the experience as much painful as he could.

Yuichiro winced as he heard the characteristic sound of the bones starting to break and his colleague's cries of pain. "Forte," he tried again, coming to a few feet from the navi's side and looking at him in the face. For the first time he could see his eyes and he briefly wondered why they were of a dark red when he remembered them to be of a ruby color. "Forte, I know he hurt you, but hurting and killing is not the right way to deal with things…"

The navi glanced at him briefly, then proceeded to ignore him. Yuichiro watched as Forte's cold eyes return to the old man he was holding against the wall. The fact that he wasn't attacking him meant that there was some level of recognition left into Forte, but it wasn't enough for him to be understood. He needed something to distract the navi with. Something sudden and unexpected…

His eyes scanned the corridor again and found the perfect source for a distraction in a case protecting the fire alarm's button from accidental activation. Slowly backtracking away from Forte to not alarm him, Yuichiro reached the device and smashed his fist through the thin plastic lid.

Normal lights dimmed and were replaced by a line of red ones that led towards the nearest exit while the alarm blared loudly and sprinklers came to life. Yuichiro's brown eyes returned to the navi and found him clutching at his head in pain while his colleague crawled away at his feet. Forte's shock didn't last long, however, and he started to launch orbs of dark energy at the nearest speakers to at least lessen the sound.

"Doctor Hikari!"

Yuichiro barely heard the young man's voice above all the chaos that the alarm and explosions were creating, but turned around and grabbed the offered small bottle of sedative and the still sealed syringe. "Thanks, take cover now!" he exclaimed as he quickly and professionally readied his 'weapon'.

Considering that Forte had only a partial flesh body, perhaps sedating him would be ineffective, but Yuichiro had no other idea of how to calm the navi down. Words seemed to only slow him down for a second or two, and fighting him would only result in him getting killed, not to mention that they had lost contact with Enzan as soon as the Dimensional Area was deployed.

After making sure that the liquid inside was free of bubbles and was enough to at least render Forte too tired to continue in his rampage, the young scientist charged towards the out-of-control navi and grabbed him at the neck from behind. "I'm sorry, Forte, but there is no other way…" he said as he inserted the needle into his side and pressed the small plunger.

The chemical didn't take long to take effect and soon Yuichiro found himself gently accompanying a barely conscious navi to the ground. He could still feel him tense and try to struggle against the sedative, but as he placed a hand onto Forte's shoulder to keep him down, he saw darkened red eyes close.

"I hope I can gain the upper hand for real this time and convince them to leave you alone," the man muttered to himself as he observed Forte. Because of being too busy with work, the navi being shrouded in his cloak most of the time or him being too busy treating his wounds, that was the first time he was seeing his appearance.

"Strange," he muttered as he moved his wet hair out of his glasses. Then his fingers traced the purple line running around Forte's emblem. "I don't remember him having this particular patterning…"

However, his musing was broken when Meijin ran around the corner and skid to a halt near his colleague. "Doctor Hikari, are you alright?" he asked as he observed all the damage to the corridor. It looked like a tornado had just passed through.

Yuichiro nodded as he hoisted Forte up into his arms. "Yes, but we need to talk. Now," he said as he carefully maneuvered through all the debris littering the corridor. "Have you managed to contact Enzan?"

Meijin nodded as he followed the older man. "Yes. As soon as the enemy navi left and the viruses were deleted, the jamming signal disappeared. Right now he is heading back here as fast as he can."

"Good," Yuichiro replied as he briefly glanced down at the navi in his arms and found a peaceful face looking back at him. "I need to talk with him too. Have him, Commissioner Kifune and his assistant Manabe reach me in the infirmary."

Giving another nod of understanding, the younger of the two scientists left Yuichiro's side in a hurry and turned left at the first intersection, leaving the man alone with his charge. "I know many will be against me, but I won't let them do the same mistake of ten years ago."

Forte might hate humans with a passion and he might desire their destruction, but it had been their fault if the black navi was like that, and Yuichiro intended to show him that not everyone was like the people that had once harmed him.

Maybe he was just acting to lessen all the guilt he felt towards Forte, but no matter what, he knew that it was the right thing to do for the navi.