A/N: Meiru, Dekao and Yaito are almost impossible to write. I spent more time on their tiny piece than the rest of the fic put together…

Thaaaaanks to Azure Euphoria for helping me out with the last part of this chapter. Thanks to her it came out better!

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. And the plot. Plot is mine too.

Az.

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"It was a big mistake to create you so powerful and so free…"

Forte tried to ignore those words, but as much as he tried, that familiar voice filled with contempt made him wince in pain and made him huddle on himself. He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there, within that cage and with those cuffs on his wrists and ankles, but it felt long. Too long.

"You have caused too many problems since your activation," Cossack's voice filled the empty space again, making the two guards outside the cage snigger and nods in agreement. "You only deserve to be deleted."

Forte hid his face behind his folded legs and cringed. He hated him. Hated him for making him believe that he loved him for who he was, hated him for his betrayal, for agreeing to his deletion without a second thought. Yet, as much as he wanted to blast the man to smithereens, he couldn't lift a finger. Not because of the limiters they had imposed on him, but because he hurt too much to do more than wish for the pain to just go away.

But then things changed. He wasn't sure how, but everything became distant and he came to the realization that he was having yet another nightmare. One of the many he had during his ten years of wandering alone the Undernet.

"This is another nightmare, isn't it?" he asked, without looking up, to the presence that he could feel standing in front of him. He still felt hurt, but it was slowly fading away along with the memory of the dream, and the boy standing in front of him made him feel something he hadn't felt since he had abandoned SciLabs. It was… refreshing.

"Yup," Netto replied with his usual cheery voice. "You called again."

"You should stop invading my space, kid," Forte replied, not moving from where he was. "But… I have to admit that I can't hate you for your… annoying invasiveness…"

At those words, Netto sputtered indignantly and stomped a foot on the floor that oddly produced a slap instead of a thump. Ignoring the boy's words of protest at how he always came because he always called out for him, Forte looked up at the boy. And paused briefly before raising an eyebrow.

Netto was wearing nothing but his shorts and was dripping wet, had a harpoon in his right hand and a long rope in his left. Said rope was attached to a fish as big as a nicely sized warehouse while a large trail of water disappeared in the distance. Forte had to admit that was… so anticlimactic that he felt the corner of his mouth being pulled into an amused smile.

"So," Netto continued after a few moments of silence. "Who was the guy ranting about mistakes and… deletion?" he asked with a cringe at the last word. Why someone would want the death of someone else was something he would never be able to accept. Sure, he had deleted a lot of navis in the past, but that was because they were downright evil and desired nothing but to destroy, conquer and destroy more. Forte was different, though. Sure, he was always hungry for more power and had an obsessive hate towards humanity, but he never went to the surface of the net unless he wanted to exact revenge on someone or if there was something worthy of his time. Aka Rockman.

Red eyes met brown, but the black navi was unable to maintain the stare for long and shifted his attention to the absurdly giant fish that lay next to the boy. "Doctor Cossack," he whispered with a mixture of hate and pain in his voice. "The one who created me…"

"Cossack?" Netto asked as he rubbed his chin with his right hand, the motion causing the fish to jerk with a squishy sound. "The name is familiar, but I can't remember where I heard it…" he paused for several long moments, humming gently as he tried to recall where and when he had encountered the name. "Ah, well... it'll come back. Eventually…"

Netto then discarded the rope he was holding and extended his hand towards Forte. "So, are you going to sit there forever, or do I have to drag you up?"

Forte's eyes narrowed and he stood up, unconsciously destroying his restrains as he came so close face to face with the boy that forehead and helmet almost bumped together. "The fact that we coexist in the same body doesn't mean that it entitles you to do as you wish, kid," he growled angrily.

Netto grinned, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Now that's the Forte I know," he replied, completely ignoring the navi's death glare.

Forte had the sudden urge to either scream in frustration as loudly as he could or tackle the boy to the ground and try to strangle him without killing himself in the process. "I hate you," he hissed.

"Uh uh," Netto replied as his grin widened and he was hard pressed to not laugh. "Sure, Forte. Sure."

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Yuichiro wasn't sure how long he had been sitting at the desk in the infirmary analyzing data and occasionally stealing a glance at the black navi laying out cold on one of the two beds. After he had brought Forte into the room, he had busied himself into checking his wounds for a while, in particular the one on his right side. That was when he had truly noticed that the navi had an actual heartbeat and that he was breathing. Just like a human. For a moment he had the sudden urge to examine Forte thoroughly, but then he had decided against it as doing so would break the weak trust the navi had for him.

Rubbing his forehead, Yuichiro sighed. "I still feel like I'm missing an important piece of the puzzle…" he muttered as he took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. Perhaps the "code" Forte had once mentioned to Blues was what made his data recreate a human body to such details that he had working organs and flowing blood, even if the latter dematerialized as soon as it lost contact with his body.

The door hissed open and, after replacing his glasses on his nose, Yuichiro watched as Enzan walked into the room with a frown on his face. "Even after we officially declared Forte to be an ally, even after officially ordering them to stay as far away from him as possible, they still demand for his elimination," the boy growled as he sat into a chair in front of Yuichiro's desk.

"They are not taking it well, aren't they?" the man asked as he moved his eyes from Enzan to the door a few times before setting onto the monitor displaying the few observations on Forte he had made. He stared at it for a while, hoping that the data would suddenly make sense, then sighed and leaned back onto his chair. "Have you found where Meiru and the others have been taken?"

Enzan shook his head dejectedly. "No, but they made a public announcement an hour ago about being the rightful rulers of the planet and warning that whoever tried to stop them would be quickly taken care of. Meijin is trying to track down the source, but they really did a good job in masking it…"

Yuichiro's eyes saddened. "And Netto is right in the middle of it…" he murmured more to himself than to the boy sitting across the desk. "I just hope that he got away from whatever ambush Dark Mu prepared for him while you were busy with the decoy attack, Enzan," his eyes then traveled to the motionless navi on the bed, observing him for long seconds. He hadn't moved a single finger since he had been forced to sedate him.

Seeing Netto's father glancing at Forte, Enzan turned his head to look at him too. "We should take advantage of his stasis and examine him," he said after a while with a light frown on his mouth. "Find out what is keeping him materialized in the real world…"

Yuichiro frowned and took a deep breath. "I thought about it, Enzan," he replied as he gently drummed his fingers on the desk. "Forte will not like to be examined so deeply while he's in stasis. As much as I'd like to find answers, a deep scan on him is only going to anger him, and last time someone angered him, well… he was lucky to find himself with just a lot of broken bones."

A light groan attracted the two and they watched as the previously still form of Forte started to twitch as the sedative started to wear off. "As much as I wish to know why he's here, why he can materialize without a Dimensional Area and where my son is, we have to wait," the man said as he stood up and approached the waking navi. "Forte will talk when he is ready…"

Enzan's eyes narrowed and he watched Yuichiro reach Forte and speak to him in a soft voice. He could see the navi fight against the weakness brought by the sedative and sit up, with one hand grabbing the edge of the bed and the other holding the scientist's outstretched arm for support. Deciding that Forte would be unable to retaliate violently if he confronted him, the boy stood up and walked in front of the navi.

Resolute blue eyes stared at a hidden face, wishing he could just grab Forte's head and yank it upwards so he could stare at him in the eyes. "When will you talk?" he asked simply, observing every small move the navi would do. There was a moment where Forte stilled, then his head tilted a little to the side, probably in thought, before he frowned. For a moment Enzan thought he had seen his mouth twitch.

"Enzan," Yuichiro pleaded as he used his free hand to keep Forte from falling, knowing that after waking up from a sedation people would be weak and dizzy. He was actually amazed that his hastily put together plan had worked so well despite Forte not being a human. "Just… give him time."

Before Enzan could express his reasons for wanting to confront Forte, the door hissed open and he, Yuichiro and the navi looked up as Meijin walked inside the infirmary with a grimace on his face. "No good," he said as he slowly approached the three, still not really sure how to behave with a dangerous navi like Forte when awake. Especially after his rampage. "I was unable to track down the source of the transmission…"

Yuichiro sighed and rubbed his eyes, not letting his glasses fall off thanks to years of practice. "That means we have no lead on where they took Meiru, Yaito and Dekao…" he muttered. He then glanced at the hand grasping his forearm and frowned. For a moment he had felt the navi's fingers twitch and tense…

"Dark Mu left this behind, though. It's encoded," Meijin continued as he brought up an unmarked PET and displayed a written message. "But there was a piece of paper with Forte's name on it…"

Three pair of eyes instantly focused onto the black navi and watched as he frowned and reached for the PET with his left hand. However his progress was halted by Enzan, who grabbed his wrist and tried to see past the cover provided by the helmet. "So I was right," he said as he narrowed his eyes at him. "You are in contact with Netto. Where is he? And why are you acting so… off? Since we found you, you haven't looked at anyone in the eyes. That's not like you."

There was a moment of pause where everyone felt the tension rise to almost impossible levels, then Forte wrenched his arm away from Enzan's grasp and yanked the PET out of Meijin's hand before he made his way to the door and disappeared behind it with a slightly wobbly gait.

"Let me talk to him," Yuichiro said with a tired smile, patting Enzan's shoulder as he walked past him. "Maybe I can work something out…"

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Meiru was far from happy. Cold, tired and hungry was not how someone should treat a lady. She would have kicked who had kidnapped her and her friends if they weren't materialized navis that could easily take a bomb in the face and not wince. Not that the navi that had accompanied them to their room looked particularly strong.

Huffing and kicking the closed door, the red haired girl turned around and examined the room they were in. It was bare save for a few crates at one of the farthest corners from the door and a single light on one of the walls. The floor was made of rough concrete and was so uncomfortable that they couldn't even sit down and rest for a bit. On top of it all, there were no electronic devices in the room save for their PETs.

Dekao, despite the cold floor, had sat down near the door and was huddling to try to keep himself warm while he watched Yaito walk to the crates and lift one of the lids. "Empty…" she murmured as she released the lid to let it fall back into place with a loud bang.

When the younger girl returned to her friends' side, Meiru let her eyes scan the room once again in search of something, anything that could help them escape. That was when her eyes landed on a grate in the wall near the ceiling. It was small, but it was large enough for one of them. "Yaito?" she called as she walked to the wall and looked up at the air-duct opening. "I think you can fit in there and find a way out."

Yaito looked at the grate and hummed gently. The idea of crawling through a dusty and cramped airduct wasn't something she liked to do, but after all the adventures she had with Netto and the others, and the fact that she didn't want to be stuck in that empty and cold room for who knows how long, prompted her to nod. "I can do it," she said as she crossed her arms and let her forehead glint in the dim light coming from the only light located on the opposite wall. "I'll get out and open the door for you guys!"

"Oh, Yaito-sama," Glyde spoke from his pet with admiration. "You are such a courageous young woman!"

Dekao stood up and walked towards the empty crates. "I'll help you out," he said as he grabbed one of the large wooden boxes and started to drag it under the grate in the wall. "No way I'm going to sit around and do nothing. I'll show these guys that messing with me is not a good idea!"

With their navis cheering them on, the three friends positioned the crate where it was needed to be and worked together to remove the grate covering the airduct so that Yaito could crawl inside.

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"Forte, wait!" Yuichiro called as he rushed after the retreating cloaked figure. After people had quickly left, the corridor they were in was deserted and it was easy for the man to catch up with the still dazed navi. "Please, wait…"

Forte stopped and turned around to calmly regard the scientist and Yuichiro relaxed slightly as he felt no negative vibes directed at him. He looked down at the navi's hidden face for a second then his eyes softened. "I… I know you have no obligations with us, especially after what happened to you ten years ago…" he said, wincing at the memory and at how his own words made him feel guilty. "There is no excuse for me to not have done more to help you, but… will you help me?"

For a moment Netto had the sudden urge to spill all his secrets and hug his father, reassuring him that he would help. What stopped him, however, was the sudden feeling that he felt coming from Forte. The navi hadn't spoken, but the boy had clearly felt him shudder and become wary of his father.

"Forte?"

After becoming used to being called with his partner's name, Netto slightly tilted his head in a silent way of telling the man in front of him that he was listening. A motion that didn't go unnoticed.

Yuichiro tried to catch a glimpse of the navi's hidden eyes. "Are… are you going to find Netto?" he asked in a soft voice, scared that Forte would leave without giving an answer. Long moments of silence passed and the man sighed and slumped his shoulders, saddened. He was so close to find his son, yet so far away from him… Forte was the key to a lot of answers, but he couldn't bring himself to press the navi for information. Even if it hurt him inside.

"Forte, have you managed to access the PET?" Netto asked in a faint whisper as he lifted his arm out of the shrouding of his cape and held the unmarked PET up so that he and his father could see it. His hand was glowing very faintly with Forte's signature energy and, as this was the very first time they tried to connect to a device like that, he felt really weird upon feeling a tingling running along his arm and reach his brain. The navi had told him that what he was feeling was the transmission of data.

Yes, Forte replied as he deleted a security blockage with ease before scanning the data contained within the PET. It's slower than browsing it in first person, but accessing it was mere child's play. Decoding it, however, is going to take a while longer…

"Fair enough," Netto replied as he watched the holographic screen of the PET appear in midair and display various popup windows with scrolling text in them. His eyes then shifted to his father, softening.

Aren't you going to tell him..? Forte idly asked as he focused on cracking a particularly tough code. Yet, even if he was calm and collected as ever, he knew that the boy could feel the apprehension hidden behind his mask.

Netto watched as a few windows on the floating display disappeared and were replaced with others. "Don't know…" he muttered, refraining from shrugging in front of his father. The man was watching him with interest and was probably trying to understand what he was whispering. "Maybe it's not the right time to tell him…"

There was silence for a few seconds then, as Forte finally cracked the last code that stopped them from viewing whatever message Dark Mu had sent them, all the windows on the display disappeared and a large and blinking 'access granted' became visible.

Is it because of…?

Even if Forte had left his sentence incomplete, Netto knew what he was referring to. It was whatever had happened after they had been caught for the second time by the Leeches. The last thing they remembered was seeing that old scientist standing in front of them, then everything faded away into oblivion until they found themselves sharing another dream. Whatever had happened during that black out was stopping the boy from telling the truth to his father.

"Probably…" Netto replied as he watched the 'access granted' blink one last time before the PET's menu appeared. There was no navi within the device, so Forte remotely navigated through it until he came across a file with his name on it.

Yuichiro, having respectfully waited in silence and ignored as best as he could the navi's faint mutterings, turned his eyes from the cloaked figure to the holographic screen as a new window appeared. For a moment the video file showed nothing but black, but then, after a brief display of white noise, the navi known as Ninja appeared.

"Greetings, oh Black Fury," he said, slightly bowing his head in respect to the powerful creature that Netto and Forte formed. "I do respect you, for you are powerful and Dark Mu's law is that only the strongest have a right to rule. Unfortunately, orders are orders and I am forced to bring to your attention the fact that you are in possession of something that our emperor wishes to have back. That is why I captured the boy's friends and plan to use them in what I believe is an equal exchange. You can find the coordinates and the time of our meeting within this PET.

As for the kid that always manages to elude our best efforts in capturing him, I would kindly ask of you to deliver these words to him, but I believe that the same message has already reached his attention," the navi was purposely being vague upon mentioning their identity, probably because he was amused by SciLabs not knowing that Netto was right under their nose. He then bowed his head again. "With best regards, Ninja out."

It took a lot of effort for Netto to not crush the device he was holding when the video ended.

It's clearly a trap… Forte commented, feeling anger coming from his host for the first time since the beginning of their journey together. Only a fool wouldn't notice it...

"I know," Netto grunted out, perhaps a bit too loudly as he noticed his father raise an eyebrow at him. "But they'll regret pulling this dirty trick. Black Fury's word."

After getting the coordinates from the PET, Netto wordlessly handed the device to a confused Yuichiro and approached the nearest window, opening it. He climbed on the windowsill, ready to take flight, but was stopped as his father placed a hand on his right forearm.

"You're going to find my son, aren't you?" Yuichiro asked as he watched the half hidden face of the cloaked navi for any sign of emotion. "I… if you find him, please, tell him that we're all waiting for his return," he paused briefly and lifted his hand from Forte's arm. "And take care. The wound on your side is almost healed, but it could still reopen…"

The man never received a verbal reply, but the small smile that Forte displayed was enough to make him feel relieved and, after a brief nod of his head, he watched as the navi took flight into the early afternoon sky, directed where only he knew he could find his son.

...Another human facade...? Forte asked to himself, not realizing that he had said that aloud and unsure at what to do with the genuine display of concern from Netto's father. For a strange reason, he was unable to truly believe in the fact that the man could be faking his concern. Maybe it was because he could feel the strong trust the boy had for him that he was willing to give him a chance… even if he still felt really unsettled in trusting a human that wasn't Netto. Which was odd because he couldn't remember when he had started to trust the kid as much as he was doing lately…

"He's not faking it, Forte," Netto replied as he grabbed the two pieces of the scarf hanging in front of him and tied them behind his neck so that they wouldn't get in the way if he needed to battle. "My dad doesn't lie to anyone."

There was silence for a while as Forte pondered the boy's words, then Netto broke it as he sighed. "By the way, Forte," he said as he reached back and tugged at one of the long strands of cloth flapping wildly behind him. "Can't you get rid of these? It's annoying to have to tie them out of the way every time we get a new cloak…"

The navi hummed gently for a few seconds as he checked the data he always used to summon the cloak. I tried a few times to manipulate the data, he grunted unhappily to himself rather than explain it to his host. But every time I think I get the detail deleted from the coding, it just regenerates the next time I summon it again…

"Great. As if we didn't have enough problems already…" the boy groaned, slumping in the air.

Netto then landed on the roof of a building and looked at the country in the distance as Forte displayed a map of the zone and highlighted a particular point near a lake with the time of the meeting next to it. They only had six hours to form a plan before they were forced to either take action or ignore the veiled threat Dark Mu had sent to Netto. In either case, the boy knew that he could count on Enzan, Meijin and his father to come up with their own idea, and just maybe he should go back and hear that plan out before doing anything.

For the moment, however…

Netto looked at the street below and narrowed his eyes. "I want curry, but how do I get it…?"

Bill that father of yours.

Ignoring the sarcastic way Forte had supplied the advice, the boy displayed a wide grin that would have unnerved anyone that saw it. "Now that's a wonderful idea!"