Ever Present Author's Note: Well, well, well… here's another birthday update. 12 pages of pure action and adrenaline! Enjoy and forgive me for any error/typo/odd looking phrase of DOOM that might have escaped me.

Just so you know: Ninja's sword is not a sword that replaces his arm (like Paladin's or Enzan's), but a Japanese like sword. Saying this only to avoid getting you confused.

Also: Thanks to Vienrider and Azure Euphoria (both from ffnet) for helping me out. Again.

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As he parried another attack with his Variable Sword, Enzan knew that he wouldn't last much longer. His strength was fading and at each of Paladin's blows he could feel the muscles of his arm shaking in effort.

Enzan-sama…

Blues was worried. It wasn't the first time that they fought together and he trusted his operator to know what he was doing, but it was the first time that the boy was pushing himself so hard. Their plan to use the fight against the enemy navi to destroy the speakers had failed when Paladin, suspicious of Enzan's bad fighting, had glanced behind his back and had seen one of the devices crumbling to the floor.

We have to end this fight now…

Enzan knew that. Any more time spent battling the white navi and he would lose. But Paladin was proving to be a really hard opponent to defeat. "Any… any suggestions?" the boy asked as he parried another attack directed at his head and tried to push the enemy away.

For the first time, the NetSavior was having troubles coming up with a good plan to replace his previous one. Paladin, although still appearing unsatisfied at how things were going, was pressing him so much that he had no real time to think.

Blues hummed gently in his ears, frowning at the situation he and his operator had ended up in. There… there might be a way… he muttered, not really sure if his sudden idea would work or even be worth putting into action.

Enzan sidestepped to the left and let Paladin's sword cut empty air, then swung his own blade as fast as he could. There was a loud clash as his attack met with the white navi's exceptionally hard shield. "At this point, I'm open to any kind of suggestion…" he muttered as he jumped back to avoid getting his head cut.

We do have an Electric Blade loaded, Blues explained as he found the needed Battle Chips in the PET's system and readied them to be summoned at his operator's order. With the exception of Paladin, the navis and viruses present within this room are either water or ice types. If… if we get the sprinklers of the fire extinguisher to turn on…

There was no more to be said as Enzan understood his navi's idea. "That would take care of a lot of our problems…" he muttered, too softly to be heard over the still blaring alarm. "It might hurt Forte too, but since we have no other option…"

Jumping back again and taking several feet of distance from Paladin, Enzan discarded his Variable Sword and summoned another Battle Chip. His hand was overlapped with a red barrel that he pointed straight at his opponent. "Heat Shot!"

Fire erupted from the muzzle of the gun on his arm, burning everything that was in its way and forcing Paladin to jump to the side to avoid damage. Even after the shot ended, the flames continued burning for a few more seconds before dying out and leaving a long scorch mark on the ground, an acrid stench of burning artificial material in the air and dark smoke floating upwards.

Enzan had no time to observe all the damage he had done, though, for Paladin lunged at him again with his sword raised for a downward slash. A slash that the boy parried with a newly summoned Long Sword.

The swing was strong, however. So strong that it sent the boy crashing against the wall and crumble to the floor in a daze while pieces of plaster and dust fell onto him. The impact was so violent that his Long Sword reverted back to his arm and he remained still for several long seconds before he slowly staggered back onto his feet, his long hair falling around his shoulders.

He leaned against the dented wall at his back, feeling the surface further crumble and crack at the contact. Right arm limp at his side for the agonizing pain, Enzan watched as water started to fall from the sprinklers hanging from the ceiling, drenching everything within seconds, then shifted his eyes onto the group of viruses and navis.

Being of water and ice types, they were unfazed by the sudden 'rain', nor did they seemed to realize the potential danger they were now in. The navis and operators, however, became really worried when the water short-circuited the last speaker and the entrance hall became eerily quiet, with only the sound of the hissing water filling the air.

Paladin narrowed his eyes as he turned around to watch the black navi. He was still on the ground, probably not fully realizing that the alarm had stopped, while the viruses guarding him were huddling together to stop him from eventually getting up and walk away.

"Clever," he muttered, a small smile taking place of the unsatisfied expression he had kept since hurling Forte towards his allies. Enzan was still leaning against the wall and holding his right arm, too tired and weary to attack once again. "But what will you do now? You can barely stand."

The boy gave a half smile as he stood away from the wall and wobbled for a second, too stubborn to just lose the battle. "I'm still not out of the fight," he grunted as he summoned his standard sword to rush forwards again and use all the agility he had left in his body to sidestep his opponent's attack and cut him on the side.

Without any real strength left, he had to rely on speed, but he knew that even that would quickly fail if he didn't conclude the battle really soon. Perhaps Forte, now that the alarm had ceased to paralyze him, would get back up in time to do something, but again, the navi wasn't moving at all, as if unconscious.

"Blues," he called to his navi, crouching down to avoid getting cut in half. As much as he was getting tired and his body hurt, there was still a lot of fighting spirit in him, and Paladin seemed to start to feel fatigued too. Why he wasn't retreating with his captured target, however, was beyond his understanding for the moment. "Just… just a little more…"

The addressed navi frowned in worry, but nodded in understanding. There was no way they could lose this battle, and with the right tactic, his operator wouldn't have to endure the strain of the fight for much longer. Still, Enzan was physically at his limit and no matter the amount of will he had, he would drop to the ground soon, too tired to even lift a finger.

The fight went on for a few more minutes, with both opponents exchanging blows and parting to regain some breath. Enzan, the more tired of the two, was sagging on his own stance but simply refused to give up as he locked swords with Paladin once again and gritted his teeth as his arm was engulfed with more pain.

"Where… where is Netto?" he was trying to buy some time to enact the second part of his plan, for he knew that the white navi would stop him from using the Electric Blade to take down navis and viruses in one go. "What is it that you want from him, anyway? All you want is a code from Forte…"

Paladin grunted as he pushed the boy backwards a few feet, intent on pinning him against the wall. It was proving difficult, however, as Enzan just didn't want to stand down. "A tree is best hidden in a forest," he replied with an amused smile. "I thought that you'd realize where he his already…"

Screaming in frustration at another half answer, Enzan pushed the opponent navi away and backed away. "Let's finish this," he growled out breathlessly as he discarded his default sword and with a softly muttered command summoned the Electric Blade that had been previously prepared by Blues.

Things weren't going like he had planned them though, for when he raised his new sword into the air to prepare to strike at the wet ground, Ninja suddenly appeared in front of him with his unsheathed sword and easily parried with an upward slash, breaking his Electric Blade and forcing him to jump away to avoid getting cut.

"Ingenious," the black colored navi commented, looking directly into Enzan's shades and smirking widely as he backed away to stand next to his comrade. "But we have been ordered to bring him back with us at all costs, and we can't let you win this fight."

For some odd reasons, Enzan had the impression that Ninja, too, was unsatisfied with his current orders.

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Netto was not sure how he had found his friend without being called first. Forte, after reading the real truth behind the incident of ten years ago, had become somewhat… absent. But more strangely than that was the fact that his appearance wasn't that of a human boy wearing an orange vest and a blue headband.

He couldn't see himself at the moment, but it was like he could feel the differences. The faint weight of the finned helmet on his head, the skin-tight black suit covered by a warm cloak and the thick armor pieces on his arms and legs.

Not to mention that he was floating a few inches from a ground that at the moment didn't seem to exist in the darkness of their shared dreamscape.

"Are you ok?"

Netto's voice boomed in the empty darkness, but the cloaked figure standing in front of him seemed unbothered by the loudness of it and continued to give the boy his back.

"I… leave me alone… I don't want to deal with… anything…"

The navi shifted in his stance, then just sat down in a huddle, his cloak hiding his body as cold rain fell from the black sky above. Netto wasn't an expert, but he knew a depressed mood when he saw one and, to tell the truth, sadness, melancholy and regret didn't pair well with a navi like Forte.

"When it rains, it pours, uh?"

He was doing small talk, hoping to distract Forte from his troubled thoughts, but deep down he wanted to just tell him that things were going to be ok. Yet, he refrained, knowing that something like that would only make the navi snort and further retreat into himself to ignore him.

"I told you to leave me alone," Forte snarled in anger and annoyance. "I don't want to deal with you, nor with anything that has to do with that world of yours. Not right now."

Netto paused. A part of him wanted to respect Forte's need to be left alone, but the other part wanted to help his friend. And when a friend was in need, the boy was unable to just turn around and walk away. That was the reason why, instead of leaving their shared 'dream', he floated in front of the navi and looked down at him with concern.

"You know I can't do that…" he replied after a while, trying to come up with an effective way to get Forte out of his current low mood without worsening the situation. It wasn't easy, though, because he felt that the navi was being much less willing to listen to him than usual.

Eventually, however, he decided to throw caution out of the window and moved closer to his friend. "Look, I know how you feel..." as those words left his mouth, he paused and frowned at them, feeling that they weren't exactly what he wanted to say. He felt Forte's troubled emotions, but just as echoes. "Uh... well I mean... I don't know exactly how you feel but..."

Netto fumbled in his words, trying to think of something that would stop Forte from feeling so down and so disillusioned. He closed his eyes, letting some long seconds of silence accompany his train of thoughts as he searched for something that his dad or his friends would say in these occasions.

"But…" he resumed after a while, his voice soft, but at the same time firm with belief. "But whether or not what you lived through up until now was the result of a lie... That is beside the point! It's what you do from here on out that makes a difference in the future. "

As he fell silent once again, with the only sound of the rain pattering around them filling the dreamscape, Netto had the impression that Forte chose to disregard his words. That is, until the navi shifted his head upwards a bit in a sign that the boy had caught his attention.

"What are you trying to say?" His voice was neutral, but they both knew that it was just a hastily thrown-together mask to hide his sudden interest and confusion for those words.

"Well," Netto began, nervously scratching the back of his neck. He was never good at this kind of conversations, but as he dropped his arm back to his side, his eyes were full of confidence. "What I'm trying to say is that, despite your past being what it is, you can at least change the future to how you want it. That's something that you can do."

Forte frowned at those words, and felt doubtful that he could walk a new path, different than the one he had walked for so long. They would never let him and would forever try to delete him. It was too late to just turn over a new leaf and pretend that his past had never existed. It was… stupid and childish.

One hand landed lightly on his shoulder, breaking him out of his train of thoughts and making him look up to regard the only human being that he came to grudgingly accept as companion. "You know…" Netto was smiling as he spoke, but that was not what made Forte pause in his protests.

Although the feeling was increased by the fact that Netto was almost his mirror image in physical appearance, the boy reminded Forte of himself when he was just a few months old, still new to the world and unaware of its cruelty. At the time he didn't care what he did was wrong or right, all he wanted was to help with the security. And now Netto was doing the same thing…

He didn't care if he was in the right or in the wrong, he didn't care what others thought of him for his choice. All he wanted was to help him.

"You're not alone in this. Not anymore. I'm on your side."

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When Netto finally regained consciousness and opened his eyes, he found out that the rain he and Forte had been dreaming wasn't exactly a product of their imagination, but real water falling down from the sprinkles of the fire extinguisher system hanging from the ceiling. He was laying onto his stomach and his body was beyond sore.

For a moment he was confused as to why he had a splitting headache, not remembering what had happened before he lost consciousness, but then the memories returned and he groaned. "Stupid alarm…" he grunted out as he tried to stand up on his arms, only to find out that they were pinned behind his back and several hands were keeping him down.

Then cold started to seep into his body and the water that landed onto him started to freeze over, creating a thin layer of ice. Normally, he would just brush it off and get up, but as much as he tried, he was still being affected by paralysis. And the enemy navi was taking advantage of that to knock him out.

"Forte..?"

He wasn't sure why he had called for his friend, after all, it wasn't like the navi could do something about their situation. Still, Netto needed to know that Forte was back to being his usual self and would provide him with a suggestion or at least some words that would spark his fighting spirit, or even anger him. Anything would do.

Get up, Hikari, the navi wasn't exactly back to his normal self, but him talking was a huge step onwards from the long minutes of silence. Not to mention that Netto's headache was also his, which prevented him from doing more than whisper softly. Get their filthy hands off of us.

The boy grimaced, suddenly feeling a knee digging into his lower back. It didn't exactly hurt, but it was quite uncomfortable. "Easy to say…" for some odd reasons, the lighthearted banter with Forte lessened some of the pain in his brain. "But I'll get to it… just… just give me a second… I still don't feel too well…"

Saying that was an understatement. Muscles were still reluctant to respond to any command his dazed mind issued and energy was slow in returning. The extreme cold of the ice, now completely covering him and sealing his eyes shut, was making him even more sluggish while sounds became muffled. And although he was glad that his headache seemed to lessen with the lack of sharp noises, getting frozen was a problem they had to solve quickly.

Damn it, Hikari! Forte hissed, trying desperately to gain control of their shared body like he had done during the close encounter with the plane, but failing. That episode had been too short to really understand how they had done it and once it was over, besides the feeling of being in total control and on top of the world, memories became fuzzy and vague, preventing him from doing it again. If you don't get up now…

Netto couldn't reply at the moment, but he could still hear Forte talk to him through the haziness of cold. His thoughts were slow and slurred, often blanking out for a few seconds before returning to focus on the navi's voice. He was tired and sleepy, but he understood that he needed to fight the drowsiness.

The boy moved the fingers of his right hand, feeling the ice crack at the movement, and Forte was so caught up in the moment that he did the same even if he had no control.

That was when things became suddenly clear and dark red eyes opened once again. Power surged forwards from the pits of both their consciousnesses and past the mental wall that Netto had unconsciously created to prevent it from overloading them. But this time it was different, and both boy and navi could feel it.

The power wasn't wild and it wasn't eating at them from the inside out. Instead, it was enveloping them in a safe embrace, collecting itself until they released it in an outward blast. Navis and viruses alike were deleted in the wake of the vicious blast of dark energy, and who survived was either too damaged or too dazed to stand back up.

Now released by their would-be captors, Netto wobbled onto his feet and felt the world return to normal. The headache, forgotten in the rush of energy, returned with a vengeance and the boy clasped both his hands to his head, gasping in pain and feeling Forte do the same.

With the sudden urge to leave and find a quiet place to lay down and rest, Netto took a dazed step towards the destroyed entrance door and was promptly stopped by something heavy hurled against his side.

The crash against the wall was unkind to his already sore body, and for a moment Netto felt like he was suffocating. Then he gave a loud cough and looked down at the weight resting on his lap. With wet white and black hair entangled around their limbs and a cracked visor, Enzan was staring right up at him.

He didn't seem to recognize him yet, though. Maybe it was because the blow had been hard on him as much he had been for Netto, or maybe it was because for that split second, Enzan had only seen his eyes, and not the whole face thanks to his ever present cloak. Either way, the boy was still left in the dark, although his suspicion about Forte hiding something had reached new levels.

But there was no time to stop and make sense of what he had seen.

Disentangling himself from his friend and waving his arms to get them free from the long hair and his ever present scarf, Netto stood up and quickly scanned his surroundings. Paladin was looking at him from the other end of the large entry hall, with his sword and shield relaxed at his sides, as if waiting for him to say something.

Or as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't…

Be on your toes, as he saw the white navi standing there seemingly without a care in the world instead of trying to capture them, Forte had the strong suspicion that there was something fishy going on. He is up to something…

Netto looked at Paladin for a few more seconds as Enzan staggered to his feet, using the wall for support. Then things just… went downhill from there.

Ninja, being the furtive navi that he was, had sneaked up on them with ease while they were too busy trying to understand how they had ended up in a heap on the floor. His sword, a slightly curved blade, was held back and low and when the navi was close enough to Enzan, he swung upwards.

Without time to think about what to do and how to save his friend from being cut in half, Netto pushed Enzan away and ended up being in the path of the attack. There wasn't much he could to, just slightly lean backwards to avoid most of the damage. Still, the pain that flared from his left thigh told him that Ninja's blade had cut deep into his flesh.

Oddly enough, however, it wasn't as stinging as the paper-like cut on his left cheek…

Losing his balance, Netto was forced to fall against the wall at his back for support as his left leg became close to useless. He could feel the blood seep out of the wound and both he and Forte realized that they hadn't much time left before they lost consciousness.

Brown eyes glared past the cracked helmet and locked onto the taller black navi. After realizing that he had ended up wounding the wrong person, Ninja had backed away and was now standing next to his comrade, looking down at the blood coating the tip of his sword. He seemed… troubled by it, but then shook his head and grabbed a bundle from behind his back that had previously escaped Netto's notice.

Discarding the black cloth, the navi uncovered the familiar sight of a shoebox sized Leech and held it in his free hand while the one holding his sword was pointed towards him. "That was not my intention," he declared, obviously referring to the gash on the boy's left thigh, before dashing forward. "Once we get you under control, I'll make sure it is treated."

Netto didn't move at first, but floated to the side once he was sure that Ninja would be unable to correct his course in time to jump at him again. "Nice of you," the boy replied, voice heavy with tiredness. "But it would be better if you just backed off and left us in peace."

Sliding to a halt before slamming against the wall, the taller black navi turned around and jumped after Netto holding both sword and Leech at the ready. "As Paladin has said more than once, we are bound to follow the orders of our creator regardless of what we think."

Narrowing his eyes and frowning at his opponent's words, Netto backed away from the energy sucking device and parried a sword attack coming from the left with his forearm. The sharp blade became embed into the thick armguard and while the boy tried to dislodge it, Ninja shoved the Leech right into his stomach.

There was a terrible moment where Netto felt like his heart had stopped beating and his sight blurred, but he had enough strength left to jump away again and take as much distance from the device as he could. He was breathing hard now, as if he had run for miles without stopping, but he outright refused to give up.

We won't last long, as much as he was someone that hated to admit that someone was gaining the upper hand on him, Forte knew that they were past their limit. They either ended the battle now or they would lose.

"If you can't beat them in speed and strength…" Netto whispered as he floated higher towards the ceiling. He wasn't one for complex tactics, but now more than ever he couldn't deny the fact that he needed to come up with a good plan. "…outsmart them."

What do you have in mind?

"It's obvious that I can't get into a close range combat with neither of them without seriously getting hurt," Netto continued as he scanned the room for anything that could become useful. So far all he could see was furniture, and although the fire extinguisher had stopped working, the water had been enough to soak everything. "And any good and respected NetBattler knows that water amplifies electric attacks…"

Scanning the room again, Netto noticed that Enzan had resumed battling with Paladin and, although he was exhausted, the boy was meeting each blow with his own sword, maintaining the fight balanced. And while his comrade kept the taller boy busy, Ninja slowly walked around the room, sword and Leech at the ready and in search of a good opportunity to surprise him.

Not possessing any Battle Chip that would provide him with an electric attack, Netto did the only possible thing he could do. With his Life Aura coming to life, he dived at the ground where Paladin was, knowing that the white navi was too busy with Enzan to realize that he was being targeted.

The following crash shook the entire building and made some of the overhead lamps fall to the ground with a clatter, their glass and plastic parts breaking in pieces. Paladin had been fast enough to avoid a direct hit by jumping to the side, but hadn't been able to get far away enough to not get hurt by the shockwave and was now laying sprawled onto the wet ground on his back, dazed.

"That was a surprise," he muttered as he stood up and turned around to look at his opponent and the one that had been crazy enough to dive headfirst into the ground. Enzan was as surprised as he was, but he had managed to avoid getting hurt by summoning a Barrier while Netto had disappeared into a deep crater on the ground.

Then, as things seemed to calm down, a large sparkling cable flew out of the hole like an angry snake that started to fall towards the floor.

Enzan-sama! Blues was beyond worried now. The Barrier his operator had summoned was too weak to sustain that kind of electric shock and any further damage would seriously hurt him, perhaps even kill him.

But before Enzan could do something, he felt something grab him from behind and hoist him up into the air just as the cable hit the floor and electricity spread all over the entry hall. The few viruses and navi that had survived Forte's blasting attack exploded into blue data dust as they took double the damage than any other element while their operators survived only because they had ran off earlier. Paladin and Ninja, not fast enough to get to safety, were electrocuted too, but because they had no elemental affiliation with water they were only damaged and weakened.

And as the palace fell into darkness because of safety measures activating and cutting the power, Enzan was left thinking while hanging from Forte's right shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He didn't know the black navi well, but he was sure that he would rather charge headfirst at the enemy and overwhelm them with power rather than resort to tactical measures.

Not to mention that he had come up with the same idea he had tried to use earlier…

Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but…

Enzan-sama! Are you alright?

"Yeah, I'm fine," the boy muttered as he was placed back onto the ground on his feet. He was exhausted and his muscles were trembling with the effort of keeping him standing, but he would not rest until the enemy was taken care of. "How many Battle Chips do we have left?"

There was a soft hum as Blues checked their folder. Not good, Enzan-sama, he replied with a frown evident in his voice. We're out of Battle Chips. All we have left is the default sword…

Enzan gritted his teeth as he watched Dark Mu's two strongest navis getting up from the floor and make sure that all they had were burns. Both he and Forte were without useful Battle Chips and so weakened that it was a miracle that they were even standing. Not only that, but he could barely move his right arm and the black navi floating at his side was losing a lot of blood from the gash on his leg.

"Navis can't bleed…" he muttered, watching through the dim light of the emergency lamps as the red liquid dripped onto the wet floor. That was one of the main things that had always bothered him since seeing Forte wounded. There was no need for navis to have blood, or even mimic real working organs.

Then Paladin's words suddenly came back to mind. At first he hadn't understood them, after all, if the white navi was referring to Netto as the tree hiding in a forest, how could his friend hide so easily in a crowd when there were notices with his face hanging from every wall in the city?

Maybe it was because he was exhausted, but for a moment Enzan felt like laughing out loud at the hilarity of his realization. Netto, the hyperactive boy that would rather solve a problem 'face to face', had fooled not just him, but even his father and his navi, who where the people that knew him best.

But before he could address his battle companion about his sudden enlightenment, Forte rushed forwards and clashed swords with Ninja, who had discarded the Leech once he had realized that the electric shock had damaged the device beyond repair. For a moment the taller black navi seemed to have the upper hand on his opponent, but then he had to backtrack to avoid a kick aimed to his side.

Then, as their fight carried them outside the building, Enzan summoned the default sword on his left arm. It wasn't the same thing as fighting with his other arm, but it would have to do. "What is it that you said?" he asked as he watched Paladin walk towards him, his sword held in front of him at the ready. "A tree is best hidden in a forest?"

Paladin smiled, his sky-grey eyes twinkling in amusement. "So you finally figured it out? Took you long enough," he commented, casting a glance at his companion and his opponent battling each other with all they had. Netto wouldn't last much longer, but he was giving Ninja quite a run for his money.

"I have to admit it," Enzan replied, shifting into a battle ready position and lifting his own sword in front of him, ready to attack or defend. "He has fooled us for a good while, and I'll make sure that he pays for that. Hiding right in front of everyone while we were worrying what was happening to him and why Dark Mu wanted him so badly…"

Not exactly in the mood to fight any further, Paladin spent the next seconds musing at his opponent's words. "He's a fast learner and a quick thinker," he praised with a wistful smile. "You don't find many people like that, especially as young as he is. He doesn't deserve the fate that The Emperor has designed for him."

At those words, Enzan frowned, his eyes narrowing behind his cracked blue visor. "What do you mean?" he didn't like Paladin's words one bit and they gave him the same exact feeling that he got when something was going to go extremely wrong. "Talk, or else…"

The navi rushed forwards and clashed sword with Enzan. "As I said earlier, I am forbidden to talk about The Emperor's plans even if it cost me my life," he replied with a grunt, noticing that his opponent was displaying a strength that he wasn't supposed to have at the moment. "But I can say that you really don't want to see them carried out…"

Knowing that there was nothing else that he could wrestle out of Paladin, Enzan concentrated on the fight. Blows were exchanged for several long minutes, cuts were made on both opponents' bodies and the NetSavior started to see blurry images in a telltale sign that he would lose consciousness any minute.

Then, Enzan raised his weapon above his head to parry a downward slash and, as the two blades met each other in a loud clang, the surface of his reddish default sword cracked and then split into several pieces with the sound of shattered glass. The fragments landed onto the ground, skittering along the wet surface until, once still, they faded into blue mist and the boy's left arm was released from the confinement of the weapon.

"You are a strong fighter, just like your friend," Paladin commented, leaning onto his right leg to rest his injured one. The cut there wasn't deep, but it still crippled him. "Too bad we're enemies."

However, before a finishing blow could be delivered, the Dimensional Area dome disappeared, cancelling Enzan's Cross Fusion with his navi and forcing him onto his knees for lack of energy. His PET clattered onto the ground, making Blues protest loudly and call his operator's name in worry, and the Synchro Chip was expelled onto the wet ground with another, softer, clatter.

For a moment, as he stared up at the raised blade of the white navi, the boy thought that he would not survive to see another day. That is, until something blasted Paladin away from him and against the wall with a loud bang.

At first Enzan thought that it had been Forte, or better, Netto, that had saved his life, but as he turned his blurry gaze towards the destroyed entrance of NetPolice's headquarters, he saw a blue figure holding his right arm up with what appeared to be a Cannon pointed in the direction of the white navi.

"Ro… Rockman?" he asked with a faint voice. Now that he was out of Cross Fusion, unconsciousness was quickly claiming his senses. "How did you…?"

He was answered as a tall figure wearing a white coat rushed at his side and kneeled down to support his weakened body. "Enzan," Yuichiro called, worry evident in his voice. "Enzan are you alright?"

The boy nodded his head, eyes blinking heavily with sleep. "Yes, but… Forte," he murmured as he tried to force his body to respond and stand back up. All he could do, however, was twitch helplessly into the man's arms. "Netto…"

While Rockman kept Paladin busy with his default buster, Yuichiro's eyes hardened with resolve. "What happened to them?" he asked with urgency. He didn't want to force Enzan to use the last of his strength to talk, but he really needed to know where his son and Forte were.

Enzan reached his PET with his left hand and tried to stand up again, but was stopped by Netto's father, who kept him down with a hand. "Ninja…" he eventually said, stopping in his efforts to stand up. "He… they are fighting against him…"

Yuichiro frowned as he watched the young boy finally losing his battle with unconsciousness, then grabbed his red PET and looked down at Blues. The navi was tired, but he wasn't out of commission yet. "I can't take care of Enzan right now," he said as he laid the boy down onto the ground and fished into his pocket with his other hand. "I need to help Rockman and find my son…"

Taking his hand out of his pocket, he held up a Materializer to for the red navi to see. "I need you to take him to safety, perhaps it will be best if you take him to a hospital."

Blues nodded in understanding just before his PET was pointed at the sophisticated device, and as the man pressed the right button, he felt himself being transferred. At first it felt just like moving from the PET to the net, but when his entire core program had finished moving, things became different.

It was like materializing in the real world within a Dimensional Area, mainly because he was using a miniature one, but everything appeared… slightly different. Sounds were clear and without an electronic echo in the background, colors were normal instead of being converted into a psychedelic rainbow, but mostly of all, the difference laid in his sense of touch.

He wasn't going to delve into it, there was no time for that, but he knew that it was different. The cold air of night, the wet ground under his feet, and what was that thing that his nose was picking up?

Ignoring those sensations in favor of leaning down to pick his operator in his arms, Blues glanced at Yuichiro as soon as he was standing up again. "Than you, Doctor," he said, surprised at how clear his voice sounded. "I'll be off now."

The man nodded and placed the red PET into a pocket of the boy's pants as the navi couldn't exactly carry it with his hands full. There the device would stay safe until it was removed. With a muted nod of his head, Blues was ready to turn around to leave when something flew past him and crashed against Paladin, sending both against the wall.

When the dust cleared, everyone discovered that the hurled object had been none other than Ninja and a heavy looking manhole lid. The two remained on the ground in a heap for a few seconds, then the black navi heaved the unusual projectile off his chest and stood up, patting his dirty clothes to get rid of the excessive dust.

"He left," he simply stated, not really bothered by having lost an occasion to accomplish Dark Mu's mission of capturing the Black Fury. "We have nothing more to do here. We might as well leave."

Paladin stood up, and cast his eyes out of the entrance. "He caught you by surprise, didn't he?" he asked, noticing the state in which the street laid. The asphalt was filled with holes and pieces of it were scattered everywhere, trees and streetlamps were laying on the floor and he was sure he could see a bench stuck vertically into the ground. Probably the end result of Netto using it as an improvised weapon against Ninja.

That kid was truly full of tricks.

As the two navis left in a blue shower of data, Yuichiro felt his blood run cold as he saw no boy clad in black standing outside. He abruptly stood up and rushed outside, scanning the destroyed street as best as the only standing streetlamp let him. "N… Netto!"

His call, however, received no reply and that left the man distraught. Not only he hadn't noticed that his son had been right under his nose for days, but now he had arrived too late to help him. It was obvious that Dark Mu hadn't captured him, but Netto had left and, although he wanted to deny it, he knew that he would not go back to SciLabs until things had calmed down and it was safe for him and Forte to come out of hiding.

At the sound of two voices calling 'dad' and 'doctor' above the sound of the hissing rain and the muffled alarm coming from the insides of a nearby building, Yuichiro turned around to face the two navis as they rushed out. Blues was still carrying his unconscious operator in his arms while Rockman had a deeply concerned expression.

"Dad!" the blue navi called again as he came to a stop in front of his creator. "It's Netto… he's…"

Seeing that he was unable to finish talking, Blues stepped forwards and looked around, spotting small clusters of blue mist faring away. They were everywhere, but some of them were forming a line that led to a manhole. "He's wounded," he paused and watched as Yuichiro's face paled even more. "But I suggest informing only who we can really trust. I wouldn't be surprised if Dark Mu has spies within SciLabs or the NetPolice."

He knew that the red navi was right in that, that there was no time to worry and that they had to act quickly, but it really took a lot of effort and control for Yuichiro to not collapse on his knees where he was and blame himself for how bad of a father he was.