BH-does happy authoress dance, then falls over asleep

Rhane-Bet you guys thought we were dead, huh? NAh, we've just been busy as all hell

Chirst-Isn't spring break supposed to be a time to relax?

Rhane-Unless you're a member of BH's family, apparently. Anyway, here's the next chapter of Life and Death, Light and Dark

Quotes of the Chapter: "They're call environmentalists for a reason, you know,"-BH's Dad

Life and Death, Light and Dark

Chapter 2

Cyborgs, Assassins, and Avatars

"Damnit," Enzan growls, staring at his damaged leg, "the bastard was using slugs…"

"Enzan-sama?" Blues asks from his PET.

"Call Avatar," Enzan instructs as he tries to stand. The sparking leg collapses under him and he's on his knees, "Damnit. Tell her I took a slug and I need her to fix it, ASAP."

"You're going to get an earful this time," Blues muses, then vanishes into the internet.

Enzan sighs and looks up at Netto, who is still staring, open-mouthed, at the bullet wound in Enzan's leg. The blood seeping from it fails to hide the exposed wires. "You act like you've never seen a machine before," he grunts, shaking his head, "let me borrow your headband."

Netto nods vaguely and unties his headband, handing it to Enzan without a word. Rolling his eyes, Enzan ties the cloth around his damaged leg and tries to stand. This time he manages to take a step before stumbling sideways into Netto, cursing all the while. Netto takes Enzan's arm and puts it over his shoulder and puts his own around the other boy's middle, "Where to?"

Enzan glares for a moment, then sighs and points down the road, "Biotech labs. It's only a few blocks from here."

They walk in silence, Enzan leaning more heavily on Netto that he would ever let on and more grateful for the younger boy than he will ever admit. Just in sight of a small building that looked more like a doctor's office than a lab, Enzan finally speaks.

"I was five years old." Netto remains silent, but tilts his head to show he is listening. "My friend and I were exploring the forest behind her house when a storm hit," he closed his eyes thoughtfully, "she'd been saying all day that we needed to turn around, but I wouldn't listen. A lightning bolt hit the tree we were standing near and she tried to push me out of the way." He falls silent while they pass through a dimensional area. He smiles bitterly at the lab as they approach it, "We were stuck under that thing all night. Yume lost her arm and part of her shoulder. I lost my leg. We were lucky our families could afford the specialized prosthetics that we use."

Before Netto can reply, or even absorb the sudden moment of open-ness that Enzan is displaying, and earsplitting screech rings out, forcing Netto to abandon any other train of though.

"ENZAN KRONOS IJUUN!" A woman with long, dark green hair and a lopsided pair of clockwork glasses hanging off her nose is running towards them, Blues on her heels. Enzan winces and tries to back up. "Six months! Six months and you come back to me with a slug in your leg!"

"Avatar, please," Blues mutters weakly.

"Back off, albino!" Avatar screeches. Blues shrinks back. "Damnit, Enzan! I've been worried sick!"

"Netto," Enzan grind out through his teeth, "Meet Avatar, vice president of Biotech labs and my self-appointed baby-sitter-"

"-And the most emotionally unstable NetNavi in existence," Blues grumbles just loud enough for them to hear.

Avatar turns a blue-eyed, bespectacled glare on Netto, then smiles, "Hikari-Hakase's son, right? I've done a lot of work with him. In fact, he helped create me." She shakes her head, making her glasses go even more askew, "Come on, bring Enzan-kun inside. Let me take a look at that leg."

Avatar leads them inside, talking rapidly as she does so, "Enzan-kun, you've probably outgrown that model, haven't you? You're supposed to check in with me at least once a month so I can gradually add to it, now Yume'll probably have to build you a whole new one." Enzan's mouth opens. "Yes, Yume. I don't have a clue where the damn girl is, mind you, but she's still working quite faithfully. She might be willing to come home for you, though. She's working on a new design, so you'll be her guinea pig, of course." Enzan has enough time to give a few indignant sputters before he is cut off again. "Don't worry. She'd never try something on you she hasn't tried on herself first. By the way Netto-chan, I'll bet you've never seen Enzan-kun's leg stripped down before, have you? You'll never see another like it. My NetOp built it herself, you'll see her signature on it. God, these two are going to give me a heart attack."

"You'd have to have a heart for that," Enzan grumbles.

Avatar leads them into a small exam room and Enzan falls limply into a chair, Netto taking the one next to it. She wastes no time in working on Enzan's damaged and sparking leg, first removing Netto's singed and blood-soaked bandana and handing it to the startled NetSavior. She cuts off the leg of his pants at the knee, much to Enzan's protest, and then turns to Netto, "I hope you're not squeamish, Netto-chan." She takes the knife and cuts through the skin just above his kneecap, then makes another cut down to his foot. The skin makes a sickening squelching noise as Avatar pulls it off, leaving the metal underneath exposed.

Indeed, it's like nothing Netto has ever seen. He's seen robot movies, of course, but in those the machines either looked extremely shiny and futuristic, sleek and perfectly shaped, or cumbersome and ugly. Somehow this seems to be none and all of the above, modeled completely after a human leg, right down to artificial muscles connecting to real nerves and blood vessels that carry real blood. It's not overly sleek or shiny, marred by patches of what looked like rust and blood left over from the removed skin.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Enzan asked, giving Netto a knowing look, "The normal models don't have nearly as much detail."

Same for the hole near his shin, which is slightly warped and leaking blood and oil, it is an almost perfect replica.

"You've been taking good care of it, at least," Avatar muses, "but you've outgrown it, and it must have started causing you pain by now. You should have come in sooner. I'll email Yume tonight and tell her to get started on your new one."

She spends the next half hour tending to Enzan's damaged leg and molding a new artificial skin around it before sending him and Netto off, promising to call as soon as she gets word from Yume."

"Is she really a NetNavi?" Rockman asks.

"Yes," Enzan replies, "She was reprogrammed to hold from the memories and personalities of the five eldest Kusanagi children, all of which died young. That's why she so excitable and unstable when it comes to her emotions, but she was still programmed to run Biotech without help."

"Wow," Netto whispers.

Enzan snorts, "Her operator would have become a world class NetBattler, had Avatar not been reprogrammed to be a scientist instead of a standard Navi. I'm not complaining, you're competition enough, but just the thought..." He trailed off, looking back at the lab one last time, "maybe she wouldn't have left if she had something like that to hold onto."

When they reach HQ, they are immediately chewed out by Manabe for being late, then rushed into the meeting room where several others are waiting for them.

"Shinigami's an assassin," Manabe reports, "specially programmed for quick, simple kills. She probably fled to avoid problems, not because of a difference in power."

"Her operator?" Enzan asks.

"None," Meijin replies, "she's a rogue following some programming only she knows."

"She can, apparently," Manabe continues, "create a dimensional area at will, as long as there is a computer in the area. She's left a trail of bloodshed across three continents, but there's apparently no connection between the victims."

"There is one thing," Enzan muttered, "I was doing some research last night, and I wouldn't have noticed it if Blues hadn't pointed it out. All of the victims come families where the first born son died very early."

"But I'm an only child!" Netto protests, "Why's she after me, then?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"Enzan-kun, we're giving you orders to watch over Netto-kun."

\ And The Plot Thickens /

Two days later, Enzan receives and email from Avatar saying that Yume will be flying in next week with Enzan's new leg. After getting over the shock of finding out his partner is a cyborg, Netto quickly latches onto the idea and takes more delight in the fact than anyone would have thought possible.

Enzan, by this point, is starting to wish some one else had been assigned to guard Netto.

A day after that, Manabe announces that one of the NetSaviors key benefactors is flying in to check up on them and discuss the Shinigami issue. And, through all of this, only one thing is on Hikari Netto's mind: one Yami Shin, who is currently walking home with him and Enzan, fingers laced with Netto's. He'd grabbed Netto's hand on the way out of class and hadn't released it since.

Meiru isn't speaking to him, but Netto is too giddy to care. Enzan has a stubborn 'I-don't-give-a-damn-as-long-as-you-leave-me-out-of-it-because-I'm-already-really-pissed-off-so-don't-bug-me' look glued to his face, and Netto only finds it amusing.

In their PETs, Blues has discovered the child-like Rhythm and has been officially dubbed 'Blues-onii-sama' by the navi. He and Rockman are currently sitting on the floor of Netto's PET while Rhythm hums and old country song and happily braids her onii-sama's hair.

"Isn't Shin-san being just a little clingy?" Blues observes.

Rockman shakes his head, grinning like an idiot, "He's just a little more... obvious with his feelings than Meiru-chan is. I wouldn't call it clingy."

"His feelings?" Blues repeats blankly?

Rhythm giggles delightedly, "He's got a crush on Netto-nii-chan, silly. I's so cute!"

"Crush?" Rockman sweatdropped. "You mean he's in love with Netto-san?" Blues asked after a moment.

Rockman and Rhythm nod. "Shin-chan talks about him all the time," Rhythm giggles, "and they look so cute together."

"Netto-kun's been acting the same way," Rockman grins, "and Momma's going absolutely nuts over the whole thing. Worse than any fangirl I've ever seen."

"En-kun?"Shin asks suddenly, making the three navis fall silent so they can listen in. Enzan freezes up at the nickname. "I know it might still be a sore subject for you, you two were really close, but I was just wondering if you'd heard anything from-"

Enzan turns a devastating death glare on Shin that makes him fall instantly silent, "Why should I tell you anything? You didn't exactly try to search her out."

"And you did?" Blues quietly chides.

Shin sighs sadly and releases Netto's hand, "En-kun, please. I can understand how you'd be protective, she was your best friend..."

Enzan closes his eyes, "I haven't seen her in three years, Shinobu," Shin winces at the use of his full name, "not since the accident. If she wanted to be with us she'd be here right now. As for her mother, I'll be happy if I never see the bitch again."

"Isn't Shinobu a girl's name?" Netto mutters to Rockman, who only nods and give Shin a pitying look.

As they walk up to the steps Enzan moves in front of the other two, effectively stopping them, and takes one of their hands on each of his own, "I have to get back to IPC of my father will try to kill me, so I'm going to ask you for a favor, Shin," he laces the two boys' hands together and gives them a small, barely perceptible smile, "Look after my partner for me. I'm trusting you." He releases them and begins to walk back the way he came, making a point of not looking back.

Shin stares after him for a moment, then gives a long, quiet whistle, "Did he just do that?"

"Do what?" Netto and Rockman ask.

"I believe that's a close as you'll ever get to him giving you permission, Shin-san," Blues announces from Netto's PET, before disappearing after his NetOp.

"Permission?" Netto echoes, "For what?"

"For this," Shin whispers as he leans in and wraps his arms around Netto, pressing his lips to the other's.

And suddenly they are surrounded by a dimensional area and a scythe is pressed to Netto's throat. With frightening speed, Rockman appears and yanks Netto and Shin back before Shinigami's blow can connect.

"I almost had you that time, Netto-chan," Shinigami giggles, "Too bad. Better luck next time."

The dimensional are fades, leaving Shin and Netto sitting against the door, white-face and terrified.