AN: Hello Everyone!
I'm Luky or Karo, whatever. I had this idea since last July, originally this story should have been a short story of 8 chapters maybe...? But in the end, I chose to make a long story. It's been since the end of September I've been working on this story, trying to set up everything before writing it. So yes this story is planned, but it might be really long. Right now, only 5 chapters were written, but don't worry there might be more coming of course, but all of them are really long, so I hope you like really long stories. This is again my attempt to write a long story, let's see if I can stay in that mood. I'm sorry UY fandom, Pokemon fandom, and all the others where I tried to do something long, this one... Might be the one, I hope, I feel it.
This story takes place during the anime, after Stream. I won't lie to you, I disliked the ending of this series. I don't have many ideas to rewrite this series, honestly, but Beast has opened a door for me. I disliked the 12 first episodes of Beast, and I HATED Trill, but jesus, Beyondard, Iris, and all the Zonaroid had such potential! So here is my attempt to write my "Beast" version, adapted from the game of course. Know that I'm a very frustrated person against the anime because they never admitted that Rockman and Netto are brothers (even if they showed a lot of proof).
You can also share my artworks on my twitter: karoruki, I will be pleased.
Hope you will like it, it's a really big work. I have sadly "lost" my corrector (who corrected the first fourth chapters), he had some personal problem and might come back in a few weeks. Still again, thank you my pal Lumsmoke for all the work you did for me, you are my wonderful warrior! And thank you Tyno who is now Smoke's legacy, I love them!
PART 1
Chapter 1: This is my story.
For ages, the only thing Duo knew was traveling through space and time. He was able to discover many things through the worlds he uncovered... Until they turned out to be harmful, and he destroyed them.
Since he had found the Earth and the human being who showed him Cross Fusion, his vision on human society and the judgments he recorded radically changed. The human named Barrel introduced him to human life, and his partner Navi showed him loyalty and the unbreakable bond between these two beings. In return, Duo presented them their entire galaxy, snippets of his past. Over time, the human aged and returned to earth where he wanted to die. His Navi, on the other hand, had not returned with him. Barrel asked him to stay with this cyber being, and to guide him in his future judgments and what he could do if he ever discovered a new society.
Barrel left... but Colonel stayed.
Thinking that Duo was now done with Earth and going to leave, Colonel discovered a secret that this world kept. A secret hidden in its shadow. All he understood was that this world was in peril and that no one could save it. They were doomed. Unless...
During a trial he gave to some humans on Earth, he became deeply intrigued by one of them. A child and his Navi seemed much closer than all the others. When Barrel was with him, the space-being became curious, who exactly were they? Why did their bond seem so much stronger than everyone else's? Barrel didn't have an answer. The best way to find out was to do some research. Colonel went several times without being spotted by the humans to understand who this blue Navi was.
They finally discovered that this Navi had a human soul.
Duo had begun to wonder if he should see this as something bad. After all, it was forbidden and he should be punished for it. But Colonel talked him out of it. Now he was thinking, and with this other secret, maybe this blue Navi and his operator could be the perfect candidates for a new trial. He decided the fate of this planet and its secret was in their hands.
Many days had passed since Duo's crisis. School restarted at the end of the summer vacation. Meiru was slowly walking back to her house one evening, her mind separated from where she was, thinking about what had happened earlier in the day. The class teacher, Mariko-sensei, had asked her to write a song on the piano. It was for a surprise party she wanted to organize for her sister's return. Mariko was very excited because she also wanted her beloved students to meet her twin sister. It was a pretty good idea, but it put a lot of responsibility on the girl's shoulders.
On the way back, she thought of several melodies, but they all escaped her thoughts. Especially when she heard the voice of a boy she knew so well. Meiru turned around and discovered a friend strolling over to her donned in rollerblades.
"Hey! Meiru-chan!" Netto skidded to a halt.
The dark pink-haired girl waved as he approached her. She watched as he removed the wheels from his shoes and hooked them to his backpack.
"You didn't come with us to the arcade!" he exclaimed. "You missed another Rockman win against Gutsman!"
Meiru shook her head almost apologetically, then put her hands behind her back.
"I was with Mariko-sensei, she was asking me something."
The boy raised his eyebrows.
She didn't look at him though and continued walking. "She wants me to play some music on the piano for a party she's going to organize for her sister."
Netto's mouth fell open. He began walking beside her, matching her gait. "That's so cool!" He rubbed his elbow against hers. "We'll get to hear you play! That's so rare!"
Meiru raised her head and looked at him, first with a frown, as if recalling a bad memory for a second, then with a shy blush.
"You know very well that I don't like being disturbed during my training," she said in a rather strict, but soft voice.
"I know, but I wish I could hear you play! It's been a long time since you did a concert with your piano club." The boy put his hands behind his neck and gave her a cheeky grin.
"I quit my piano club almost a year ago. Homework, all that Neo WWW stuff, as well as the Asteroid, were definitely not helping."
Netto lowered his head in disappointment, grin faltering. It had been hectic lately, but he knew that even though she was no longer in the club she could still continue to play on her own as she always had.
"Meiru-chan, what are you going to play?" asked a new voice out of nowhere.
Hearing it, the boy with the bandana took his PET from his pocket and brought it toward them. The two kids looked at the crystal clear screen of the device, but more importantly at the character on it. Meiru looked at it rather uncertainly at first.
"I don't know yet, I don't have any ideas. I'd like some nice music that could, I don't know, help unite people together maybe."
"You could sample some music that's popular now," Netto suggested.
Meiru sighed for a moment.
"I'm going to sound absurd, but I don't like what's popular right now... Those idols who recycle the same songs over and over again..."
Rockman looked at her in a sort of understanding, even though he did enjoy a certain virtual idol, he had realized that it wasn't really what he enjoyed most.
"Do you have... any music that you've composed yourself?" the blue Navi asked with a sheepish smile, averting his gaze.
She looked at him again, she wasn't expecting that, but he really seemed interested.
"I have a few, but they aren't finished."
Rockman looked disappointed, which made the girl raise an eyebrow. Netto looked at her and chuckled for a moment.
"You didn't know Rockman liked music?" he began with a mischievous smile. "He has playlists full of music that old people liked to listen to!"
"Netto-kun! This is the music that Mama and Papa used to listen to! They're not that old!" shouted the boy on the other side of the screen, starting to turn red.
Seeing that the Navi was embarrassed, Meiru came to his rescue.
"Rockman, what kind of music do you listen to?"
"I don't have just one particular style... I like a little of everything," he mumbled, scratching his temple as he looked away.
"Interesting."
Netto looked curiously at Meiru and then back at his blue Navi. It was strange to see that these two could have a conversation that didn't include him. Usually, the few times they spoke to each other, it was to agree that he was a moron.
"Meiru-chan!" Another voice, this time female, called out to the girl. "It's almost Sixteen-thirty, we have to start piano practice!"
"Yes." She looked back at the boy with his PET in hand, who had started heading away. "I have to go now, I'll see you tomorrow, Netto!"
He raised his hand in saying goodbye.
"See you tomorrow, Meiru-chan!"
She returned the gesture and gave another smaller wave to the boy in the PET, and then went on her way. The two boys watched her hurry off as Rockman smiled softly watching her leave.
"Netto-kun?"
Rockman's voice made the boy with a bandana look up. He had been concentrating on his homework exercises, then turned to look at the screen of his PET sitting on the desk.
"What is it, Rockman?"
"I was wondering..." he began while scratching the back of his neck. "If I could pay Meiru-chan a visit."
"Eh?"
Netto blinked a few times, but Rockman didn't respond to his reaction, he looked nervous. Rockman wasn't the type to visit other people, especially not other humans.
"Is this about the conversation you had earlier?" Netto asked as he brought the tip of his pencil up against his chin.
"Eh… yes. I'd like to help suggest some music to Meiru-chan for the evening."
Netto gave him a tender smile. He placed his pencil on the desk and started resting his head against his hands.
"I see, I guess this topic is close to your heart, Rockman. Go see her, I don't see any problem with it."
In turn, his Navi formed a smile and nodded, but he returned to a worried expression shortly after.
"But, will you manage to do your homework without me?"
"Ah..." He froze and looked to the side. "Well... I'm used to you not helping me all the time."
Rockman put his hands on his hips while protesting. "That's not true! I help you with your math exercises! You just don't need me for the rest!"
Netto sulked, in the end, he shook his hand limply. "Go see her before I change my mind." He crossed his arms against his chest.
Rockman frowned but gave up with a sigh. He teleported out of his PET to find himself inside Netto's homepage and walked outside to Meiru's.
Meiru touched several keys on her keyboard, the clicking sound only making her teeth grit. She finally sighed in defeat. She picked up her score book and flipped through the pages, hoping she would find a melody that could help her, but nothing. Roll helped by looking for scores on the Net that might appeal to her young operator, she must have saved more than a hundred of them. However, she stopped her activity when she felt someone enter the homepage. Turning her head, she noticed someone familiar.
"Rockman?"
Meiru raised her head as she heard her Navi's voice.
"Rockman?" she repeated.
The blue Navi arrived a little embarrassed. Even so, he approached the pink Navi who was disconnecting her antennas from the green pavement of data.
"What are you doing here?" Meiru's voice spoke through the screen as she watched him. "Does Netto need something?"
"Ah no, I came on my own. I wanted to suggest some music for you to play for the party."
In his hands was a green floppy disk that glowed softly. Roll peered at it with curiosity. The human on the other side tilted her head.
"Earlier you said you didn't know what to play, so... I came up with some music you might be interested in. If you don't want to take it, it's not a problem."
Her expression remained neutral as she glanced at her pink Navi.
"Can you listen to it first, Roll?"
The Navi with the antennae nodded as the other Navi offered her his floppy disk, which she moved to connect to. She closed her eyes and stayed focused, while Rockman looked at her for any reaction.
"That's very sweet of you, Rockman," acknowledged Meiru, her head against her hand as she looked at the screen.
The blue Navi gasped, he glanced at Roll who was still in a trance, and turned completely back to the human.
"You're welcome, I wanted to try and help you in there."
The pink-haired girl gave an affectionate chuckle.
"You seem to be pretty passionate about this. It's pretty funny, for a Navi."
Caught short of words, Rockman began scratching the back of his neck while laughing nervously.
"Yes, it's true, I do love music. In fact, I've always wanted to see you play the piano!"
Meiru smiled fondly as she looked at that little Navi on her computer screen.
"That's very sweet, but I'm sorry. I don't like being watched by others when I'm doing my lessons," she admits.
"I understand, I remember Netto-kun was once unpleasant when you invited him, I hope he behaves himself at the party."
The memory came back to the girl's mind. Once, she had invited her best friend to her house, and when he saw the piano, he had begged her to play a song for him. Although she tried to play the first few notes, Netto had been very intrusive and too curious while she was trying to focus, even Rockman had found it very disrespectful. Finally, she made him leave her house. Meiru prayed internally that he wouldn't be as annoying at the party.
"You know Rockman," Meiru began. "If you want to come see me during my lessons, you can come. I know you're kind of the opposite of Netto, so I know you'll stay quiet. Besides, Roll can keep her eyes on you."
A bead of sweat fell from the blue Navi's temple while smiling nervously.
"Thanks, Meiru-chan." He made a simple expression and moved closer to the screen. "I'd really love to hear you play!"
She answered him with a nod of her head.
"I envy you a little," he confided.
She tilted her head in confusion.
"How so?"
"Well, we Navis can't learn or play music. Creation isn't something that's part of us," he admitted, looking down at the ground. "If I were human, I think I'd play the guitar."
Meiru's eyes were left wide open as she heard what he said. She already found it a bit strange that Rockman could have a passion on his own without being transmitted from Netto, but now it went beyond her thoughts. He wasn't exactly a Navi like the others, perhaps he had a system of personification that was better worked out and adapted a little better to what was around him. That would be underestimating Professor Hikari's genius after all.
She finally put a finger on the screen. "You sound sad, Rockman."
His shoulders tensed and he blushed with shame. "S-sorry! I didn't mean to dampen the mood!"
"Does Netto know about this?"
With a sigh, he looked down at the floor.
"No, he doesn't know, except that I like to listen to music on my own, and not long ago he just found out that I like to watch cooking videos..."
"Cooking videos?" she repeated in a surprised tone.
Hearing her, he almost screamed. He shouldn't have done that.
"Aah! Look, I don't think it's that bad!" he shouted in embarrassment, though he wished it hadn't come to that.
"Rockman, of course it's not that bad!" she exclaimed and turned to her keyboard. "I'm getting to know you! After all, we have very few one on one conversations together."
It's true, Rockman could tell. They didn't know each other very well. Netto and Meiru were the ones who talked the most together, and he was usually with Roll. All he knew about Meiru was either what Netto or Roll told him. And it must have been the same for her. He felt regret for several things. Unlike her usual aggression with Netto, she was being very nice to him. He regretted that he hadn't really bonded with her on his own. Wanting to say something to her, he was cut off by another voice.
"It's beautiful."
He turned his head to look at the pink Navi with bright eyes.
"It's beautiful, but at the same time sad."
Rockman looked at her confused. "You think it's sad?"
"Yes, the lyrics are not happy."
"Is it difficult, Roll?" asked Meiru who was watching from the screen, her head resting in her hand.
"Meiru-chan, I think it's a pretty easy song, but it's sad," added Roll with a hand over her mouth.
"To tell you the truth, I think the lyrics could mean something new, but it's also a celebration of our victory against Duo!" countered Rockman as he tried to explain himself.
"There's lyrics?!" Meiru quickly stepped back as she leaned her back against her seat.
The reaction shocked the blue Navi.
"Meiru-chan, is something wrong?"
He noticed that she was blushing a deep red, despite her frightened look. Roll moved closer to him, and raised her hand as if to tell him a secret.
"Meiru-chan has trouble singing in public, yet she has a very pretty voice."
"Oh!"
Bringing both hands together against him, he moved almost shamefully closer.
"Ah, I'll choose a song without words, I didn't know!"
Gently, she nodded her head slowly to say no.
"That's okay, I'll... I'll listen to it, and if anything, Roll can be the performer."
He gasped and looked at the pink Navi who was smiling at him while blushing.
"You sing too Roll-chan? I can't wait to hear it!"
Roll lowered her head, which was turning red like a tomato, although she was smiling with pride under it all. Rockman turned his head back to Meiru.
"I'm sorry again." He moved closer to the screen to be closer to her as she looked away, still blushing. "Now I'm curious, I'd still love to hear you sing hehe..."
She raised her eyes to him and then lowered them again. She tried to sit up properly to get closer to him.
"I feel a little uncomfortable..." She looked straight into his eyes. His eyes were green like Roll's, it gave her a strange sense of courage. She rested her fingers against the screen while feeling a kind of trust arise for him. "But, one day, I can sing for you."
A big smile made its way across the Navi's face.
"That would be great! Can Netto be there too?"
"No, not Netto!" She groaned again with embarrassment. "He's never heard me, and I'm much more afraid to sing in front of him. So I'm only willing to try it around you."
"Oh, so it would be like a secret between us?"
"If you don't tell Netto about it... But think of it as a promise."
"I won't tell him... And neither will you! Everything can stay between us..."
She nodded. They continued to look into each other's eyes as Rockman sighed softly, strangely enough, he felt that his operator was starting to warm up to his homework without him.
"Well, I'm going to go, I need to go home and help Netto with his homework. See you tomorrow!"
He disappeared without wasting any time. Meiru looked at where he had been, and a strange feeling came over her. Rockman seemed so... Human. That was her impression of him, all his passions, all his desires, he was much closer to a human than a Navi.
"Roll, let me hear that song."
When Rockman returned, he thought that the evening had gone quite well. Netto had some difficulty with his homework, and the Navi helped him understand the problems he was working on. After a good meal, a good shower, and some internet time, the operator went to bed. The PET was plugged into the computer and was still on. Before switching off, Rockman looked at the copy of Netto's homework one last time to check if everything was correct, but there didn't seem to be any mistakes. This made him smile. He closed the document and carefully saved it.
As he was about to switch off the computer and go to his PET, Rockman froze. He felt a presence with him. He turned around quickly and noticed a kind of... luminous breach? At first, taken by curiosity, he slowly approached feeling almost nervous. He wanted to raise his hand towards this "gash" but hastily withdrew it when something came out. Viruses appeared in front of him, invading the homepage of the computer. Armed with his buster, he shot each one of them. He was already used to dealing with them, but why did they take on another form?
Sometimes they had tails, sometimes wings...
Without worrying about this difference for long, he began to feel a weakness coming to him, he needed his operator to be with him because of the cluster of viruses that were stirring in front of him. No, he didn't have to wake Netto up for something like this, since he could handle it on his own. Eliminating the viruses one by one, they all jumped simultaneously to get to him. He placed his arms in an 'X' pattern to protect himself, but before anything could hit him, an attack and various sounds came out of nowhere. When he opened his eyes and lowered his arms, Rockman could see that all the viruses were gone. The breach was still there, however.
As he got closer, the Navi could sense a life form. Something mystical was on the other side, it was calling to him. Curiosity was a nasty flaw, but he couldn't help but wonder why was this was in Netto's computer.
"I know what you are..."
A voice rang out from the other side, however, he couldn't verify it as he tensed up and back away. The voice was so deep in tone, it sounded like it could belong to a monster. But the words it uttered had nipped at his heels. He could have tried to ignore it, but this was the one secret he didn't want to be found out.
"Hikari Saito... I know what you really are," the voice began again.
Slowly, his eyes narrowed in terror. He turned around and hurried to turn off the computer, then teleported to his PET. The first thing Rockman did was write an e-mail to his father, even though he was asleep in the same house right now, he knew he would see his e-mail when he got to work early. He almost made several mistakes as he typed on his keyboard. He had never really been in a panic in his life as a Navi, but he just couldn't stay calm in this situation. The blue Navi finally hit "enter" and finally the message went out. He dropped to his knees and looked at his hands, shaking. If anyone ever found out about this secret, everyone around him could be in danger, and he didn't want his family, especially Netto, to be in danger because of him.
The new day wasn't very eventful for Netto, especially since that morning he had been woken up late. Rockman forgot. This was not his usual nature, usually, the Navi was always early and tended to wake him up many times, but this time, nothing. The boy was quite worried about his best friend, he asked Meiru several questions to find out if something had happened to him at her house the day before, but according to her, everything went well. The blue Navi sensed his operator's concern and told him numerous times that everything was fine. He was just upset that during the night, something came into the house's network and he wasn't able to destroy it on his own.
It was a half lie. He kept it a secret for so long that something was wrong.
The Navi waited all day for a reply from his father, but perhaps he was too busy with other projects to read his mailbox. When there was a conflict, Rockman preferred to stay calm and find a solution. Usually, Netto was the one who panicked when something unexpected happened, like his homework being forgotten. Rockman always reassured him though. But this was more than just forgotten homework. When it came to something personal, he had reasons to lose his temper.
And finally, the e-mail he had been waiting for came. He read it, re-read it, and couldn't believe his eyes. The situation was worse than he thought.
"I heard a noise, was there a new email?" Netto asked in a low voice as he sat in class and looked up at his PET plugged into the school computer.
"Y-yes, but it's for me, don't worry, it's nothing important!" Rockman replied in a shaky voice.
It was, in fact, too important. Rockman couldn't believe his eyes, not only did someone know his identity, but his father had just told him that somebody stole the "program". It was turning into a nightmare, he felt like he was going crazy.
As time went by, Rockman stopped being cheerful, at least time with others made him forget about his problem. An issue he couldn't share with his operator. At home, Professor Hikari would start coming home very late because of a surplus of work. It was near impossible for Rockman to talk one-on-one with the only person who could understand him.
The week passed, Yuuichiro was still busy at work. He had emailed Netto that something was happening in some corners of the Net but for the moment it was not the NetAgent's job to fix it, but the scientists. Rockman felt so desperate.
Then came the awaited day with the famous party.
Rockman tried to calm down, he was going to have a night out with friends, and so was Netto. He was with all the people he liked, he had to try and just forget about it all. Meiru was going to play the song he proposed, Roll even came to him one evening to tell him, especially since she was going to sing with the girl. He was delighted to see two friends playing a song he liked.
They came to the school gymnasium where the class gathered, there were even people who were not necessarily regulars of this class. It was the case for Tohru, who came as an onsen lover with Mariko, as he was excited to meet her sister. Enzan also came, it was Netto who invited him, and he asked him to come so he could see Yuriko socializing with people. And there was also Dingo, and this time it was Dekao who invited him because he was his partner at the curry restaurant, and he would have liked that all his friends were gathered.
The evening went well, there was a big buffet where Netto and Dingo were stuck in front, eating to their hearts' desire. Even though this made Rockman quite ashamed of his operator's behavior, he was at least happy to be distracted. Finally, the moment arrived, some students pulled a piano into the middle of the room and Mariko approached her sister telling her that one of her students was going to sing a song for the party. It was finally time.
There was only silence, even the two boys eating stopped making noise to watch the show. Meiru came closer blushing a little, even though she had done piano concerts with her old club before, it was embarrassing to play in front of people she knew well. She plugged her PET into a speaker and sat on the piano bench. Before she began to play, she spoke in a rather loud voice.
"The music I'm going to play for you is called 'Tsubasa wo Kudasai' by the band the Red Birds. Roll will sing the lyrics."
Mariko nodded, and Yuriko tilted her head as she looked at her. The girl lifted the lid and looked at all the keys. With a heavy sigh, she brought her fingers to the white and black keys and began playing. The music was rather soft, which made everyone around her smile. Netto's mouth dropped open at the sound, and Rockman in his PET had his hands clenched together, feeling excitement at hearing the music.
If I can get one wish
To come true right now, I want a pair of wings
Roll's voice finally rang out, making what would have been his heart leap into his chest, if he had one. Rockman could hear Gutsman's tearful moans not far away. The song was so slow. It managed to convey emotion in every last syllable. It was so beautiful to him, especially with Meiru playing the piano so marvelously. With her eyes closed, and a smile on her lips, she was in harmony with herself. Focused, passionate... When Netto was focused on his NetBattle passion, he never showed such a similar emotion. The Navi could feel every emotion the girl could convey. He could feel his eyes blurring, carried away by the "soul" she was creating.
It could have gone on longer, but it took Enzan coming to his operator, whispering to him, to break the moment.
"Scilabs called, they want us there quickly."
"What now?! But..." Netto's voice was filled with disappointment.
"We have to hurry. I wish I could have stayed too, but orders are orders and you know it."
Netto nodded slowly, quite annoyed that something could spoil this evening for him. It was the same for Rockman who had to separate himself from his friends, especially from listening to this song. The two boys had to leave discreetly, but they were not sneaky enough for the girl at the piano, who raised her eyes while watching them leave.
Please grant me white wings
On my back like a bird
Roll's voice continued, as they stood at the door. Outside, a limousine was waiting for them and the two boys hurried inside. Netto looked around the building with sadness, this was a great moment for Meiru and now he had to leave at the worst time. He was sure that she would probably kill him tomorrow for not attending the little concert. Rockman was in the same state of mind, he knew that Roll was not really going to be violent with him compared to how Meiru was for his operator, but she was surely going to be very sad. He remembered however that they were heading to Scilabs, he was probably going to see his father and surely, have his conversation.
Once they arrived, the boys moved quickly, almost running to the main hall where there were several computers. Meijin was waiting for them in front of them while Yuuichiro was focused on one of them with many scientists around him.
"Meijin-san!" Netto shouted as he reached him.
"No need for formalities," replied the bespectacled scientist first. "Thank you for coming so quickly."
Netto grumbled inwardly, but Enzan walked past him.
"Is it because of that breach again?" he asked toward the man in front of him.
The boy with the bandana opened his mouth in surprise, it seemed he hadn't been told anything. While Rockman's eyes widened in terror. He repeated the words that Enzan said in a low voice as he thought back to that night.
"Yeah, the breach hasn't gone away and viruses are still popping up. We tried to analyze them, but they're way too crazy."
Netto looked up at the monitors and observed hundreds of viruses attacking from all over the place that were not in their usual forms. He shifted and raised his PET to an infrared connection.
"Plug in, Rockman EXE, Transmission!"
As he reached inside, Rockman noticed all the viruses in front of him, they were just like last night! Blues also arrived next to him and despite his very impartial face, his mouth expressed a sneer of annoyance.
"It looks like they wanted to evolve," Blues said with a huff.
Rockman didn't react, he was too busy observing all the surrounding details. Viruses in this "beastly" form surrounded them, and from above, a bright breach in space. Each virus fell one by one from the said rift to become an army.
"These viruses are much more violent than the normal viruses," Meijin's voice echoed. "Sorry, but you know what you have to do, try to leave one alive at least, we could surely study it."
Everyone nodded, except for Rockman who was quite sad to have missed Meiru's concert for busting viruses. The two Navis went their separate ways, taking out each enemy without a care in the world.
"What's this about a breach?" Netto asked with a voice that hid some aggression as no one had told him what was happening.
"For some time now, breaches have been appearing and disappearing in places on the net." Added Yuuichiro who joined in. "This one has been in the Scilabs network for quite some time. We've been examining it for days and trying to figure it out until these viruses appeared..."
Netto bit his inner cheek and then focused on Rockman's screen again, continuing to give the chips he needed. The fight was getting redundant for the blue Navi, who was still bitter about being here. He especially couldn't help but think that it had something to do with the other night.
This was without suspecting a certain figure that now found himself in front of him.
"Colonel?" Rockman whispered, in a very confused voice.
In this huge sky I wanna
Spread my wings and fly
On the other side, Netto's eyes widened, and he repeated the name his Navi had spoken but more strongly, forcing those around him to focus on him. Colonel did not respond but continued to look at the Navi in front of him who was completely frozen. His expression was impassive. He brought something with one hand to his height, showing that he was holding something. A shiny purple diskette. It was Rockman's turn to widen his eyes in shock.
"This is mine!" he shouted.
He stopped worrying about the viruses around him and ran to the older Navi who jumped backward. Netto noticed him leaving and tried to yell at him to find out what was going on until the PET screen unexpectedly started to show display bugs. Enzan noticed this and shouted to his red Navi to join him, but unfortunately for him, there were too many Viruses around him for him to go anywhere.
Rockman continued to pursue him, wanting this hunt to end so he could get his program back. He couldn't believe that Colonel had stolen it from him all this time. Was Barrel planning something? No, it couldn't be, the man was dead, so why was his Navi here? The big Navi stopped a little further away, Rockman hadn't realized it, but they were now much closer to the breach that was above them.
"Colonel, please give me back that program!" Rockman ordered sharply, his fist clenched.
The adult Navi looked right through him, to his soul. He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again with a determined tone.
"Hikari Saito, show me that I can trust you," his voice was calm and contained no arrogance.
The blue Navi's reaction was almost instantaneous, he widened his eyes again, angry, but also afraid to have heard that name. Without noticing, his body began to glow as he charged toward the older Navi.
"Rockman!" Netto shouted from the other side. He hadn't been following the conversation, the display and sound bugs persisted and were getting worse every minute.
As he shook the PET so it could work properly, Enzan looked up at him and was shocked at what he saw.
"Netto?" Enzan's voice was so different from what was used to, so much so that he raised his head to look at him in confusion. The people around him all had the same expression as Enzan on their faces, which made the young boy confused, but also scared.
"What's wrong?" His voice sounded so innocent.
"Look at you," replied the same boy with white and black hair.
Netto looked down at his hands holding the PET. They were glowing. They were glowing gold, but it was also his arms, his legs, his torso, and his whole body was glowing like stardust.
"W-what's going on?" His voice was almost shaking.
"Netto stay calm..." tried his father as he moved closer to him.
Netto wanted to say something back to him, but Rockman's buggy voice through his PET's speaker called out to him. He could see his Navi on the ground, gruffed up. He started to scream his name again.
The two Navis could hear the child's voice, but the transmission wasn't stable for them, it was distorted. Rockman was on the ground, moaning in pain. Colonel moved closer to him and took him by the collar of his suit, lifting him.
The blue Navi weakly grabbed his arm. "Please do whatever you want with me, but don't hurt my family..." he begged in a weak voice.
"It's not me who has to judge you." Colonel replied quickly. He raised his eyes to the breach and looked at him again. "This is your story. It begins now."
Before Rockman could answer, his luminous body disintegrated into a thousand pieces and disappeared completely.
Towards the free sky without any sadness
I wanna flap my wings
And go
On the other side, Netto shouted his name and shook the PET desperately, but a spark struck and broke the screen and some other parts of the PET. He looked at the broken device, his eyes filled with tears, and he shouted his Navi's name several times. He didn't realize yet that his body was beginning to rise upward. He turned his head quickly when he felt himself in the air and saw that he was floating away. The scientists all came closer, including his panicked father who shouted at him. His hand raised to grab him. The boy tried to swim back to them, but his body kept flying away. All he could do was raise his hand toward them... Until it finally disintegrated with the rest of his body. He was gone like a crystal that just exploded. Thousands of particles fell like snow. Yuuichiro looked at the scene in shock, the uselessness of his fatherly side had returned to him, and all he could do was scream the child's name.
Empty. That was the only thing he could feel. Rockman struggled to open his eyes and realized that he had returned to a place he never thought he would see again. The infinite space, the sensation of levitation, but most of all the fact that he felt beyond the reality of the Cyber world. First, he saw Colonel looking at him, stoic as he was. Remembering what had just happened, the blue Navi stood up, wanting to run toward him.
"Colonel!" His legs moved quickly, but he didn't go forward. "Why did you do that?!"
The tall, imposing Navi stopped staring and looked up at something behind him. Curious that his eyes no longer followed him, the young Navi also turned around and found himself facing something... Someone, he hoped never to see again. By his sheer size, Rockman took a useless step into the void in an attempt to back away. The giant from the stars, a program worthy of a god, Duo still looked at him with an ambiguous expression.
His body trembled, uncertainty clouding his mind. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he was alone beside Colonel, and there was no one else. Why him? Why not the others?
"Rockman..." his telepathic voice echoed as if from the depths of the abyss.
The blue Navi's eyes widened as he heard his name, and he clenched his fingers together from the mysterious tension that slowly surrounded him. "Duo..." He lowered his head, unable to face his gaze again, fearing that if he did anything wrong, humanity would be doomed again.
"I've seen a lot of things in this universe when I was guided by this man."
Rockman slowly raised his head, intrigued by what he was about to tell him along with Barrel. "I've been through galaxies so different from this one. But from everything I've seen, nothing has been as strange to me as your true nature."
Rockman's mouth opened and closed, but no sound escaped his throat. He lowered his head in shame. Duo had found out his secret that not even Netto should know. Knowing this program, he was sure now that he had something more tragic in store for him. After all, he was right: he was an anomaly. "I..." he began to speak, searching for his words, not wanting to provoke the program. "I know I shouldn't exist..." His hands continued to wriggle between themselves, still trying to mean something. "If I am to be deleted..."
"Do you wish to be human?"
The words made him gasp, taken by surprise.
"Do you wish to be human?" the being repeated once more.
Rockman's eyes twitched as he looked at the giant, the only part of his body he could move after those words.
"How..." His words were a whisper.
"Your nature is strange, and I should indeed delete you to avoid a bigger malfunction... But maybe correcting you would be a better outcome."
Rockman's body, already tense, began to slowly relax. His eyes looked at the being hopefully.
"You can... Make me human?"
A few seconds of silence seemed long to the blue navi as he waited for the answer.
"Yes, I can."
The words, barely spoken, brought a smile to the boy's face. Joy seized over him.
"Really, I..." He huffed as emotion rose within him. "I would be honored... Even though I know my place is to live as a Navi, if I can be one just once, that's all I want!"
"I can make you human, only I cannot do it on my own, I need something else to help me do it."
A bright light appeared in front of the giant being's body, illuminating Rockman's face as he still held his smile in place, proudly watching the light form. Only to have it end... He looked in horror at what Duo presented to him.
"You're lucky, for a being like you, to share the same DNA with another being in the real world. Without it, I would not be able to reprogram you."
Rockman's stomach knotted as he heard this, but his eyes remained looking always at this person, this human, always in horror that could explode into fury. In front of him, Netto's sleeping body levitated before Duo.
"You're not going to..." His brows tightened, rage beginning to replace any joy he'd felt.
"I need him if you want to be a human." Duo's words again took on that oh-so-neutral tone.
Fists clenched, Rockman knew what Duo really wanted to do with Netto. And obviously, that was out of the question.
"I refuse to let Netto-kun be involved in this!" His voice continued to rise, even though he knew he had to remain respectful to this program, he just couldn't contain himself when it came to his own operator.
"You come from the same egg, you could be the same being. One cannot be complete without the other."
"I don't care!" Rockman shouted, and he raised his arm, forming his buster toward the giant program, a hateful expression on his face. "Netto-kun doesn't have to be involved in this, it should be just me!"
Yet his arm trembled, he was still afraid of the giant in front of him because Duo could end his world if he wanted.
"Rockman! Control yourself!" Colonel's voice sounded behind him.
"How do you expect me to control myself?!" Rockman turned his head toward him, his arm still aimed at the same giant. "If he ever hurts Netto-kun, then I..." He could have finished his sentence anyway, but the telepathic being cut him off.
"Hurt? No. I want you alive."
The words took the blue Navi by surprise, so he lowered his arm, but his mind still lingered with doubts. "I would like to perform an experiment with you."
The child tilted his head with the word "experiment", he waited for an explanation, but instead, Netto's body began to glow brighter and he folded in on himself.
"Netto-kun!"
The fear was still there, teeth clenched, he raised his buster arm again towards Duo, wanting to threaten him again.
"Duo, stop this! Let Netto-kun go!"
Without him being able to shoot, the light left the human boy's body and flew... and headed towards him, like a laser beam that passed through his chest to invade his own body. His voice burst out of his throat.
"Yes. I need to know..."
A new breach opened above them, blinding light shining down on them.
"Can one anomaly attract another?"
The light from Rockman's body disappeared, and he felt the calm inside him, but something was so different, the light... tingling his cheeks. Although his eyes were closed, his mouth was still tight. His body levitated in the air, and in his brain, he was trapped wondering what was happening to him as he felt a new sensation invade him. A malevolent and terrifying sensation, like the dark aura. His body slowly changed shape as his screams became grunts. Even Colonel, who had struggled to remain neutral the entire time, was stunned by what he saw. Rockman's form became much more bestial. A long tail, a helmet forming a wild crest, and sharp claws. His eyes were open, either in anger or in pain as he continued to scream in a voice that no longer sounded human.
Duo, on the other hand, was still studying what was going on, observing at the same time the body of the other twin who was still a small ball of light.
"Rockman, you now have a new mission whose riddle can only be solved by you and perhaps your other self," he began in a tone that was still similar. "I only gave you half his life so that you could be half human."
The creature along with the ball of light slowly began to fly toward the light breach.
"In this world where humans and programs can live together, you will be allowed to take on human form when the moon shines in the sky, and your Navi part will awaken when the sun takes the moon's place."
With his last words, the two beings left, and the breach closed, leaving the gigantic program in darkness.
"Prove to me that an anomaly deserves to live."
The wind blew tenderly, caressing his soft cheeks. Netto slowly opened his eyes when he felt the fresh air running through his body. Before getting up, he analyzed the surroundings, observing that he was surrounded by trees and lying between their roots. Grimacing as he slowly got up to his feet, he noticed that his blue bandana fell on his nose. He put it back on his forehead, tightening the knot at the back of his head.
His eyes still misty, he tried to stand up and take a step forward... Only to fall forward because his foot popped out of his shoe. Quite disturbed to have fallen, he noticed that the sleeves of his white shirt were long... Too long, and his hands that were just coming out were smaller. Netto stood up again and noticed that his shorts were falling, and his shirt was big enough to cover his private parts. His shoes were much too big for him. He blushed as he saw his black shorts on the floor, trying to put them back on while fiercely tightening the inner belt.
"Papa...?" His voice trembled with fear and distress, sounding quite high-pitched. He put his fingers over his mouth as he heard that voice.
His whole body started to shake, and he looked at his hands again, analyzing better how small they were. They looked like the hands of small children. He finally grabbed his face and looked around in terror. He landed in an unfamiliar place, and he was all alone. His stomach knotted, and the child finally felt some tears forming in his eyes.
"Mama... Papa..." was all he could say, his voice still thin.
Netto shook his head as he felt his tears.
"No, I'm not a little boy anymore..." his voice continued, just trying to reassure himself.
Of all the situations he had put himself in, this one was rather unique and probably the most terrifying he had ever experienced. Flashbacks of himself came back, when he was actually much younger, where he became lost, all alone. His shoulders continued to shake as he was overcome with terror. No longer able to control himself, the fear took over, and the boy landed on the harsh grass on his knees, small hands clutching his head. "Mama! Papa!"
To be continued...