AN: Thank you everyone who has read the first chapter and give it a chance! Here is the second chapter. This chapter was also corrected by my pal Smoke, but also by Tyno aka Megamario259! He will now follow me in this adventure, big kudos to him!

Let's not forget this story will now happen in Beyondard (even if they don't say the name of it), you don't really need to watch Beast to understand, cause a lot of important things will be explained and will be different from the anime. For example, in the Anime, the Navis cannot stay outside their PET over 10 minutes, but here they don't really have any limits.

Chapter 2: We've fallen into the Rabbit hole

Enzan felt useless. It was rare for him to feel this way, and he hated it. One of his closest friends, Netto, had just flown away and disappeared right before his eyes, and the only thing he could do was watch as his friend's father impatiently hit each key on his keyboard. How long has it been? Fifteen, or twenty minutes? Right after his sudden disappearance, the breach in the virtual world had closed, and Blues had taken care of deleting all the Viruses by himself. With a desolate look on his face, the black and white-haired boy lowered his head to look at his PET screen.

"So, Blues?"

"Nothing, Enzan-sama."

He took a deep breath in and out. Meijin's voice snapped him out of his stupor, making him look up from his PET to observe the scene in front of him.

"Professor, please calm down!" The bespectacled scientist had moved closer to the other man as he struggled with the others.

"Calm down?! Did you see the same thing I did? How do you expect me to calm down after my son just disappeared right in front of us!"

The other scientist did not respond, and Professor Hikari slammed his fists against the desk, letting out all his frustration. Enzan could only feel pity as he watched the man fall back against the computer, his head in his hands. He thought he could hear quiet sobs. The boy knew that no one could reassurethis man at the moment. He slowly jerked his head up when a ringing sound called out to him.

"Enzan-sama, a call from Sakurai-san." Blues' voice made the boy shudder when he spoke the name of a person he knew well.

"Answer it," ordered the boy, trying to keep his tone professional.

On the screen of his PET, the worried face of a young girl with pink hair appeared. He knew she must have tried to contact the other boy and now had to go through him to get answers.

"Enzan, Netto isn't answering me!" she began, almost shouting her concern. "His PET is off, tell me he's okay!"

The boy bit his inner lip. Lying wasn't the right thing to do, but the truth would hurt just as much. He tried to go for it in one breath. "He disappeared."

Meiru's eyes opened quickly as she heard what he had just said.

"What do you mean...? Where did you last see him?"

"No, Sakurai. He disappeared right before our eyes in a literal sense."

Meiru gasped. She stood frozen without saying anything while staring into the void. Enzan watched her reaction: he knew he couldn't comfort the girl.

"What about Rockman?" Roll's voice echoed through the PET while her operator stayed silent.

"Gone, too," replied Blues' voice, while expressing a tone similar to his operator's.

Meiru passed a hand over her mouth, then looked down.

"I... I'm not sure if I understand," she said in a hushed tone.

Enzan nodded in agreement, perplexed as well. How? Why? These two words kept repeating in his head without getting an answer. And above all, why would Netto and Rockman disappear? What had happened in this universe for these two to have their bodies erased? He looked at the professor, who was the boy's father, wondering if he had any theories on this.

All Yuuichiro could think of was how worried he was about his son, and what he was going to say to his wife when he got home.

A smell permeated the air, and it hurt his nose. Too many different smells were wafting into his nostrils. The smell of the trees, the plants, the humidity, and the pollen: these were driving him crazy.

Rockman's new appearance was different from what he was used to. In this form, his instincts had become much more violent, his voice was rough like a feral animal. All he wanted was chaos and destruction.

He slowly "calmed down" when he felt a presence behind him. He noticed Colonel still looking at him with that same neutral expression. Rockman's eyes began to distort into a rage at the sight of this Navi. The big Navi brought his blade in front of him, blocking the feral Navi's charge, and pushing him back with one swing without knocking him over.

"So this is what happens to anomalies," Colonel commented, offering a sarcastic smile.

He examined every detail of this "beast";his eyes, his violent nature, thoughnothing reminded him of the blue Navi he had saved in the past. Rockman began to walk slowly with his legs bent forward, always keeping an eye on the military Navi in front of him. Colonel did not stir. He continued to stare at him.

"I'm here to bring you more information from Duo."

The only response his opponent gave back was a docile grunt, but Colonel didn't care.

"You are in another world very similar to yours." He raised his head, looking around. "Do you see? We are in the real world, this world lets humans and their navis live together."

Rockman remained unphased. He continued to watch him as he listened, though his eyes looked at him with horrible suspicion.

"This world is an anomaly, like you. It lives in the shadow of our original world, a parallel to it. The people who live here, almost all have a different version of themselves in our world."

The bestial Navi continued to growl, but not ferociously.

"Duo sent you here because being an anomaly yourself, he wanted to know how you would react in this world."

The former military man still looked at the same Navi, watching his reactions. He remained unmoved but still ready for the attack. It was no longer possible for him to understand what he had in mind.

"Rockman, you must find your brother and go north of the country, to the ruins of Kaikyou. Perhaps there will be a way to get home there."

However, at the mere mention of his "brother", Rockman screeched, the sound ringing in Colonel's ears. The Navi widened his eyes but tried to regain his stoic expression to continue what he needed to say.

"Find your brother. You must protect him at all costs. If you're afraid of hurting him, know that every night you will become a normal human being and have control over yourself."

Rockman continued to stare at him, his expression getting crazier by the minute.

"Also," he raised his arm, again pointing to that same purple floppy disk that caused the feral Navi to attack, which the Military Navi managed to dodge, "I'll keep this with me. I'll give it back to you when you two will finally be ready."

Rockman stopped listening to him. He continued to attack again and again, although Colonel only countered his attacks with his blade. After a few seconds, he finally disappeared, leaving the monstrous Navi to let out another screech, which caused birds to flee from the surrounding trees.

"It's not true... It's not true!" He repeated the same words as if it were a bad dream.

Netto had found a small beach and let himself walk barefoot in the water. He had abandoned his shorts on the sand along with his bag, orange jacket, and shoes, leaving him only in an oversized T-shirt that fit more like a dress. The child looked at himself in the reflection of the water, his appearance had indeed changed. His body had become that of a young child of... How old? Six? Seven years old? It was difficult to determine an age for himself, but he had the impression that he was about the same size as Chisao.

He took his cheeks in his hands, they were a little thicker, and his tiny hands more fragile. His preteen body had been stronger and more flexible, now he had to start all over again. Deep down, he felt defenseless.

The child lifted his head as he looked toward the horizon, noticing the blue sky was somewhat different. In the sky, there were thin layers of almost glowing white, reminding him of a dimensional zone dome. Each line glowed dimly, it made them seem so far away.

Netto stepped back from looking at the sky and went back to his bag. He opened it and looked at what he had with him. Looking for his PET, he had to call his father to tell him what had just happened. Searching his bag, he found his PET... But the device was broken with a huge crack in the screen, then he remembered what had just happened before he woke up.

"No... Rockman..." His voice was still weak and caught up in emotions. He pulled the PET tightly against his chest, dropping to his knees. "No..."

Although the PET was broken, he still hoped that the Navi had survived the destruction of his device. He had already cried out of fear a moment ago, but those eyes had enough tears in them to let his sadness flow.

However, he was brought out of his sadness when he heard a shrill and terrifying cry in the distance. A few seconds later, he could see tree branches shaking as if the wind was blowing too hard. With his mouth wide open and his eyes frozen, he put his PET in his bag along with his jacket and shoes, put his shorts back on while tightening them, and he left. Wiping his tears, Netto started to run into a forest with giant trees. The only solution he had was to find someone, anyone, and let him use a phone to call his father. He wanted to believe that Rockman was still alive, he could feel it, that he hadn't been erased like at the N1 Grand Prix. He had survived the destruction of his PET once before too, surely he could do it again.

Going home, finding Rockman... And finding a way to get his real body back. That was the goal he had in mind.

The child tried to put on a determined face, crying would get him nowhere. He just had to find his way home. Just because he was in the body of a young child did not mean he had to give up. It's true that when he was young he had been a crybaby, but Netto had grown up, he had proven to others, and especially to Meiru, that he was a strong person.

Yet, despite his efforts to remain brave, a noise stopped him in his tracks. Several creatures emerged from the shadows to reveal themselves before him, surrounding him. Netto noticed that he was surrounded by viruses. Viruses like he had seen when he was at Scilabs, and now he was the prey that would be erased. The child could have run, grabbed a stick, and chased them away with it, but fear paralyzed his legs. Each virus came straight at him to attack, the little boy ended up falling to the ground as he tried to dodge it all.

He thought it was the end, but he couldn't see that another shadow was jumping on all the viruses, erasing them one by one.

A creature stood in front of the frightened child with its back to him. It had a long tail and a helmet with five branches forming a crest and claws. The child wondered if it was a superhero or a navi... Or if it was a darkloid. Still, it had saved him, so why would it be bad? Making a noise while getting up, the being finally turned around and the child could observe the face of this thing. Scarlet eyes that emitted a faint glow were wide open, its head tilted back. At first, frightened by these eyes, Netto could notice the emblem that was on the chest of this Navi. His own. The symbol of his own family.

"Rockman?" he asked in a tiny voice.

The thing's head shook quickly and he leaned forward, his clawed hands digging into the ground. Netto noticed that he could see a sort of shock in his eyes.

"Rockman is that you? Is it really you?" the child continued to ask with a louder, more hopeful voice.

Still no response from the creature as its tail slowly moved around. Netto was sure of it, he was his own Navi, and he was finally facing him.

"Rockman if only you knew how scared I was!" He moved closer to him. "You're here right in front of me, I..."

He was cut off when the creature leaned in front of him, letting out an animal-like howl. It caught the child so off guard that he fell backward, his eyes filled with shock.

"Rockman... It's me! Don't you recognize me? I don't know why, but I was turned into a child!"

Despite his explanation, the bestial Navi gave a second howl at Netto.

"What happened to you...?" The boy almost whimpered. "What happened to you, Rockman..."

Rockman's eyes had gone crazy. Under the mask that covered his mouth, Netto could see that he had his mouth wide open and was growling. The Navi finally jumped back and climbed a tree, jumping from branch to branch.

"Rockman!"

The child got up and ran across the ground, trying to keep up with the Navi as he made his way from tree to tree. He continued to yell his name, imploring him to stop, but his legs were too weak, and he fell to the ground again. His feet hurt from running without shoes. He could only watch in sadness as his Navi left him.

"Rockman..."

Tears fell again, his hands and sleeves wiping his eyes over and over again. He wondered how many times he had cried since he had been there. If he had been in his original body, would he have still cried?

Sniffling again, he slowly got to his feet. He had to go on his way alone. To go home, to find Mama's arms, to see his father and ask him what had happened to Rockman. Netto walked like a condemned man without thinking about anything as his eyes continued to burn. Maybe it wasn't Rockman? But would he have that emblem if it wasn't him?

Seeing a light a little further on, he went towards it thinking that it was the end of the forest. The child was on a small hill and looking further, he saw a kind of village on the seashore that was barricaded with wooden walls. Hope gradually returned to his chest, and he ran to the entrance while waving his hands, seeing two guards in front of the entrance.

"Hey!"

The two men raised their heads to the child walking towards them, behind their helmets, they were quite confused.

"What do you want kid?" asked one of them as Netto was finally in front of them.

"Please, I'm lost, my PET is broken! I need a phone!"

"Lost?"

The other guard looked up to see if anyone was following him.

"Are you by yourself?"

Netto opened his mouth and then closed it again, did he have to tell them about Rockman? Raising his head, he saw the dimensional zone in the sky again.

"Well..." he began, only to be cut off.

"Where did you come from?"

"I woke up in this forest, and I don't know how I ended up here."

The two guards looked at each other, searching for an explanation in each other's eyes.

"Well... I think the best thing would be is to take you to the town hall, I'm sure they'll know what to do with you," concluded one of the two as the only solution.

Netto nodded shyly, thanking the guard, and the door opened. The boy was amazed by what he saw. It was a small harbor town, every house was made of wood, built against or on the water, with many wooden bridges. It gave this little town its own unique charm. He had never seen a town like it.

Following the guard, Netto noticed that he had been brought to a large house still made of wood. The guard explained the child's situation to some employees and then took him to an office, where he found himself in front of an old man who wrote down everything with a typewriter. Didn't he have a computer?

The boy sat on the seat and looked at the machine, quite fascinated, but troubled. He knew this machine, or at least, he knew it hadn't been used for a long time.

"How old are you, kid?" asked the old man in a very senile voice.

"I'm twelve!"

The old man paused as he watched him, he may have been old, but he was not stupid. The guard who was with them approached the man and spoke into the old man's ear in a weaker voice.

"I think this kid must have hit his head. He must have memory problems because he says he woke up in the middle of the forest after all."

"Hey, I heard that! I'm really twelve years old!" Netto replied sternly. He got up and stood on his chair, raising his arms. "I just got turned into a kid!"

The two men facing him looked at him with boredom, and the old man looked down at his typewriter sheet.

"Let's say six and a half years old," he concluded.

"What?! No!"

The guard hastened to put a hand on the child's shoulder.

"Kid, we're trying to help you, try to be cooperative."

"But I'm twelve years old! Look at my clothes, they're way too big for me!" he insisted.

"Just sit in that chair, will you?"

He opened his mouth, wanting to protest, but closed it just as quickly. No one would believe him. But, would he believe it if someone told him that he had magically transformed into a six-year-old? Maybe he would. But he couldn't stay that way, and he couldn't let adults treat him like a little boy.

"Please, at least let me call my father!" he finally exclaimed, looking at the guard who had stepped back.

The adult looked at the old man who responded with a shrug. A telephone with a bell-like sound was placed in front of him. He had never seen a model like this before. The handset was gray and connected to the big box where the numbers were arranged in a circle. Netto looked at the phone in detail, his mouth open, examining the device to understand what he was supposed to do with it. Should he turn the numbers? The guard gave him the handset in his hand and the child looked at it as if it were an alien.

"So what are you waiting for?" asked the guard with an impatient tone.

"I... I don't know how it works," he confessed.

The man frowned under his helmet.

"All right, dictate the number to me."

The boy spelled out each digit as the man spun the roulette wheel to dial a number, which Netto examined carefully. When he finished, the boy put the handset against his ear, waiting for someone to pick up.

"The number you just dialed is not assigned," said an automatic voice from the other side.

"What?"

The voice repeated, and Netto looked at the receiver with wide eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"It... It's not working!"

"You must have made a mistake somewhere kid."

"No... I know this number by memory."

The child continued to stare at the handset, he could still hear the same voice through the speakers of this phone. He finally hung up, and picked up again, this time trying to dial another number he knew well. Netto did the same as the guard had done the first time, having better understood the mechanism. When he finished, he put the handset back against his ear, still holding out hope.

"Welcome to Scilabs Inc. Thank you for wanting to contact us, but unfortunately our services are closed. Please call us back when we are open again." Said this time another voice.

Netto could not believe his eyes. He looked at the handset again, still in shock.

"Scilabs is never closed... How... Why?"

"Well, kid?"

He looked up at the two adults who were still looking at him.

"I... I don't get it, those two numbers have to work!"

"Don't you know another number?"

He tried to think, except for the number of the house and his father's office. He had not been able to remember Meiru's number, nor even that of Enzan who had left him a piece of paper. He finally hung up, still stunned. The old man at the desk sighed and took up his typewriter.

"Your first and last name, as well as the city of residence?"

"I'm Hikari Netto, and I'm from Akihara Town, it's next to Densan City."

If the old man continued to type on his typewriter, the guard opened his mouth when he heard him say.

"Densan City? Are you sure you're from there?"

Again, Netto frowned, still annoyed that they doubted him.

"Of course!"

The guard didn't answer right away, but seeing the child so serious, he didn't try to counter it.

"I guess there are still people living there after all..." he muttered as Netto heard him. He tilted his head, trying to understand what he had just said.

"Well, I filled out your missing person report," said the old man. "Until someone comes forward to find you, we're going to find someone who will take you in kindly."

He had no choice but to shrug. Later he was put in a waiting room, sitting on a chair, holding his bag against him as if it were his lifeline. His feet didn't touch the floor while he was sitting in that chair, he didn't like it at all. How long would he have to sit here, several minutes? Maybe even hours? Netto thought about Rockman. Where was he now? Why had he abandoned him? Why was he like this? And most importantly, why was he in the real world? Was it this strange dimensional area? Just where was he...?

He was snapped out of his reverie when the door to the room opened.

"Hikari Netto? We have found you a person who is willing to take you in."

The old man had entered first and behind him was a woman, quite tall in a rather elegant dress. She was old, maybe in her fifties, her hair was gray and she had a purple hat with strange glowing orbs. Netto got up from the chair and shyly approached while holding his bag against him. The woman had a strict air about her, but as he got closer he could see that she had a generous side.

"This is Ann Elecitel, she has agreed to take care of you while you wait."

Quite pessimistically, she looked at the little boy from head to toe with a raised eyebrow and a hand on her hips. The child swallowed his saliva. He was a little afraid of her.

"Alright my boy, if you'll follow me." Her voice had a certain authority to it, but not a strong one. She turned and walked out of the room, while Netto followed her limply with his head down.

Outside, they walked on the wooden bridges and Netto could observe how this whole city indeed lived on the water. The sun was slowly starting to set behind the ocean horizon and the air was getting cooler as he felt his bare feet get cold. He almost sneezed, but the woman in front of him had turned her head in his direction so that he had to restrain himself.

"You're quiet enough, boy," she said, her voice less authoritative than before.

He lowered his head again but blushed.

"I... Um, thank you for welcoming me into your home!" he finally said, thinking it best to be polite, which is what Rockman would have probably told him if he was there.

The woman simply nodded her head.

"Would you like to eat anything in particular tonight?" she asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

Without thinking, the child's eyes sparkled.

"Curry! I'd like curry!"

"Fine, I'll see if I have enough for both of us," she replied with a smile.

Netto was amazed, this woman was not as mean as he would have thought, she seemed very nice. He moved a little closer to her even though he was small, like a little duck.

They arrived in front of a dark wooden house, quite large, with a view of the sea. Inside, everything was lit by small lanterns on the ceiling. Netto shyly went inside and watched Ann turn on more lights and take off her hat and scarf.

"I'll show you the bathroom, and while I make dinner, you'll need to take a bath. You're dirty down to your feet."

The child shrank back, looking down at his dirt-darkened feet, cheeks dusted red.

"I'll get you a shirt for the night, too," she resumed, then turned her head toward him. "Where did you get those clothes?"

Netto raised his head as well as his arms forward, his long sleeves hiding his hands.

"They're mine!"

She tilted her head, watching him.

"Actually, something happened to me," the child explained. "When I woke up I was like this! I'm supposed to be twelve years old!"

Ann opened her eyes wider. Slowly, she felt uneasy, remembering that they had explained to her that the child might have a memory problem. He must have taken those clothes somewhere. She closed her eyes while forcing herself to smile.

"Of course!"

She turned and went to the kitchen, looking for something in her drawers. Netto let his cheeks puff out, yet another person didn't believe him. He turned around and looked at the furniture and observed the pictures. He saw a person there, whom he recognized very easily.

"Count Elec?!" he exclaimed as he saw a photo in which the man had Ann in his arms against him, and in another photo, the three of them on it, drawing a family portrait with... Elecman?

The older woman turned as she heard him and moved closer to him, as he continued to look at the photos with an equally flabbergasted expression.

"Do you know him?" she asked in a weak voice.

He quickly turned around while pointing at the man in the photos.

"You bet I do! This guy used to work for some bad guys named WWW! Afterward, they stopped their terrorist activity to open a curry restaurant in Jawaii!"

At first, Ann seemed rather taken aback by what she was hearing, but she kept her mouth shut. This kid must have had a major blow to the head to be rambling like that.

"Jack was never in a terrorist group you see." She moved closer to the furniture and grabbed one of the pictures. "I would have known anyway, that fool is incapable of keeping a secret from me."

Netto blinked as he looked at her.

"Who exactly are you to him?"

"I'm his wife."

Netto opened his mouth wide, making a shocked noise. He took a step back, almost falling over.

"You... are his wife? But how, he never mentioned it!"

"A curry restaurant in Jawaii you said? That's amazing because we've only been to Jawaii once. It's been thirty years now since we've been here," she added while looking at the photo wistfully.

She put the picture back in place. While he found her tone a bit sad, Netto frowned. There was someone he knew here, even if he had never heard of this woman. He moved closer and asked with closed fists.

"Where is your husband then? Surely he can help me!"

Ann looked at him for a few seconds, then looked down. A finger wiped the glass of the picture.

"Unfortunately he's in the hospital. He's been in a coma for months."

What was he hearing? One of the WWW members who had helped them lately, especially against Neo-WWW, was in a coma? But when did this happen? Not too long ago he had gone to Maha Jarama's restaurant, and if he had been in a coma, he or Dekao would have surely told him about it.

"What... What happened to him?" he asked.

She looked at another picture, where there were three of them. This one confused the child to see them all together.

"Elecman." Was all she knew to say.

The woman turned and headed for the stairs, urging him to follow her. Netto couldn't say anything else, he could feel that the subject was too sensitive. All he did was follow her to a rather bright room. He recognized a normal-looking bathroom.

"I got you a clean shirt to put on. Make sure you're shining when you get out of the bathroom."

Ann closed the door behind him, leaving him to fend for himself. At least she trusted him to take a bath alone. Taking off all his clothes, he observed how small and frail his body was. Where were the muscles he had gained from facing Darkloid and Asteroid in the past? He got into his bath, leaving his bandana on the edge of the sink, his head half in the water. He enjoyed this moment of peace with himself.

Through the water, he looked at his little hands again. What kind of magic was this? Could he really say it was magic? There has to be a scientific explanation. So how could it be explained? He looked out the window and saw that the sky was a beautiful shade of orange and dark blue. Was Rockman okay?

A little later, he finished washing and put on the shirt that Ann had kindly lent him. It was just as long, fitting him like a nightgown. He folded his sleeves, put his bandana back on his head, and went downstairs. His stomach screamed for food. He arrived in front of Ann's large kitchen and she greeted him with a smile.

"You're lucky, I had enough curry left over for a meal for two!" she exclaimed while holding the pan.

He nodded his head while blinking his eyes. She turned around completely, examining his shirt.

"At least this will do. Tomorrow I'll buy you clothes in your size."

The child took a step back, blushing.

"You don't have to..."

"Come on, these clothes are too big for you."

He wanted to contradict her, telling her again that it was his clothes and that he had just shrunk, but he had to swallow. She still wouldn't take him seriously. Netto was finally able to sit at the table, waiting for his meal. Ann put his plate in front of him, and the smell of good beef curry mixed with vegetables and rice entered his nostrils. He was almost drooling, but Ann looked at him with a frown and he calmed down. He clasped his hands together for a prayer and closed his eyes.

"Thank you for the meal!"

The child took his fork and put it to his mouth, his face flushed with happiness. It was so succulent!

"This is so good!" he said, happily taking another bite. "It looks just like Mama's..."

His voice dropped as he realized what he was saying. This curry was like a madeleine de proust, reminding him of his mother and home. Netto felt something rise up inside him that made him sniff and try to get out through his eyes. Damn, this feeling was coming back to him. The child quickly wiped his eyes before tears fell. If he had been in his real body, he was sure he wouldn't be shedding tears over this.

"Is everything okay, Netto-kun?" Ann asked, looking at him with concern.

"Yes, yes..." He continued to wipe himself until he caught a breath. "I miss home... I wish my mother had made me dinner and to have Rockman tell me I eat like a pig..."

She tilted her head as she watched him take a bite off his plate. She did the same and began a conversation.

"Who is Rockman?"

"He's my Navi..." He smiled and then recalled what had happened. At first, with some hesitation, then he resumed being more serious. "When I woke up, my PET was broken, I thought I had lost it forever. But later, I got attacked by viruses and it came to my rescue!"

She continued to look at him, curious to know more.

"Where is he then?"

"He... I don't know what happened to him," he stammered. "His form changed and he's acting like a wild animal... He howled at me after he slaughtered those viruses."

"You poor thing..." she commented, hands fidgeting in her lap.

The child watched her, blinking.

"Did you know anything?"

She put down her fork as she looked down at her plate, preparing to say something to him that he probably wouldn't like.

"Your Navi... Was probably infected with the beast factor." Her voice was low and clear.

He tilted his head as he listened to her.

"What is that?"

"It's like a kind of corruption. It takes your Navi, corrupts them, and then they become evil..."

Taking this information in the corner of his mind, Netto frowned and shook his head slowly.

"No... Rockman can't become evil... I'm sure he's still himself! He saved my life from those viruses!"

Anna hadn't looked up from her plate, not wanting to confront the look on the little boy's face.

"Maybe, but next time he might not save you..." she said calmly as she clasped her hands together under the table.

"No! I'm sure he's still there!" he exclaimed, almost raising his arms. "He can be saved!"

"Jack said the same thing..." she began in a weak voice, finally lifting her head to look at him while smiling sadly. "My husband thought Elecman could be saved, he tried to talk to him, he saw him as a son after all... And that stupidity sent him to the hospital."

The child did not answer, except that his eyes trembled as he heard her story. Ann picked up her fork again as she took a piece of curry from her plate and observed what she had taken.

"Don't try to save your Navi, my boy, who knows what might happen to you..." she concluded her sentence by eating her piece of curry.

"My dad is a great scientist, I'm sure he'll find a way to save them!" he shouted while slamming his fists against the table. "Yes, I'm sure he will! I'm also certain that Rockman is still here!"

Ann watched the determination of this child, she found it touching but could not encourage his naivety.

"He saved my life after all..." Those were his last words, not to her, but rather to himself, his proof that Rockman was still with him.

The meal continued in silence afterward. Netto still felt bad about Rockman and didn't know what else to say about it. The woman had not wanted to continue this conversation. When they had both finished, Ann accompanied him to his room. She let him in slowly as he looked around, taking in his surroundings. She moved closer to him, getting down to his level, and tenderly placed a hand on his cheek.

"Netto-kun, I can't guarantee that you'll find your Navi... But I can at least assure you that you'll be with your family again."

The young boy gave a weak nod. She withdrew her hand and turned back to the door.

"Good night Netto-kun, tomorrow I'll get you up at dawn."

She closed the door and he heard her walk away. Netto looked at the bed and got into it while taking off his bandana. He thought about what had happened in his day. First, he had gone to Scilabs, done his NetAgent duty, and then his PET broke. Then he was lifted into the air and... blackout. No way to know what had happened in between. Waking up in this forest, he became a little boy and became lost in a strange dimensional area with viruses that tried to attack him. But Rockman had come... but he was different. What happened to him? Did he become a... monster? No, it couldn't be. He's still there, he was still himself. Surely Elecman must have had something similar, but he didn't kill his operator, he probably tried to, but he probably controlled his attack. Elecman had always been loyal to Count Elec. He nodded his head in agreement with this assumption. Now he had to get together with Rockman and go home.

But where exactly was he? Why wasn't the phone being answered? How long had it been since he disappeared from Scilabs? Was it... really magic...? Was it that somewhere in the universe, someone had cursed him? He looked out the window at the starry sky and then slowly closed his eyes, hoping that tomorrow he would wake up in his room.

Ann had come downstairs quickly, put the child to bed, and walked to the ringing telephone in the dining room. Without further ado, she picked it up.

"Elecitel Residence, what can I do for you?" She heard a voice on the phone and smiled, "Yes everything is fine, the child is in bed now." The voice continued to speak, the smile faded from the woman's face. "What do you mean a second boy?"

To be continued...

AN: I loved Ann Elecitel, once I remember that Wren has done a cute fanart of the Elecitel couple with Elecman, as if they are a family, that's their artwork I imagined on the pictures Netto is looking. I hope Wren is reading... Cause I really love their works too!

Gonna do exclusive artwork on each chapters, it's a way for telling me thank you to the readers and like a little gift for reading it.