Net Navi

Disclaimer: I do not own the anime series Rockman.EXE, Rockman.EXE Axess, or Rockman.EXE Stream (or any variation of the \"Megaman NT Warrior\" series, or \"Battle Network\" games). If I did, I would have used the money made off it all to invent the PET technology, and had Rockman all to myself. ^.^ As you might know, Rockman (or Megaman) is originally property of Capcom Inc., and the anime series (on which I\'m basing this fic) is the intellectual property of Shogakukan.

Also, just to disappoint you English speaking fanboys and fangirls out there\' I\'ll go with the Japanese character names. In case you\'re new to this shit, here\'s a list of the names:

Lan - Netto
Megaman - Rockman
Chaud - Enzan
Protoman - Blues
Mayl - Meiru
Roll - Roll
Dex - Dekao
Gutsman - Gutsman
Yai - Yaito
Glide - Glyde

Thanks for your attention, now on to the fic:

Chapter 1 – Could it be any worse?

Densan City

\"Aahh...I\'m so hungry, so hungry...\"

On a street somewhat off Central Akihara City, walked a boy alone, his complaints reaching no-one but himself. If anyone else had been there, who was a fan of Net Battling, they would have probably recognized him, although this day, due to a long list of unfortunate happenings, Hikari Netto was not quite himself. Not in a manner of appearance, anyway. This chain of events was, however, what he was trying to forget as he was making his way home, thinking of curry to quench his hunger, and overshadow the undeniable facts.

In the morning he had, as usual, woken up five minutes before school, and he had been convinced that they were having a test in the first lesson about Japanese History, with Mariko-sensei. Knowing very well that her patience with him was growing very thin, he had panicked, and simply left the house, finding out half-way to school that he had forgotten his headband, half of his school gear, his packed lunch, and the worst disaster of all, he\'d forgotten Rockman. That was another reason he was hurrying home; he rarely forgot his PET, both because it contained his very best friend in the whole wide world, and because he couldn\'t take that hurt, diminutive look Rockman would give him when he saw him. That was, before he started yelling at him; Netto sighed at the idea, and started walking a little faster.

The peak of the story was of course that the history test was not scheduled for before a week later, and that his panic had been for absolutely nothing. This had, by far, been one of the worst days of his life, and he would need a good, long injection of happiness if he was to make it through; as a matter of fact, when he came to think of it, rejoining with Rockman just might be enough to make him smile. He had...missed him quite a lot during the day. Lately, worrisome thoughts had been crossing his mind as he beheld his Navi, an alien feeling making him feel as though he had several pounds of lead deep down in his stomach. To say it was absolutely alien was a slight exaggeration, but he preferred to keep it at a safe distance, afraid of what might come to pass if he let it under his skin.

Enveloped in dark thoughts he arrived home, having a feeling that no-one was home. It was just a hunch, but when he shouted out a \"Tadaimaaa!!\" well inside the house, and received no answer, he sighed, tossing his school bag into a corner of the entrance, sighing as he walked into the house, and towards the stairs. However, when he walked past the small table by the staircase that held the picture of him and his family, he stopped, noticing a small envelope by the picture.

Knowing that his mother usually left things for him to find there, he walked over to it, and picked it up, his theory confirmed: the envelope read \"Hikari Netto\", and was apparently sent from somewhere in Amerope: \"Amerope...Papa is working in a science lab in Amerope right now, I recall...\" he said, noticing now that the envelope seemed to have something in it, judging from its weight.

His curiosity stirred (which did not really take a lot to do) he opened the envelope eagerly, and took out the contents: a few words scribbled on a postcard from Amerope, and an unmarked PET chip, marked with nothing but the logo of Team Rockman: \"...a chip...? From Papa...?\" Netto said, turning the chip around in the air, studying it thoroughly, before it came to mind that the post card probably held the explanation the chip did not.

He picked up the card and started reading it:

Netto-kun

It\'s been a long time, hasn\'t it? I\'m sorry I\'m not there with you, but the concerns of science have to go before everything else. Besides, I think you\'ll like my new research. I\'m working in one of the biggest science labs in Amerope to perfect the Synchro Chip to generate its own Dimensional Field. It will take a lot of time, but it\'ll be worth it.

Say hello to Mama from me, and give her my best. I\'ll be coming home for a while in another five months or so. I\'m looking forward to letting you and Rockman try the new chip out.

Love,
Papa

Netto studied the letter for a little while, and then sighed, putting it back into the envelope: \"Recognized scientist, famous inventor, yada yada yada...\" he said, putting the letter into his pocket: \"Who does he think he is, that...\" he said, feeling frustrated. It had been almost a year since he had seen his father last, and if he knew him right, it would be at least another half year until he would have a chance to see him again. It was well and good that his father was conducting research that would benefit everyone, but...he was still his papa.

His attention diverting from feeling sorry for himself, it returned to the chip, that lay unmarked and anonymous on the table, where he\'d left it: \"But this chip....Papa didn\'t mention it anywhere in the letter...\" he said, scratching his head in confusion, before coming to a stop: \"...unless...\" he said, and an unusually devious grin got the better of his face: \"...this is the new Cross Fusion chip!\" he laughed, and held the chip up into the air.

From somewhere upstairs, a groggy voice mumbled: \"Netto-kun....? Netto-kun, you\'re noisy...\", followed by a yawn which Netto barely heard, storming up the stairs: \"Rockman! Rockman! We\'ve got to try this out!\" he shouted as he barged into his room, grabbing hold of his PET with a joyous grin on his face, causing Rockman to sweatdrop: \"Netto-kun...you seem to be very...very genki today, I must say...\" he said, his voice going indignated: \"I would have imagined your temper would have been worse, forgetting your headband and me in your wild rush to find out that your test was due next Thursday...\" he said, at first getting no response from the oblivious Netto: \"...and it\'ll be so cool! Like, I\'ll be able to really surprise Meiru-chan and Dekao, and Mama too, and...\" he said, before what Rockman had just said sunk in.

\"You...you knew...?\" he said, his face growing dark and dangerous, and Rockman tried to state his defense: \"Netto-kun...I tried to tell you, but you wouldn\'t listen...\" he said, cowering deeper into his PET, making excusing gestures in fear of what side his owner\'s PMS-like mood swings might turn now. Thankfully for him, Netto just sighed, mentally dismissing the whole affair in favor of the mysterious chip: \"So, are we gonna try this baby out, or what?\" he said, and Rockman looked at the item carefully and suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at the end: \"And what exactly is this \"baby\" that you\'re talking about?\"

Netto smiled: \"A new chip.\" he said, and Rockman blinked a few times, before sighing: \"Yes, I can see that, Netto-kun. The two-way camera-sensitive plasmatic screen on your personal terminal is functioning perfectly. However, the chip is unmarked, and as far as I can sense, it carries no identifiable energy signature, like some powerful chips do. So, I\'m asking you, what kind of chip is it?\" he said. The smile grew wider on his friend\'s face when he said, slowly and clearly: \"I have reason to believe this is the prototype for the new Synchro Chip that Papa is developing in Amerope right now.\"

Rockman looked at him, disbelief in his eyes as he blinked a couple of times: \"New Synchro Chip...? ...you mean the one with....as in, the one who can...?\" he said, and for each word, Netto nodded eagerly: \"Yeah, I\'m talking about the one who will make Cross Fusion possible outside an external Dimensional Field. That will make us able to perform the Cross Fusion anywhere!\" he said, and a few seconds later, Rockman grinned: \"I can see why you were so hyped up. I\'m kinda getting excited myself. I never imagined I would be able to go into the real world at all, let alone whenever I want to...\" he said, dreamingly, his sight gone somewhere far away.

Netto nodded: \"Yeah, yeah...now, let\'s try it out!\" he said, reaching out for the PET to slot in, only to be stopped by Rockman: \"Netto-kun! Please do your homework first. Also, Mama asked me to tell you that she expects you to make up your room today. In addition...\" he said, and Netto looked at him, before sighing: \"Rockman...c\'mon, don\'t you wanna do this too? This seems too cool, doesn\'t it?\" Netto said, desperate and frustrated over his new game being delayed. \"Netto-kun, you have to do your chores before you have fun. Remember what Mama has said about these kinds of things.\" Rockman said in his usually calm voice.

However, when he saw the look on Netto\'s face a couple of seconds later, he had a really hard time keeping his voice stern and calm as he should, feeling pity for the overly enthusiastic boy before him: \"Or...well...maybe, for once we can...oh, blast it! Okay, Netto-kun, you\'re on! Let\'s try this chip out!\" he said, and after looking at him for a couple of seconds in surprise, Netto grinned and started jumping up and down: \"Rockman, you\'re a real friend! Nobody understands me better than you do!\" he said, and when he came to a stand still, he gave the PET one of his usual hugs: \"I\'m sorry I\'m making you say thing like that.\"

Inside the PET, Rockman felt warmed and happy by the gesture offered to him by his Operator, putting his hand to the monitor Netto could see: \"Uhn...well, it\'s okay, I guess...once in a while. As long as you don\'t make my giving in to you a habit\" he said, blinking at Netto, who grinned back. Turning towards the bed, he picked his headband down from one of the bed posts, and put it on, looking back at Rockman with sharp, daring eyes: \"Well then. Let\'s go!\" he said, picking up the Synchro Chip from his desk. His excitement concentrated in his fingers, and he felt light-headed as he lifted the chip for the slot-in move.

\"Synchro Chip! Slot In!!\"

In his close to euphoric state of mind, the extent of his excited awareness was limited to a few things only: his breathing, the tingling sensation that shot through him a few moments after the cold circuits of the chip came in touch with the edges of the PET port, and an impression of light, almost as if he was looking at an explosion with his eyes closed. The tingling sensation stayed with him, but unlike he felt normally, doing the usual Cross Fusion where the data attaching itself to him made his skin itch, this nuisance seemed to be inside him, crawling in his flesh.

He was at a loss of words to describe the feeling, or rather pure sensation that came after it. It felt like...it felt like something incredible, yet like something very bad, or very ominous; in lack of better explanations, it felt like he was dissolving, going apart as the space between the atoms that built him was filled with light, and ripping past the boundaries of his physical body to blind him, to fill the space surrounding him with searing illumination. His muscles turned into jelly, rendering him unable to hold onto his PET suddenly, and he felt scared as he felt it slipping though his hands. By the time it hit the floor, however, he felt himself falling, and then, he felt nothing at all.

* * *

\"Netto-kun...Netto-kun. Wake up, Netto-kun!\"

\"Rockman...Rockman\'s voice? But...\" Netto thought, feeling groggy and exhausted, almost as if he had run a hundred miles, only to faint off at the finishing line. His muscles was aching, and his eyes stung as he tried to open them, as they would have after being faced with intense light after an eternity in infinite darkness. Generally, he felt in bad shape, like a combination of the flu and a hard beating.

\"Netto? What in the world has happened to you? C\'mon, wake up...!\"

It was definitely Rockman that was talking to him...but it felt kind of weird, like his voice felt a lot closer than usual...and undistorted. It almost felt like he was in the same room as...himself...
He tried opening his eyes once more, succeeding after a few moments. The world was still a blur when he started taking in sights, and it hurt, but at least he came to understand his situation, or more, his current position. He had seen the scenery that unfolded before him a number of times before...just not from this angle, exactly.

All around him, greenish currents of energy circled, forming visible and comprehensible walls and boundaries, fleshing out the pocket of digital space that made up the interior of his PET. And as he looked to his side, he saw a very familiar figure standing beside him, tall and imposing, as he was still lying on the ground: \"R-rockman...?\" he whispered, not believing his eyes. The mentioned Net Navi looked down at his operator for a few moments, a look of disbelief on his face, before he smiled an uncertain smile: \"Well...I don\'t really get how this could happen at all, but...\" he said, his smile shifting from uncertain to truthful, accompanied by a slight blush: \"Well, whatever\'s happened, I guess it\'s up to me to welcome you to your PET index page...Netto-kun.\"