Unwilling Partners Ch24

Netto had already visited the cyberworld thanks to Dark Mu's goons and devices, although it was a simple reproduction of it. He had felt the differences as soon as he entered it. Unlike within the faux Undernet Desert, the environment felt alive with an undercurrent of energy that permeated everything. He lifted his hands up and flexed them experimentally, feeling Forte's powers laying dormant right under his skin, ready to be called forth, making him feel alive.

No wonder Forte was so power-hungry…

He brought one hand to his face and closed his eyes, recalling the past few days and those memories that would not leave him alone. He hated them and felt sickened at remembering how he felt during those moments. He had several close calls with death in the past where adrenaline would make his heart feel like it was exploding, but nothing he had gone through could be compared to the feel of oblivion slowly approaching at the edges of his consciousness.

Feeling dizzy and shaky, Netto stumbled backwards until he landed against something that broke his fall to the ground. A hand grabbed his shoulder, preventing him from moving away and as he turned around to see who it was, he came face to face with a pair of red eyes that were trying to burn a hole in his face.

"When will you stop letting that bother you?"

To say that Forte was annoyed was saying very little. The navi, as much as he was trying to hide it, didn't know if he was ready to kill Netto or yell insult after insult until the kid reacted in any way possible.

But that feeling didn't last long, and Forte felt tired.

Netto was shaking, torn between anguish and elation. And very close to breaking.

"I know what's going through your head right now," the navi continued, his eyes narrowing to tiny slits. "I've gone through it myself years ago. So, don't even think of walking that path. I will not let you."

Without waiting for a reply, Forte released his hold onto Netto's shoulder and watched him take a step back to regard him with confused eyes. "I'll be around," he whispered, knowing that that was all he could do and say at the moment. As much as he hated it, he would leave the rest up to Rockman and his little band of jolly friends. If they failed, he would rain hell upon their heads.

The navi stood there, watching the kid that had become more than just a mere acquaintance until he heard the approaching voices of Rockman and the others. They were excited to see their friend that had been missing for so long, but were also worried about his recent strange behavior.

Normally, Forte would have left, preferring the quiet of a dark and lonely place. But the situation he was in had stopped being normal what felt like long ago, so all he did was observe Netto's reaction to the approaching navis.

The reaction the boy had upon hearing the voices of his friends was unlike anything from him. Instead of smiling and loudly calling to them, he froze up. He was so tense that if someone poked him, he would surely lash out in self defense without thinking or even realizing that none ever meant to harm him.

And then Rockman was there, so close to the two that he could touch them if he stretched one arm. The other navis remained behind, respecting his decision to talk with his operator alone and waiting their turn to greet their returned friend.

Forte found that he wasn't happy with the proximity, but forced himself to accept it and when their eyes met, the black navi was very glad to glare all his hostility towards his strongest rival. For several long seconds the two stood there, their own determined ideas clashing in a silent battle of stares, until Forte gave a very small nod acceptance.

However, Rockman knew that the black navi's tolerance was really limited and it was with that knowledge that he turned his attention to his operator, having realized how much he had changed in the last few months. No more happy and expansive, or facing a situation with his fiery will. Now all Netto was doing was shying away from him and giving off an aura of tension so strong that even Forte was being affected.

The blue navi raised a hand to touch his operator on the shoulder, but stopped when Netto tensed even more. "Netto-kun..?" he asked in a soft voice, afraid that any louder and the boy would shatter. "Netto-kun. It's me, Rockman."

Netto slightly turned his head and his right brown eye met with Rockman's green ones. It was a brief moment, though, and all the blue navi felt from that contact was something that left him speechless. He wanted so much to ask what had happened, to understand the reason why the person standing in front of him was nothing but a shell of his operator, but was stopped short by a low growl from Forte.

The three were now in a standstill. No one spoke or moved.

Forte was keeping a close eye on Rockman, wanting to make sure that the blue navi would not ask something that would make things worse than they already were. Netto, although having missed his friends and family, was ready to run as far away as he could from everyone and everything while Rockman was seriously thinking of ignoring Forte's unspoken threat to ask his operator what was wrong.

With stress finally taking a toll on his psyche, Netto started to take a few steps backwards, away from Rockman and the others. He needed time to think, to be alone, and at the moment he felt that company would only make him sick. Already his head was spinning and he could see small dots swimming in front of him, appearing and disappearing in small explosions that made things worse for his already distressed mind.

Before anyone could say or do something, Netto shook his head and raised his hands up into the air, collected as much energy as he could and quickly smashed it at the ground with a scream. Forte and Rockman had no problem in jumping away to avoid damage, but the blast had been powerful enough to raise a lot of blue dust that covered everything in the immediate vicinity.

When the visibility returned enough for everyone to see, Rockman looked where Netto had been standing just moments before. There was a nice crater on the ground and debris everywhere, but no sign of a mentally unstable boy.

"Damn it, kid," Forte muttered to himself, choosing to ignore if Rockman, standing almost next to him, could hear his words. "Running away won't help you."

The blue navi stared at the empty spot, unable to understand why Netto had acted that way. After a moment, however, he turned around to look at Forte with a mix of confusion, anger and bewilderment. "What happened?"

When the other navi didn't reply, Rockman narrowed his eyes and tensed, ready to tackle Forte to the ground and punch him until he said something. "Forte," he said, trying to keep calm. Getting angry wouldn't solve anything. "What happened to Netto-kun?"

Red eyes met green, and the two stared at each other for what seemed like a long time. Then, uttering a low murmur, Forte turned to look at the spot Netto had previously occupied. "I will not say," he stated neutrally. "It's not my right to say. You will have to ask the kid yourself."

Perhaps keeping the whole truth a secret was a bad thing, but after going through so much with Netto, Forte was not ready to get hated by, he had to admit it at this point, his only friend.

"You, however," the black navi resumed after a few seconds of silence, watching Rockman's friends walking towards them to hear what was going on. "Might want to find him before it's too late. As his navi, you should know well how much he attracts trouble."

Without further words, Forte walked away. He and Rockman might have to find the same person, but he wasn't in the mood to walk around with him and the others that were obviously going to follow. He would find Netto on his own, and perhaps try to talk some sense into him.

He just hoped that the kid was less of a mess than he had appeared to be.

Outside the network, Yuichiro was sitting at the table, staring at the large monitor in front of him and momentarily unable to process what had just happened. He remembered seeing Forte and, for a glimpse of a second, another figure that resembled him. The man was sure that the other figure was Netto, but before he could do anything, something blew up and only one black navi remained.

"What did I do wrong?" he asked to the air, watching as Meijin furiously typed at the console trying to track Netto trough the mansion's network. He knew the young man to be good at the task, but for some reasons, he had troubles following his son. "Is this a punishment for me not being a good father?"

Just when his hopes had been high and he had been the happiest since Netto's going missing, Yuichiro Hikari felt that the recent development of his son disappearing again was like a huge slap to his face. He felt tired, hurt, dispirited and humiliated. His wife would never forgive him if he didn't bring Netto back.

Meijin cast a quick glance at Cossack sitting next to him and trying to help in the tracking. "What about forcefully disconnecting them from the Pulse-In system?" he asked, hopeful that it would be the solution to their problem.

The older man shook his head, his hands pausing when his latest tracking method failed. "It's a possibility, yes," he replied with a frown on his face. "But it's dangerous as the brain could suffer damage. Although with Forte's healing ability, theoretically any damage could be healed. I'd rather avoid doing that unless it's extremely necessary."

When another tracking program came up empty-handed, Meijin gave a sigh and gave up. He had tried everything he knew of and even a couple of new methods. He had even searched through the immediate area outside the Ayanokouji's local network, but every search had failed. It was as if Netto just didn't want to be found, which probably was true.

"He might already be far from here," he said, turning to the other two men in the room. "Sending a search party seems to be the only way to find him."

Yuichiro gave a nod of understanding before turning his attention to the large monitor at the end of the room. "Rockman," he called, knowing that it was not the time for self-blame. "Find Netto and convince him to come back."

As Rockman and Yuichiro decided on where to start to look for Netto, Cossack turned to look at a smaller computer sitting next to the main console. His relationship with Forte was still rocky, but if wanted to figure out what was keeping him and Netto stuck together like that he needed to do a deep scan of his son's core program.

With a quick press of a few keys, the monitor blinked twice: the first time to hide the file with several codes pertaining Cross Fusion, and the second to open a video link with Forte. Cossack knew that the black navi didn't have any communication program in him like the others, but the local network still permitted him to open communications anywhere within it.

When the image on the monitor finally showed Forte, the doctor coughed to grab his attention. Red eyes turned away from whatever the navi was looking at and looked up with a mix of curiosity and wariness. "Forte," he called, voice serious but not hostile. "After all that happened to you, I'm sure you won't like this. But I need to ask you anyway. Will you let me check your core program?"

The navi's eyes narrowed and a light frown appeared on his mouth. His creator was right in saying that he would not like to have his core program be scanned that deeply. Not even if it was the same man that had created him. "I suppose it is necessary," he eventually replied, slightly disgruntled. "No other way to discover what is keeping us merged. Unless we find the original project..."

Cossack raised an eyebrow at the 'we' Forte had used, but refrained from saying anything about it. The fact that his son had finally found someone that he could call a friend made him happier than he had been when he made peace with him.

"The scan I have in mind won't affect your ability to move in the cyberworld," he informed, glancing at a small paper next to the monitor and guessing that Forte was thinking of going out in search of Netto. "But be careful when you leave the local network. There shouldn't be any problems, but the distance from your real body could cause some... trouble. What kind of trouble, though, I'm afraid I don't know. Maybe a loss of power, or even lag."

That meant that, probably, Netto was already suffering from one or more symptoms because of said distance, and Forte knew that the boy was pretty far away by now. He wouldn't be surprised if he had to track him down through the Undernet. "Alright. I'll leave everything up to your care… Doctor."

Cossack's eyes slightly widened in surprise at finally seeing Forte starting to trust him once again, even if it was because he was forced by circumstances. "I'll find out what's going on," he promised with a solemn nod. "How should I contact you when you're out on the net?"

Forte paused, blinking in surprise at how such a small detail could be so troublesome. Despite being a navi that could very well take care of himself in any situation, there was the fact that now he wasn't on his own. There were people that were doing stuff for him that he could not take care of by himself, and communication was important.

"You can tell me," Rockman's voice attracted the two's attention. He had heard the whole conversation, albeit unintentionally, and had decided what the best course of action was. "And I'll tell Forte."

Red and green eyes met once again, and Forte had to concede to Rockman's fierce determination into helping in any way possible. There was no rivalry, no hostility, nor the blue navi was trying to blame him for whatever Netto was going through. All that he wanted was to bring his operator back home safe and sound.

"Fine," he said with a small nod. He tried to be neutral, but a small amount of hostility still managed to find its way to his voice. The idea of letting anyone deal with Netto and his current mood was making him nervous, dissatisfied and quick to anger. Giving one last sharp glare to Rockman to make sure he understood that it was best for him to not get in his way, Forte turned around and walked towards the linkpad located at the end of the platform. He didn't exactly know where the boy had run off, but a feeling was telling him where to go.

Rockman stared at Forte's cloaked back in a bit of anger and jealousy, almost feeling like the black navi was taking Netto all for himself. He couldn't really blame him, though. After all he went through and with that heavy obsessive streak in his personality, it was only natural that Forte was reacting that way to anyone that tried to approach his only friend.

Because that's what Forte and Netto were: friends born from the weirdest and most dangerous adventure.

"Forgive him if you can, Rockman," Cossack said, watching his son disappear through the link to the outside network. "He was never good at social interaction. I don't think he knows that you can have more than one friend at a time."

Rockman nodded, sighing to let his negative emotions dissipate away. "I know. It's just..." he paused and gave a small nervous chuckle. "I feel as if we're competing over Netto-kun and he doesn't want to lose."

The Doctor blinked in surprise, then gave a sheepish smile. "That might be my fault. I created him to be competitive so he could become better." He then became serious and looked intensely at the blue navi. "But that's something we'll have to work though in a later moment. If Forte takes Netto's run off so seriously to accept help from us, then it is a serious thing."

After clenching and unclenching his fists a few times, Rockman nodded. "You are right," he said as he gave a smile to thank the Doctor for his words. "We have to find Netto-kun before anything happens."

Determined to find his operator, the blue navi walked towards the same linkpad Forte had used and disappeared through it. He would remind Netto that he wasn't alone and that he could count on everyone's help to solve whatever problem was assailing him.
.


.
Sitting at his desk for hours on end was something that Enzan was used to but that was slowly getting on his nerves. It couldn't be helped, though, for the information that he and Blues had collected through SciLabs' network expanded into six sheets of paper written front and back.

The stolen information was a lot, and although he had his good suspicion on who had done this, the traces left around weren't enough to point at said person. Being an official, he couldn't abuse his powers and arrest the culprit without solid proof.

"There is so much that it's almost as if they wanted to copy the whole server," the boy commented idly as he typed something on the computer. "Projects, researches, data on the network and security... Blues, have you informed SciLabs that they have to change the firewall?"

A small window appeared in the upper left corner with Blues in it. "Yes, Enzan-sama," he replied with a small nod. "They have increased the security and a complete substitution of the firewall should take from three to five hours."

Enzan nodded, knowing that what they had done was all they could do until the enemy attacked. "Alright."

The two then spent the next hour working on what they had, discussing on why Dark Mu wanted that particular information and how it could use it at its own advantage. Most of the stolen stuff regarded Cross Fusion, Dimensional Areas and the synchronization between a human and a navi, but there were also projects on new sources of energy and technological prototypes to improve human's lives.

What they didn't understand, though, was what this Alpha was supposed to be. There were no records in neither the archives of SciLabs or NetPolice. "It's like they wanted to forget about it," Enzan said, propping his head up with his left hand while the right one drummed the fingers against the desk. "It could be nothing to worry about, but... Blues, do you feel exactly as I do regarding this?"

Blues was quick to nod. "I believe it is time to pay a visit to Doctor Hikari," he replied, remembering that he and Enzan had previously agreed on eventually discussing this Alpha with Yuichiro. "Should I go ahead and inform them of your visit?"

Enzan leaned against the back of the chair and stretched. Used or not, it was always nice to move after a long period of sitting in the same position. "Yes, please," he said. His eyes wandered to the window and the city beyond it, and he wondered how his friend was doing. Last he had heard, Netto had refused any contact and had left Forte in control. Sometimes, he and Blues wondered how a single kid could be the center of so much chaos for so many people. "And make sure Netto is not walking into any sort of trouble."

Blues nodded, and with a quick 'Enzan-sama' disappeared from the computer's monitor to access the local area and then the internet. Left alone, Enzan transferred the files he was working from the computer to his PET and collected the scattered papers, folding and pocketing them.

Now that he had everything he needed with him, the boy left the office, directed towards the nearest elevator. By car, the Ayanokouji's mansion wasn't too far away from the NetPolice headquarters, but with Netto involved, he knew that anything could happen in the span of a couple of minutes. Enzan knew that he was probably jinxing it, but his gut feeling was just too strong.

That premonition turned out to be true as soon as the boy set foot inside the car that had been waiting for him outside the main doors of the building. His PET gave off a particular chime that he had associated only for calls coming from Blues, and when he took it out and opened a video link with his navi, his gut feeling did a flip.

Despite the glasses and almost integral helmet, the frown on Blues mouth easily told Enzan that there was something very wrong with how things were supposed to go. "Enzan-sama," the navi's voice was somewhat strained, which was an unusual thing for him. "I was traveling through the city zone when I crossed paths with Hikari Netto."

Even if the runaway had been looking exactly like Forte, even if he had seen him only for a brief moment before the boy changed directions and disappeared around a corner, Blues was sure of what he had seen. Everyone that knew enough of the black navi also knew that he would never walk in a crowded area like the cybercity.

Enzan had heard of Doctor Hikari and Doctor Cossack to use an old idea to permit Forte and Netto to have separate bodies within the network and that the latter was behaving differently than usual, but he had never thought that Netto was so distraught to run away.

Enzan was extremely sure that Netto would never disappear like that as soon as he saw someone he knew. "Blues, go after him," he then paused, humming to himself for a couple of seconds. "Mind, though, that given the current situation, he might be thinking differently than usual. He's avoiding us and probably wandering aimlessly."

With his directions given, Blues closed the video link with his operator, leaving Enzan to tell the driver of the limo to take him to the Ayanokouji's mansion as fast as he was permitted by street rules. Fifteen minutes later, he was running through the large garden towards the tree house. No one was around to stop him, not even Netto's particularly curious and meddling friends.

After making a quick work of ascending the stairs of the tree house, the boy opened the entrance door and came face to face with three bustling doctors who didn't notice his presence at first. Only after colliding with Meijin did the trio briefly stopped to greet him.

Once everyone had resumed some semblance of calmness, Enzan walked up to the large computer and connected his PET to it so that he could have a direct communication with his navi and send him battle chips if needed. "Have you any idea where he might have gone?"

Before Yuichiro could reply and blame his poor fatherhood for the recent events, Cossack vaguely motioned the small computer he was sitting in front of. "Nothing we have tried seems to be able to track him, but Forte seems to know exactly where to go. While he's looking for him, we're doing a deep scan of his Core Program to see what we can find."

After a period of stagnation, things were finally starting to move again and everyone looked revitalized by it. He hadn't seen Netto's friends, but Enzan bet on them being in front of some computers, determined to find the runaway and bring him back to his senses.

Finally realizing something strange, Meijin looked up at Enzan with a raised eyebrow. "How do you know that Netto ran away?"

The boy took out the papers from his pocket and unfolded them. "Blues saw him in Internet City," he replied as he looked at the written material. Realizing that they were upside down, he rolled them so that they were correctly orientated. "It was a brief encounter, but he was sure it was Netto. Now he's tracking him down."

Although Blues was good at finding fugitives, the fact that he hadn't heard from his navi made Enzan believe that he was having troubles in locating Netto. The idea of asking two of the best trackers of the world formed, but he didn't want to bother Laika and Searchman yet. And if Forte knew where to go, maybe there wasn't even the need to contact the Sharo military to ask for their help.

"I'm afraid that Netto's newest disappearance is not the main reason I'm here, though," he continued as he handed he papers to Meijin. "This is all the data that was stolen from SciLabs. Mostly stuff we already suspected to have been stolen, but there is one thing that I can't find information on, and I think it's really important. What is an Alpha?"

Out of the three Doctors, Meijin was the only one to not abruptly turn towards him and freeze in their movement. The young man looked up from the papers, turned his gaze between Enzan, Yuichiro and Cossack and felt like the temperature in the room had suddenly lost a couple of degrees.

"I never thought I would hear that name again after so many years..." Doctor Cossack murmured, his face paling. "The cause of all my and Forte's problems..."

Yuichiro nodded and turned away from the console, knowing that Rockman could take care of things on his own for a while. "Alpha," he started, biting his lip and mentally cursing the resurface of that name. He had hoped to never hear of it again. "It was created to administer the growing network so that it could run smoothly and there could be more control on it. Unfortunately, it became heavily bugged, gained some level of intelligence and merged with the network, becoming the internet itself. Luckily for us, the entire network was too large to assimilate smoothly and Alpha slowed down enough for us to seal it."

"But not before some damage was done," Meijin was quick on putting the puzzle together. "Its bugs were blamed on Forte and Doctor Cossack and the whole network had to be taken down, leaving the entire country without internet for months."

"That's right, Meijin," Yuichiro said looking at his colleague with worried eyes. "And if Dark Mu get its hands on Alpha... We should inform everyone..."

Cossack took a deep breath and turned back to the small computer to press a few keys. His hands were shaky as he opened a video link with Netto's navi, and his voice almost broke from the stress. He had witnessed what Alpha could do, had his life ruined for ten years because of it, and it scared him that the hungry beast was the target of an evil organization that probably didn't know what it was dealing with.

Forte had to be informed of this.
.


.
He had been wandering for a while now, maybe hours, but his memories of it were sketchy at best. He could remember being with Forte and Rockman, that he couldn't take it anymore and that he had ran away. He could even remember briefly meeting Blues on the street, but between those moments it was as if he hadn't been there at all.

And now he was standing at the rocky edge overlooking the vast Undernet Desert.

Netto gave a deep sigh and sat down to stare at the distance with blank eyes while his legs dangled down the precipice. The place was lonely and depressing, but it gave him time to himself and a breather from the suffocating feeling he lately had whenever his friends were close. Forte was different, though, and his presence was accepted. Maybe it was because the black navi already knew and didn't need to ask any unwanted questions.

Speaking of which...

Said black navi chose that moment to sit next to him and stare at the same sandy distance. "It's monotone, isn't it?"

"Does it even matter?" Netto asked in reply, not bothering to look at his friend. "It's just a place."

The two remained in silence for a while, watching the occasional burst of wind sweep the sand into the air. There were other rock formations in the distance, tall against the black sky. No one knew who had created it, or why, but everyone knew that the desert had always been there, perhaps even years before its discovery, making it a perfect place for outlaws to dwell.

"I didn't know you were the type to run away like that," Forte said, knowing Netto would prefer the blunt approach, no matter the consequences. "I thought you were more of a... fighter."

The boy remained silent for several seconds before he gave a half halfhearted shrug. "They will ask. They always ask... and I don't want to deal with the questions," he looked down at his hands with spent eyes. He couldn't remember anymore how his real hands looked like. "It's annoying."

Forte hummed, somewhat glad that Netto was at least showing to be annoyed by something. It was a small improvement from the apathy he had been showing until he was forced back in control of his own body, even if the current one was a mere replica of it. He secretly thanked Doctor Cossack for having the idea to use the Pulse-In system to temporarily separate them.

"They are annoying, yes," the navi agreed. "After months spent alone in the wild, you'd think they would just greet you back and throw a party, but all they do is ask where you were, what you did and why you disappeared..."

There was another long silence and both didn't bother to break it. The Undernet Desert suddenly became less lonely and more of a real desert, with little life and no water at all. Their friendship was just as Netto remembered it to be. Quiet, but supportive in the needed moments. Completely different from the one he had with Rockman.

"I miss them..."

Forte raised an eyebrow when Netto fell on his back and looked up at the black sky, his cloak covering part of his face. "Then go back?" he asked, hoping that this was the turning point for the boy to go back to his usual self, or at least close to it.

"I told you," Netto rolled on his side, giving Forte his back, and started to fiddle with a small rock he found near his nose. "They'll keep asking no matter what I say. And I don't want to... remember."

The navi's frustration almost made him kick Netto down the cliff. Instead he growled under his breath and grabbed at the knotted scarf, pulling at it until they were both standing and Forte had an arm around Netto's neck. "That's it!" he growled, warding off a flying arm. Because of the distance from their real body, none were able to use their powers, making the struggle more of a kids' brawl.

Still, it was never wise to underestimate Netto, and it showed when the boy slipped a foot around one of Forte's legs and pulled, effectively tripping him and sending both of them to the ground on their backs.

"Look," Forte said after recovering from the unexpected impact. Despite it, he had managed to keep his arm around the other's neck. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. You decide."

"You can try all you want," Netto replied, rolling onto his stomach and feeling the navi's weight on top of him, pinning him down. By using the combined strength of his legs and arms, however, the boy was able to first crouch and then stand back up on his feet. "I don't want to deal with it! You should know why!"

Forte perfectly knew why Netto was refusing to go back. He had gone through the same thing, felt the same will to never go back, and now he knew that it was the wrong thing to do. "You need to face it!" he growled, almost slipping when the boy struggled to walk forwards. "Running away will not help you!"

"I don't need to be helped!" Netto was starting to be desperate and it showed in his movements when he started to try to pull his head out of the lock, causing himself and Forte a slight degree of pain. "I just want to forget! I'm tired of closing my eyes and reliving that moment!"

"I never said that you should relive it every time," Forte replied as calmly as he could while trying to keep his arm locked around Netto's neck. It was proving to be a difficult task because the boy's desperation gave him more strength to use. "But you either face it or you'll end up like me. Is that what you want?"

The only reply Forte got out of Netto was that he bent forward to try and flip him off his back. It would have been a successful maneuver if the navi didn't loop his legs around the kid's waist to stop himself from slipping off. The clinging weight that he had become, however, made Netto lose his balance and stumble forwards several feet before he could regain some semblance of stability.

There was another long moment of silence between the two, both knowing that the other would not give up in their quest to show how things should be taken care of. They remained there, unmoving like statues and with the wind blowing their cloaks around. If someone saw them they would probably think that the two were playing piggyback and had briefly stopped to regain their strength or decide where to go, but at a closer look, the two pair of eyes would reveal the anger and frustration that were ready to explode.

Netto's eyes narrowed and his mouth went downward in a frown. "Forte," his voice had a heavy tone of warning. "Let me go."

"So you can run off again?" The navi replied, strengthening his hold onto the boy. If he let go, he knew that it would take a long time before he found him again. "No."

That said, however, Forte couldn't believe how differently he was behaving at the moment. Normally he would just punch Netto and drag him back forcefully, or even knock him unconscious. Instead there he was, clinging onto his back like a child clinging to its favorite plush. He just hoped no one was seeing this event or his reputation would be forever ruined. Clinging onto Netto that way was already embarrassing on its own.

"Damn it, you rebellious idiot!" Forte's frustration was starting to take over him, making him harsher with his words. "Just let it go, it'll make things easier!"

Netto started to walk towards the cliff. After adjusting to the added weight, it was easy to move around. "If you're worried that I won't go back once it's time to get separated," he said as he felt every fiber of his being burn in rage. "You don't need to. I'll go back, but not now."

Forte refrained from strangling the boy and sighed heavily to release some of his own anger. "I don't give a damn about that!" he replied heatedly. "I want you to go back to your normal annoying self, because, as of now, you're even more annoying!"

"So that's what I am?" Netto asked calmly, feeling chilled to the bone. "Nothing but a nuisance?"

The black navi paused, one eye staring at the narrowed ones of his companion, and wondered how the hell they had ended up in that situation. He had started with the best of intentions, wanting to try and talk some sense into him, but now Netto had distorted the sense of his words and had taken what he had said as an offense. Before Forte could explain what he had meant, however, Netto leapt down the cliff, landed on the soft sand below with barely an effort and rammed the first hard object he could see.

The impact with the large rock was tremendous, dazing the two and leaving a sizeable imprint on the surface. While Netto's head and left shoulders were the most hurt from the collision, he had done so so that Forte would be hit on the arm that was around his neck and side.

"That won't throw me off!" the black navi growled after shaking his head to get rid of the white spots he was seeing. "Now, will you just stop and listen to me?"

Blinded by emotional pain and anger, Netto started to run towards another large boulder head first, determined to dislodge the navi from his back no matter what. He didn't care if he got physically hurt, all he wanted was to be left alone.

They kept that up for at least half a hour before Netto started to show the first signs of fatigue and pain. He had shed several tears of frustration during the last few minutes, but still didn't stop his harmful action.

Forte, however, saw that the boy was starting to slow down and decided to completely stop him before something got really damaged. He let go of Netto's waist with his legs and used them to trip him. The landing on the sand wasn't kind to their already sore bodies, but it wasn't as painful as the collisions against the several rocks scattered around. Thankfully, after landing face first on the ground, Netto didn't show any signs of wanting to get back up.

The black navi released his hold onto Netto's neck and rolled to the side, looking up at the sky and massaging his sore left arm. "Do you feel any better, now?" he asked after a while. If he focused enough, he could feel a sense of weariness and resignation coming from partner.

"Why do you care?" the boy asked in reply, focusing his attention at the desert past the small rocky formations. The larger one, the same he had been on top of before jumping down, was behind him and he could see it only if he turned his head around. "I thought I was a nuisance to you..."

Forte sat up and leaned against a rock a couple of feet away. He was sore, and he knew he was going to be sore for a while after this. "Perhaps I used the wrong words," he whispered to himself. Still, he was glad that Netto had reacted that strongly. Maybe, now that most of the pent up frustration and anger had been released, he was more prone to face the past.

"Hikari," he called loudly after a while, casting a glance at the unmoving figure laying on the sand. His head was turned away so he couldn't see his face and read his emotions so easily. "If I'm here today, trying to deal with you instead of blowing you up, it's because of your real personality. This... moody you... I hate it."

Finally finding the strength to move, Netto rolled around on his side so that he could look at his friend. He felt tired and spent of his emotions, but at the same time he felt a tranquility that he hadn't felt in days. "Forte..." for a moment he didn't know what to say, then he gave a small smile. "Thanks."

Forte nodded in reply and stood up. "Come on, we should get back before that navi of yours bugs himself for the worry."

"I really don't want to," Netto replied quickly, rolling to lay onto his back again. "I feel fine here."

Seconds passed in silence before the navi walked next to his friend. He crossed his arms and looked down at him with an exasperated expression on his face. "Damn it, kid. Not again!" he bent down and grabbed Netto's left arm, pulling at it. When the boy didn't show any sign of getting back onto his feet, he gave up with a loud growl.

Before he could let go, however, Netto firmly grasped at his hand and held it where it was. Forte looked down at him with a question on his lips, but stopped immediately when he noticed that the boy's eyes were open and unfocused.

"Hikari?" when he received no reply, the navi crouched down and placed his free hand onto Netto's shoulder, slightly shaking him. "Netto?"

Brown eyes refocused and the boy looked at Forte with worry. "We have to go," he said, forcing himself to sit up. It hurt to move, but that didn't stop him from getting back onto his feet, although wobbly. "Now."

After all the collisions he had willingly gone through, his sight was blurred and his senses were not at their working peak. Despite that impairment, however, he could still feel it. He had recognized its presence as soon as he had detected it, and it gave him the same unnerving feeling it had given him the first time he had encountered it.

He released Forte's hand and started to shove him towards the base of the cliff. Without the full usage of their powers, all they could do was to climb the rocky face or find a passage within it to take shelter. There was also the option to try and outrun it like he had done previously, but he wasn't taking that escape route unless extremely necessary.

The navi didn't stop Netto from shoving him around. He had felt the urgency in his voice, but he still looked at the kid with confusion. "What is it?"

"Remember that time in that faux Undernet Desert?" Netto asked, casting a worried glance towards the desert. It was getting close faster than he remembered. Perhaps this one was an evolved form or something. "That thing that hunted us down the whole time?"

At those words, Forte narrowed his eyes at the desert, hoping to get a glimpse of the beast lurking under the sand. So far, nothing could be seen. Not even a tiny buff of flying sand. Yet, he knew that Netto wouldn't lie about something like that and knew that the boy, for some strange reason, could detect the large virus' presence.

Netto growled to himself as he looked left and right for any passage in the rock or at least an easy way to climb up. "And just when things were quiet once again!"