The Chosen: A Rockman/SailorMoon Crossover *warnings inside*

[Neko]

Netto plugged Rockman into the link that led to a virus-infested office building where over thirty over time employees were trapped. Rockman flew through the link and was soon joined by Blues and Searchman. He nodded at them in silent acknowledgement of their presence. When they nodded in reply to signify that they were all on the same page they all split off and disappeared down separate links to different parts of the building.

Rockman landed a bit hard due to a block that he barely had managed to get through. He could only hope that Blues and Searchman had made it in as well. “I’m here, Netto-kun,” he murmured softly.

Netto’s face appeared on a screen in front of him. “Okay, I see where you are. I’m going to manually direct you to the origin, is that alright?”

Rockman nodded, “Fine with me, Netto-kun.” He took a deep breath and prepared himself mentally for the undoubtedly difficult route that Netto was about to lead him through.

/Ready?/ Netto asked gently. He too knew the risks of taking such a path, but Rockman was the reconnaissance leader and most equipped to get through the smaller links that Blues and Searchman couldn’t.

/Always,/ Rockman replied with just a hint of laughter in his voice. /You know that./

Netto nodded and opened a specialized screen. He then pulled out a stylus and pressed it to the area where he knew Rockman was standing. Rockman felt a small pressure on his data field and he knew that Netto had taken over his guidance system. “Here we go,” he said softly and took off down the path that Netto etched out in an invisible line in front of him.

Netto traced Rockman through several maze like paths with no problem. However, as they got closer and closer to the origin he could feel the pressure of the energy that it was emitting. He took in a deep breath and held his concentration as best he could as his human body took on the strain that Rockman was also beginning to feel.

“Netto?” Enzan asked, his own voice appearing on a side screen. “You’ve been going at it for awhile, almost there?”

Netto nodded, the pressure on his chest was too great for him to speak. Enzan frowned as he noted the condition his friend was in, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He had seen Netto like that many a time before; it was part of the reason that he and Rockman could be considered one of the most powerful Net Navi/Net Op teams in the world. “Blues and Searchman are opening the doorway to get the trapped people out,” he informed his friend. “Once they’re done we’ll go through the path that you’ve opened.” For a second he hesitated then added, “Be careful.”

Netto nodded and grinned for Enzan’s sake. “Always,” he managed to get out despite the intense concentration that was needed to complete the task ahead of him.

Enzan smirked and his own screen went blank as he cut off his own connection. “They’re fine,” he told Laika.

Laika nodded and slotted another battle chip into his PET. “All right,” he replied. “Let’s get this part done and make sure it stays that way. We’ve got enough on our plates without having to deal with this right now.”

Enzan sighed and nodded his agreement silently. ‘How true’ he thought ruefully as he gave Blues his own battle chip.

Finally, Netto and Rockman managed to bypass the final firewall and get into the data room that contained the origin of the virus that was currently ravaging the office building operating system. With a gasp Rockman pulled himself into the opening and landed with cat like grace in the spacious storage room.

Netto felt the pressure ease up on his own body and he knew that the link had once again pulled them through another tough situation intact. He didn’t care what other people thought, he never regretted the day he agreed to play host to the dangerous file system in order to stay with Rockman. “We’re in,” Rockman’s quiet voice came through his PET.

“I know,” Netto replied with a giggle. He slid the stylus back into his PET and pulled out a battle chip. “It’s coming.”

Rockman sank into a battle pose and as if on cue a screen opened above him with the face of a seedy looking man in his mid forties on it. “What are you doing?” he screeched.

“Keeping you from destroying an office building,” Netto replied curtly as Rockman scanned for the file that the origin was in.

“Don’t get coy with me brat!” the man snarled. “You don’t know what this place was like! It was my prison for 20 long years. That’s longer then you’ve been alive!”

Netto sighed, he wasn’t in the mood to listen to the wounded protagonist story he got so often from people like the guy who was currently ranting on his screen. “That’s nice,” he said, interrupting the man in mid sentence.

The man growled and typed something on the computer. “Fine then, I’ll just have to deal with you right now.”

Rockman blinked as several viruses materialized right in front of him. Quickly, he pulled out his Rock Buster and aimed it at the viruses, leaving the final part of the scan to his twin. Netto sifted through several more files manually with the help of the link at a much slower pace then Rockman, but there weren’t many left, so it didn’t really matter. Within a minute he had found the origin. “There, Rockman!” he announced, giving Rockman the coordinates of the file in the large storage area.

Rockman deleted a Metool that was in his way and jumped over to the file extension. He scanned the area briefly then fired a shot into the file, destroying it.

The man’s eyes widened as the connection was cut off. “No!” he yelled.

Rockman plugged out and appeared safely back into his PET with a sigh. “Well, that was fun,” he noted.

Netto chuckled, “Getting tired?”

“If I am, that only means you are to,” Rockman shot back.

“Touché,” Netto noted and pocketed his PET. “At least it’s over,” he sighed happily and walked over to where Enzan and Laika were standing. “What’s up?” he asked, leaning over to look at the action on their own PETs.

“We’re just wrapping things up,” Enzan replied as Blues logged out. “He’s trapped in the office he was in.”

Netto smirked, “Pretty lenient for you, huh?” he goaded his friend as he wheeled around and latched onto Enzan’s back to annoy him further.

“Get off,” Enzan growled and tried to free himself from Netto.

Laika pulled Searchman back and pocketed his own PET. “Well, glad that’s over with. Should we just head back to the hotel?”

Netto let go of Enzan and skipped out of hitting distance. “All right,” he agreed and got a running head start before slipping on his roller blades. He spun around and stopped abruptly, waiting for Enzan and Laika to catch up. Slowly they walked towards him, making no extra effort to hasten their pace to get to where Netto was quicker. The boy bobbed up and down with energy that neither Enzan nor Laika knew where it came from and pouted, “you’re slow!”

“We’re walking back, at a normal pace,” Laika said in an even voice. “Go ahead if you want.”

Netto stuck his tongue out at them and raced ahead, chatting with Rockman as he skated into the distance.

In an alleyway that Netto passed, an inky blob formed. A human shape formed from it and twisted its self until a distinguishable face could be seen. “The light carrier, without his guardian. Perfect.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*yawn* Whee~ update *pass out and snore*
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Roses are #FF0000, violets are #0000FF. All my base are belong to you.

Avatar, credit Yakitate@devart

[Kitty-Chan]

Uh-oh. Netto the trouble magnet strikes again.
_________________
Need more Zero/X, Netto/Rock, Rock/Netto, Forte/Netto, & Blues/Netto. PLEASE!
Ano sa...could someone please make me a Zero/X, Blues/Netto, or Forte/Netto avatar/banner? I would greatly appreciate it...
Thanks for the avatar, Mandi!
People! We need more Blues/Netto & Forte/Netto on the net. Come on; help me out here! *gives everyone her Super-Adorable Irrisistable Sad Kitty Eyes(TM)*

[Midnight]

Alright Neko, you prodded me until I got back to reviewing this fic, and here I am.

This "new" system of writing that you have implemented here proved to be quite successful. I found that this is almost indistinguishable from the other method in which you write, and perhaps this chapter seemed a little better than your usual work. I especially enjoyed how you focused on the stress that Netto goes through while utilizing his link with his navi--it serves to make the plot seem a lot more realistic this way.

And that's the favor repaid to you. I enjoyed reading this...
_________________
Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[Neko]

“Rockman?” Netto asked as he glided down the street.

“Yes?” Rockman replied.

“I was just thinking…” he said slowly and drifted off.

Rockman refrained from the obvious ‘did it hurt’ quip. He could tell something was on Netto’s mind. “Yes?” he asked.

Netto made and face then looked up at the sky. “All this… stuff that’s been going on lately. Think it’s effecting the link at all?”

Rockman blinked at the sudden question, then realized that he hadn’t thought about it at all. “I… don’t know,” Rockman said slowly. “The power that you have seems to come from the Guardian, not the person so I don’t know if it’s a physical thing or not.”

“Do you feel any different because of it?” Netto asked.

Rockman thought about it as Netto continued to skate down the busy main road. “No…” he said slowly. “No, I don’t. I don’t think it had that kind of effect on you, Netto-kun.”

“Good,” Netto said with a smile. “I was getting kind of worried.”

A few minutes later he skated into the hotel lobby and after checking in with Manabe he went up to his room to wait for Enzan and Laika to catch up. With a sigh he fell onto his bed and put his PET down on the mattress next to him. “Wow, today’s mission was hard, wasn’t it?” he asked.

Rockman nodded inside his PET. “But we got through, and that’s what’s important.”

“Right,” Netto agreed. “And now that the mission is over, we can concentrate on whatever is going on with the whole chosen, guardian, sailor people whatever thing.”

Rockman stifled a giggle with his hand. “You are so eloquent, Netto-kun.”

Netto resisted the urge to bury his PET in a faux pillow throwing, “You, hush,” he said with good humor.

Rockman grinned and suddenly both boys burst out laughing. They didn’t stop until they both heard a knock on the door and even then it took a few minutes to stifle the giggles. The knocking became more and more incessant until Netto finally rolled off the bed and made his way towards the door. “I’m coming, geez,” he said, a little bit annoyed.

He opened the door and looked outside to see that no one was there. He stuck his head out and looked up and down the hallways to see nothing. With a frown he shut the door and turned to face Rockman with a shrug. “No one’s there,” he said.

“That’s weird,” Rockman murmured. “I knew I heard it.”

“Yeah, me too,” Netto said as he looked around the room. “I guess we didn’t answer the door quickly enough.”

“No, you didn’t,” a cold, inhuman voice said behind Netto.

Netto spun around quickly to see an inky black creature form into a humanoid shape and step forward. “You do know it’s very rude to keep a guest waiting at the door, right?”

Netto took a step back and quickly grabbed his PET, getting ready to let Rockman loose into the net to seek out help if necessary. “Who are you?” he hissed.

“Me?” it asked. “I’m a projection of the Guardian of Darkness controlled by my Chosen,” it grinned. “A fusion of consciousness between us, if you will.”

Netto took another step back and tried to maneuver his PET into a position that would allow Rockman to escape. “And? What do you want?” he asked, trying to keep it going.

“For now?” it asked. “I want you out of the way. The Guardian of Light has been a thorn in my side for far too long and the last thing I need right now is for it to gain power.” Quickly it stepped forward and wrapped long dark tentacles around Netto and pinned his arms behind him before he could get his PET into position. “And I see what you’re doing there, young man. It will not help.”

“Hey!” Netto protested. “Let… me… go!”

The thing held Netto fast as he struggled. “No suck luck, child. I’ll just have to get rid of you before any of your friends show up to help. Then I’ll get the rest of them. Maybe they’ll join me,” the thing chuckled and Netto shivered involuntarily at the sound.

“Like hell,” he snarled while still trying to push the thing that was holding him back enough to let Rockman out.

In response to his efforts the thing merely squeezed harder until Netto was almost unconscious. Rockman was feeling the effects over the link and was on the floor of the net, breathing hard and trying desperately not to pass out. It was useless to try and send anything without a signal and he knew that they were on borrowed time as Netto tried to keep the thing talking.

“You are an amusing child,” it said in a low voice that was full of amusement. “It’s too bad I have to kill you. I would honestly love to see how you would turn out under my command.”

Before Netto could reply to this, there was a loud, unearthly screech as something flew into the room through the window. The sound of the window breaking was loud and Netto thanked whatever did it silently as he knew that someone would undoubtedly come to see what was going on.

“G-genki!” Rockman gasped out after getting a good look at the small creature that was now gnawing away at the tendril that was around Netto.

The creature began to pulsate with a bright light and the black thing backed away growling. “You got lucky, brat,” it hissed and vanished.

Netto took in several deep breaths and sunk down to his knees thanking whatever powers that be for the intervention. Genki trotted over and nosed Netto, whimpering in a concerned manner. Netto smiled and stroked its long ears. “We’re okay,” he said softly.

“Thanks to you,” Rockman finished.

“What happened!” a voice yelled from the doorway.

Netto blinked and looked up to see Manabe standing the in the doorway of his hotel room gazing panicked stricken at the scene. Netto glanced around him and realized how bad it looked. There was broken glass everywhere and he was cradling a small creature that barely looked like an animal, let alone something that would jump off the streets in the middle of Tokyo through a window. “Uh…” he said slowly.

“Virus…attack…” Rockman said weakly.

“R-right,” Netto agreed, trying to back up his navi.

Manabe opened her mouth to say something else but she was cut off by Nova streaking through her legs and over to where Netto was with the five inner senshi behind her. “What on earth happened?” Usagi asked as she too took in the scene.

“V-virus attack,” Netto and Rockman said together while trying to come up with a sensible story.

“What kind?” Manabe asked while gazing around the hotel room.

“We couldn’t tell,” Rockman said while trying to think of a virus that was able to do damage like that.

“It’s was electric though,” Netto said.

“Right, the shock went through the system and the windows couldn’t take the stress,” Rockman continued on with Netto’s idea.

Netto stood up, holding Genki in his arms. “This guy must have been right outside the window and when it imploded and he fell in,” he said.

“Right!” Rockman agreed. “We checked to see if it was okay and the virus left the system.”

Manabe turned to them and gazed at them with a scrutinizing glare. “What?” she asked.

“It’s true,” Laika’s voice called from the doorway. Everyone turned to see him and Enzan run in, looking slightly out of breath. “We just caught the virus in the traffic system. It’s deleted.”

“What kind was it?” Manabe asked while crossing her arms.

“We couldn’t tell, but it looked as though it was an electric virus,” Enzan noted.

Manabe raised an eyebrow and gazed at everyone who was now in the room. “And you are?” she asked the girls.

“Us?” Usagi asked while pointing to herself.

“Yes,” Manabe answered.

“They’re friends we made earlier,” Netto said quickly.

“We invited them over tonight,” Rockman continued.

“They must have heard the commotion,” Netto started.

“And came up,” Rockman finished.

Everyone turned to look at Netto and Rockman who were still quite freaked out by whatever had happened to them. Enzan walked across the room and whispered something into Netto’s ear. The boy’s eyes widened and he bit his lower lip before he replied to Enzan who nodded in return.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Manabe asked in a softer tone.

“We’re fine!” Netto and Rockman said together.

“All right,” she sighed. “You five can stay since they invited you but please stay out of the main corridors until we make sure there are no more viruses in the main system.”

“Yes ma’am!” the three Net Saviors answered and Manabe silently left the room.

“Oh thank god,” Netto sighed as he sunk back to the ground with Genki in his lap.

“Let’s go somewhere else,” Enzan said softly. “Because of the window.”

“Right,” Netto agreed and stood back up. He glanced down at Nova. “How did you…”

“I felt the energy that he used to get into this area,” Nova answered. “As soon as I realized what he was up to I called the girls and we came here as fast as we could.”

“What happened?” Laika asked tersely as they relocated.

Netto explained what had just happened as Rockman registered for a new room and got a new pass code from the hotel managers. They made their way into the new hotel room just as Netto was finishing up.

“Wow…” Minako breathed. “So, I take it this is starting then?”

“It would seem so,” Nova agreed. “However, right now I have a question for you two,” she nodded at Netto and Rockman.

Netto flopped and sighed. “Mm? Yeah, sure.”

“Please, don’t take this the wrong way, child. But what are you?” Nova asked while narrowing her eyes.

Netto’s brown eyes widened and he sat up quickly to glare at Nova. “What do you mean?” Usagi asked. “He’s just a kid…”

“No,” Nova said slowly. “You continually space out as if you are talking to someone else, I never noticed until now but you also give off a faint electrical signal. My guess is that you were so nervous about what happened that whatever your ‘power’ is was heightened by your sense of danger. Now, what is going on?”

“None of your business,” Laika replied before Netto could say anything.

“I believe it is…” Nova started but she was cut off by Enzan.

“No, it’s not. It has nothing to do with what is going on now and it really is none of your business.”

“Guys…” Netto said softly.

“But there is something?” Ami asked.

Netto looked at the kindly girl who was looking at him with sharp blue eyes. He looked away from her and shrugged. “Kinda…” he said.

“Really?” Usagi asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Yes,” Rockman replied. “There is something. And Enzan-san and Laika-san are right, it is none of your business,” he said in a tight voice that none of the girls had ever heard before.

“Rockman…” Netto was shocked that Rockman was somewhat upset about it.

“But… if you really want to know, I will tell you. If it really does mean that much,” he told Nova.

Nova smirked. “I want to know why it appears that your life and your operator’s life is connected the way it is.”

Rockman took a deep breath and Netto pulled out his PET so that everyone could see the hologram that materialized on top of it. “All right,” he said. “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise to never tell anyone else. Ever.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I FINALLY got ideas on how to finish this. Thank god.

Now that I'm on summer break, expect more updates :D
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Roses are #FF0000, violets are #0000FF. All my base are belong to you.

Avatar, credit Yakitate@devart

[Kitty-Chan]

Busted. Heh, I knew they wouldn't make it out of this without being caught. I'm glad you finally got inspiration on this, Neko.
_________________
Need more Zero/X, Netto/Rock, Rock/Netto, Forte/Netto, & Blues/Netto. PLEASE!
Ano sa...could someone please make me a Zero/X, Blues/Netto, or Forte/Netto avatar/banner? I would greatly appreciate it...
Thanks for the avatar, Mandi!
People! We need more Blues/Netto & Forte/Netto on the net. Come on; help me out here! *gives everyone her Super-Adorable Irrisistable Sad Kitty Eyes(TM)*