Never Ending Summer Hu/AA *stream* FINISHED

[Yue-chan]

O.O WTF! That was...odd, very odd, even for you Neko, and now my curiosity has been raised. I want to read more! Cant wait for the next chapter.

[Midnight]

O_O

That was....odd, to say the least. Something to look forward to, I suppose. At first you presented the situation as though Maki was a telepath, and she projected herself into the museum, but that was just my brain functioning on little sleep. Hmmm...nonetheless it is still probably an elaborate trick...
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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

[Saito-Rockman]

Yes, very odd indeed. I'm a bit more curious about what happened to Rockman, Searchman, and Blues than the ghost, though.
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[Neko]

Maki woke up to the feeling of grass in between her fingers. She sat up and looked around groggily. She was on a grassy hill that overlooked the perfect bluest lake Maki had ever seen. She yawned and looked around on the ground to see everyone but Netto and Rockman lying sprawled in the grass.

She went over to Enzan and shook his shoulder to get him to wake up. “Enzan-chan?” she asked.

Enzan groaned and pushed himself off the ground. “What the… grass?” he asked himself. “Maki-chan?” he looked at the puzzled five year old.

“Where are we, Enzan-chan?” she asked.

“I… don’t know,” Enzan took a pan of his surroundings and what he saw made his blood run cold. “Blues!” he said.

Blues was lying not two feet away from where Enzan was. At the call of his name Blues stirred and groggily pushed himself up. “Enzan-sama?” he asked.

Now that there had been conversation everyone was starting to get up and everyone was very surprised with what they saw. “How could this happen?” asked Elec Hakushaku.

“I have no idea,” said Madoi.

Everyone started to speculate amongst themselves and Maki took another take in of her surroundings. “Where’s Netto-chan?” she asked.

Enzan looked around in a slight panic and noticed that neither Netto nor Rockman was with them. “Oh my god,” he said.

Maki drew her arms across her body and started to shiver, “Where is Netto-chan?” she asked again.

No one could answer her and she looked like she was going to sit on the ground and start crying. Madoi noticed and went over to her, putting her arms around the small child. “Shush shush,” she said trying to soothe Maki.

Maki buried her face into Madoi’s neck and started to cry. While everyone’s attention was focused on Maki a stranger slipped into their midst.

Blues was the first one to notice the alien presence. He turned around to see the small navi child right behind him. Only she was solid and her hair moved with the breeze that flowed through wherever they were. “Why are you and where did you take us?” he asked.

Everyone looked up at Blues and followed his gaze. The small girl looked up at Blues and her blank expression made him shiver. “I am Dream,” she said in a soft voice.

Maki sniffled and broke from Madoi’s embrace. She walked right up to the navi and smiled as brightly as she could given the circumstances. “Hi Dream, my name’s Maki, nice to meet cha,” she said and extended her hand.

Dream looked at Maki’s hand then at Maki, “Nice to meet you,” she said and hesitantly took Maki’s hand. Maki gave it a firm five year old shake and dropped Dream’s hand. Dream looked surprised but didn’t say anything else.

“Dream-chan, can you help us find some people?” Maki asked.

WWW, Enzan and Laika and their navi’s watched with wonder as Maki slowly got the child to open up.

Dream nodded slowly, “Who are you looking for?” she asked.

“My cousin Netto-chan and his navi. He’s missing and I want to find him,” said Maki her sniffles returning.

Long dormant emotions rose in Dream’s chest as she saw Maki start to cry. “Are they the brown haired one’s that look alike?” she asked.

Maki gave her a puzzled look, “Netto-chan has brown hair, but not Rockman. Rockman has blue hair.”

It was Dream’s turn to look puzzled. Searchman seemed to finally realize what was going on, “Wait, you mean that you’ve seen twins here?” he asked quickly.

Dream nodded, “Yes, two brown haired ones, they’re over there,” she motioned to a hill behind her.

“Twins?” Maki asked and Enzan nodded.

“For now just go with it,” he said. “We’ll explain things after we find Netto and Rockman.”

Maki was very confused but she showed a rare moment of maturity for a five year old and went with it. Anything to get her back with Netto-chan.

Dream led them to the far hill and they walked inside of a large thick forest that seemingly came out of nowhere. They came into a small clearing and everyone stopped dead.

“What the hell?” Hinoken said.

“I’ve come to the strong conclusion that we’re not on earth anymore,” murmured Enzan in an almost state of shock.

“I second that,” said Laika.

“Netto-chan,” Maki breathed.

In front of them was a mass of thorns and vines that created an almost cylinder running horizontally through the forest. In the middle, tied together and seemingly unconscious was Netto and Rockman. Or more correctly, Netto and Saito.

Rockman’s appearance took on one identical to Netto’s in the world that they were in. He was dressed in a dark blue vest where as Netto’s was still orange but aside from they they could have been twins.

They were twins.

“You friends are caught inside their own link,” Dream said.

Enzan looked back to Netto and Rockman then looked at Dream. “Wait, that thing is their link? You trapped them inside their own link?” he asked, enraged.

Everyone but Maki knew what he was talking about, and Maki wasn’t listening. She ran towards the cylinder of thorns and tried to get inside. They twisted and blocked her way, but never hurt her in the process, yet she still persistently tried while Dream talked to everyone else.

“No, I did not trap them there. I was told to bring you here to my world but I did not have a hand in what happened after wards. I just didn’t want to be alone,” she said her voice breaking and starting to show emotion. “I was alone,” she whispered.

“Who, who told you to bring us here?” asked Enzan.

“A tall dark woman who came to me. She said I didn’t deserve to be alone and gave me one chance to project myself in the real world,” Dream started to cry. It was an odd thing, to see a navi cry.

Maki would have been there to comfort her but she was too busy trying to save Netto and who she understood to be Rockman. “Netto-chan!” she yelled.

Enzan stopped interrogating Dream and looked at Maki. “Maki-chan, I don’t think they can hear you,” he said.

Maki shook her head violently. “No! He can, he can hear me. Netto-chan!” she yelled.

Dream watched Maki call out to her cousin with a stunned expression. Her mind didn’t even register until that moment that what she had done was wrong.

“Netto-chan!” Maki screamed again.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Netto was sure where he was or why he was there. The only thing he knew was that he couldn’t sense Rockman and that terrified him. /Rockman?/ he called out but there was no answer.

No he couldn’t be… there was no way.

/Rockman?/ he called again.

The only possible way he couldn’t feel Rockman was if he was deleted. But if that was so then he must be…

Netto shook his head, no that wasn’t possible. /Rockman!/ he screamed as loud as he could.

“Netto-chan,” a faint voice reached his ears.

/Rockman?/ he called desperately.

“Netto-chan!” no the voice wasn’t Rockman’s.

/Who?/ he asked.

“Netto-chan, please answer!”

Wait, that voice was familiar. “M-maki-chan?” he said groggily.

Maki saw Netto open his eyes. “Netto-chan! Oh my gosh, Netto-chan is awake!” Maki said.

Everyone got as close as they could to the thorn vines. “Netto-kun!” said Madoi. “Wake up!”

Netto jerked awake and found he was tied by his arms to another person. “Wha?” he asked. But before he could struggle the vines uncoiled themselves from Netto’s arms. He stood up shakily, “What happened?”

He felt a weight against his legs and looked down. No one blamed him for freaking out and he did just that. Netto yelled in surprise as he looked at what could have been his clone. The person groaned and Netto came to grips with his now seriously messed up reality. “Rockman?” he asked and helped his brother up.

Rockman stood up as shakily as Netto had and put a hand on his head, “Oooh, I don’t feel so good,” he said. He felt his hair and his now brown eyes widened. “Oh my god,” he said.

“Yeah,” whispered Netto, “You look like you would if you were human, just a fair warning.”

“Some warning,” Rockman whispered back.

Netto helped him out of the clearing and the thorns separated to let them pass. Once they were out in the open and Netto had released Rockman he was attacked by Maki.

“Netto-chan!” she squealed and jumped on him.

Netto laughed and held her, “Maki-chan, are you…wait…” he paused. “What are you doing here?” he said.

Maki winced, “I uhhh… got worried about you?”

Netto narrowed his eyes, “I told you to stay at home! I said this would get dangerous and it has! Why did you follow me?”

Maki started to sniffle again, “I-I’m sorry,” she said.

Netto’s angry gaze softened, “It’s okay. Just listen to me next time, all right? And NEVER tell mom or Aunt Sakura what happens here and you won’t get into trouble. Deal?” he held out his pinky.

Maki nodded happily and took it. “Yeup,” she said.

Rockman stood up and said, “Okay, now that that’s all worked out, where are we?” he asked.

“You are in the world between the Net and the real world. It’s a purgatory of sorts,” said Dream. “I was caught here when I was almost completely deleted but my personality data sustained its self. When I could hold a form in the net I came here, and I’ve been alone every since,” she said.

Maki jumped down from Netto’s arms and went over to Dream. “Well you’re not alone any more. When we get out of here you will too! Cause Netto-chan is a super hero, right Netto-chan?” Maki asked.

Netto turned a bright shade of red but no one laughed, he sighed and looked at Rockman who nodded. He turned to Maki and Dream, “Right.”

Dream smiled hugged Netto around his knees. “Thank you,” she said.

~~~~~~~~~~

okay, I'm posting this so people will know what the heck is going on. Yay! I love my really messed up ideas, FEAR THEM!

I am bizzare, I shall note this publicly for future referance when I get the inevitable flame XD
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[Yue-chan]

squee! Saito! *huggles* Boy, that's gonna cause some confusion for Maki in a bit. now's there are two Netto-chans. XD Excellent chapter, Neko.
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"Life is like a video game; the final bosses always suck." -twinling

[Midnight]

This chapter has only served to cloud it up for me. I now have no clue what is going on. Damn obligations...sapping my mental strength...but I digress.

It seems as though poor Maki-chan will find out sooner or later...and I wonder how she will take it.
_________________
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

[Ginrei]

*deep breath*
SAAAAAAAAAAAITOBABYYYY!!
Eee! Saitobaby goodness!
This is my favorite of all your 'fics running now, Neko. I will admit, though, it's gotten kinda... uh... funky in the last two chapters. Not bad, just a little... out there.
But still! Saitobaby! Eeeee!
*squeezes her little Rockman plush half to death*
Keep writing please!

[Lido Azn Girl]

Yay! Nettox2!!! Keep up the great work! This is one of my favorite fics. :D

[Neko]

“So, what do we do first?” Madoi asked.

“Well, let’s recap, we were brought into a weird world in between the net and the real world by a half deleted navi. Now, we don’t know how to get out or even where to go. Any suggestions?” Enzan asked.

Dream whimpered and clung to Netto’s leg. “I-I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Don’t be!” said Maki. “Netto-chan says he’s always like that.”

Netto turned red as Enzan glared at him. “Ah, well, ummmm, I’m not sure, Rockman any suggestions?” he asked his flustered navi.

“Eh? You’re asking me? I have no idea,” he said.

Blues looked at Rockman’s new appearance. “Why do you look like that?” he asked.

Rockman blinked and looked at Blues, surprised by the sudden question. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Why do you look human?” asked Blues.

Rockman opened his mouth then closed it, unsure of how to answer the question. “I have no idea…” he said.

“Could it have something to do with the fact that our data is resynced?” asked Netto.

Rockman’s eyes widened, “Of course! I think I get it now,” he said.

“Get what?” asked Searchman.

“First of all, are we still in the net?” asked Rockman.

Dream nodded, “Yes, you are in a world between the net and the real world.”

Rockman nodded, “Okay, I understand. What probably happened was when I was brought here and ‘downloaded’ into this new place, what ever it was that made our bodies able to exist here must have read my current DNA. When Papa made me the first time, my DNA data was De-synced from Netto’s by 0.001 percent. Now it’s the same!”

“I get it,” said Blues. “So, the blueprints to your program was changed because of the DNA link, but your program didn’t change last time because it was still data. If this really if an in between world then essentially data and flesh are the same thing.”

“This is making my head hurt,” said Netto.

Enzan smiled, “It is so weird seeing your face think, Netto.”

“Hey!” Netto said, but before he could retaliate Maki pulled on his sleeve.

“Netto-chan, what does DNA mean?” she asked.

Netto blinked at a loss for words, “Ummmm…” he looked around. “Any help guys?”

“How do you explain that to a five year old?” Madoi whispered to Hinoken. All she got in return was a shrug.

“Well, do you know what codes are?” asked Rockman.

Maki nodded, “I think so. Like the directions that make up computer programs?”

Netto saw where his brother was going, “Exactly!” he said. “DNA is the code for humans.”

“Human directions?” Maki asked.

“Yes!” Rockman said.

“Clever,” Enzan muttered to Rockman.

“So, why do Netto and Rockman have the same directions?” Maki asked.

“You take over,” Netto said quickly.

Rockman glared at Netto and attempted to explain his story to Maki. “Well, you see. I was born as a human, and then I… died…” Rockman began to realize just how odd the story sounded to a five year old.

Maki, the science fiction lover hung on his every word. “Really?”

Rockman nodded a bit apprehensively and noticed that Dream was watching him with the same wide eyed expression as Maki. “Heh, anyways, Yuuichirou took my DNA and turned it into computer data.”

“So, he took human code and made it navi code?” asked Maki, trying to understand.

Rockman laughed, “Close enough.”

“Wow!” said Maki. “That is so cool!”

“Don’t tell aunt Sakura,” Netto said.

“Why not?” Maki asked.

Rockman blinked, but Netto just smiled. “Cause it’s a secret,” he said.

Maki looked ecstatic, “Wow!” she said breathlessly. “Okay, I promise. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“We’re counting on you,” Netto gave her a mock salute.

Maki giggled and saluted back, “Yes sir!”

“You are so good with kids it’s scary,” Rockman muttered to Netto.

“I’ve had practice,” Netto muttered back.

Mahjorama clapped his hands together, “Okay, Dream, Maki why don’t you go play for a bit. We need to plan something.”

Maki brightened, “Okay! Come on, Dream. Do you know any fun places to go to?” she asked grabbing Dream’s hand.

Dream looked a little scared at first then brightened. “Yeah! It’s really close too.”

“Can we go?” Maki asked.

“Stay in view,” said Netto.

“Okay!” they said together and ran off.

“So, what are we planning now?” asked Rockman.

“How we can get out of here without drawing attention to ourselves from the ‘black lady’ that Dream met earlier,” said Mahajorama.

“I bet that was Obsidian,” said Enzan.

“Who is she?” asked Magicman.

“She is the only person we know of that is part of the new net mafia,” Blues said.

“How do you know it’s more then one person?” asked Elecman.

“Because, when Blues and I fought in the second location we saw someone else there that was not Obsidian, I’m sure of it,” said Enzan.

“Okay, so trap set by the bad guys, we walk right in. Question now is, what will they do next?” asked Fireman.

“Good question,” Netto and Rockman said at the same time and everyone looked at them. “What?” they said.

“Never mind,” said Madoi sweatdropping slightly.

“Should we just wait?” asked Laika.

“That might be our best plan,” said Searchman.

“Why?” asked Madoi.

“Because we are expecting attack, if we bide our time and let them come to us, we might find out their plan,” he explained.

“Then?” asked Netto. “How do we stay out of trouble then?”

Laika looked a little put out, “Well, let’s just try and figure out what exactly our opponents want.”

Netto shrugged, “Fine with me.”

Rockman almost facefaulted but resisted the urge to do so. “Okay, well then I guess we kind of have a plan.”

Maki came out of nowhere and jumped on Netto. “Netto-chan, can you come play?” she asked.

“I don’t know…” said Netto, teasing her.

“Netto-chaaaaan,” she whined.

“Why don’t you ask Rockman?” asked Netto slyly.

Rockman jumped, “Well, I ummm,” he stuttered.

Maki jumped on the opportunity, “Yeah! Rockman, will you play too?” she asked.

“I… don’t think I’ll be very fun to play with,” said Rockman.

“Awww, pleaseeeee, Rockman? Play with me?” Maki asked.

“Yeah, play with her,” said Netto.

Everyone else smirked as Rockman was dragged off by the hyper five year old.

“Hey, where is Dream?” Enzan asked.

Everyone looked around but the pale navi was nowhere to be seen. “Oh no…” said Madoi.

Then out of nowhere Dream came and jumped on Netto. Netto was very surprised by the attack and gasped and she grabbed onto him. “Wha?” he asked.

“Netto-san, will you play too?” she asked in her quiet voice.

Netto pulled her from around his neck and set her down in front of him. “What do you want to play?” he asked.

Dream gave him a broad grin, “Can we play tag?” she asked. “I remember playing tag a lot.”

Netto nodded, “Maybe if you ask everyone else they will play too.”

“Please?” she turned her luminescent eyes to everyone else.

“Yeah, please?” asked Netto, laughing a little.

Madoi stood up and nodded, “Sure we will!” she said in a loud voice. “Right?”

“Right…” Enzan said hesitantly.

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

Ahhh, nothing like a game of tag to soothe all troubles. XD Tell me if you want me to actually write out the tag game or start the next chapter after it's over. Your choice.
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[Blue Bommer]

Yes, write out the game of tag!. It should be very entertaning! :] Good chap.

[May]

Just dropping a note here to tell you that I'm starting to read this, and it seems great so far ^o^

[Midnight]

Hmmm...tag...a decent filler chapter.

I say go for it. I would like to go back to the pace that was set in the first several chapters, but it is up to you.
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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]

Pace? You mean all the filler?

Oh, I write like that because I don't have a plot yet... once I get one I asdvance rather quickly. If you want more filler then it's coming. After this will be a nice arc about a sleep over. (That's all the hints you get too XD)
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[Yue-chan]

cute chapter, Neko. I love how you explained DNA to maki. (We spent about an hour on the phone debating it. XD ) Can't wait for the next chapter, and the sleep over. sounds very interesting.
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[Neko]

“Who’s it?” asked Maki.

“How about Enzan?” Netto asked.

“I agree,” said Madoi.

“Hey!” Enzan protested. “That’s not very fair.”

“Come on!” Netto said. “We’re trying to have a little fun.”

“Please, Enzan-san?” Dream asked, looking at Enzan with her luminescent eyes.

Enzan looked at her and sighed. Lately he would do just about anything, what happened to his old attitude on life?

Netto laughed and slung an arm around Enzan’s shoulders. “Okay everyone, Enzan’s it. Make sure to run really fast!”

Enzan rolled his eyes, ‘Oh yeah, that.’ He thought irritably.

“Fun!” Maki said.

“Better start running,” Enzan muttered to Netto.

Netto glanced at him and took of at a run. As soon as he did Enzan started to chase him.

Netto was very fast and Enzan lost him after awhile. He panted and looked around for someone to tag. It was such a simple game yet it could be so hard too.

He saw who he thought was Netto and went after him. He ran, but not fast enough. Enzan cut him off and tapped him on the shoulder. “Got you Netto,” he said.

Rockman turned around and blinked, “You got me, but I’m not Netto-kun.”

He heard a laugh from behind him and an indignant grunt from Netto. “You know, we’re not THAT hard to tell apart. He is wearing blue you know.” Netto said.

Enzan blushed, but no one could tell because his face was flushed from running. “I knew that,” he muttered.

Rockman laughed, “We know. But you better run, cause I’m it,” he said.

Enzan blinked and then took off in the opposite direction from Rockman. Rockman chased after Blues and after three or so minutes of zigzagging he managed to catch him. “Ha!” he cried out in triumph and tapped Blues on his arm.

Blues sighed and ran after Madoi, tapping her easily. Though he strongly suspected that she wanted to get caught. Almost immediately she took after Hinoken and started to chase him around the field.

Netto and Rockman looked at them sweat dropping slightly. “She’s playing with him,” Rockman said.

“I know,” he answered.

Madoi took off at a sprint and caught Hinoken in a chokehold. “Got ya!” she said and let him go. He sighed and took off looking for someone.

Maki giggled and ran by him. He smiled and ran after her, making sure not to catch her too quickly. She squealed with delight when she was finally tapped and ran after Dream.

The two ran around with more energy then anyone else could muster at that point and everyone else just sat down as they chased each other.

“Well, that was fun,” Laika said dryly.

“You liked playing tag and you know it,” Netto said.

Laika smiled but didn’t answer.

“Now what?” Elecman asked.

Rockman shrugged, “Well, it’s a bit hard to decide what to do next because we have no idea where we even are in regards to this world. What can we do, is the question we should be asking ourselves.”

“Well, sitting around is only dangerous in the end,” Searchman said.

Mahajorama nodded, “Yes, if we were brought here as part of a trap and Dream isn’t the one who planned it then it’s only safe to assume that someone else will come looking for us.”

“Why?” asked Netto.

“Why trap us here to begin with?” asked Blues.

“Maybe they needed to get us out of the way for the time being?” Laika suggested.

“Well, if they did and that was their intention then what is going on while we’re not there?” asked Rockman.

Elec Hakushaku groaned, “There are too many questions,” he said.

Netto nodded, “Yeah. How about we make a plan to get out of here.”

“Then we’re back a square one,” Enzan pointed out. “No matter how you look at it, we need our questions answered before we can actually do anything. If we don’t know how we got here then we obviously don’t know how to get out. And we will need to find out what happened in out absence. So, in the end, we either need to wait like sitting ducks or find out the answers ourselves.”

“I’m for finding out stuff ourselves,” Netto said.

“I second that,” said Rockman.

Fireman nodded, “There is no reason to find out answers if it means we’re in danger. Our best plan in to probably keep moving.”

Dream and Maki came from their game of tag and collapsed into the grass. “Tired,” Maki said.

Netto laughed softly. “Maybe you shouldn’t have ran so much,” he said picking her up and setting her into his lap.

Maki made a face, “Not fair. You said to play tag.”

“We were playing tag, but we stopped before we became exhausted like you,” Rockman said.

Dream yawned and sat up in the grass. Blues looked at the young navi and got an idea. “You said you’ve been here for awhile?” Blues asked.

Dream nodded, “Yeah, almost two years. Why?”

“Do you know anywhere where we can go and hide?” he asked. “Or some kind of place where we can go to that’s not in the open?”

Dream thought about it. “Well, there is this really cool building thing over that way,” she said, waving to the east. Or what presumably was the east.

“Building thing?” Netto asked.

Dream nodded, “Yeah, it’s really big and it looks like it came straight from a human city.”

“That’s weird,” said Enzan.

“Maybe a left over from when Gospel deleted the net?” Blues asked.

Dream took in a shuddering gasp, diverting all attention to her. “Gospel?” she asked.

“Yes, a program made to…” Enzan started but Dream cut him off.

“Absorb and remake the internet,” she finished.

Rockman was the first one to put it together. “You were deleted by Gospel, weren’t you?”

Dream nodded. “I was one of the first navi’s he absorbed for energy when he was still in his Beta Testing stage. My body became energy for him but my personality remained,” she said.

Maki looked a bit put out and put her arms around Dream. “It’s okay, Dream. We’re here now, and Netto-chan will get you out of here. Right?” she asked.

Netto laughed nervously, “W-well, I can’t make any promises…” he stuttered.

Dream looked at him, “Really?” she asked.

Netto sighed, “Well, I promise that we’ll try really hard,” he said.

Dream nodded and smiled. “I understand,” she said.

“Well, then how about we get to that place,” said Searchman.

Dream nodded and stood up. “I’ll show you the way, it’s a little far though,” she said.

“It’s okay. As long as we don’t make ourselves targets,” Laika said.

Everyone nodded in agreement and stood up. Dream started to walk in the direction she had pointed in and everyone followed.

“Hey Dream, if we do get you out, where will you go?” Maki asked.

Dream frowned, “I don’t know. I don’t remember whose navi I was, or even what country I came from. If I ever did get out of here I guess I would end up going to a navi store or something.”

Maki frowned, “That’s no fun,” she said.

Dream smiled, “Well, I don’t have an operator. What choice would I have?”

“I could be your operator!” Maki said cheerfully.

Netto looked at her a little surprised, “Maki-chan, having a navi is a lot different from just having a normal pet. First of all, if you have a navi, chances are they won’t ever leave you alone… ow!” he said as Rockman elbowed him.

“The reason I nag you is because you don’t do your homework, Netto-kun,” Rockman said with an annoyed look on his face.

Maki giggled, “I know. But Dream needs someone! And I don’t want to say good bye to her when we leave!”

Dream smiled, “I would like that, I think,” she said in a soft voice.

“See!” Maki said.

Netto sighed, “Whatever, we’ll come to that when this is over.”

Rockman nodded, “Yeah, first we need to get out of here.”

~~~~~~~~

Awww, we love Dream don't we :3

Show of reviews as to who wants Dream to actually become Maki's navi!
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[Yue-chan]

I want dream to become Maki's navi! *waves hand* Very cute chapter, Neko. *imagines Laika playing tag* XDDD
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"Life is like a video game; the final bosses always suck." -twinling

[Saito-Rockman]

*raises hand* I would, but I'm not entirely sure. If she already had an operator though, maybe not. Great chapter, Neko.
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[Neko]

The small group made their way in the direction that Dream had pointed in. It was a long walk and Dream and Maki got tired. It was all of ten minutes into the walk when Maki started to beg for a piggy back ride. “Pleaaaaaaaase?” she asked.

“Go bug Rockman,” Netto said, looking very annoyed.

Rockman shot him a dirty look when Maki turned her large brown eyes to him. “Rockman?” she asked.

Rockman sweatdropped and everyone else had a hard time trying not to laugh. “M-maki-chan, I don’t think…”

“Please?” she asked softly.

Rockman groaned and let the five year old onto his back. “Only for a little while, okay?” he asked.

“Yay!” she cried out and jumped on him. Rockman grunted with the force of the impact but held his ground.

“Okay, let’s get a move on,” Rockman said.

“Do you think this is a trap?” Enzan murmured to Laika.

“I have no idea, if it is, then Dream doesn’t know about it,” he said back.

“Then if it is, shouldn’t we not be walking in the open?” he asked.

Laika shrugged and Hinoken came over and placed his hands on their shoulders making them jump. “What are you two talking about?” he asked.

“Nothing,” the answered and walked away.

Hinoken sweatdropped and Madoi laughed, “Come on, Hinoken they’re kids.”

“Very anti-social kids,” he murmured.

Madoi shrugged and walked ahead to talk to Coloredman. Hinoken sighed and Fireman came up to him with a touch of concern in his eyes. “Is anything wrong?” he asked.

Hinoken looked at Madoi laughing with her navi and shook his head. “Nothing, just nothing.”

Fireman followed his gaze and nodded, “I see.”

Hinoken ignored his navi’s quip and continued the walk in silence.

It wasn’t long before Netto was giving Dream a piggy back ride as well. She didn’t even have to ask for it, just looking at Maki and giving a sad sigh every three seconds was a sign even Netto couldn’t ignore. She pointed in the directions she wanted them to go and they followed along without questioning, after all she was the only one who knew the place.

Still, Laika and Enzan were suspicious. They didn’t think she was bad but she might not realize she was being manipulated. They told each other so and their navi’s agreed. The foursome made sure to keep an eye out for anything that might be deemed as suspicious just in case.

They came up on the large building after about thirty minutes of walking. “It’s huge,” Netto said.

Rockman laughed, “Different looking at buildings from the internet in real life huh?” he asked.

Netto nodded, “Yeah, completely different.”

Maki looked at the building with wonder, “They can make stuff like this in the internet?” she gasped.

“Yeah, programmers like Netto’s dad do stuff like this,” Enzan said. He eyed the building but couldn’t detect anything out of the ordinary.

“It’s safe, Enzan-sama,” Blues murmured to his operator.

They went into the building, and Obsidian watched from her perch on a tree in the distance.

“I knew they would come here soon,” she grinned. “It’s just so easy to fool people these days.” She jumped from the tree and disappeared reappearing in front of the building. “Time to have some fun,” she sing songed.

“This place really is huge!” Elec Hakushaku said.

Elecman nodded, “This was one of the information centers,” he said.

Rockman blinked, “I remember this place, it held all of the police records didn’t it?”

“Yeah,” said Blues. “It was run by the Net Police, one of the first buildings to go in the Gospel invasion.”

Dream shut her eyes at hearing the word Gospel and Netto tried to console her. Everyone else looked around the building for anything that might be of use in getting out of the strange world that they were in.

“Anything?” Laika asked.

Searchman shook his head, “Not here.”

“I found our police record!” Coloredman yelled.

“Put it away!” the other members of WWW yelled at him.

“Okay okay, geez,” he said and put the file back where he found it.

“Can anything here actually help us?” Rockman asked.

Blues shrugged, “It’s worth a shot. Unless you want to go search out Obsidian and ask her how to get back.”

Rockman smiled nervously, “Point taken.”

“Oh, but I could help in so many ways,” said a voice.

Everyone jumped up on the alert. “Who’s there?” Enzan yelled.

Obsidian stepped out from the shadows grinning widely. “You think I brought you here not knowing where you were? Shame on you for underestimating me.”

Everyone but Netto, Maki and Rockman turned to Dream. Maki saw this and ran in front of her friend. “You’re wrong! Dream didn’t do anything,” she yelled.

Obsidian laughed bringing all attention back to her. “The child is right; I had no use for that brat after she brought you here.”

Dream’s eyes filled with tears. Maki put her arms around her and hugged her, “It’s all right, Netto-chan and Rockman will get the mean lady for you.”

Obsidian laughed, “You’re precious friends are no more fit to battle me right now then you are. This world has no Humans and Navi’s do you honestly think you can attack me?”

“Then you can attack us either,” Blues said.

“Who said I was trying to?” she retorted.

Everyone was silent and Obsidian smirked. “You humans are so predictable. You think that I brought you here to destroy you? Plans need to be more thought out then that, not like you’d ever understand that though. You see, I didn’t bring you here to destroy you, I brought you here to get you out of the way.”

“Why?” Rockman hissed.

Obsidian waved a finger as if telling a small child ‘no’, “Tut tut, do you think I’m going to give my plan away that easily?” she asked. “You underestimate me!” she yelled.

“Then what do you plan to do now?” Blues asked.

“Well, you see, I want to leave you here to rot for the rest of your days, but I have my orders and covering for 8 missing people and 7 missing navi’s would bring too much unwanted attention. So enjoy the freebie while you can.”

“What about Dream?” Maki yelled.

Obsidian cast a glance on the small Navi making her flinch. “I gave my word, and I never go back on my word. But know that I also promise you this, your peace won’t last long,” she said and a mist started to fill the room they were in. “We just finished the first part of our plan and you will never defeat us.”

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

“Netto-chan?” Netto felt Maki shaking his shoulder.

“Nuh, five more minutes,” he said.

“Netto-chan!” Maki screamed and Netto woke up quickly. So did everyone else.

“What?” he asked.

“Where’s dream?” she asked with an expression of worry etched on her face.

Netto blinked and remembered what had just happened. He gaped at her for a few seconds, “I…”

“She’s with me,” Rockman said from his PET.

Netto pulled up his PET and opened the touch screen to see Dream and Rockman standing side by side. “Dream!” Maki yelled.

Dream nodded happily. “I’m fine.”

“Well that’s good to know,” Enzan said dryly. “But what about Obsidian.”

“Looks like we’re going to have to wait,” Searchman said.

Laika frowned, “What did they do that they needed to make sure we had no chance of finding out about it?”

“When you know that, you’ll be able to stop them,” said Madoi. “That’s why they did it.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Dream said.

“Don’t be,” said Maki. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Mahajorama nodded in his solemn way. “The young one is right. Now, I think we need to get back to Mejin-san and tell him what happened.”

Netto looked at his watch and blanched. “Ummm, you go, I’m going home,” he said and took Maki’s hand.

“Netto,” Enzan started but was cut off by Netto.

“I’m still babysitting remember?” Netto asked.

“Good luck, kid,” Madoi laughed.

“Thanks,” Netto said and ran out the door with Maki in tow.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

“Everything is going according to plan,” Obsidian said to a shadowy figure on a touch screen.

“Excellent, and the kids?”

“None the wiser.”

“Good job, you may go,” he said.

Obsidian grinned and left in a flash.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Netto and Maki were sitting on the couch watching TV when Sakura and Haruka came into the house.

“We’re home!” Haruka called.

“Welcome back!” Rockman called back. “Did you have a good time?”

“Yes,” Haruka said as they walked into the living room. “Did anything happen while we were gone?” she asked.

Maki giggled, “We found a navi!” she said.

Sakura blinked, “Where?”

“On the square,” Rockman said. “She said she got lost after the Gospel incident.”

Dream appeared next to Rockman and gave a polite bow. “Pleased to meet you,” she said.

“Oh, aren’t you a little darling,” Sakura cooed.

“Did you ask where her operator was?” Haruka asked.

Netto nodded, “She’s a program navi for a company that went out of business two months after the Gospel incident.”

“Really now?” Haruka asked.

Rockman nodded, “We looked up her Navi Insignia data. Her name is Dream.”

“Mommy, can we keep her? She needs someone, please?” Maki asked.

Sakura smiled, “We’ll see. For the time being I’ll say yes.”

“YEAH!” Maki yelled and grabbed Netto’s PET from his hands earning a loud protest from the boy. “Did you hear that Dream?” she asked.

Dream nodded, “Yes, I’m very happy.”

“Well, you two had an adventure today,” Haruka smiled.

/She has no idea,/ Netto said.

/Hush, Netto-kun,/ Rockman replied.

“But it’s time for bed,” Sakura finished.

“Awwww,” Maki said.

Netto shrugged and went upstairs. Rockman appeared in the computer in his room before Maki could storm in. “Anything wrong Netto-kun?”

“I’m just worried about what Obsidian said,” he mused.

Rockman shrugged, “I hate to say this, but we have to wait. They have one up on us, Netto-kun.”

“Yeah, I know,” Netto said, sighing.

“Don’t worry, everything will turn out fine,” Rockman said smiling.

Netto nodded, giving his brother a smile of his own. “I know. Everything always does.”

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

End of Dream arc. Hope you liked it!

Coming up, fear the hilarity of Sleepovers, fear it I say!
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Avatar, credit Yakitate@devart

[Midnight]

Interesting...Obsidian remains an enigma...it's nice to see that you haven't forgotten about their ulterior motives.

This should be good.
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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

[Anime Master ZERO]

I loved that part where Coloredman found the World Three's police record.

Hmm, sleepover chapter. For the love of God, please don't make them play Truth or Dare. It's been WAY too overdone in sleepover scenarios. Might I suggest the less-used-but-still-very-popular pillow fight instead?
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