Mind of a Child: Hu, AA, PG Warnings Inside *Beast Spoilers*

[HubHikari]

hehe awesome chapter neko-chan this is getting more and more interesting as I read it great work!
_________________

[Midnight]

Mmm...suspense.

I'll admit--this chapter seemed slightly less energetic than that of some of the previous ones, but that doesn't necessarily imply that it is any less well-written.

As always, sometimes one line far outshines the rest of the chapter it is situated in. This is a perfect example of that, and as long as it isn't chronically used, it adds flavor to the overall work.

Good job.
_________________
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

[Kitty-Chan]

Uh-oh; busted. Laika seems to be a magnet for awkward situations. :D
_________________
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)*

[Neko]

“What!” Laika hissed.

Searchman brought up his scope gun and yelled, “Laika-san, they’re playing with you!”

Laika clenched the battle chip and slotted it into his PET. Searchman aimed at Lunar and fired off the charged shot.

Lunar jumped out of the way laughing, “Oh come now, we know the brat is with you.”

Solar nodded, “We’re not stupid, we know when someone is alive and someone is dead.”

Laika slotted in another chip that let Searchman shoot faster. “Netto…” he whispered.

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

“Netto, what do you want to play?” Pride asked him.

Netto frowned, “Can’t we go outside?” he asked.

Pride shook her head, “Sorry Netto, not today.”

“Why?”

Pride opened her mouth but Netto cut her off, “And if you say because I’ll go outside anyways.”

Pride closed her mouth and gave him a sad smile, “Well, we can’t go out because…” she said slowly, trying to think of something today when she was cut off by a loud giggle coming from Rockman’s PET.

Everyone turned around slowly to see a small, yellow navi who looked to be about 3 or 4 years old with bright green eyes grinning at them. “Good morning!” he said loudly.

“It’s two,” Netto said slowly.

“Good afternoon!” he said just as cheerfully.

“Who are you?” Rockman asked.

The child blinked, “Me?” he asked pointing to himself.

Everyone nodded at him with blank expressions.

“I am Trill!” he announced loudly.

“Oh…” Rockman said slowly. “Wait… what are you doing here?” he asked. “Why are you here?”

Trill grinned, “I don’t know,” he said with an air of pride about him.

Rockman almost fell over. “Trill?” Netto asked.

Trill nodded, “Yeah. Who are you?”

Netto blinked, “I’m Netto,” he said.

“Yay!” Trill cheered.

Netto turned his head slightly in a confused manner. He wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Trill…chan,” Pride said slowly, “where did you come from?”

Trill giggled, “I don’t know!” he said again.

“Do you know anything?” Netto asked.

Trill looked thoughtful, “I know I should be here,” he said.

“Why?” Rockman asked, finally deciding the navi didn’t pose a threat.

“Why?” Trill asked innocently.

“You don’t know?” Netto asked in a teasing voice.

“Yeup!” Trill said brightly.

Pride smiled and sighed, “Well, Trill, you’re welcome to stay with us as long as you don’t say anything about us being here. It’s a secret,” he said with a wink.

“Really?” Trill asked.

“Yes,” she said with a wink.

Netto crossed his arms, he wasn’t so sure.

Outside of the house a woman brought a walkie talkie to her lips. “I found the kid,” she said slowly.

“Great job sis,” a voice answered. “So, anything else?”

“Yeah, there’s that other navi that escaped us in there,” she said. “The one from the portal?”

“Perfect, two birds with one stone.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

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

Lunar smirked as she pinned Searchman against the wall. “You see, your friend never truly died, now did he?” she asked.

Laika growled and tried to ignore them.

“He merely split, such an interesting way to survive,” Solar said. “Very interesting.”

“Split?” Laika asked.

“Well? Did we capture your interest now,” Lunar said with a smirk.

“Who knows?” Lunar said.

“We’ll tell you later,” they said in unison and disappeared.

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

“So? New navi,” Pride said quietly while Netto, Trill and Rockman played in another room.

“So it would seem,” Knightman said.

“I wonder if it has anything to do with what’s going on now?” she mused.

Pride took in a sharp breath when someone held their hand over her mouth. “You have no idea, girlie,” a rough male voice whispered into her ear.

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

Kekekeke >3
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[Midnight]

Oh my god. You just HAD to introduce that little guy from the newest season, didn't you?

Anyway...I am intrigued as to how you are going to handle him in the story. As for now, the anime claims he's merely a helpless child, but here he is a helpless child that can communicate. This will most certainly be interesting...and I eagerly await how you interact him with the rest of the characters.
_________________
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

[kuro-kitsune]

[Kitty-Chan]

Pride needs to kick the guy in a vulnerable place, if you know what I mean. She deserves to do some ass-kicking.
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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)*

[DjangoSP]

This was really funny to me. Especially when Netto remembered Pride quicker than Enzan or Laika. I love seeing when Laika gets ticked!
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I am Solar Boy Django! TAIYOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!



Credit goes to X-Zero EXE for the uber-cool sig!!! :D

[Neko]

Netto looked around the empty room with a wondering gaze. “Did you hear something?” he asked.

Rockman looked up, “Hear what?” he asked.

Netto frowned, “I don’t know. I thought I heard something.”

“Maybe it was a cat!” Trill giggled.

“Enzan doesn’t have any cats…” Netto said in a musing voice. “Maybe it was a bird…”

“Or a snake!” Trill said.

“Or a bat!” Netto shot back.

“Okay, now you two are getting silly,” Rockman said. “I doubt Enzan-san has any of those things in his house.”

“You’re no fun,” Netto chided his navi.

“I’m just saying…” Rockman said, then he saw the door move a little bit. “Um… Netto-kun, is Pride-san out there?”

Netto turned around and looked at the door, “I don’t think so…” he mused. “She doesn’t have Knightman with her if it is.”

“How do you know?” Rockman asked.

Netto shrugged, “I don’t know, I just do. Rockman, Knightman, Blues and Searchman all feel different.”

“Fell?” Rockman asked.

“Cool,” Trill said.

Netto turned around again to face Rockman in his PET. “Yeah, like I can tell who is who and where they are if I’m close enough. Is that bad?” he asked.

Rockman smiled nervously, “No, no!” he said quickly. “It’s perfectly fine.”

Netto blinked, “Someone is out there though,” he said slowly.

“Who?” Rockman asked.

Netto stood up and edged away from the door, “I don’t know,” he said softly.

“That’s good to know,” a voice said behind him.

Netto whirled around and stared at a tall woman standing behind him. He jumped back on reflex and glared at her “How did you get in here… I…”

“Couldn’t tell?” she sneered. “Well, that’s good. It seems you track humans according to what electrical devices they are wearing, I just noticed that. What you sense out there is my PET,” he said with a grin.

“Who are you!?” Rockman yelled.

“My name is Tsuki,” she said with a grin. “I am the operator of Lunar.”

“What?” Netto gasped, then his expression changed. “What did you do to Poipu?!” he yelled.

“Your friend will be fine,” she said, “as long as you cooperate with us.”

“Netto-kun, run!” Rockman yelled.

Netto’s brain registered the command and he slammed into Tsuki and knocked her over. Then he turned around and ran out the door. “Netto…” Trill asked.

“Yeah?” Netto panted as he ran down the hall.

“Who was that? And why is she here?” he whined.

“We don’t know,” Rockman said softly. “But we’ll find out,” he said with a resolute look in his eyes.

“After we save Poipu,” Netto growled.

Rockman blinked, then he smiled softly. “Yes Netto-kun, after we save Poipu-san.”

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

“Damn it, the kid got away!” Tsuki yelled into her PET.

The man groaned, “He’s a five year old brat, how could he get away?” he snapped.

“He’s not any ordinary five year old brat and we know it. The damn kid has more power…” she sighed, “Look he knows we have the Princess so he’ll probably be coming your way. Just, be ready, all right?”

“Roger,” the man said and turned off his PET.

He looked down at Princess Pride and grinned. “Well, looks like your little friend is coming this way,” he said softly.

Pride glared at him from her place in the chair where she had been bound. “Why do you want him?” she hissed.

“Oh, just a few reasons. None of which I’m really at liberty to say. Don’t worry though, we won’t hurt him, he’s far too valuable,” the man said with a nasty grin.

Pride’s eyes widened then she looked at the floor. ‘I have to do something,’ she thought to herself. ‘Think! What can I do to get out of this?’

Netto peeked around the corner into the living room. “There they are,” he said softly to his navi.

Rockman nodded, “This isn’t good…” he said just a softly as his operator. “We should just lie low for now.”

“But Pride…” Netto protested.

“Look Netto-kun, I just called Laika-san and Searchman, they should be here any minute. But for now we can’t do anything. Running up to them will only give them what they want, understand?” Rockman said.

Netto took one last peek at the scene in the living room and nodded. “Yeah,” he sighed.

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

Here you guys go /o/

Back to my novel \o/
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[Midnight]

Awesome. You just keep whetting our appetites for more.

And now another antagonist makes his move into the plot...for now, he seems to be the textbook villain...but for now, I can't help but fear for Netto--even if he is not in his normal state as of now...

You know exactly how to keep our attention. Great job.
_________________
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

[Kitty-Chan]

Argh, I hate cliffies! Aw well; great chapter, 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)*

[Neko]

Trill looked around with a worried expression. “What’s going on?” he whispered.

Netto shook his head, “Bad people are trying to hurt Poipu,” he growled.

“But Netto-kun will stay right here,” Rockman told Netto in a warning tone.

Netto nodded, “Yeah, I will,” he said solemnly.

Behind them Tsuki slowly came up behind them, taking great care to make sure that she had no electronic devices on her person so Netto couldn’t sense her. Finally when she got close enough she grabbed Netto from behind and picked him up. “Finally,” she sighed while Netto struggled.

“Let… me… GO!” he yelled.

Rockman looked around wildly, half expecting Laika or Enzan to come in at the right moment and save them. “Netto-kun,” he called out to his increasingly panicking twin.

“Lemme go!” Netto yelled again, more wildly this time.

Rockman could feel Netto’s blind panic well through the link as he thrashed in Tsuki’s grip. He shook his head to clear it so he could think of a rational way out of their current predicament.

Tsuki carried Netto into the living room with a large grin on her face. “I got the kid,” she said happily.

The man straightened up, keeping Pride’s arms pinned behind her back. “Took you long enough,” he smirked.

“Netto!” Pride called out to the terrified child.

Netto didn’t hear any of it because of his panic. All he knew was that he was in trouble and that he needed to do something about it. In the back of his mind he sensed several points of power, each one feeling different. Three he recognized as Rockman, Trill and Knightman. One he knew was a navi but he wasn’t sure who it was, and as for the other’s he really wasn’t too sure what to make of them.

While not in a panic he normally chose to ignore these points of energy, because he was scared of them. Even if his mind was drawn to them, like he was drawn to Rockman, he wanted nothing to do with them just because they were foreign things. He wasn’t fond of things he didn’t know, they were just scary.

However, while he was thrashing in Tsuki’s grip he dropped all barriers that he had unconsciously set up between his own mind and the small points. All of the navis except Rockman were protected by firewalls when this happened, however the various objects connected to the internet around him were not. As soon as his small fit reached a certain point the objects began to crackle with energy as Netto’s mind touched them. Unsure of how to accept this, this action only drove the child into a further panic.

“Tsuki! The kid is doing something weird!” the man yelled while a light bulb near him popped. “Do something!”

Pride stood there trying to take it all in when she realized that in his own worry the man holding her had loosened his grip. With a cry she wrenched herself free and whirled around to punch the man in the face. Without even taking a breath she kneed him in the stomach, making him double over then brought her doubled fists down on the back of his head, knocking him to the floor. Breathing heavily she whirled around to face Tsuki, “Let him go,” she hissed.

Tsuki looked from Pride to the fallen man and she knew she was in trouble. With a growl she shoved Netto into Pride’s arms and helped her dazed comrade up to his feet. “You will see us again,” she hissed.

Pride clutched Netto tightly and watched as the two people ran out of the house at a quick speed. Even if she had opted to go after them, there was no hope that she could catch them. Instead she turned her attention to the panicking child who was now taking deep breaths and burying his face into her chest.

“Are you all right?” she asked him softly.

Netto shook his head and clutched Pride’s arms. “It hurts…” he whined.

“What does?” Pride asked.

Netto shook his head and took in another shuddering breath. “Everything.”

Pride looked around to see that the appliances that were running haywire before were beginning to settle back down into their usual, non-animated state. “What’s wrong, Netto?” she asked him.

Netto shivered slightly, “I don’t know. I don’t like it, Poipu!”

“Like what?” she pressed.

Netto couldn’t even answer coherently, all he could say to her was, “I don’t know,” over and over while she stroked his hair.

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

Fifteen minutes later, Enzan and Laika burst into the house with their PET’s at the ready. “Who’s there?” Enzan asked.

“They’re gone,” Pride said softly. “They were after him,” she said while pointing to the now sleeping Netto in her arms.

Enzan and Laika relaxed a little. “You’re safe?” Laika asked her.

Pride blushed at his obvious concern for her. “Yes,” she said. “I managed to get one of them and the other led him away. I couldn’t give chase, they were too fast.”

Laika nodded, “That’s all right. That isn’t our goal anyways,” he told her.

Enzan looked around his messy living room, “What happened?” he asked.

Pride shook her head, “I don’t know. Netto got really upset when the woman picked him up and everything kind of went haywire after that.”

Rockman held his head gingerly, “He doesn’t know how to control his emotions because he isn’t fully aware of the link. I think while he is in that form though, the link has a new meaning. I mean before he had some problems in so far as keeping his energy impulses under control but nothing like this.”

“Are you all right, Rockman?” Blues asked.

Rockman smiled and rubbed his head, “I will be. Although I think I may have to explain to Netto-kun about the link now. I don’t think I can handle that again.”

Trill blinked and looked up at Rockman, “Link?” he asked in a cutesy puzzled voice.

“I’ll explain later,” Rockman told the small navi. “I promise.”

“’Kay!” the navi said cheerfully.

Enzan looked around at the mess, “He did that?” he asked dubiously.

Pride nodded, “Yes, but I don’t think on purpose. It only happened when he was in a complete panic about it.”

Enzan looked at Netto and remembered the time he felt the odd tingling sensation in his hand the first time they found him. “Huh,” he said. “Well, we’ll worry about it later. Right now I think our best bet is to get away from here and find someone who can help us.”

“Who?” Laika asked.

“Netto’s father is currently working in Jawaii. If anyone should be able to explain anything to us it should be him,” Enzan replied.

Pride nodded, “Yeah, that sounds like a good plan.”

“When do we leave?” Laika asked.

“The sooner the better,” Enzan stated. “We’ll get answers from Netto later, after he’s had enough time to calm down. Is that all right, Rockman?”

Rockman nodded, “Yeah, but I want to be the one to talk to him.”

Enzan nodded his consent, then disappeared into the kitchen to make preparation for his sudden vacation.

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

After hurried preparations, Laika, Enzan, Pride and Netto were ready to go in about three hours. Even though still visibly shaken from his ordeal Netto was slowly returning to his happy go lucky self and by the time they were out the door he was more then a handful for Pride.

“Netto, stay here,” she said while grabbing his hand.

“But…” Netto said while looking around. “Come on, I wanna see stuff!”

“Not until we get to Jawaii,” she told him sternly. “Then you can go around all you want.”

“Really?” Netto asked.

Pride smiled, “Yes. But right now you need to stay with me.”

Netto smiled and nodded, “Okies,” he said and stayed close to Pride.

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

Okay... I want to bring up Rockman's end but ugh >.< the damn fic is so hard to write XD Yay Yuu, best plot device ever I swear. He explains all~

In two or so chapters that is.
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[kuro-kitsune]

....

drat, now i'm hooked on PridexNetto... Not that that's a bad thing. *shot by her lainet obbsessed friend* I withdraw that comment! x_o/

^__^ It's great seeing a new chapter for this fic!! Keep up the great work!

>.> Hikari-hakase is the best plot device?? o_o I guess I sorta understand why though...

~kuro-kitsune~

[Neko]

Oh he can be. When in doubt consult the guy who knows more then everyone in the show except Mejin and Regal.
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Roses are #FF0000, violets are #0000FF. All my base are belong to you.

Avatar, credit Yakitate@devart

[kuro-kitsune]

Hahaha!

That makes so much more sense to me now. XD Follow the all-knowing Yuu!!

Senpai still writes some of the best fics i've read. ^_^ [/random]

~kuro-kitsune~

[Midnight]

Indeed.

This chapter was a lot more...enigmatic. I'll admit it was no less as active, but something about this chapter did not seem right. I think that the way in which you explained how Netto panicked even more because of the link was pretty vague, and it didn't seem to make a lot of sense in my mind. I think one or two of the sentences in there were run-ons, so that added to the confusion.

Other than that, this was a good read. Thanks for the update. ^_^
_________________
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

[Kitty-Chan]

Heh; just call him the Wizard of Yuu! Sorry, couldn't help myself. Yes!! Pride kicks ass! :D
_________________
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)*

[Neko]

Enzan, Laika, Pride and Netto got to the airport without much incident, unless you count the virus attack on the stop lights, but wasn’t anyone’s fault really. Enzan looked around and pointed to a receptionist desk. “I have to go sign out my private jet,” he explained. “Can you two stay here with him?”

Laika and Pride nodded while Enzan walked away. Netto continued to looked around, happy to once again be among other people instead of being cooped up in Enzan’s mansion. “It’s busy,” he said with a small grin.

Rockman nodded, “Yes, so please stay close to Pride-san so you don’t get lost.”

Netto nodded, “I promise,” he told Rockman in a serious kid voice.

Pride took a hold of his hand for good measure, just to make sure he didn’t try and do anything. Netto almost protested, but then decided he didn’t care, looking around was good enough for him.

Enzan came back a few minutes later with a frown on his face, “My dad took out the jet two days ago,” he sighed. “He’s not coming back for three days.”

Pride frowned, “Well, if you can handle waiting a little longer I can ask for my plane to be brought here. It’s not at this airport but I figure it’s easier then going back out on the streets.”

Enzan and Laika nodded. “That’s probably the best idea,” Laika agreed.

Pride took out her PET and spoke to someone on it. After nodding several times she hung up and placed her PET back into her pocket. “All right, they said it will be ready in a little over two hours. Can we handle that?”

“I don’t think we have much of a choice,” Blues pointed out.

Enzan nodded, “He’s right. Two hours it is.”

Netto looked from one face to another then frowned. Everyone was acting oddly but he didn’t know why. He didn’t understand why everyone was worried so much. Really, the only thing that he knew they should be worried about were the bad people, but they weren’t there.

“I doubt anyone we know will be here though,” Laika said in a low voice. “So we should be okay for that long.”

Pride and Enzan nodded then retired to a waiting area to rest and pass the time.

After about an hour Netto felt something out of place in the back of his mind. He wasn’t quite sure where to place it and Rockman felt his slight agitation over the matter. “Netto-kun?” he asked.

Netto blinked, “Rockman, can you feel it?” he asked softly.

“Feel what?” Rockman replied, completely confused.

“It’s like…” he shut his eyes to think. “It’s like…” he murmured and paused for awhile. Then his eyes snapped open, “It’s like that man’s navi from earlier!” he gasped.

“What?” Pride asked.

“The man, in Enzan’s house, he had a navi, and that navi is here somewhere,” Netto told her.

“Where?” Enzan asked urgently.

Netto shook his head, “I don’t know. I just know he’s around here somewhere…”

Pride took Netto’s hand and looked around for the man that she had attacked. After punching him like that, chances were high there would be a bruise on his face. Finally, in the crowd she saw a tall man with a swollen cheek looking around fervently as if trying to find something quickly. “There!” she said, pointing.

Laika followed where she was pointing to and saw the man. “Did you do that?” he asked her dubiously.

Pride gave him a thin lipped smile while picking up Netto and standing up, “Just because I’m a princess doesn’t mean I can’t fight just as well, if not better then most other people.”

Laika nodded and backed down from the conversation quickly. Enzan took note of where the man was and led them out in another direction. “We still have an hour,” he hissed.

Pride frowned, “Where do we go from here?” she asked.

“Somewhere where that man isn’t for one thing,” Laika growled. “We need to find a place to be out of sight.”

Netto, noting the severity of the situation, thankfully decided to keep his mouth shut while his friends slowly worked out a plan. Rockman kept an eye out of his PET to see if they were possibly being followed by anyone while Laika, Enzan and Pride walked quickly down the airport.

Finally after getting so far Pride set Netto down and took his hand, “Okay, now we need to just keep low,” she said in a soft voice.

While the three older kids talked about the situation Netto began to look around again, trying to see everything he could before they got on the plane as he was alone again. A busy terminal opened and a flood of people came out right by them and started to rudely shove their way past so they could be the first to baggage claim. Pride struggled to push her way out of the crowd so that she wasn’t trampled underfoot. When she finally got out to the side enough to take a few deep breaths she noticed something was missing. “Netto…” she breathed.

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

Netto felt himself loose his grip on Pride’s hand. But because he was five and he wasn’t anywhere and forceful as she was, he had no chance of pushing his way through the crowd. Finally, after what seemed like ages he managed to get free and stepped into an emptier hallway. “Netto-kun, are you all right?” Rockman asked in a concerned voice.

Netto smiled sheepishly, “I’m fine,” he said slowly. “But… Poipu…”

“I just sent them an e-mail,” Rockman said gently. “Just wait here and they should come by soon.”

Netto’s smiled broadened a bit, “Thanks Rockman.”

Trill frowned, “Those people were rude,” he said huffily.

“They were Trill,” Rockman agreed. “But you don’t need to worry about that right now. We’re fine and so is everyone else.”

Netto blinked as the presence of the man’s navi touched his mind again. “Rockman…” he said in a worried voice to his navi.

“Again?” Rockman asked.

Netto nodded, “He’s close too.”

Rockman began to write another e-mail as he commanded, “Get out of here.”

Netto did not need telling twice as he went back out into the busier hallway and began to walk away from the feeling as quickly as he could. He shivered slightly but Trill’s small conversation with him about what it was to taste kept him from panicking in any way. Rockman was very grateful for this.

“Ice cream is really good though,” Netto said with a grin as he walked. “It’s really cold but sweet too. And it comes in a lot of different flavors.”

“Wow,” Trill said. “What’s sweet?”

Netto blinked, “Well, it’s like…” he frowned, trying to find the right words to describe ‘sweet’ to a navi who had never tasted anything before.

Rockman looked around, noting that he had no idea where they were in regards to Enzan, Laika and Pride. He sighed heavily and made a mental note to get a map next time they passed an info booth.

Netto was still deep in thought when he ran right into someone. He yelled out and fell to the floor, rubbing his bottom where it had hit the concrete. The person he ran into turned around, “Sorry kid, didn’t see you there.”

Netto looked up at the person and blinked. “It’s okay…” he told the man.

Charlie blinked and knelt down to take a closer look at the kid in the blue hoodie he had just knocked down. “You look like someone I knew…” he said slowly. “What’s your name?”

‘Crap!’ Rockman thought. ‘Of all people Netto could have run into, he had to run into Charlie.’

Netto opened his mouth to reply but behind them the man with the swollen cheek came out and smiled maliciously. “Finally,” he sighed.

Netto whirled around and backed up into Charlie’s legs. “You…”

The man smirked and held up his PET, “I finally realized and turned off my PET. Now come on kid.”

“Who are you?” Charlie asked the man while putting a hand on Netto’s head to make sure he didn’t run off before he got some answered.

“None of your business,” the man growled. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“Oh?” Charlie asked. “It’s obvious this kid doesn’t want to go with you so why should I trust you.”

The man’s smirk devolved into an ugly sneer. “Don’t try me,” he growled. “I’m not in the mood to play nicely.”

Charlie smirked, “Well, that makes two of us then.”

The man held up his PET, but before he could do anything else, all the lights went out, plunging the hallway into total darkness. Netto felt himself get picked up off the floor but he didn’t thrash because he knew it was the man who was defending him.

Charlie held up his PET and a small red beam went into it. “Thanks Gyroman.”

“Getting into trouble so soon?” his navi asked him dryly.

Charlie laughed and continued to run. “What’s life without a little trouble?” he retorted.

Gyroman sighed as they continued to get away from the man in the dark hallway.

Finally Charlie ran into a clear hallway and set Netto back onto his feet. “All right kid, what was that all about?”

Netto blinked and then sighed, “I… don’t know,” he admitted sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

Charlie sighed heavily just as Enzan, Laika and Pride turned the corner from another hallway. Netto spotted Pride and smiled, “Poipu!” he waved and ran over to her.

Pride took in a deep breath and picked up Netto as he ran over. “Oh thank god,” she sighed.

Netto let her hug him a little before pushing against it. “Lemme go,” he told her.

Pride nodded and set him back down. “You get lost too easily.”

Netto laughed, “Sorry,” he said.

Charlie watched all this without saying a word. Then finally he spoke up, “All right, just what is going on here?”

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

Lalalala~
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[Midnight]

And enter Charlie...

This is getting better. A lot so. It's nice that he innately knows that he should defend Netto, and how he's inexplicably dragged himself into quite a strange situation...

Anyway...there's not many fics out there that profile Charlie as a semi-major character. I'd like to hope that this will be quite different. Great job.
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[Bassman4566]

Wait a minute Enzan, Laika, Pride, now Charlie are you bringing in the members of Team Blues and Team Colonel to help Netto's current predicament?
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