What Are Friends For?

[Eyebright]

Okay... I was inspired by Plantman to write my own Asteroid Navi story, so here it is.
WARNING! WARNING! CHILD ABUSE INVOLVED! Tho' the Navi's not the one doing the abusing, and it turns out okay...


What Are Friends For?

Sitting on a bridge over a stream, a little girl was crying.

Sarah’s father had hit her again. He kept saying that he wouldn’t over and over, but his eyes were lying every time. This time, he’d not only hit her, he’d picked up her Mama’s favorite lamp and had tried to throw it at her. She’d run away just in time, with her Daddy’s voice chasing her out. “You’ll come back! You always come back!”

“I don’t wanna go back! He’ll just be mean to me again!”

Sarah stared at her PET. All the other kids at school had Navis, really nice ones, but she didn’t have any. It had been a birthday present from Mama, before Mama died in that plane crash. Daddy had been nicer to her before the plane crash, and only hit her when Mama wasn’t around. After that, Sarah’s Navi was the only friend she had.

Sarah had really liked the Navi. She’d named her Rena, after a movie star. They’d been happy together, but Rena had been just as scared of Sarah’s Daddy as Sarah was.

One day when Daddy had gotten mad at her again, he’d taken the PET away. When he came back and threw it to the floor in front of her, Rena was gone.

Rena had been right to be afraid.

Sarah started to sob softly. She felt so bad, and she was scared to go back alone when she had nobody who would help her and no Navi to be on her side anymore.

She looked up and saw a shooting star. It was silly, but maybe if she made a wish...

“I wish that I had a friend again. I wish that my friend could stop Daddy from being mean to me!”

Then Sarah gasped as the screen of her PET filled with white light. When the light faded, a pretty Navi was on the screen.

Sarah’s eyes widened. “Are you a fairy?”

“My name is Slur. I have come to grant your wish...”

The screen of the PET was engulfed by light once more. This time, when it faded, a red, yellow, and brown Navi with blue eyes was on the screen. There was also a funny chip lying on the ground.

“My name is Burnerman.”

Sarah hugged the PET to her chest. “Oh, Burnerman! I hope we can be good friends!”

The Navi grinned crazily. “Sure. So, what’s your name?”

Sarah’s face fell as she picked up the chip on the ground and pocketed it. “I’m Sarah. I wanted a friend because my Daddy is really scary, and he took away my old Navi. I don’t have any friends now that she’s gone...”

For a moment the Navi’s eyes darted to her pocket. “Uh-huh. So, what do you want me to do? Do you want me to stop your old man from hurting you anymore?”

Sarah blinked. “You can do that? And what’s my old man?”

The Navi rolled his eyes. “Your dad. What did you think I was talking about? And, yes, I can stop him from hurting you. The next time he does it, just let me know and do exactly as I tell you to...”

“I will!” Burnerman smiled widely. Little kids were so easy to manipulate.

“I think I feel a little better now...” Sarah stood up. “Let’s go home. I’m happy now that I have you here.” Sarah wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her shirt and began to look a little less beaten down.

“Sure thing, kid.”

----------

The next few days were incredibly boring for Burnerman. He was dying to get out of the freaking PET and torch something, anything, but the brat was always there, waiting for him expectantly. He couldn’t leave for five minutes without feeling pressured to return. It was like the kid thought the world hinged on him being in her life or something.

He had to hand it to her for sticking it out this far. When she walked in the door of her house, PET in tow, he’d felt the aura of danger coming from the armchair, where he could see the figure of an adult human male silhouetted in the flickering light of the television screen.

“Go to bed, Sarah. And don’t be late waking up tomorrow.”

Yes, Burnerman knew that kind of intent when he felt it. He’d been prey to it for a long time, after all. That rage hidden beneath the surface, just waiting to explode and blow someone to pieces. Sarah had every right to be afraid of this man.

Well, once Burnerman started his rampage (and he counted on being able to pull it off sometime soon) he might just do the brat a favor and torch her old man first.

----------

Sarah was having the time of her life at school. Everybody in her class wanted to see her new Navi, and they all thought he was cool. In the hall, some of the bigger kids she had always been a little afraid of stopped her and asked politely to see him. Burnerman seemed happy to show off, and everyone Sarah met was impressed with him.

Four days after she and Burnerman had met, Sarah was approached by some much older kids during lunch.

“Word on the street is that you’ve got a new custom Navi,” said a tall girl with spiky red hair, a stud in her nose and fashionably ripped cargo pants. “Mind if we see what he can do?”

Sarah began to feel a little nervous. “You mean... battle?”

“Yeah,” drawled a boy whose hair had been dyed white. He had purple lipstick on his lower lip and a safety pin through his ear. “It looks an awful lot like a combat-oriented model to me.”

“Let me talk to him first...” Sarah said, feeling more than a little worried.

“Sure thing. We’ll wait,” the girl said, sitting down at one of the empty tables. The boy sat beside her.

Sarah moved into a corner and held her PET up to her face. “Do you want to fight, Burnerman?”

An eagerness that Sarah had never seen in him before lit up his face. “Do I ever! Let me at them!”

“But I don’t have any battlechips...”

“Screw battlechips. I’ve never used them and I don’t plan to start now.”

“Okay, then...” Sarah still felt a little worried.

“Don’t be a sad sack. I’ll do fine; you wanted a strong Navi, and you got one.”

----------

One of the two Navis standing before Burnerman was big and bulky. Lots of defense and HP, most likely, but not very fast. The kind that thought they were better than everyone else just because they had a lot of weight to throw around.

The other was smaller and more agile-looking, and had blades mounted on its arms. These ones were tricky, but could be every bit as cocky and just as easy to take down.

Burnerman would have fun humbling them.

With a quick blast of gas flame, he propelled himself upward. If there was one thing he prided himself on, it was sheer momentum.

“You show that Navi, Behemoth!”

“Tear him up, Lasher!”

“Yay, Burnerman! Go, go, go!”

Since he was in the air, Behemoth couldn’t reach him just yet... but Lasher apparently could, because he jumped up and began to ascend rapidly. Burnerman backed away just as one blade, then the other attempted to close in on him. He moved into a dive.

Lasher was on the ground again, waiting for Burnerman to get closer. And get closer Burnerman did.

At the last minute, he killed the flames on his back and activated his buster burners, slowing him down and putting Lasher in the path of a deadly blaze.

Lasher darted to the side, but that was what Burnerman had been hoping he’d do - as he swept one arm to the side, covering Lasher’s path with a sheet of fire.

A second later, a shadow fell over Burnerman as the forgotten Behemoth brought a BigHamr down on top of him; only a quick burst of flame to propel him backward saved him from being squashed.

Burnerman growled and fired a jet of flame at the large Navi, then a second, quickly creating a ring that closed Behemoth in. Then he returned to the air and started to spin around, using the centrifugal force to build up a ball of blue flame. He threw it at Behemoth and heard both Navi and operator curse, then saw the words LOG OUT emblazoned in the air where the large Navi had stood.

He had no time to congratulate himself... he had to focus on Lasher.

Burnerman heard a rush of air behind him and darted forward as Lasher came up from beneath. Lasher fell back toward the ground and crouched in preparation for another jump, but Burnerman tried to catch him off-guard by diving down once more while Lasher was still unprepared.

Lasher retaliated by putting out one blade and taking a chunk out of Burnerman’s shoulder.

Cursing himself for the oversight, Burnerman veered to one side and waited for Lasher to come at him again. This was turning out to be quite the battle of counterattacks...

Lasher did run at him, and Burnerman raised his arm in preparation. But as he did, Lasher suddenly jumped, avoiding the potential jet of flame, and landed behind him.

Burnerman whipped around... just as an Aqua Shot was fired at him. It missed his chest, but took off part of his arm.

Burnerman was now enraged. This couldn’t happen to him! He was too powerful!

No... he wouldn’t let it happen to him.

He stayed still, waiting for yet another attack. Lasher looked wary - he could most likely see the anger in Burnerman’s eyes.

Now Burnerman knew what to do.

He propelled himself forward, then veered to the side as Lasher had done. Just as Lasher turned around in preparation for a second attack, Burnerman shot upward and fired a jet of flame at the ground below him. Then another on Lasher’s left - and one on his right...

Thinking that Burnerman intended to do the same to him as he did to Behemoth, Lasher darted out from between the flames...

And straight into Burnerman, who had been obscured by the blaze, and the sword that Burnerman’s good arm now sported.

A cry of surprise was heard, and Lasher’s operator, the redheaded girl, pulled him from the fight.

Burnerman was basking in the glow of his victory when Sarah’s face popped up on a screen in front of him.

“Wow... I didn’t know you could do that! You’re amazing, Burnerman!”

He had to admit, that smile of hers was charming.

----------

Sarah’s Daddy had been ignoring her for a few weeks. He left food out for her and washed her clothes and paid the bills and everything, just like always, but he had no reason to be mad at her these days. Sarah knew that she had to be careful... he might get mad if he knew that she had a new Navi.

So she was very careful to keep her new friend a secret, always going someplace where he couldn’t find her before talking to Burnerman.

She was more happy to have him around than she had been for a long time. Burnerman was short-tempered and restless, but she felt a little braver when he was around, like some of his spirited nature was rubbing off on her. She spent more time doing fun things and less time moping around now.

But she was still afraid.

Deep in the back of her mind, she knew that her Daddy might really hurt her someday. He’d always said that if she told anyone that he hurt her, he’d make her regret it. One time, a teacher had asked her about some bruises she had on her arms, and Sarah had told her that some bullies had given them to her. She was too afraid of what her Daddy might do to her to tell the truth.

Even now, she found herself crying whenever she thought of what her Daddy might do if he found her new Navi. And it was so hard for her to keep hiding him, so hard to be scared that she might see her Daddy on the street on the way home from school, with a group of kids who were asking to see Burnerman, and her Daddy would walk around the corner and he’d know...

And when she thought of these things, she started to cry for no reason at all.

One day, Burnerman asked her why she was so unhappy. She was sitting in the shade of a tree in the schoolyard - one of the places where she felt really safe.

“Is it because of your old man?”

“Yes! He might find out one day, and then I might lose you like I lost Rena!”

Burnerman knew who Rena was. “Put that out of your head. I’m not weak.”

Sarah sniffled and gave Burnerman an unhappy look. “Rena wasn’t weak!”

“But she couldn’t do for you what I can. You’ll see. Have I let you down yet?”

“No...”

“Didn’t you make a wish for a friend who you could depend on?”

“Yes...”

“Then I’m your answer. You have nothing to worry about. I’m your friend, and what are friends for?”

Sarah stopped sniffling. “You really mean it?”

“Of course.”

“I... I love you Burnerman...” Sarah slowly lowered her face to the screen of the PET and planted a kiss on it.

Burnerman turned red. “No need for that...”

Sarah giggled. Burnerman was still impatient, but he was getting more and more certain that he could get Sarah to slot that lovely little chip into the PET someday soon. He had her eating out of the palm of his hand.

----------

Sarah was in her room, PET tucked safely under her pillow, when her father walked in.

“Wh - um, why are you here, Daddy?”

“Oh, just wanted to say good night to my daughter... and her Navi.”

Sarah froze.

“I heard a bunch of kids talking about it today. So, where is it? I’d like to see it...” Sarah’s father’s voice was calm, but his eyes were scary.

“I... I don’t have one...”

“LIAR! You stole it from somewhere, didn’t you?”

“No! Someone gave him to me!” Sarah quickly moved to her bed and yanked the PET out from under the pillow, clutching it to her chest.

“I can never trust you not to do bad things! How dare you disobey me, you little...”

As her Daddy walked forward, Sarah darted past him and ran down the stairs, heading for the front door.

As she grabbed the knob, she remembered that her Daddy locked the door at night, and it would take too long... she heard his steps on the stairs above her...

She ran into the basement, hoping to hide until her Daddy calmed down.

“I know you’re here somewhere... you can’t hide forever, you liar! Thief! I’ll teach you to misbehave!”

She could hear his footsteps moving around above her...

“Burnerman... I’m scared...”

“I know... and now’s the time for you to do what I asked you to. Do you remember the chip that was left for you when you got me?”

“Y-yes...”

“Do you still have it?”

“It’s upstairs!” Sarah said in a near-wail.

“I can turn off the lights so that he won’t be able to find you. Just plug me into the fuse box...”

Shakily, Sarah aimed her PET at the fuse box and let her Navi enter the house network.

----------

Burnerman was ecstatic. Finally, he would be able to escape this miserable excuse for a life. No more playing with some snot-nosed kid. As soon as she put the Dimensional Chip in the PET he was free.

But some small pang of guilt gnawed at him. This was a child who’d done nothing even remotely offensive, and she was in so much danger...

No! He couldn’t succumb to feelings like this!

And yet... maybe he could stand to do one human a favor before he left her forever...

He owed her that much for taking him in, at least.

----------

Suddenly, all the lights went out in the house. Sarah could hear her father give a cry of rage from above; gathering her courage, she sneaked up the basement stairs and began slowly working her way towards the hall.

She could hear her father moving in the living room...

Slowly, so as not to make too much noise, she moved up the steps to her bedroom.

She sneaked down the hall and ducked in her open door...

And moved over to her bed.

“Sarah... are you hanging in there?” a voice whispered from her PET.

“Yeah... I’ve almost got it...”

She slid her hand under the pillow and retrieved the coveted chip at last. She whirled around in triumph... and her arm grazed the lamp on her nightstand, knocking it to the floor with a crash.

Sarah knew she was in trouble now. Sure enough, her father’s feet could be heard on the stairs.

“Sarah... stop being so scared and trust me!”

Sarah started. She had almost forgotten that she had a Navi. “Wh-what is it? What are we gonna do now?”

“Stay calm. As crazy as it sounds, don’t move. When I say ‘now’ put the chip in the PET. Do you understand?”

“Yes...” Sarah whimpered.

“Good. Get ready...”

Sarah held up the chip in a trembling hand. The door to her room swung further open and banged against the wall, revealing her father standing in the doorway with a baseball bat in his hand.

“I’m going to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget...” he growled as he raised the bat.

Sarah shrank back further, frozen with fear.

There was a flash of light from the PET like that from a camera, illuminating the whole room for a second.

“NOW!!”

Sarah shoved the chip into her PET - and an even brighter flash filled the bedroom.

Sarah had shut her eyes, but she could hear her father give a croak of fear. She slowly lifted her gaze... To see Burnerman, larger than life and standing between her and her Daddy.

“I suggest you put the bat down, you worthless human scum. That couldn’t possibly harm me.”

Sarah’s father started to back away.

“There’s no way you’re going to get away with this. I already took a picture of you assaulting your kid just now and e-mailed it to the nearest police precinct. They’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“How... how is this possible?” Sarah’s father gasped. She had never seen him afraid, and, honestly, it was beginning to make her scared of Burnerman as well.

“I’m not like other Navis. I’m not willing to put up with the filth your kind spreads around. And now that I’m free... I think I need someone to take out all that frustration on...”

Blue eyes blazing, Burnerman lifted his buster and pointed it right at the shaking man’s face.

“And I think you’re that someone.”

“Burnerman, NO!! Please!”

A small figure darted out from between Burnerman’s legs and threw herself in front of her father.

“I just wanted you to stop him from hurting me, not kill him!”

Burnerman’s rage cooled somewhat. He stared. “Why would you want to save him?”

“Just don’t kill my Daddy, please! I thought you were my friend...” Sarah was crying uncontrollably.

Burnerman hesitated. He couldn’t back out now. He was free... but there was no one he could go to anymore. Nobody who would stand by him.

Except for Sarah.

After a long silence, he lifted his buster up and to the right of his original target.

“You’re getting off easy, you pitiful human. Just remember that it was the one who you’ve been beating around all this time who saved your life. And if you ever try to hurt her again, I won’t be so forgiving. And, to make sure you know, I’m going to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget...”

A burst of flame emerged from the buster... and started the room on fire.

Another quick blast into the hallway to make sure that the blaze would catch well, and Burnerman swept Sarah into his arms.

“Keep your head down!”

Holding the child, Burnerman ran through the rising flames, down the steps, out the door and into the night, just as the sound of sirens approached the house from the distance.

----------

“This is where you get off, kid.” Burnerman set Sarah on the ground.

“Thank you...” Sarah looked up at him. “Why did you want to hurt my Daddy so badly?”

Burnerman sighed. “You want the truth? It wasn’t for your sake, it was for mine. I used to think like a criminal, and I liked to hurt people. I thought that if I could keep from hurting people long enough, you could trust me, and then you’d use that chip and set me free so I could start hurting people again.”

Fresh tears were in Sarah’s eyes now.

“But now I know that I don’t want to waste what you gave me. I don’t think anyone ever trusted me as much as you do - or did, anyway. So I don’t want to hurt your old man anymore unless you want me to. I trust you, too, I guess... enough to care about you, anyway.”

Sarah jumped up and hugged him.

“Burnerman...”

“Don’t start crying again. I can’t stand it when you do that.”

“S-sorry...”

“Don’t be.”

“So... what are you going to do now?” Sarah asked.

“Eject the chip from the PET and I’ll tell you.”

Sarah did as he said, and Burnerman vanished from beside her and reappeared on the screen.

“I think I’m going to stay with you from now on. And I’ll make sure that nobody ever hurts you like that again. After all, what are friends for?”

Sarah smiled. “Thank you for being my friend, Burnerman.”
_________________
I win because I love my enemies. Do you love your enemies?

[Megaman 7]

This is a really nice fanfic, Eyebright. I really liked it! Fantastic job!
It is a little sad though..but at least it had a happy ending. :]
_________________
*Join RMNSB!*
Avatar by me.
Jesus loves you.

[Taylor]

I loved this fic! Yah BurnerMan :V I give it 9/10, are you going to write some more?
_________________
"Very funny, Scotty. Now beam down my clothes."

[Eyebright]

Thank you both! I most likely will. I have a Plantman epic in the works, and I will post some of it as soon as I have a few chapters backed up. I've finished the first one.
But I'm getting off the subject. If anyone is reading this (and I know people are), please tell me what you think. And tell other people about it if you like it! This is my first official Rockman fic, and I want to see what people think.
_________________
I win because I love my enemies. Do you love your enemies?

[LightRoll.ExE]

I...love...it
It has the perfect amount of everything...
Sadness
Happiness
Burnerman...it was awsome..
T_T It was so sad...im actually crying
_________________
Thank you so much Hikari Angel!!! You are the best!

"I must merge with light again"

[angelidollinda]

This was very well done. I could imagine Burnerman running out of the house as it goes up in flames... keep up the good work! :D
_________________
"Itsumo... saigo wa... hitori da." ~ Sailor Jupiter

One of the few, but proud, Gutsman fans! Gambatte, Gustu-kun~!! <3

[MegaDaffy]

I liked it, It was very nice. A little sad and dark but very nice! Good Job! :]
_________________

Lan's Biggest Fan (and proud of it)!

[Midnight]

It's kawaii. So pretty, yet also disturbing at the same time. The way you intermingled the threat of abuse with the simple, purist relationship between a young girl and her friend is just masterfully done. A fabulous first job.

It seemed a bit angsty at first, but the rest of the fic balances it out. I'm surprised that our Rabid Cupcake actually was willing to do this, as his persona seems much more fiery. Nonetheless, it still is a job well done.
_________________
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