A/U: dedicated to Hikari no Namida! XD

Net Nitro, Chapter 22; the Official

There was a long silence... the kind that waited until Fate came along to give its decision.

"I'm going to have to delete Megaman now."

Slowly, it all seemed to stop. The clock on the wall kept ticking, but it seemed the world had left time behind.

Inside himself, Megaman was going over what he'd read in Netto's journal. He couldn't let him go up against his dad... not because of something like their relationship. It was his fault the journal had been discovered, so he should take the blame for it, but that wasn't the point. If he left, then Netto and his dad could maybe find time with each other. There shouldn't be any tension between the two family members, because it was Netto who'd said he didn't wish to fight with his father at all. He really looked up to his dad.

He was going to throw his life away for Netto, to save the father-and-son relationship. What else could he do? Stay with Netto, where he would practically be thrown out for not letting go of a corrupt netnavi?

'Just get it over with... delete me already. I want Netto to be happy with his parents, and if that means I have to go, then make it so.'

- - - - - - - - - -

The words hit hard as Netto forced himself to fully believe his father. He didn't just hear that... his father, the one he loved and trusted… how could he want the death of another he loved?

Megaman looked at Netto longingly before nodding his head, putting the journal on the stairs before walking forward, accepting this order as if he had no choice. Because he had no choice. Either he go, or Netto would have to suffer. Knowing the strong bond the boy had with his dad, Megaman took that to heart... if he didn't go through with this, his father would look at him with disappointment.

Wanting to keep that smile on Netto's face, he walked forward, ready to take his punishment for his mistake. It was his fault the journal had been found.

'This is okay. At least... at least, this way, I'll leave knowing Netto-kun understands I love him.'

"No!" Netto reached out and grabbed Megaman's arm, but the Navi pulled away, making him flinch.

"Stop Netto-kun… you know this is the only solution we have now."

Netto watched, believing he was right, as Megaman sat in a chair in front of his dad, who was holding the PET in his hands. He must have taken it from upstairs… who knows when or how without either of them noticing. He forced himself to watch… though he knew the memories would create nightmares. His dad started to enter in some type of coding into the PET, and he heard him explain what it would do. Something like… it would disable Megaman so he couldn't fight against it, and would delete him from the inside out, erasing all his functions.

"You say that this is the only way you can save me… but that's not true, is it? There has to be another way!" Netto shook his head violently, trying to realize just what was happening before him. If Megaman was deleted, then he couldn't come back. Megaman shook his head to the side. "Netto-kun… let him do it…"

Netto knew that he was ready and willing to go through with the deletion… it had been obvious ever since the moment he'd set the journal back down on the stairs. 'Why, Mega…? Why are you doing this? Fight it! But… why aren't I fighting? You've fought for me all along… you've made all these sacrifices, and I haven't done much for you…'

It was obvious the Navi knew Netto was going to do something, as to what, he didn't know. But he didn't say anything. It would be over before he could make his dad stop… and he hoped nothing would happen to put it off any longer. But silently… he knew this wasn't what he wanted either…

Netto grabbed the knife from the table, which was planned to be used to cut dinner – it smelled like roast beef coming from the oven – only now, it had another use. "Stop it dad! If you kill him, I'll have to go with him…!" Megaman's eyes widened in shock and panic. "No Netto-kun stop!"

Dad made a move to snatch the blade from Netto's hand, but he'd dodged out of the way with a serious look on his face. "I mean it!" He positioned it right over his heart, making the tip of it press lightly against his shirt. Megaman's eyes were moving in and out of focus… the deletion process nearly halfway done. There was no way… no time left.

"Don't do it… Netto-kun… I love you."

The blade nearly fell out from his grip to land on the floor, but he managed to maintain his grasp on the handle. "Megaman!" 'I love you…'

"I love you!"

The moment the words were spoken, the lights went out and the entire kitchen went dark! Dad was completely blind at the moment, his eyes not accustomed to the change, and he dropped the PET searching for something to feel where he was. Netto saw the front door open and saw someone come in, grab Megaman, and send him a gesture like 'let's get the heck out of here'. Netto dove under dad and grabbed his PET before dashing out the door, where a black car was waiting for them.

In the moonlight, he saw who had helped him out. Some teenager perhaps slightly older than him, wearing a red vest but mostly black if not for his camouflage pants. He had a red PET attached to his belt, but he couldn't see the NetNavi at all from his position. Other than that, he had no idea who this guy was… and he didn't want to trust him, but for now, anywhere was better than here.

The car sped down the road, turning a corner right before Yuuchirou opened the door and shouted at them. Turning around to look through the back window, Netto caught a glimpse of him trying to find where he'd escaped. He hoped he wouldn't send out the police… or the national guard… or the army… or all three at once…

…or better yet, he could just send out a horde of dogs.

Netto was startled out of his thoughts of what his dad would do by someone grabbing the PET out of his hands. It was Megaman, who obviously was blind, and losing his voice to the code input. "Mega!" Netto exclaimed. The teen leaned over from where he sat in the passenger's seat and snatching the PET away typed something in, pointing the device at Megaman while doing it. That seemed to help, for he slumped back in his seat, able to relax for a moment or two. The PET was handed back to Netto after a second. "Just keep an eye on him for now."

Netto blinked. Huh? "Who are you…?" It was obvious this was no ordinary guy if he'd been able to override his dad's programming. When he opened the door to let Netto out, he got his answer.

"Official NetBattler, Enzan Ijuiin. Netto 'Lan' Hikari, both you and your Navi are under arrest."

- - - - - - - - - -

Netto could only pace the floor frustrated, worried, and scared. Here he was, locked in a room in a house he didn't know, his hands handcuffed together, a recovering Megaman lying on the bed, all because he'd been saved by someone who he didn't know was an Official.

This was the worst possible situation he could have ever gotten into. Right now, he hated himself at not thinking first before jumping into that car. He was so plagued with despair that he couldn't think of anything at all. There wasn't any hope. This was the end, now that he'd been caught, the NetBattlers were most likely going to kill him. Or severely punish him. Better yet, throw him in jail for 15 or 20 years. Look at everything he'd done…

"Netto-kun?" a voice called from by the bed. Megaman was sitting up, looking around at his surroundings. Netto barely seemed to acknowledge him as he kept pacing, an angry expression of despair on his face. "Where are we?"

"We've been caught."

Megaman blinked. "What?"

Netto stopped pacing. Standing still where he was, his whole body started trembling. This was wrong… something was very, very wrong. And he didn't know what.

"…the Officials caught us… and it's all my fault!"

Megaman rushed over to his Operator as Netto crumpled to the floor, crying. Holding him tightly he let him sob against his chest, and he never let go.

A flash of red had appeared on the monitor in the corner, but had disappeared just as quickly as it'd came. As if, someone had been observing them…

...continued?