If you ever asked Forte what he knew about Rockman, he'd tell you almost nothing. The Blue Bomber was his most infamous rival, he wasn't a solo navi, and his operator was one of the most _annoying_, cheeky humans in the entire universe.

He didn't _need_ to know more than that. 

Forte could care less for friendships and familial bonds like Rockman did. Those were the cause of his life-long nosedive straight to a hellish existence. They were either pointless at best, or the stokes to his hate-fuelled fire against humanity at worst. 

But Rockman's nothing if not a persistent presence in his life… so he was bound to unintentionally learn a few things about him.


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The first thing Forte had discovered was his rival's fear of ghosts.

Traversing the Undernet was always a boring chore. Weak navis brimming with arrogance kept popping up to challenge him, and they all got annihilated by a single buster shot. Or viruses would spring up to attack him, only to get shredded by a Hell's Rolling. 

It was… tedious, to say the least. There wasn't anyone to challenge him the same way as Rockman and Serenade. These navis were nothing more than pesky flies to swat away. Relatively harmless, but enough of a swarm to annoy the _everloving fuck_ out of him.

The only reason Forte was roaming around to begin with was due to a rumor. About _him_.

Supposedly, apparitions of the notorious "Black Shadow of the Undernet" had begun to appear across the entire network. A handful were even sighted in _Internet City_ of all places. They drifted about, wandering aimlessly with a blank stare before glitching into nothing. 

Several brave navis had challenged these copies, but were left in fearful surprise when a single attack destabilized these clones, making them disappear. 

Not a single trace of them were left behind after these scenarios, and the sheer number of sightings had made the public terrified. 

They became known as the "Black After-Shadow Sightings."

Many had assumed Forte _finally_ perished, and this was his "ghost" continuing to haunt humankind with his hatred. 

Or that after all the times Rockman had defeated him, he'd become less of a navi and more of an undying bug beast, prowling the net to attack whoever dared to cross him.

Both of these speculations amused Forte more than anything. _Sure_ he'd been out of the public eye for a while now, but it wasn't because of anything as grandiose as that. 

The Undernet was simply a spacious expanse. He'd been searching for more power, and honing his skills for the next time he and Rockman fought. 

… And he might've gotten lost at various points in his wandering. Sometimes he'd get so engrossed in fighting a rare, powerful virus that he'd lose track of where he was. It was grating, but he always found his way in the end so it wasn't _too_ bad.

Forte mused to himself as he floated through the arid sands of the Undernet. _If he had to theorize…_ These clones of his were probably the same ones Gospel had made so long ago. He didn't know how many they made, so it was possible he might've missed some.

The fact that they were destabilizing meant they must've reached their "life expectancy" as well… It's not like they were _actual navis._ They were mindless masses of bug data and nothing more, so there wasn't anything like a proper frame or files to hold them together. 

Did he _need_ to comb through the net to find said clones, and delete them himself? Probably not. They'd disappear with enough time. But Forte always _loathed_ the idea of being cloned in general, like some generic copy-pasted folder. Nor did he enjoy these cheap imitations giving other navis the impression he was _weak._ 

With his mood bittered by those thoughts, Forte scowled as he looked around the area. Not knowing how many he needed to clear out just made his annoyance worse.

His foul attitude faltered when he heard a buster shot in the distance. 

Considering how barren this area had been up to this point, Forte hovered close to a rocky outcrop. He peaked around it with mild intrigue, and it morphed into surprise when he saw _Rockman_ of all navis. 

The Blue Bomber was also out deleting his clones, with one disintegrating in front of him.

_Perfect._ Nothing cheered Forte up more than a duel to deletion with Rockman. He readied his arms into busters, and a manic grin etched itself on his lips. All he had to do was swoop in and challenge the bastard, and he'd _finally_ do something thrilling today.

But the black navi paused. Despite being so far away from him, Forte could tell something was… _Off._

Whenever he came across Rockman, the Blue Bomber always had an air of easy going confidence. Or he'd be running off the thrill of battle much like he did. 

But the navi in front of Forte looked _meek. Small. Afraid._

… He felt a little insulted. _Surely_ his clone wasn't more terrifying than _he_ was. It didn't exude the same powerful, malevolent aura he did.

Another part of him however was staunching those feelings down. If Forte wanted to be charitable, it was… _Concern._ This pathetic demeanor wasn't normal for Rockman. 

So rather than scoffing and turning away to leave, the Black Shadow continued to observe his rival from his hiding spot. His busters morphed into arms again, which he slipped back under his cloak.

A screen flickered into existence next to Rockman, and his human operator- _Netto Hikari if Forte remembered-_ appeared on it. The boy gave Rockman a weary sigh. "_Come on_ Rockman, we've beaten a _bunch_ of these guys by now. It's not _that_ bad!"

"That's e-easy for _you_ to say, _you're_ not the one here n-next to them!"

Forte blinked. He's never heard Rockman _stutter_ before, especially not twice in a single sentence. 

He continued to watch the pair, and one of his brows rose as Rockman cowered, wrapping his arms around himself in a protective manner. "W-why do _we_ have to do this? Enzan-kun and Blues were available too!"

"Because _they_ volunteered to help Raika and Searchman up in Sharo," Netto deadpanned. 

To say Forte was confused would be an understatement. As far as he recalled, Rockman had always been the more sensible one of the two. Netto meanwhile often complained and wanted easy solutions. Now however… _It was like they swapped roles._ 

Forte's eyes furrowed. He had no idea what was going on with his rival, but he couldn't stand watching the blue navi tremble like a leaf anymore. 

He slipped away from his hiding spot to silently glide over to the two, coming up behind Rockman with barely a swish of his cloak. His crimson eyes locked with Netto's brown, and his face was set in a neutral stare. The boy meanwhile looked at him in wide-eyed shock.

Noticing that Netto was no longer staring _at_ him, but at something _behind_ him, Rockman turned around. 

As soon as he saw Forte, he let out an _ear-piercing shriek._ The black navi winced as his eyes squeezed shut, and he could've sworn he went deaf for a few seconds. Any concern he might've had was gone now as it was replaced with _vexation._

"_Oh ****,_ it's actually Forte this time!"

Rockman's operator sounded… _weirdly_ relieved by his presence. 

Forte opened one of his eyes to give him a fuming glower. He was about to ask why the hell the kid was happy to see him (_given the brat_ knows _how much he detests humans_), but paused.

… Rockman had disappeared. 

… More accurately he fell below eye level. When Forte peered down, he was _shocked_ to see the Blue Bomber curled up in a ball, hands over his helmet. If Forte strained to listen, he could barely make out a whispered chanting of "_please go away please go away please go away…_"

He was flabbergasted. There was the normal amount of fear he induced in other navis, and then there was _this._

Forte glanced up at Netto, almost all ire forgotten. He gave the boy a stupefied stare, making it very clear he had _no idea_ what the hell was happening right now. 

Netto's eyes skimmed towards Rockman, and he let out a nervous chuckle. "Uh… Sorry about that. Rockman kinda has a fear of ghosts." 

He met Forte's gaze again with a small shrug. "We were asked by the Net Battlers to help take these clones of yours out. We figured you weren't _actually_ dead like all the rumors were saying… But these things were so creepy, it didn't matter to Rockman."

… _Huh._

Well _that_ was news to him. 

With the last dregs of his irritation forgotten, Forte looked down at the trembling blue ball at his feet with bafflement. "You're more terrified of _ghosts_ than _me,_" he stated in an even tone. He didn't bother addressing it as a question, the answer was plain as day beneath him.

Rockman gave him a small nod amidst the trembling, making no indication of calming down.

Forte crossed his arms as he continued staring. He supposed Rockman having a fear wasn't _that_ outlandish. Everyone had one, it was only a matter of what made each fear bowl over. 

It was common knowledge Rockman's was losing his operator. Put Netto Hikari in any kind of harm, and you'd face deletion at Rockman's hands. It was one of the few cases where the Blue Bomber was just as ruthless as Forte himself, albeit for _much_ different reasons. 

The Black Shadow had always figured that was his only fear. To learn there was _another_, and it shook the blue navi to _such a catatonic degree…_ 

Forte's train of thought skidded to a halt. For some strange reason, the first word he'd thought of was "_cute._" 

… Surely he'd meant that in the pathetic, sniveling way and nothing more.

As Forte's eyes roved around their surroundings, he was thankful the three of them were the sole occupants of this area. Rockman was in no state to fight right now, and Forte didn't want to deal with cowards taking cheapshots at them.

The black navi pursed his lip in thought. _How_ was he going to get Rockman out of this embarrassing funk?

He supposed he could slap the fear out of him. He's… _Pretty sure_ that was a common thing in human media. But it might set the navi-operator duo off in rage, and Forte was no longer in the mood to fight anymore. 

He grimaced at the quiet sniffling that fell from Rockman. Forte had a personal bubble he'd like to maintain, and he sure as hell isn't going to hug this baby. _Especially_ since he didn't know if Rockman would let go of him.

As he tapped his finger against his arm, Forte watched it idly and got an idea. It wouldn't be much, but it _was_ something.

Forte reached his hands up to tug his cloak off his shoulders. An anxious prickling shot up his spine as he held it in front of him, and Forte tried to quash his nerves down. Being exposed like this without his cloak wasn't the end of the world. It wasn't like these two didn't know about his scarred emblem already.

… If anyone was in need of protection right now, it _wasn't_ him.

The black navi draped his cloak over Rockman, and knelt to the ground to wrap it around the other's shoulders. "You seem like you need this more than I do," Forte murmured. 

Rockman's shuddering breaths lessened in intensity, and gradually the Blue Bomber lifted his head to look at Forte proper.

Exasperated amusement washed over Forte as he took in the other's flushed cheeks and watery eyes. 

… He _really_ was scared, huh…?

Without thinking, Forte moved his hand to sweep Rockman's eyes with his thumb, wiping away the unshed tears before they could fall. His voice was in such a softened cadence that it surprised even himself. "You're _supposed_ to be my strongest rival, not some sniveling baby. _So start acting like it._"

Rockman gave him a bewildered stare, but didn't object to his actions as he started to calm down. 

… Forte supposed that was fair. The Black Shadow of the Undernet, known for ripping apart his enemies and being fuelled by malice, comforting a pitiful navi like this? It must appear bizarre to anyone with common sense. 

But Forte couldn't bring himself to act like that now. There was no honor in fighting Rockman when he was like this, and if comforting him elevated him back to normalcy, so be it.

They always did have a back-and-forth on whether they were rivals or allies… So as far as Forte was concerned, this didn't stray too far from that.

Seeing Rockman grow more lax from his words brought a fleck of warmth in his chest. Like everything was fine now. Like he'd somehow accomplished something. 

Forte stood up, and dusted the Undernet sand off his knees and gold leg bracers.

There wasn't any reason to stick around anymore, now that Rockman appeared to regain his fighting spark. If the Net Battlers were handling the clone situation, that meant Forte now had free time to waste on other things. Perhaps practicing for their inevitable rematch. Maybe exploring more of the Undernet. Or challenging Serenade again.

The black navi stepped away from the duo, and summoned a dark portal several feet away. Right as he had one foot through it, Rockman called out to him. "W-wait, don't you want this back?"

Forte looked over his shoulder. Behind him, Rockman was now standing up as well. He was lifting the tattered cloak off his shoulders for emphasis, but the hem still bunched up on the ground. Despite having a taller stature from a lighter mood, Rockman looked utterly _minute_ being swathed by the brown fabric.

… Never mind his earlier thoughts. _This_ was cute.

Forte had to bite back a laugh at this observation, but a small smirk still managed to sneak through. "Keep it. I'll make myself a new one."

He then stepped through the portal, leaving his rival behind… and the dour mood he'd had all day.

Page 2 of my tiny work notebook

Figured I'd bring in some microns and copics to the mix for this grump

Recently got a _super tiny_ notebook to doodle in at work, figured I'd draw two of my favorite lil guys from a fave game series: **Megaman Battle Network**