: The End

By Atreyu452

"Well," Netto said cheerfully, gazing out the window with his arms folded. "This is the end."

Laika looked up from the tea he had been gazing into, sunshine dancing across its surface. "I suppose it could have been worse."

"Not a bad run, all and all," Enzan agreed, shifting his attention from the window to the glowing hologram of a navi on his shoulder. Blues smiled back.

"The end of an era," Netto said slowly. "The end of a time. What do you think will happen now?"

There was a thoughtful pause. Laika stared down at his tea again. Enzan just smiled faintly.

"I think," Rockman spoke up. "What always has. You'll become a famous scientist like Papa, Netto-kun. Once your grades improve."

"Hey!" Netto protested. Laika grinned at Rockman's cheek, and Enzan merely chuckled.

"Enzan will become president of IPC, and will always be known as one of the best netbattlers in the world," the blue navi continued.

"One of?" Enzan replied, raising an eyebrow. Blues shook his head, smiling wider.

"And Laika will always be the soldier from Sharo," Rockman said. "He'll probably become a general like his uncle one day."

"Maybe," Laika said, setting down the tea cup and standing up. Searchman cocked an eyebrow at this, shifting a little on Laika's shoulder, but said nothing.

"But what about saving the world?" Netto complained. "What about our friends?
What about our future? Do we all get married to somebody? Will we have children?"

"Heaven forbid you breed, Netto," Enzan said with a laugh.

"We'll find out, Netto-kun," Rockman said brightly.

"And we'll have fun along the way," Laika added. "You'll see."

Netto watched his two fellow Net Saviors, his two friends, waiting for him. "So this is the end."

"This is the end," Laika agreed, turning to walk out the door. Enzan fell in step next to him, and Netto hurried to wedge himself between them. "But you know what they say about ends, right?"

"There's always another beginning to follow it," Enzan said. He gave the hand Netto had slung over his shoulder an annoyed look, and moved to brush it off. Laika, embraced by the other arm, didn't seem to mind.

"So in a way, this isn't an end, just another stop on the way," Rockman said. He exchanged a warm look with Searchman and Blues.

"To the end then!" Netto exclaimed, ignoring Enzan's attempts to remove the offending arm.

“To the end,” his friends agreed.

And the three walked into the light, their shadows stretching and growing, side by side until finally, could be seen no more.

Author’s Note: They’ll always be more adventures for our favorite group of netbattlers out there. The six year run of and its following seasons is coming to an end, along with the game series and the manga. This drabble is a reaction to that, which is somewhat obvious. I’d attach it with Colored Marbles, my drabble collection, but I don’t really think it fits in there.