I have the second part of this finished, and the third underway. i'll post the second if/when i get a review of this. @_@;;; but anyway, legalities n such.

Rockman/Megaman and all characters are © to Capcom. Not me, obviously. u-u;;;

I didn't bother going into too much physical detail on Rock or Forte in this, if you don't know who they are and what they look like, why are you reading this? :p jk

The Thrill of the Hunt

Forte lay on his stomach in his bunker, wearing his full black armor, and cobra-like helmet, deep in thought. His fingers ran gently over Gospel's smooth metal armor as he did so, petting him, so lost in thought he didn't even notice when Gospel got up and wandered off, continuing to pet the air where he had been.

'Rock..... Next time we meet will be the last... I'm taking you down this time. There's no way you can stop me, not with this new upgrade... ' Indeed, Forte was definitely superior to what he had been only hours before. Dr. Wily had given him a new personality chip, as well as a few other circuitry pieces which basically gave him complete and utter free will. But seeing as Wily probably just stole the chip off of that twit, Light, he probably didn't even realize this. So naturally, Forte "forgot" to mention it to him. Instead he had made up some bullshit about how it made him feel, and had retreated to his room as quick as he possibly could. Which brought him up to par.

Suddenly, he jumped up. Enough planning! With this new chip of his, surely he would be far superior to Rock. This was his day, and he was going to make sure it was a good one. "You're going down, Rock!" He shouted to no one in particular, threw open his window, and whistled to Gospel.

Gospel morphed itself into a platform for him to stand upon, and he jumped on him. Gospel shot quickly out the window, following Forte's direction.

>>>>>>>

Meanwhile, unknown to Forte, Rock had the exact same chip installed into him that very morning. He now lay lazily on his back in a field filled with wild flowers, wearing a simple white t-shirt and blue shorts with a small print on them, positively delighted. Everything he loved, he could sense even more now. With a slight smile, he closed his eyes, sniffing a pretty white flower, he had just plucked. After a few minutes, his smile faded slightly, and took a sad look to it.

'This flower is like Forte, kinda.' He thought to himself. He knew that somewhere, deep down inside his bitter, spiting rival's core, there had to be some good. He was sure of it. There had been a few instances, where he had almost let it show. A couple times that should have been the end for him, but... Rock could almost swear that Forte had let him escape. After a few moments more thought, he decided that was simply childish musing, and tossed the flower.

He couldn't help smiling slightly, even his sad emotions were still that much more intense. Letting them take him to new heights, he let himself cry for the younger robot for awhile. 'It must be so terrible for him, being Wily's creation.' Rock knew that Wily had a terrible temper, and that Forte had a tendency to get on other's nerves. He could only imaging the horrible things Forte must go through on a daily basis. He was surprised that Wily hadn't taken a wrench to his creation yet.

He was so lost in thought, he didn't hear the sound of the approaching Forte and Gospel until Forte made himself known.

"ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!! TODAY WILL BE YOUR LAST!!!!" He exclaimed, as he hopped off Gospel and fired two deadly accurate shots from his blaster.

Rock had jumped up at the shout, caught off-guard, and quickly called on his armor. This, however, was exactly what Forte had been planning on, and before he could dodge, the two shots hit him, true to their mark.

He cried out in pain as the first shot took out his blaster, rendering it useless, and the second shot took out his only means of escape, and he was left without the ability to teleport. Clenching one hand tightly over his other, a mixture of blood and oil running down it, he stared up at Forte, defenseless and without an escape route. "Forte.. Please... I don't want to fight you..." He sighed slightly.

Forte ignored this, however and simply shook his head. "My, my.. you're getting slow, Rock... heh. And so easy to find, too. A field full of flowers. " He rolled his eyes, sarcastically. Having always been curious, he couldn't help but ask. "Tell me, just what IS the great Rockman doing on his back in a field of flowers, anyway? I haven't put you to 'rest' yet."

Rock frowned at him, thinking desperately of a way out of this. Finally he decided that, for the time being, he would humor the younger robot with his answers, while he bought time to come up with an escape plan. "I got a new chip, and I was just testing it out.." he mumbled.

Slowly the smug, victorious grin Forte wore on his face faded. Rock had the same chip he had been installed with, he was sure of it. This threatened his superiority over him. "Damn you, Rock!!" He hissed. Slowly, that twisted evil grin of his returned to his face, and the flushed, angry, pink colour on his cheeks returned to their normal skin tone under his violet facial stripes.

"Alright, Rock.... Let's play a game.... let's see how fast the great Rockman can run, to escape the end of my blaster.. " he chuckled slightly. "You have a ten second head-start. Then i'm going to hunt you down, like the dog you are." At the word dog, Forte remembered Gospel.

He glanced down at him. "Go home, boy. This is between Rock and I."

Rock stared, horrified, at Forte, while Gospel took to the skies, and shot off quickly. It was just him, and Forte now, and the cover of the forest was at least a 20 second run from where he was. He had to get to shelter, so he could either find Dr. Light or try to fix his blaster himself.

Forte grinned from ear to ear, then began to count. "Ten."

Rock shot off as quickly as he could for the cover of the forest.

"Nine."

Forte made sure he took his time counting, he wanted the little blueberry to reach the trees.

"Eight."

Rock ran as fast as he could. "I'll never make it!" He panted.

"Seven."

Forte couldn't help chuckling at the thought. Finding the blueberry in the forest underbrush.

"Six."

Rock was getting closer and closer to the forest's edge. "I'm almost there!"

"Five."

'Yes....' Forte thought to himself. Picking the blueberry, then crushing it between his index finger and thumb.

"Four."

Rock was so close.. so close! But he was almost out of time.

"Three."

'Then I'll lick up all the blueberry's juice, as it runs down my fingers. '

"Two."

With a leap, Rock threw himself into the underbrush of the forest, then, wasting no time, began to run as fast as he could.

Forte watched Rock escape into the "safety" of the woods, with a grin. 'Yes... and it will be so sweet... Like blood. Rock's blood.'

"One."

Next Chapter: Hide and Seek