Some Author's Notes: Welcome to The Three R's! Yes, I know it's been a long while since I updated anything. Yeah, I said at the end of Lost in Time, Found by War, that I was going to be playing Super Robot Taisen R. This lead to playing Taisen D, then Taisen A, and now I'm on Taisen J. Still, I finally had the urge to write again. Other than that, a few other delays, some family things really. The grandmother passed recently and of course that takes precedent over anything else. Still, here's the first chapter to sequel one.
Yeah, I said sequel one. There are two simultaneous sequels. One, this one, prominently features Bass and Roll in their adventure. The other is heavy on Zero and Axl, though more Axl. They'll be updated roughly about the same time, I figure. Honestly, as I was planning the sequel in just became so convoluted that a second sequel had to be made to make things flow smoothly.
All this being said, please enjoy my first chapter of The Three R's. Revelation, Revenge, Redemption.
Pesky Disclaimer: I don't own any Megaman related character, that's all Capcom.
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Space is silent and beautiful, an ocean of black seas with stars littered about, glittering like forbidden pearls. One of those forbidden pearls lead to a meager world with no particular interest, Earth. Visitors had come and gone, quickly deeming the planet either uninteresting or its people too vicious. Regardless, now, nothing came to the planet but the occasional meteor, so why was someone headed there now?
Traveling for so long, he was nearing his destination.
The being was clad in a purple aura that was pulling him to this planet. Behind that aura was a tall, lean android, sporting a predominantly black paint scheme with red lining. Sharp, arched golden wings shot from his back. A single, blood-red gem sat in his chest, glowing fiercely along with the one on his head. His knees were reverse-jointed, leading down to pointed feet.
Traveling for so long, he was nearing his destination.
He had felt it, his own, familiar power flare up suddenly after two-hundred years of silence, and on this mudball of a planet, no less. It was amusing to him, in the beginning, he had dreaded the visit, it had weakened him so, but lately, he had felt it, a power almost as great as his own, perhaps greater if the user knew what he was doing. It was then that he had made his decision, he would claim what was rightfully his, once more.
Senses ever keen, he swerved to the side as a bright, blue comet whizzed by him and he stopped, crossing his arms as the aura grew in intensity. "Well, here's someone I haven't seen in a couple centuries. Aww, did you miss me so much that you came to visit, Duo?"
(Author's Midnote: I'm PERFECTLY AWARE that sound does not travel through the vacuum of space and all those movies with sound effects are to keep it interesting. How they're talking right now, I don't know, imagine a telepathic link or binary beaming, go with it.)
The comet broke away into a bright, blue aura as a well armored, mostly blue and gray robot appeared. He was extremely well-built, baring a fist that looked like it could strike the heavens themselves. "Shinn, what are you doing near Earth, again?"
The android merely shrugged as he said, "I felt like going for an intergalactic stroll and it just happened to be along the way, why?" "I won't let you interfere with that planet! It's forbidden!" Shinn laughed a little as he crossed his arms, saying, "Oh Duo, rules are meant to be broken. Besides, we broke that rule before, you should remember it." Duo looked away as he replied, "That was an accident…and many innocent lives were lost because of it."
"Innocent? Haha, Duo, you're too rich," Shinn said as he tried to contain his laughter. "Duo, Duo, Duo, none of these stupid lifeforms are innocent, you should know that by now. Always stealing and killing, ready to stab their best friend in the back just so they can get their grubby little paws on something shiny. They don't deserve pity or protection, they deserve extermination…but, I'm not here to do that, not today, anyways."
Duo shook his head as he asked, "What ARE you doing here?" "Oh, nothing much, just looking to reclaim something of mine. You should remember it, us crashing on that miserable mudball. Well I lost something very precious to me, all thanks to one mad scientist." Duo nodded, "Your power source." "Yes, all my power split up and used in half-rate robots that lost to a pathetic blue twerp with no augments of his own. I could barely escape and all I could do was wait, wait until I had enough of my strength back. Oh it took forever, though I suppose it could have gone faster if you hadn't destroyed every ounce of my power on that planet…all but one."
"I…missed one? That's impossible!" Duo exclaimed, but Shinn smoothly replied, "It's true, so very true. I had thought about collecting it, add it back to myself, but it vanished two centuries ago and I figured you'd gotten ahold of it and snuffed it out. Imagine my surprise when I felt it recently. It was calling to me, pulling at me, but I ignored it until I felt something. There's a magnificent will behind it and under that will's influence, the power has grown. Imagine, someone on that miserable rock with our potential, it's maddening and refreshing at the same time! It was then that I made my decision. I wouldn't just claim my powers, I'd claim the will behind it."
Duo scoffed, "And what makes you think anyone on Earth would want to come with you?" "Simple, Duo. It takes a will with a lust for power to be able to control it so well. I think the promise of greater power is enough for any Earthling." Shinn opened his arms wide and asked, "So, what do you think?"
Silence prevailed before Duo finally answered, "I think I've heard enough." "Really?" Shinn asked, amused. Duo's fist began to glow with tremendous power as he replied, "Yeah, and I think it's time to destroy you once and for all!"
Duo charged, thrusting his powerful fist forward, but in the ever-free void of space, Shinn dodged it easily and retaliated with a burst of purple energy from his hand that hit Duo square in his back. Only registering a moment of pain, Duo quickly smashed his fist into Shinn's side and the black android sprawled in pain.
Both began to glow. With terrific speed, they rammed into each other as giant orbs of power. Again and again, they clashed in the inky darkness of space. Each collision sent ripples through space, growing in intensity as the two ricocheted off each other. Soon, they backed away from each other.
Shinn commented, "I think you're actually trying to kill me." Panels on Duo's shoulders opened and revealed mini-rockets that quickly fired, speeding for Shinn, who sped towards the Earth, barreling out of the way of exploding rockets before craning his neck to Duo and firing a massive flash of energy from the gem on his head.
Duo easily dodged the burst of energy, but was puzzled. In the vastness of space, such an attack towards a speedy target was completely unsound. "You're losing your edge, Shinn," Duo replied smugly as he chased after his opponent.
Still headed for Earth, Shinn lazily turned around and feigned a yawn as he said, "I think my edge is as sharp as ever." He pointed nonchalantly behind Duo, who's face expressed terror at what he had missed.
Meteors, loads of them.
Shinn's attack wasn't meant for him. Instead, it streamed passed him and impacted in the Asteroid Belt. The blast had enough concussive force to knock numerous rocks from their gentle orbit around the sun and send them careening in all directions. Some would hurtle off, never to be seen again, some would be snatched into the orbit of larger bodies in the Solar System, but some would get yanked straight into planets, Earth included.
"So, what'll you do, eh Duo? Gonna chase me down, or do you feel like playing the big protector?" Duo was conflicted. Deep down, he cursed how well Shinn knew him. As he turned around and sped toward the approaching rocks, he called back, "This isn't over!"
As the blue ball called Earth grew ever-larger in Shinn's sight, he thought to himself, "Not over by a longshot, my friend. It's just beginning."
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Earth is a pile of desolate rubble, scorched by countless wars. Only a few places are naturally suited for human habitation. Those were not enough. Neo Arcadia was built to house the few humans that were left that couldn't be supported in these natural habitats. The city was ruled by Megaman X, the true, blue original. X had decreed an alliance with the Resistance and the Resistance Base had been renamed Ciel City.
Ciel City, the former Resistance, was originally led by the brilliant researcher, Ciel. However, the pressure of command combined with her research had been too much and she bequeathed command to Protoman. Protoman was an intelligent leader who constantly put his soldiers through drills so efficient that X put some of his most trusted soldier through Protoman's drills, Axl included. Ever since the uprising of Weil and the defeat of X's four guardians, Protoman's drills were twice as hard; he'd have his men ready for any situation Weil had waiting for them.
But the story doesn't continue in Neo Arcadia or Ciel City. It begins in the most unlikely place for life to begin anew. Long had it sat on the planet's surface, crumbling, decayed, and forgotten. Now, it was the only place where nature actually flourished.
Sunk a hundred years ago from the milky depths of space, the space colony Eurasia had inadvertently restored life to a small patch of ground. As unlikely as it may be, it could have been due to the influence of the Maverick Virus that filled every iota of its titanic presence that allowed its life support systems to spawn nature in this desolate waste of a world.
However, no matter why it was there, it WAS there, and it represented a new start for many that sought relief from constant conflict. Little by little, humans migrated to this point, calling it Area Zero, a location that was staunchly against the concept of reploids, lest they jeopardize their peace, but the feeling wasn't unique. After all, the thought of how the reploids were easily turned on humanity burned in the skull of every human.
These brave humans struck out on their own, traveling in caravans to reach their destination, a thing to which X, leader of Neo Arcadia, did not fight against. After all, he couldn't order them to stay under a martial law, not while trying to improve the look of reploids in the world. Unfortunately, X couldn't divert any forces to HELP the humans, either, and as a result, many met their ends thanks to the ambush tactics of Weil's new forces, advanced reproductions of old Wily designs.
Now, several vans barrel across the desert, their destination coming ever nearer, but that is no sign of relief, but one of tension. Attack could come from any direction, and until they reach Area Zero, this band of humans could easily be wiped out.
"Not much longer, eh?"
"Yeah, soon we'll be in Area Zero and we won't have to worry about all this conflict."
"Hey, Neige?"
"Yes Kraft?"
"Do you think me coming along is acceptable? This IS an anti-reploid colony, after all."
"Kraft, they have to accept you. If you leave, I leave, that's the way it's going to be."
"Heh, thanks Neige."
The lead van held the least occupants, only two, but the most supplies. Leading the caravan was a woman of determination with shining blue eyes and short red hair named Neige. Formerly a reporter in Neo Arcadia, she was ready for her new life with her acquaintance, Kraft, a powerful combat reploid that once served under the regime of Neo Arcadia.
"Hmm?" Kraft muttered as he straightened his position on the driver's side and noticed a set of headlights in the rearview. "What is it?" Asked Neige. A distinctive hum of motorcycle engines was heard and Kraft muttered, "Nothing but trouble."
Soon, after a heart-stopping boom, a van in the rear's tire burst from under it, causing the vehicle to swivel out of control. "Damn it," Kraft shouted, "We were so close! Neige," Kraft began to shift out of his seat as Neige instinctively grabbed the wheel. "Kraft, what are you doing!?" She shouted as he left his seat and she quickly eased in. "Buying us some time," Kraft replied as he entered the back of the van. "You know what to do."
Neige nodded as she grabbed hold of her radio. "This is Neige, proceed to Area Zero, we'll try and hold off the ambush." After acknowledgements were received, Neige broke formation with her van and eased to the back. Now she could see them, thin and green, built with a mono-eye system, riding two to a motorcycle, aiming their busters. "So," Neige said to herself, "These are Sniper Joes, huh? They don't look like much."
As Kraft hoisted a large assault rifle and fed it the belt clip, he replied, "Looks can be deceiving, don't forget that." She nodded as he kicked the back of the van open and shouted, "Have some of this!" He let bullets fly, tearing into the approaching forces, losing his balance as Neige hit a dune and his rifle accidentally hit the floor, sending a few shells ricocheting about. "Watch it!" He barked back to Neige, to apologized as she steadied the wheel. Kraft sighed as he held on to the top of the van and began to fire again, but this time not soon enough as a Sniper Joe leapt from his seat behind the cyclist driver and tackled Kraft.
"Not quite!" Kraft shouted as he slammed his fist into the poor robot, sending it sprawling back and into the sands of the desert, swept up and away by its attacking brethren.
"Eek!" Neige shouted as buster fire hailed in from the side window and Kraft realized in the short time he was occupied, they had caught up to the side of the van and were attacking. "Tch, too damn many of them," Kraft replied as he hoisted himself to the top of the van and shot down the ones closest before realizing they were climbing the sides of the van as well.
The van shook violently from enemy fire and Kraft lost his footing, dropping the rifle into the sands below and he cursed fervently as the climbing Sniper Joes reached him and began to attack. Acting on instinct, he revealed a combat knife from his side and cut into the first one, spinning it around and using it as a shield as he forced its buster to fire at others.
"My god, they're everywhere!" a panicked Niege shouted as Kraft flung another Sniper away. Looking over the horizon, Kraft saw the sands littered with more enemies heading their way and the realization that he couldn't beat all of them sunk in. "Neige, I…I want you to know that I…" "Yeah," she said back, "Me too."
An explosion rocked the background as an engine roared to furious life, much louder than the other engines. "What the heck?" Kraft uttered as a new cycle came into view. Kraft squinted at its extremely canine shape as it weaved around hordes of enemies before riding side-by-side with the van, showing two occupants, the driver with his eyes shielded by a visor, the occupant wearing a helmet.
"This is where you get off," A male voice driving the cycle said as he hoisted the lighter female up and onto the side of the van. She easily made her way through the door and sat next to Neige before letting loose a sigh. "Hey, saw you needed a little help," she began, "My name's Roll." She pulled off her helmet, revealing her short, blonde hair with its single black stripe and smiled brightly at Neige.
"H-hi," Neige nervously uttered before asking, "And…who's that?" The driver of the cycle retracted the visor, revealing his red eyes and the purple scars that ran down from his face. His purple scarf whipped violently in the wind and Roll declared, "That's Bass," she then deepened her voice, and openly mocked, "The most powerful Robot Master…EVER." She fought the urge to laugh and Neige stared blankly at her. "How can you…joke at a time like this?" Roll merely shrugged as she replied, "You just don't know my Bass."
Outside, Bass looked to Kraft and shouted, "Catch!" He tossed Kraft's previously lost assault rifle back into his hands and as he pivoted the cycle, in reality, his companion, Treble, he urged Kraft, "Have fun, just try not to shoot me." "Who are you?" Kraft replied, confused. "I'm helping," Bass quickly shot back, "Does it matter right now?"
Bass sped into the enemy before Kraft could reply and he began his attack once more on incoming enemies, keeping a single lock on Bass so as not to target and attack him by accident and he watched in amazement as his assistance plowed its way through the enemy, going so far as to laugh maniacally as he reduced the enemy to scrap.
"Who is this guy?" Kraft eagerly thought as he realized his ammo was dangerously low. He banged a few times on the rooftop and shouted, "Neige, I need ammo!" "Hold on, Kraft," she told him, but Roll eased up and said, "I've got this," and quickly offered a new belt clip to Kraft, who was leaning down, waiting for his ammo. "Who the heck are you?" Kraft asked. "I'm Roll, that's Bass. We're helping, unless you'd like us to leave."
"That's Bass?" Kraft skeptically replied through a new explosion and he quickly added, "That's BASS!? THE Bass?" "Unless there's a few more Bass's we don't know about," Roll chided before waving her hand saying, "Go on, you have your ammo, get to it." "Uh…y-yeah, thanks," Kraft replied as he went back to the fray.
Soon, the enemy began to back away as a single cycle sped towards Bass and the others. The driver was a blonde female of dark skin, clad in skintight black mesh. Her hand glowed with energy before a blade streaked out of it and slashed at Bass, who pivoted and avoided the blow before pulling a wheelie and turning on his axis, returning fire that she slashed out of the sky.
"You're good," Bass remarked as he sped in and locked hands with her, both cycles spinning with no true direction before they broke away. "I better be," she replied coolly as she fired from her own buster, taking Bass by surprise as he stabled himself. "You'd think SWN-003 would be superior to either design."
"What!?" Bass barked as he fired a charged shot from his buster to which she easily avoided. "That's right, Big Brother," she replied, "Serenade is the last true great creation of Dr. Wily!" She leapt from her cycle and tackled Bass off of Treble, who immediately reverted back to his original wolf-like form and in response, her cycle reverted to a large wildcat which roared at Treble, who growled in response. The two dashed and tackled each other, rolling around and pawing at each other, grazing through the other's armor.
"Mezzo!" Serenade shouted, "Don't let it get away! Rip it to shreds!" "Unlikely," Bass replied as he slid into position and fired his buster at his 'sister'. "So," He began, "Want to explain yourself?" "What's to explain," she harshly shot back as she dashed with her blade and missed Bass, who swept out her feet with a roundhouse kick and missed a crushing blow to her abdomen as she rolled out of the way, spinning upwards as she steadied herself and slashing into his face. "You're SWN-001. Zero is SWN-002. I'm SWN-003. We're related, I'm the later model."
(Author's Midnote: Technically, Zero's ID is SWN-∞, but it works better to put him as 002 in this case)
"Heh," Bass scoffed as he thrust his palm to her chin, knocking her off-balance momentarily before she replied by flipping up and slamming her foot above his head in a dazzling display of acrobatics. "Let me guess," Bass said as he deftly dodged a fist from Serenade, grabbed it, and use the momentum to knee her in the stomach, "Weil's still poking around Wily Castle and found mothballed projects like you laying around, huh?"
Her brow furrowed under the insult of being called mothballed and she quickly thrust her blade through his shoulder. "Hit a nerve, did I?" He mocked before fighting the urge to wince in pain. "Shut up!" Serenade shouted, "I'm greater than you or Zero and I'll prove it!" Bass forced the blade out of him and replied, "As long as you listen to some crazy mad scientist, rather than yourself, you'll never be as good as either of us. You can't beat Zero and you certainly can't beat me."
She screamed in anger, hair standing on end as she dashed for Bass with blinding speed, but as he spun out of harms way on his heel, her advance was greeted with a powerful blow to the back of her head, courtesy of a charged plasma shot. "Look at you," Bass scoffed as he folded his arms to the female on the ground. He raised his head indignantly as he cast his harsh gaze on her out of the corner of his eyes. "You don't even know how to fight. What, has Weil got you training on AI programs all day? Pathetic."
"I'll show you! I'll show you just how powerful I am!" Serenade shouted as she gathered energy into an orb and flung it at Bass, who quickly swatted the offending energy away before realizing his hand had gone limp. "What do you know, so you're not all talk," Bass declared before rushing her, sliding under, and leveling his foot to her chin, sending her into the sky and back down to his waiting charged buster. She spun out of the way of the blast and elbowed him in the stomach, making him stumble back as she thrust her blade again, missing, hitting the soft sand.
Bass made his move and slammed the heel of his foot into the blade with such force that it bend and snapped under the force and she screamed in return. "DAMN YOU! I'LL…I'LL-" A beep in her helmet caught her attention. "Yes? Pull back!? But I can beat him! I don't need to—ah yes…understood. My…apologies."
She steadied herself, dusting of lightly as she looked harshly to Bass. "This isn't over. Next time, nothing's going to save you. Mezzo!" She looked to her wildcat and gasped at the amount of damage it had incurred. "Even you?! We're out of here!" The two were caught in golden light and vanished.
"You okay, boy?" Bass asked Treble, now walking beside him. A healthy bark from his companion let him know all he needed and he chuckled a little before looking to the night sky. "Serenade and Mezzo, more competition for our title, huh boy? Doesn't matter, we're still more powerful than them, Zero, or any other. Weil, remember that."
Bass gazed intently at a star in the sky burning brighter than any other, almost like it was headed for the planet. It glowed a fierce purple and soon, he felt his aura rising from his body. "The hell?" he asked himself as he forced it down. Looking again, the star was gone. "Weird," he muttered to himself as he turned to Treble, "Let's go find Roll, I bet she's worried sick."
Treble barked in acknowledgement and transformed into the cycle once more and they sped off in the direction of the van's tracks. "Weil," Bass thought, "It doesn't matter how big your army is, how much power you gain. You can't beat me, you won't beat me."
Unbeknownst to the Robot Master, figures were watching him intently.
"So, someone activated Serenade, eh?"
"For as strong as she is, she sure lost to Bass pretty quick."
"A testament to how well-built Bass is."
"Think he'll be a threat?"
"Time will tell. Let's see if we can avoid a confrontation for now. Bass is way too powerful for that right now."
"Yeah, let's get the report back to Enker."
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Ending Notes: Well how was that? This is actually the second version of this story. The other started with Bass and Roll settled and it didn't have the right feel to it. I wanted them to seem like they'd been wandering. As you can see, Roll has shorter hair than in the last story and the black streak she got in her hair from being possessed by the Dark Elf is still there.
You also see Duo and Shinn, characters from the beginning of Megaman 8. Technically, Shinn had no name, he might not have even been a real robot, just a manifestation of dark energies, but I made him a robot for plot purposes. Both have upgraded designs from their original appearances to keep in touch with the later times.
You also met Serenade and Mezzo. Serenade originates from the Battle Networks alternate universe. I went with the idea that Wily never stopped trying to improve on designs, even while in the manufacturing of Zero. Like most main characters from the original Megaman games, Serenade's name has a link to music. Mezzo, her wildcat, is short for Mezzo-soprano, also linked to music. As Bass pointed out, despite her power, she has no real combat experience aside from training programs and as of right now, can't measure up to her battle-hardened brother, but all things change with time.
You also saw a few shadowy figures at the end, I bet some of you have a guess who they are, but regardless, read on to find out who they are and what role they play!
I'm open for comments, suggestions, reviews, etc, etc, drop me an email or something, I dunno, but I'll reply back. Look for the sister sequel to come out relatively soon, hopefully today if all things go well, if not, then definitely in this week.
Until next time!