I was sunning myself, on nice, warm rocks. A thing always associated with
my most pleasant memories... memories of Bass, and the final time we had
been together. His goodbye to me, I knew now.
I sighed, and stretched out, spreading my arms wide. I liked the way my red armor seemed to soak up the heat. Summer was a wonderful time of year for us, a time of work and play.
A loud crack rang out, as if the others had sensed my last thought. There was laughter and groans, a sure sign Quick had hit another home run. A small smile crossed my face. If he ever wanted to leave us, I was sure he could make a wonderful living in a Reploid baseball team. Elec wasn't a bad pitcher, and I myself have been told I'm superb, but even we couldn't keep down his batting average.
I reflected on them for a moment. They were all Reploids now. For such a long time, they'd been my only company, and I'd gotten drearily familiar with the fact that robots are very one dimensional things, with only limited emotions and imagination. When X, my brother, finally emerged, I paid attention. And when I found that they were mass producing his design, I found a way to upgrade the Robot Masters, while preserving their memories.
I had asked their opinions first, of course. Limited or not, they'd had some free will after Wily died, and had deserved the right to choose. But the eight who had come with me had decided unanimously that they wanted to, as Quick had put it, "Be real." To know the joys and pains of real life...
And I'd suddenly found myself with a bunch of Reploid brats on my hands. I wondered what problems the humans were having, with their assembly lines. Each one had needed attention, sometimes affection, sometimes just an ear to speak to. Fortunately, after a little while, they'd looked to each other as well as me. I wondered, though, how the humans dealt with their Reploids needs.
Now I was very pleased with my group, though. Two of them, Clown and Ice, had both decided to leave us. I had erased their memories of our exact location, which they had agreed to, to keep us safe. The ones I had with me now were Quick, Elec, Shadow, Fire, and Snakeman.
If you are paying attention, you've probably noticed that added up to only seven, not eight. Something went wrong with Metalman. I still don't know what, but the Reploid mind had destabilized, and I had to shut him down. A paranoid schizoprenic Reploid is a frightening thing.
The others had grown into their current personalities. Quick was an eternal jokester, sometimes rather trying, but always cheerful and trying to cheer up anyone down. But he just didn't know when to quit, sometimes, and managed to get into fights more often than anyone besides Fire. Even I could find it annoying.
Fire... he had lived up to his name. His Reploid personality had come out with a fiery temper, flaring quickly and just as quickly dying away. But the flare ups were predictable enough, if you knew what bothered him, and the only one he regularly fought with was Quick, who couldn't resist prodding. But neither of them could carry a grudge, and the same night they would be laughing together again. Fire wasn't the most intelligent of my friends, but he did have a knack for knowing what to do in a crisis.
Elec was simply the best. I felt more relaxed just knowing he was with the others, knowing that if Fire and Quick started to fight, or worse, Shadow and Quick, he'd know how to diffuse it. The polar opposite of Shadow, he was golden haired, blue eyed, with the most confident, capable and sunny personality I'd ever met. He reminded me a little of Mega, but with more of a knack for leading. He had just the right words to soothe arguments, scold, and inspire. He was also the only one who could stop Shadow in his tracks... but not surprising, they were lovers.
I sometimes wondered at Elec's choice, and wondered if he might regret it. Shadow was brooding, closed off, with a demeanor full of ice. His sense of humor was very morbid, and he rarely smiled at his own jokes, even when everyone else cracked up at a particularly gruesome, but funny image. If we'd had some kind a yearbook, like humans make, I would have voted him "Most Likely to End up in Prison for Life." But I just didn't know him as well as Elec, so I tried to reserve judgement. I'd been called brooding myself, and Bass had certainly looked like no catch, objectively. And Elec could tease a rare, shy smile out of Shadow, that could suddenly make the grim youth look handsome and charming.
Snake was perhaps the oddest of them all. A dreamer, childlike, an eternal optimist and bookworm. He was also terribly gullible, not a good flaw in any group, let alone this one. Quick often tricked him badly, and he would just run away and hide when that happened. Like the odd child out, he could be picked on by the others. But his talents made me almost envious. I could draw, but not well. Snake excelled at drawing, often doing requests for the others, and his singing wasn't bad either.
The sun suddenly dimmed, and I shifted with a sigh. A cloud must have-
"He's solar powered, I tell you! No doubt about it!" I scowled, cracking open an eye to look up at Quick's face, his startling, purple hair, brown eyes, and constant grin. He was blocking my light.
"Why are you getting in the way of my recharging, then?" I asked lazily, and Elec smiled, pulling Quick back enough that I had my sunshine again.
"Did Snake come this way?" Elec asked, running a hand through his thick blond hair. Shadow was behind his shoulder, living up to his name as Elec's shadow. "Someone here needs to apologize." Quick lost his grin, looking uncomfortable.
"Jeez! What's with everyone, can't take a joke..." I shook my head, pushing myself to my feet. I should probably handle this.
"No, but I can take care of it." I straightened my scarf. Unlike my friends, I was in my full armor. They rarely wore theirs, these days, although they always had their summoners on them. The one time I had caught Quick without his, I had immediately given him a rundown on the disadvantages of having no armor or weapons. Not liking pain, he'd immediately gotten the idea. The others hadn't needed reminding.
I looked around for a little while, and found Snake's tracks. He'd come by behind me, a fair ways, but he still must have been fairly silent for me not to hear. I followed the tracks silently.
There was a soft sobbing up ahead, and I sighed to myself, pausing to regard Snake for a moment.
His soft brown hair was long these days, reaching halfway down his back, and I'd had to change his helmet to accomodate it. He was hugging himself, sitting at the base of a tree, his soft green eyes filled with tears. I wondered what Quick had done this time.
Snake was as much of a problem, though. He had never learned not to take everything Quick said seriously...
"Snake..." I knelt down beside him, and he started, looking up wide eyed.
"Oh! ...Blues... it's... it's okay..." He wiped off his eyes hurriedly, and I reached out to touch his hand.
"I'm sure it is. But you can tell me about it anyway." I said softly, squeezing his hand.
The story was pretty much what I'd expected. Snake had tried to slide in to home, but had muffled it up and been tapped out. Quick had made a smart aleck comment... anyone else would have laughed, or growled at him. But Snake took it too personally, and when he'd looked depressed, Quick had tried to cheer him up.
That had only made things worse, and Snake had fled crying. Quick just didn't understand how sensitive he was... and Snake didn't understand that not everything was meant as an insult, even if it sounded that way.
But I wasn't going to change who they were, so I just listened to Snake, being a sympathetic ear for his sorrows. To my own surprise, I'd found that all of them except for Shadow always wanted to speak to me this way. I seemed to be a good listener, although I'd never really thought about it before.
Snake finally wound down, and I gently patted him on the back.
"Quick doesn't mean to be hurtful, Snake." I said softly, gently tugging his hand. "Why don't you come back to play the game some more? Elec and Quick were looking for you." Snake looked up at me, eyes mournful... but trusting. He trusted me, almost idolized me, and it made me nervous. I was afraid I knew some of the thoughts that were going through his mind, and I never wanted to disappoint him, but it wouldn't happen. Not with me.
"Okay." He went back with me, and this time, I decided I would play in the game myself.
It would be entertaining, especially if they let me be pitcher.
I sighed, and stretched out, spreading my arms wide. I liked the way my red armor seemed to soak up the heat. Summer was a wonderful time of year for us, a time of work and play.
A loud crack rang out, as if the others had sensed my last thought. There was laughter and groans, a sure sign Quick had hit another home run. A small smile crossed my face. If he ever wanted to leave us, I was sure he could make a wonderful living in a Reploid baseball team. Elec wasn't a bad pitcher, and I myself have been told I'm superb, but even we couldn't keep down his batting average.
I reflected on them for a moment. They were all Reploids now. For such a long time, they'd been my only company, and I'd gotten drearily familiar with the fact that robots are very one dimensional things, with only limited emotions and imagination. When X, my brother, finally emerged, I paid attention. And when I found that they were mass producing his design, I found a way to upgrade the Robot Masters, while preserving their memories.
I had asked their opinions first, of course. Limited or not, they'd had some free will after Wily died, and had deserved the right to choose. But the eight who had come with me had decided unanimously that they wanted to, as Quick had put it, "Be real." To know the joys and pains of real life...
And I'd suddenly found myself with a bunch of Reploid brats on my hands. I wondered what problems the humans were having, with their assembly lines. Each one had needed attention, sometimes affection, sometimes just an ear to speak to. Fortunately, after a little while, they'd looked to each other as well as me. I wondered, though, how the humans dealt with their Reploids needs.
Now I was very pleased with my group, though. Two of them, Clown and Ice, had both decided to leave us. I had erased their memories of our exact location, which they had agreed to, to keep us safe. The ones I had with me now were Quick, Elec, Shadow, Fire, and Snakeman.
If you are paying attention, you've probably noticed that added up to only seven, not eight. Something went wrong with Metalman. I still don't know what, but the Reploid mind had destabilized, and I had to shut him down. A paranoid schizoprenic Reploid is a frightening thing.
The others had grown into their current personalities. Quick was an eternal jokester, sometimes rather trying, but always cheerful and trying to cheer up anyone down. But he just didn't know when to quit, sometimes, and managed to get into fights more often than anyone besides Fire. Even I could find it annoying.
Fire... he had lived up to his name. His Reploid personality had come out with a fiery temper, flaring quickly and just as quickly dying away. But the flare ups were predictable enough, if you knew what bothered him, and the only one he regularly fought with was Quick, who couldn't resist prodding. But neither of them could carry a grudge, and the same night they would be laughing together again. Fire wasn't the most intelligent of my friends, but he did have a knack for knowing what to do in a crisis.
Elec was simply the best. I felt more relaxed just knowing he was with the others, knowing that if Fire and Quick started to fight, or worse, Shadow and Quick, he'd know how to diffuse it. The polar opposite of Shadow, he was golden haired, blue eyed, with the most confident, capable and sunny personality I'd ever met. He reminded me a little of Mega, but with more of a knack for leading. He had just the right words to soothe arguments, scold, and inspire. He was also the only one who could stop Shadow in his tracks... but not surprising, they were lovers.
I sometimes wondered at Elec's choice, and wondered if he might regret it. Shadow was brooding, closed off, with a demeanor full of ice. His sense of humor was very morbid, and he rarely smiled at his own jokes, even when everyone else cracked up at a particularly gruesome, but funny image. If we'd had some kind a yearbook, like humans make, I would have voted him "Most Likely to End up in Prison for Life." But I just didn't know him as well as Elec, so I tried to reserve judgement. I'd been called brooding myself, and Bass had certainly looked like no catch, objectively. And Elec could tease a rare, shy smile out of Shadow, that could suddenly make the grim youth look handsome and charming.
Snake was perhaps the oddest of them all. A dreamer, childlike, an eternal optimist and bookworm. He was also terribly gullible, not a good flaw in any group, let alone this one. Quick often tricked him badly, and he would just run away and hide when that happened. Like the odd child out, he could be picked on by the others. But his talents made me almost envious. I could draw, but not well. Snake excelled at drawing, often doing requests for the others, and his singing wasn't bad either.
The sun suddenly dimmed, and I shifted with a sigh. A cloud must have-
"He's solar powered, I tell you! No doubt about it!" I scowled, cracking open an eye to look up at Quick's face, his startling, purple hair, brown eyes, and constant grin. He was blocking my light.
"Why are you getting in the way of my recharging, then?" I asked lazily, and Elec smiled, pulling Quick back enough that I had my sunshine again.
"Did Snake come this way?" Elec asked, running a hand through his thick blond hair. Shadow was behind his shoulder, living up to his name as Elec's shadow. "Someone here needs to apologize." Quick lost his grin, looking uncomfortable.
"Jeez! What's with everyone, can't take a joke..." I shook my head, pushing myself to my feet. I should probably handle this.
"No, but I can take care of it." I straightened my scarf. Unlike my friends, I was in my full armor. They rarely wore theirs, these days, although they always had their summoners on them. The one time I had caught Quick without his, I had immediately given him a rundown on the disadvantages of having no armor or weapons. Not liking pain, he'd immediately gotten the idea. The others hadn't needed reminding.
I looked around for a little while, and found Snake's tracks. He'd come by behind me, a fair ways, but he still must have been fairly silent for me not to hear. I followed the tracks silently.
There was a soft sobbing up ahead, and I sighed to myself, pausing to regard Snake for a moment.
His soft brown hair was long these days, reaching halfway down his back, and I'd had to change his helmet to accomodate it. He was hugging himself, sitting at the base of a tree, his soft green eyes filled with tears. I wondered what Quick had done this time.
Snake was as much of a problem, though. He had never learned not to take everything Quick said seriously...
"Snake..." I knelt down beside him, and he started, looking up wide eyed.
"Oh! ...Blues... it's... it's okay..." He wiped off his eyes hurriedly, and I reached out to touch his hand.
"I'm sure it is. But you can tell me about it anyway." I said softly, squeezing his hand.
The story was pretty much what I'd expected. Snake had tried to slide in to home, but had muffled it up and been tapped out. Quick had made a smart aleck comment... anyone else would have laughed, or growled at him. But Snake took it too personally, and when he'd looked depressed, Quick had tried to cheer him up.
That had only made things worse, and Snake had fled crying. Quick just didn't understand how sensitive he was... and Snake didn't understand that not everything was meant as an insult, even if it sounded that way.
But I wasn't going to change who they were, so I just listened to Snake, being a sympathetic ear for his sorrows. To my own surprise, I'd found that all of them except for Shadow always wanted to speak to me this way. I seemed to be a good listener, although I'd never really thought about it before.
Snake finally wound down, and I gently patted him on the back.
"Quick doesn't mean to be hurtful, Snake." I said softly, gently tugging his hand. "Why don't you come back to play the game some more? Elec and Quick were looking for you." Snake looked up at me, eyes mournful... but trusting. He trusted me, almost idolized me, and it made me nervous. I was afraid I knew some of the thoughts that were going through his mind, and I never wanted to disappoint him, but it wouldn't happen. Not with me.
"Okay." He went back with me, and this time, I decided I would play in the game myself.
It would be entertaining, especially if they let me be pitcher.