This story is my opinion of what happened between the games Megaman & Bass and Megaman X. It explains why the classic series of characters aren't around in X's time and will even start setting the stage for the Megaman Zero series.

Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman or Megaman X. All characters are the copyrighted property of Capcom.

Within an old building, multiple sounds of buster shots could be heard. Inside were three robots fighting. Two were working together, the third fought alone. The first robot had blue armor with a plasma buster on one arm. The second had jet-black armor with an unusual helmet, and also had a plasma buster on one arm. The third was taller than the other to, with gold armor, and carrying a large axe.

"Give up yet, King?" sneered the black robot. He clearly enjoyed fighting his opponent, as though winning would bring him some great pleasure.

"Cut that out, Bass! King, surrender now or we will destroy you!" stated the blue robot.

King slowly rose. This battle had been going on for nearly an hour, and little by little, he was losing. But in spite of this, he chuckled and said, "Me? Surrender? Are your logic processors malfunctioning, Megaman? I said I would never give up, and I won't!" He lunged forward, swinging his axe. Megaman was prepared for this, however, and sidestepped the attack.

Bass wasted no time in opening fire with his buster. His fired like a machine gun, and he connected with nearly every shot. This got King's attention, and he began focusing on Bass. This gave Megaman the time he needed to charge up his own buster. When his charge was complete, he signaled Bass, who leapt out of the path of fire. King recovered from another missed swing just in time to come face-to-face with Megaman's buster. King gave one last cry as Megaman fired, blowing King's head right off his body.

Megaman relaxed for a second, but jumped aside when he heard buster fire. Turning, he saw that Bass had fired at him. "I knew you would dodge that. But it was just a warning. Our alliance in now over, and we're enemies once again. Out of respect for the fact that we're both battle damaged from this last fight, I'll let you go for now. But next time we meet, I will destroy you!" With that said, Bass turned and walked out of the building, teleporting away to his creator's lab.

Megaman hung his head slightly. "Bass, why must we fight? There's no reason to do so." Megaman simply stared at the spot Bass teleported from for several seconds, then activated his own teleport system. To him, teleporting was like being partly deactivated for about ten seconds, then awakening at his destination. This time, that point was Dr. Light's lab.

Megaman opened his eyes to see the all too familiar surroundings of the lab. Out of habit, he quickly braced himself, and not a moment too soon. From seemingly out of nowhere, a girl robot leapt onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug. She wore a red dress, had green eyes, and her blonde hair was held in a ponytail with a long green ribbon tied in a bow.

"Megaman, you're OK!!" screamed the girl as her hug grew tighter. Had Megaman been a human, he would nearly be dead from lack of air at this point.

"Yes, Roll, I'm fine. Now please let me go!" Megaman was trying to pull Roll's arms off his neck, but wasn't using much force, because he didn't want to hurt her. Realizing his problem, Roll let go and hopped a short distance away. Megaman braced himself again, for just as Roll moved away, another robot tackled him, succeeding in knocking him down into a sitting position. This robot looked like a dog covered in red armor.

"Hey, Rush! Were you a good boy?" Megaman asked his faithful dog as her scratched Rush's ears. A door on the far side of the room opened, and in came the first human Megaman had seen for nearly two days. He was an older man, with white hair and a white beard. With the right get-up, a young child would mistake him for Santa.

"Ah, Megaman, you're back. How did things go?"

"It went well, Dr. Light. King has been destroyed, and our truce with Dr. Wily and Bass is now over."

Dr. Light looked thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose I'm not surprised. Dr. Wily is only interested in ruling the world, and Bass is only interested in defeating you. They only worked with us to accomplish a goal of their own. Well, you don't seem to need any repairs, though some more energy would do you some good, I think. I have other matters I must attend to now, so you go get some rest."

Megaman gave Dr. Light a salute before heading to his recharge station. Dr. Light turned and headed out another door, while rush headed for his pile of dog toys. Roll sighed and hung her head. "Megaman gets to fight Wily for the safety of the world, and Dr. Light is always working on new ways to help others. Rush just plays a lot, but even he gets to help Megaman fight sometimes. But I always get left here to just clean up. It's just so unfair! If Megaman can fight, then so can I! I just want to help…"

Bass walked slowly though the lab. He was still thinking of Megaman. 'One day, I will defeat you, Megaman! I will prove to you that I am stronger than you!" Bass looked up, and saw a figure move past the hallway he was walking down. "Funny, that looked like Burnerman. But I destroyed him, so it can't be. Bah, it's probably just another of the old man's worthless robot masters. Wonder what he's up to now?'

Bass reached the door leading into the primary lab and went through. In the middle of the room stood a man who looked very similar to Dr. Light, but with a moustache instead of a beard, and his hair was much messier. Hearing the automatic door open and close, he turned to see who was there.

"Well, well, hello Bass. Back from the mission are you?"

"That King was an unworthy opponent. I've told you before, I'm the strongest, and I always will be. Only Megaman can stand up to me, and soon, even he will fall before me!"

The man chuckled. "Is that so? Why don't you save your bragging for after you beat Megaman, provided you ever do!"

Bass was clearly angry with that remark. "Listen Wily, I will defeat Megaman, even if it has to be the last thing I ever do!"

Dr. Wily shrugged, then turned his attention back to the robot on the workbench beside him. Bass came a bit closer. Had he been a softer robot, he would have gasped at what he saw. "GROUNDMAN?! Why are you repairing Groundman, Wily?"

Wily didn't look up as he answered. "I'm not just repairing him, I'm also upgrading him. I think King was onto something when he rebuilt the other robot masters. So now, I'm choosing the eight that I think were the best, and rebuilding and upgrading them."

Bass closed his eyes and placed one hand on his forehead. If he were a human, one would think he had a headache. "Why do you bother with those failures, old man? Upgrading them might let them last longer, but in the end, Megaman will still destroy them all again."

"True. But this time, their purpose is not to defeat Megaman. They are just to cause trouble to keep him busy while I finish my greatest creation!"

Bass snatched Wily by his collar and yanked him so they were face-to-face. "What do you mean, 'greatest creation'? I'm the best you could ever make, and you did it by accident!" he growled.

Wily slid out of his lab coat to free himself from Bass's grip. "Again true, but I've learned from my mistakes. And right now, I'm building a new robot with a new power source. When it's done, it will be more powerful than you and Megaman combined!"

Bass turned and begin to walk out of the lab, dropping the lab coat as he did. He turned his head and called over his shoulder, "I'll believe it when I see it!" After leaving the lab, Bass slammed his fist into the wall so hard it left a dent. 'Wily, just give it up. I'm your best, and I always will be. You're nothing but an old fool now. You should just lie down and be done with it.'

Meanwhile, Wily was giving the now finished robot masters their jobs. 'I can't fail this time. These robot masters will provide all the time I need to finish. Then, my new robot can destroy Megaman, and while he's at it, he can destroy Bass, too!'

I already have more chapters ready to go for this story, but I'll wait for some reviews to see if it's worth it. Please R&R, but no flames, as this is my first story on the site.