CHAPTER 6:

BLAST OFF, ZUHILFEKOMMEN!

It wasn't like she was expecting anything different, but Tron Bonne didn't sleep at all well the night before take-off.

Granted, she could always blame the bags under her eyes on the stress of the flight, but in all honesty, she knew what the real reason was. She tossed one way, and then another, trying to get comfortable, while she could feel her heart pumping in her chest in excitement.

She finally sat up in her plush bed, looking over onto her nightstand.

4 am

She slumped back down, pouting comically, as she slowly counted the seconds as she gazed into the blackness of her room.

It wasn't as though she was never expecting to see him again. Obviously, she had put this much effort into going to save Megaman, she had just sort of assumed that they would go, pick him up, and be back down in time for dinner. She never really considered what having him around again would mean.

Sure, before working with Blondie on this rocket, she wouldn't have been so keen to meet up with him, as it seemed like every time she did, he ended up blowing up another Gustaff. But this time… Maybe…

Maybe it could be something more…

She squealed into her pillow in excitement, smiling down into her bed, where no one else would see…

Maybe he would stop being so naïve and come around to her side… Maybe she could even construct her OWN room for him in the Gesellschaft II…

Her mind obviously in overdrive, Tron rambled on to herself about all the ways she was going to make him pay her back for all the hard work saving him. Or maybe pay him in kind for all the humiliations she had suffered at his hands…

Kiss him right in front of that no good Spotter?

Blow HIM up and watch him run around naked?

…That one had a nice ring to it…

She laughed to herself. It was silly… ridiculous! How could she have gone from such an innocent crush to this? Tron Bonne was no sap! Leave the romantic dates to the philistines! Give her a bank robbery any day of the week! And yet, as she was lying down in bed, slowly feeling sleep starting to get the best of her, she started to consider what life would be like after she brought Megaman back down for real. She didn't have trouble thinking of scenarios in which she yelled at him for being such a complete moron, leaving her here all by herself and going off on one of his ridiculous heroic quests!

"First thing I'm gonna do when I see him is slap him!" Tron said, with a slight purr in her voice that even she didn't miss.

With pleasant thoughts of robbing banks with Megaman in her head, she finally was able to drift off to sleep.

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The morning came sunny and cloudless. It seemed that Terra was as ready for the trip as the crew. Under the blue sky, the crowd was already beginning to rub the sleep from their eyes, knowing that this was to be the big day! Children waking up their parents like it was Christmas, asking whether they could ride on the "Mini Rockets" that had been set up, and news crews setting up their cameras on high hills, hoping for the best possible angle to record history in the making.

On board the Gesellschaft II, however, Tron was shaken awake by a familiar hand.

"Tron… Tron… Get up, let's get this show on the road!" Teisel said softly, smiling down at her.

Tron smiled back without opening her eyes, completely aware at the strain in her brother's voice. He was such a good person. Even when things look ugly, or he's worried, he never likes showing it to me… She remembered pretty specifically about the time when Teisel didn't tell her about the money they had owed Loath when they built the first Gesellschaft, and quickly came to the realization that this wasn't always a good thing.

Then it suddenly hit her. She was going to go into space today…

She shivered in anticipation, and opened up her eyes.

"Time to prove I'm not just wasting all that money, hunh Teisel?" Tron said, getting up quickly. She was already fully clothed, having fallen asleep fully dressed.

"I guess so. You're just lucky you don't have ME to deal with up there. You can take that little blonde for SURE!" Teisel said, roaring into one of his trademark laughs.

"Speaking of, let's go out and see what Miss Blondie is up to…" Tron said. "She better not have gone without me!"

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In reality, Roll had been up the entire night, looking over the ready-to-launch rocket to calm her own frayed nerves. Ira, having gotten up a little earlier, had decided to watch Roll make her rounds around the rocket, nervously playing with the fringe on her pants.

Ira wasn't sure she was ready for the commitment she had made to these two, but she was ready to help them in any way she could. She had already had Roll load her digging weapons into the ship, and was currently asking Roll about what she would expect.

Roll, in her customary way of explaining everything, was glad for the distraction from her own thoughts.

"Well… No one has ever broken through the atmosphere before… I'm guessing that because there isn't any air over on the other side, we will be able to float gently through space without having to use any extra power. Space is frictionless, so we should be able to glide without anything acting against us! You see…"

Roll continued on her own little diatribe, as Ira slowly lost track of the physics involved in space flight…

She would never be as smart as Roll or Tron were. Kattlelox Island had their own schools, of course, but never an actual building for any kind of formal learning. Mostly people homeschooled their children, and Ira had figured that to be sufficient learning for ANYONE… It wasn't like life in their world was very difficult. Mostly, those kids who didn't end up living on one of the bigger islands ended up spending most of their time farming, or becoming diggers. A lot of things in life didn't revolve around being intellectual, and Ira was glad to know that, in those terms, she was actually pretty smart, comparatively. In addition, she was street wise, and she knew that had to count for something…

But these girls… Where did they keep all of their brains?

"… so everything will be weightless!" Roll said excitedly. Ira smiled politely, inwardly cursing her lack of knowledge. She wondered if Megaman was smart, and she decided she should work harder at improving herself as well…

At this very moment, the pinnacle of brainlessness in the forms of Osh, Jim, and Bensley came strolling over to the launch pad, sporting their new "Good Luck Girls!" T-Shirts (Courtesy of Bonne Industries!)

"Time for blast off!" Jim said excitedly, clapping his hands together in a manner that seemed to convey that all their hard work had finally paid off. Ira grinned over at the three. While she may not be as smart as Roll or Tron, she definitely had the edge on these three…

Roll looked at the trio, feeling her stomach drop into her feet… The moment was finally here!

What would she say to him? How would she feel looking at his face again?

She pictured in her mind's eye a devilishly handsome Megaman, turning to face her, framed in moonlight, surrounded by ancient technology.

"I didn't think I could live another minute up here without you…" dream Megaman said soothingly. Roll's legs buckled briefly, but then snapped back to the real world upon hearing the sounds of more footsteps approaching from behind.

Tron, Teisel, Barrell, Von Bleucher, Mayor Amelia of Kattlelox Island, and a number of other important political figures Roll wasn't very familiar with came striding up the grass, as the crowds milled around outside the protective perimeter.

"Well I'm so glad I didn't have to wake you up from another nap today, Blondie!" Tron said, smirking at her little joke.

"I think it's best if we get this over with quickly…" Barrell said, looking at the dignitaries and well-wishers here to see the three explorers off. "I think Megaman has been trapped up there long enough. Are you sure you want to go through with this?

All three nodded in unison.

" 'Well if you're going to do it, then do it' a wise man once said" Bleucher said, nudging Barrell in the ribs.

"Roll, Tron, I just wanted to come out here today to say we are all so very proud of what you've done, and we want you to know that our hearts go out to you to save Megaman…" Mayor Amelia said in a very serious tone. "We'll be waiting down here for you to get back!"

"OK!" Roll said, smiling again and putting her hands behind her back, "Don't worry about us, we'll be back again before you know it!"

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After having placed all the necessary equipment into the rocket, Roll, Tron, and Ira suited up in protective suits specially made by Roll for the occasion, which she said were called "Asbestos Suits". Even Tron was impressed with the design, but upon asking Roll what gave her the idea, Roll just said she had picked it up somewhere before…

"Well… All that leaves is the Gustaff!" Tron said, looking around for the mentioned machinery. "Where is 42? If he doesn't hurry up, I'll leave him behind!"

Servbot 42, however, was already in motion. Having been designed to be fully capable of handling the Gustaff's controls himself, he marched the mechanical monster onto the launch platform, to the tumultuous applause of the audience, who had begun to grow quite loud and excited for what would soon be happening.

"Servbot 42, reporting for launch!" 42 said, pushing open the hatch and saluting the group, before comically falling out of the Gustaff directly onto Teisel's foot.

"OWOWOWOWOWOWOW!" Teisel said, hopping around, as Roll helped him to his feet, and Tron began to load the Gustaff into the ship, rolling her eyes.

Afterwards, she came out of the cargo hold, and stood next to Tron, both shielding their eyes while looking up at the fantastic rocket they had built.

"There! It's ready!" Roll said.

"Then let's do it!" Ira said dramatically, heading towards the entrance elevator.

"Hold on you guys!" Jim said suddenly.

They all turned around, confused.

"It's bad luck to pilot a ship without a name!" Jim said wisely. "I don't think you can go anywhere until you've given it a proper name!"

Roll looked over at Ira, while Ira looked at Data, who was hopping around impatiently.

"Ummm…"

"The Zuhilfekommen!" Tron said, apparently pleased that she had spoken up first. "It means 'come to the rescue'!"

Roll nodded, smiling. "That sounds right to me!"

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The Kattlelox Reporter smiled and looked at the camera.

"It's a great day out today for what many believe to be the dawning of a new era for mankind. Tron Bonne and Roll Caskett have achieved the unthinkable, and were able to create a ship able to traverse into space, and on this historic day, we watch as these two heroes ascend to the heavens to bring back our noble hero, Megaman Volnutt! As many of you viewers are aware, Megaman Volnutt is the self-same hero who, 3 years ago, began his march to fame on our very own island of Kattlelox, saving us all from almost certain doom! Today, the Bonne and Caskett families have joined forces to… Hold on viewers, I'm just now receiving a special report! Apparently, the space rocket has been named! Astounding news! Mankind's space rocket is to be called the… the… Well what the heck does that say… I… I mean… The rocket is called the Zuhil..fekommen? An interesting choice to say the least! Leave it to the Bonnes to think of a crazy name for another crazy contraption!"

"…. But wait! What's that noise! I think… YES! The shuttle has begun its launch sequence, we will keep taping for all you viewers at home, for this great moment!"

And it was true, as Roll and Tron settled into their seats in the front of the rocket in the shuttle module, down on the launch pad, Professor Barrell had pressed the primer signal for the launching of the rocket. The crowd roared, and listened to the final stages of the rocket's preparation.

"GRAMPS, RELEASE THE DOCKING CLAMPS!" Roll's voice echoed out from the radio speakers set around the launch site.

"Got it!" Barrell replied, pulling on a green lever to his right, and Bleucher shielded his eyes to look up at the rocket.

"Well, here goes nothing…" He mumbled, looking over at Barrell with worry in his eyes. To his surprise, no such worry was mirrored in his oldest friend's eyes.

"Oh don't be such a coward!" Barrell said, sounding like his old self again. "Just think… In a few days, we'll be able to see my baby girl again!" Barrell said, practically skipping over to the shielded launch control a safe distance away from the main launch pad. "They are going to do it! I can feel it in my bones!"

Jim, Osh and Bensley had joined in at the very front of the crowd, all crossing their fingers and their toes.

Across the island, Apo and Dah sat on a hillock, looking over at the gleaming rocket.

"Deh going to get da blue guy now, eh Apo!"

"Dat ting gonna haft a go really high!"

"Boys!" Shu said impatiently behind them. "Megaman didn't give us these notes and pencils to just go to waste! Back to studying!"

"Awwww!"

Back at the rocket, Roll's hands began to sweat a little inside of her gloves, and decided that it was now or never…

"Tron?"

"Do it!"

"INITIATING COUNTDOWN SEQUENCE!" Roll yelled out, as the crowd began to applaud and cheer.

"T minus 60 seconds!" Tron yelled in the cockpit, as Ira grabbed her arm braces on her chair so tightly, she was surprised she didn't leave dents.

The Quadrum engine below them roared to life, the refractors glowing and spinning at a breathtaking pace.

"Engines optimal! Air supply at the max!" 42 squealed into the intercom, where he was stationed in the maintenance module of the rocket.

"5…4…..3….2….1…" Roll said…

"BLAST OFF!" Tron screamed, as she released the throttle and the shuttle began to rumble and shake.

"Come on…. Come on… Hold on! We're taking off!" Roll said triumphantly, attempting to look at the readouts while the shuttle lurched off the ground at a tremendous pace.

The crowd gasped as the rocket pulled away from Terra, leaving a trail of white smoke behind.

"Yes! Yesyesyesyesyes!" Tron said ecstatically. "Everything is going great!"

"Altitude on the line! Velocity constant!" Roll yelled over the roar

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Ira screamed in the back, clearly not comprehending anything other than the incredible pressure that seemed to be trying to meld her into her own chair. "This is bbaaaaaadddddd!" she continued, closing her eyes…

The rocket blasted through the clear blue sky, leaving all of the little people on the island behind, growing smaller and smaller below them.

"Wow…" Was all Tron could say, turning her head towards the side port windows, fighting the crushing force of the liftoff to look out over the clear blue ocean that seemed to stretch on forever… "I can see…. All the islands…"

Roll, however, was looking straight ahead, through the beautifully clear shuttle exterior into the stars. "This is unbelieveable!"

Ira attempted to not throw up in the cockpit, knowing that it would come back right into her face, the beauty of the moment clearly lost on her…

And then, it was over, as the shuttle began to break through the atmosphere, the friction against the rocket ceased to be a problem, and suddenly, the rocket pulled into an orbit and there, beneath the three of them, the entire world lay below.

Ira finally opened her eyes, and caught her breath at what she saw

It was truly the most amazing thing mankind had ever seen…

"It's… it's…. the whole world!" Ira said, completely breathless… "Look…"

Tron grasped the controls again, after slightly losing her grip during the initial takeoff. "I knew it would work, I just knew it! We are complete geniuses, you know that? I can't believe we didn't think to bring a camera! I'd LOVE to see the look on Teisel's face if he could see THIS!"

Roll was too astounded to say anything. She never thought, in a thousand years, that one day her travels would bring her up here. It was almost too much to take.

Suddenly, the real reason for their journey suddenly came into view over the horizon.

Elysium…

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"N…NN…NO!" Megaman stuttered, holding out his buster gun, although obviously not truly intending on using it.

Things could not have been any different on the artificial planet. The three rescuees had decided to stay within the most interior portion of the planet, the Central Command Center, for as long as it took them to be rescued. But everyday they were becoming more and more sure that help was never going to arrive.

Or if it was, it was going to be too late for Megaman.

The machines that had created the artificial food that the ancient humans had eaten had all been completely destroyed after the final shut down of Elysium's main functions, and the food had dried up about a week previously. Unfortunately for Megaman, this meant that starvation was clearly becoming a large concern. However, the more pressing one, and the one that had finally come to claim him, was that of the cold.

"GG.. Get A..Away!" Megaman said again, pressing his slowly freezing form against the computer panel behind him for support, as he tried to stay standing. His entire body had become blue with cold, and he was shaking violently.

"Megaman! We cannot allow you to do this!" Sera said seriously, as Yuna held out her arms to him in a plea.

"Megaman, please! We don't want you to die! This is ridiculous! It isn't selfish to want to survive! Let us help you!"

"NN…Noth…hh…inng… is going to….sa..save... me now, Y..Yuna." Megaman chattered. "All I'd do i..is.. take away another …dday from the…w….world… You have to understand!" He finished forcefully.

"No! I don't understand! What do you think this will prove? And what do you think Roll, or Data, or anybody else on Terra would think if they saw you now? They don't want you to kill yourself because you think you are being noble! You think they are going to be happy when they come here and find that you had decided to freeze yourself because you didn't want to have to deal with the responsibility of living?" Yuna said harshly.

Megaman looked at her with an icy glare. "N..No one… ii..is. com..coming Yuna…" Megaman said, in an almost defeated voice.

"This is utter foolishness." Sera said finally, striding across the room to Megaman. "If you wish to shoot, then do so, but you won't stop me. I am overriding the systems and heating this room. We can calculate how much time Terra loses later."

The answering buster shot at her feet stunned both Yuna and Sera, who looked up at Megaman with a totally new look.

Megaman stared hard at Sera, thinking in his slowly freezing mind about what she had just said, and how little she seemed to care about Terra…

It was an innocent comment… a small voice in his head spoke. They care about you, they're your friends…

I can't risk that.

"I can't let you do that Sera." Megaman said coldly, briefly forgetting his chattering teeth. "The people down there mean more to me than anything, and I won't let them down now… I'll just have to…"

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING!

The computer behind Megaman suddenly burst into life, scaring all three of them from the tense moment that Megaman had created.

UNIDENTIFIED SPACECRAFT FROM UNKNOWN ORIGIN APPROACHING FACILITY. DESTINATION VECTOR HAS BEEN DETERMINED AS A LANDING SEQUENCE UPON ELYSIUM'S SURFACE.

ACTIVATION OF ELYSIUM OUTER DEFENSE IMPOSSIBLE DUE TO SYSTEMS SHUT DOWN.

INTERNAL DEFENSE POWER….. MINIMAL….

They all stood in a stunned silence, but didn't for long. Megaman's last stand had completely drained the last of his energy. He collapsed onto the floor, his blue lips parting to say what he had been planning to say…

"Spacecraft…?"

Yuna and Sera rushed over to him

"Megaman! Megaman, wake up! Don't fall asleep, Megaman, or you'll never wake up!" Yuna yelled, as Sera stood over them both, addressing the computer.

"Computer, generate image of spacecraft." Sera said smoothly.

COMMAND ACKNOWLEDGED

Once again, a hologram appeared, showing what appeared to be a giant rocketship, complete with the Bonne insignia, and colored like the Flutter, appearing in the middle of the room.

"I… I don't believe it!" Yuna said, shaking Megaman. "Megaman! Look! They've come! They've come for us! It's going to be all right!"

Megaman's eyes opened slowly, and looked at the yellow and red ship in the middle of the room…

Roll….

Tron…

Terra…

They were coming for him…

SPACECRAFT'S ARRIVAL HAS BEEN DEEMED A THREAT BY PRIMARY ANALYSIS. INTERNAL SYSTEM POWER REROUTED TO DEFENSIVE GRID. PRIORITY: DESTRUCTION OF INTRUDERS.'

"INTERRUPT COMMAND! PRIORITY COMMAND REROUTED TO MOTHER UNIT SERA!" Sera yelled, alarmed.

PRIORITY COMMAND REQUEST REJECTED. DUE TO STATE OF EMERGENCY, ALL AUTHORITY REROUTED TO MASTER. AWAITING CONFIRMATION.

"The Master is Dead!" Sera yelled back at the computer. "I am the final authority aboard Elysium now!"

ACCESS DENIED MOTHER UNIT SERA. MASTER GENETIC SEQUENCE DETECTED, PRIORITY COMMAND IS UNABLE TO BE REROUTED IN STATE OF EMERGENCY AS PER ORDINANCE 1105.

"Damn it!" Yuna said, looking down at Megaman, who understood the situation, even in his current state…

"The…The.. M…Maaster… Gave it …t…to me…" Megaman said sporadically.

"We know, Megaman, we know, it will be alright, try to keep moving, keep the blood flowing ok? Stay with us, we are going to need you for this for sure!" Yuna said, trying to smile. "Blowing up Reaverbots is a specialty of yours… isn't it?"

"W..We.. nn..nneed… to…to…" Megaman tried, but started shaking again.

"I know what we need to do." Sera interrupted, "Relinquish your weapons Trigger. We're going out to stop them ourselves…"

WARNING! WARNING! ALL STATIONS ON HIGH ALERT! MOTHER UNITS ATTEMPTING SABOTAGE EFFORTS! MOTHER UNITS SERA AND YUNA, AS WELL AS FIRST CLASS PURIFIER UNIT MEGAMAN TRIGGER HAVE BEEN DEEMED ABBERRANT! DESTROY ON SIGHT! INITIATING LOCK DOWN!

The door of the Central Command thundered closed, and the large Reaverbot eye in the center began to glow, like a locked door.

"What? How are we going to get out now?" Yuna said, jumping up with Megaman in her arms, who was slowly rising at the thought of getting off of this dreadful dead planet.

"Well, we need to override both this door and the door to the dock. Otherwise that ship will never be able to make it into Elysium." Sera said calmly.

She walked over to the control station, and slammed her fist down hard into the metal. It gave beneath the crushing blow, and she ripped the piece of metal out of her way, and she placed her hand into the circuits.

"A 'manual' override Sera?" Yuna said, with just the slightest hint of a smirk on her face.

Sera, who had apparently reverted back to her old, commanding self at the situation, was not at all pleased with Yuna's attitude. " We need to release Matilda's stasis pod in the docking chamber…. Done…. And now… the door…."

DOCKING BAY DOOR RELEASED. COMMAND ROOM DEACTIVATED TO PREVENT ABBERANT ESCAPE.

Suddenly, all the lights went out, and the panel died beneath Sera's hand, who pulled it out.

"We have been shut down. There is no way I can open this door now to reach the Dock." Sera said in a tone that in every way sounded sharp and biting.

"I… I kno…ow… how…." Megaman said, and attached the Shining Laser onto his right arm.

Roll always did say this was her most dangerous weapon. Let's find out how dangerous….

Megaman pulled the trigger at the door, and watched it begin to melt away.

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"Well how exactly are we supposed to get in there?" Tron said, looking out upon Elysium's surface, without finding any particularly promising entrances becoming apparent.

"Can't we just blow our way through a porthole or something?" Ira said. "It's useful sometimes in ruins, when the doors are rusted shut…"

Roll looked at Ira, and smiled sadly. "We would, but the Zuhilfekommen doesn't have any weapons… Aside from the Gustaff, and we can't open up anything to go out into space, or we will all…"

"Die." Tron said, clearly attempting to put a stop to Ira's idea before it led to any bad decisions. "I know we can get in there, if we just… Wait! There!"

Suddenly, below them, a sliver of light began to show in the huge orb that hung in space below them. What appeared to be a door was slowly coming into existence, and Tron smiled back at Ira. "See? No problem! I knew we would find a way in there if we looked hard enough! 42! Stand by for docking procedures!" Tron yelled into the intercom.

42, however, was in no position to do anything. After leaving the atmosphere, and gravity, Servbot 42 had been floating around through space, his arms and legs flailing about useless in an attempt to control his motion and grab hold of something to right himself with…

"uhhh… Rodger…." He said pitifully, and his head bumped into the ceiling yet again.

Tron, however, lightly pressed on the controls to the rocket, which responded to her willingly. Tron looked smugly over at the blonde spotter, obviously pleased with herself. If there was one thing that Tron Bonne could do well, it was piloting a ship, whether out in space or back on the ground.

"Let's see if I can thread the needle on this one!"

Roll looked over at the smug pilot. "It's fine, Tron. You can say you're the better pilot, I'm not arguing with you again about this."

Ira rolled her eyes, as Tron lowered the rocket towards the surface, inching towards the expanding doorframe, and sliding through it smoothly, before looking around slowly.

"There! There's Megaman's ship! I don't believe it! We made it!" Roll said, excitedly pointing through the bridge of the ship.

There, sure enough, was the same ship Megaman had taken off in from Calbania Island, still resting in the center of the Dock. Luckily for the three girls, the Dock was big enough to accommodate the Zuhilfekommen.

"I'm glad that we could even land this thing, I was actually pretty worried about it…" Tron said.

"But you seemed so confident before!" Ira said, half laughing.

The rocket slowly settled down, pointing up towards the high ceiling, as the Dock Bay door began closing high above them.

The Door closed with a tremendous sound, and suddenly, they were engulfed in silence.

The three girls looked at each other, taken a little off guard.

Ira was the first to speak, "Uh… so… what should we do now? Can we… you know… even get out?"

Roll and Tron pondered that for a second, and then Tron smiled and began to unfasten herself from her seat. To their surprise, she didn't float. Apparently, Elysium had some form of gravity.

Tron looked at Roll. "If Megaman came up here, then it has to be at least tolerable out there." She looked at a monitor behind Ira, who slid slightly out of the way so she could get a better view. "All the readings outside say that we can breathe out there, so apparently it has some form of atmosphere…"

"Amazing…." Roll remarked, looking out the bridge window, taking in their bearings for the first time. She was astounded by the level of sophistication and technological prowess that would be required to create such a large planet. "This is crazy…"

Tron bounded up suddenly, accidently smashing her head into the ceiling comically, but still maintaining her air of command.

"Right! (ow) Um… Ok! Let's move out! Everyone, let's get out of the rocket and start looking for Megaman! It's obvious that he made it, so he's still here somewhere! 42! Release the Gustaff! I'll pilot that, and you two can cover me. We aren't sure what we will find, but once we find Megaman, he can show us how to get back here!"

"Just in case, I think we should take this…" Roll said, pulling out a small, sophisticated piece of equipment. "It's just an autotracker, we use it sometimes on digs when Megaman needs to find his way back to the surface quickly. We usually use it after he finds the refractor, that way he makes it back right away!"

"Oooh, cool! I need to get one of those!" Ira said, her eyes full of wonder at the little piece of equipment. "I can't tell you how many times I…"

"Come on!" Tron interrupted. "Are you two girls just going to sit around all day playing tea party, or are we going to do what we came here to do?"

*Gustaff deployed, Miss Tron!* 42 chirped through the intercom. *Should I, um, wait here?*

"We're coming!" Roll said, unfastening her own chair and crawling towards the rear of the rocket, Ira following behind. Ira, who may have been less prepared for the actual journey, was now feeling much more in her element. They reached the maintenance module just above the engines, where the Gustaff and other equipment were being held, and Roll pointed to a set of blue digger's armor sitting on top of a few odds and ends.

"Ira, I stored your armor there. And I'll use this!" She held up an armor set of black. Roll noted the similarities in the armor Ira wore to Megaman's own, but was pleased to see that the armor she had made Megaman seemed to be superior in design to both of these sets.

Then she remembered that that may not be a good thing at the moment, and frowned slightly.

"I have a few weapons here too, if you nee…" Ira began.

"No thank you, Ira! I decided that I would bring a few of my own!" And indeed, Roll donned the black armor, and attached what appeared to be a version of Megaman's own Buster Gun, and something Ira did not recognize.

Tron looked at it speculatively. Then smiled slightly as her eyes glazed over in glee.

"Heh, that's a good idea for a portable weapon. I'll have to see about making one of my own. It uses a wave function, running on a cosine variation right? Glyde never saw THAT coming…"

"Yeah, it was a little difficult to tweak the…"

Ira piped in suddenly, "What are you two talking about?"

Roll looked over at Ira sweetly. "I'm sorry Ira, Tron and I were just talking about this!" She held up the weapon that was attached to her left arm. It looked to be something like a radar disc. "It's called a Parabola Gun! Have you ever been to Nino Island?"

Ira shook her head.

Roll smiled, "That's ok. Basically, all it does is fire out high frequency waves that distort electrical currents of whatever it hits. It isn't particularly lethal on its own to people, but it can have a wide range of effects, because it completely distorts the electrical signals in the brain, basically rendering you completely incapable of fighting!"

Tron snorted comically. "For some simple creatures, getting hit with this makes you completely lose your mind, and you may end up hurting yourself! I wonder how Glyde is doing these days?" She laughed.

Ira wasn't sure she understood. "But why bring it? I'm pretty sure we aren't going to be finding any kind of people up here…?"

"You're right, but this gun is REALLY lethal to machines. If you short circuit a Reaverbot, it may destroy itself, or even start attacking its own kind!" Roll said, looking at the little device. "It's isn't really upgraded fully, but I'm pretty sure it will do the trick!"

"Well come on then, let's go!" Tron said, reaching for the escape hatch.

They all crowded around, looking at the door.

"One... Two… THREE!" Tron said as she bashed open the door and they jumped outside.

They were not quite prepared for what greeted them.

"Holy cow!" Ira said, shivering at the other two. "It's gotta be twenty below out here!"

Roll looked at Tron, who had begun to shake in the cold, as she wasn't wearing any sort of armor. "Get into the Gustaff, Tron, we don't want you to turn into a popsicle!"

Tron nodded and got into the Gustaff, as Servbot 42 popped his head out onto the top. "Hi Miss Roll! Miss Ira!"

Roll smiled in a preoccupied way, as the Gustaff suddenly came to life and looked right at her. It was almost as though she could see Tron's face echoed through the Gustaff's metal exterior.

If it was this cold… Then Megaman…

"We need to hurry…" Roll said, feeling her heart strumming even through the armor.

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"This way! Hurry!" Yuna yelled, taking the lead as a group of Fingerii appeared, shooting out a barrage of yellow energy balls at the three potential escapees.

Megaman's frozen fingers could barely squeeze the trigger of the Shining Laser, which collided into the first Reaverbot, and shot right through him into the other three behind. Zenny blasted off in every direction as Yuna yanked him and Sera forward, trying to get them to run. "We don't have much time! We can't stop the Reaverbots from attacking!"

Sera looked at Yuna. "I believe that we may require more firepower…"

Sera closed her eyes, focusing her energy. Megaman watched as, much like it had happened before, Sera seemed to be giving off a massive amount of light and energy, as many colored lights danced around the dark hallway, and there, once again, stood Sera in her battle form. Megaman numbly remembered the fight within the library, and was glad to know that this time she wouldn't be directing those powers at him.

"Let us proceed." Sera said, who seemed to have completely lost any of her previous impatience or emotion.

A large group of Gorbesh began to march out from a door to their right, and Sera let out a torrent of familiar energy at them, blowing them back into the room they came from.

"Move!" Sera yelled commandingly, and Yuna, helping Megaman to walk, followed along behind, yelling to Sera

"We need to get to the Docking Bay! The quickest way to get there is through the Defense Area from here!"

"Affirmative. This will not be easy."