Run: Proto Bot.
New memory detected. Partially accessed. Full syncronization in progress...
...
...
Syncronization underway. Identity: Roll.
A history appeared in her mind. It was the history of a girl-bot built by a loving scientist, and she had brothers. Data raged onwards, through periods of war, each ended by a robot in blue. Friends and enemies alike rushed across her mind as the memories of days long past recounted themselves. And then the loss began, of first her creator, then her friends, her brother, her home...herself. But she wasn't gone. She came back, with new faces, new friends...and new enemies. And then the black returned, with no light in the distance. It felt like an eternity - it felt like an instant. And then it was over.
"Roll...?"
She didn't recognize the voice. It was one she had never heard before. Her vocal database didn't have a match for it. And so she opened her eyes. Roll was laying down on some sort of flat surface, but that was not the first thing that she noticed. She was in small laboratory with only two repair tables and yet walls covered in nothing but tools. This too she paid no mind. Standing there was a robot in blue, tall and noble. His gentle face had long been loaded into her memory data. She sat up, smiling as if there was no smile big enough for this occasion.
"Y'know, I kind of thought that when we met, things would be the other way around."
Mega Man X returned the smile as he reached out his hand. Roll took it, coming down from the repair table. Before one of her feet even landed on the ground, Roll rushed forward, holding her youngest brother in a tight embrace. He was younger, but not "littler" - X had to get on a knee to be able to hug her properly. But he didn't care. This was his sister. For so many years she had been nothing but a picture and a page or so of data in his mind, but now she was real, one more reminder of the goodness of Dr. Light. Neither sibling was sure that they ever wanted to let go.
"Ah, and Bass!" Roll abruptly said, afraid something might have happened to him. "Oh please, he's here too, right?"
"Yeah, yeah." a very familiar voice said. "I said I would be, didn't I?"
X directed her to the side of the room, where the fin-headed robot was sheepishly leaning against the wall, arms folded. It took him completely off-guard when he too became the next victim of Roll's ever-tightening embrace. Fortunately for Bass, one awkward moment later Roll remembered who it was. She, however didn't seem to notice quite how awkward it had been. Or perhaps she was too distracted by her own emotion. Forte caught a glimpse of her eyes as she pulled away, and for a moment they shone as if with tears.
"Oh Bass, it was so horrible!" Roll managed through her grief. "I thought that you were gone...and Sona-chan! If you made it, then did she - ?"
Even before she had finished speaking, Bass lowered his eyes to the ground. Biting his lip, his shook his head stiffly, just enough to convey a definite "no".
"But the capsule! Please, Dr. Light has to be here!"
Bass sighed. This was harder than he had imagined. "The capsule stopped working a couple of months ago."
Roll fought to keep herself from sobbing. "Did you at least get to talk to him?"
"No." Bass answered flatly. "I wasn't there."
"So...no one else survived?" Roll couldn't help the whining tone her voice took, but it was all she could do not to burst into tears. "Not even Auto or...Eddie...or Snake Man?"
"Snake Man?" This took Bass off his guard. "Why the crap do you care about him?"
"Oh! That's right, you weren't there for that." Roll sniffed. "I made a lot more friends after you guys...died..."
"It's just me now." Bass muttered, wrinkling his nose. "Sorry."
Almost any attack Bass would have noticed at once, but for the second time, Roll caught him in a tight embrace, weeping and sobbing into his chestplate. "Thank you for still being alive, Bass! Thank you so much!"
Once she noticed what she was doing, Roll expected him to push her away with a number of complaints. Much to her surprise she found that Bass had extended his arms around her shoulders in a nice, if a bit awkward, hug. Too overtaken by her crying, Roll just went on.
"Wow...you do have a heart..." X said, even more surprised than Roll.
Bass rolled his eyes, growling at X. "It makes them shut up faster."
As much as she was crying, Roll let out a tearful laugh. Bass' blunt commentary was something familiar, the nearest thing she had to any semblance of normalcy. No matter how rude and out of place it was, Roll was grateful for it.
"I'm glad someone made it. It was so horrible..." Roll managed, uncertain if she wanted to go on. "But...you were there for most of it."
X approached Roll from behind and he put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to say anything about that time if it's too hard for you."
"Well...you'll want to know sometime...and at some point, I'll want to tell you. But for right now-" Roll brightened, letting go of Bass and making herself forget all of the things she'd had to face alone. She wasn't alone any longer, and she didn't want to behave like it. She took a deep breath and tried her hardest to smile up at X. "I want to know all about what's going on now, with my brother! Wow, I'm so happy that you lived! I fought so hard...well, not as hard as Rock, but I did my best! I'm just happy that's over now."
Her brother looked confused, and both of the guy-bots in the room seemed to falter a bit. The softness in X's gaze trembled slightly and what little happiness Bass showed faded also. Roll turned from one robot to the other, trying to understand. What were they hiding from her?
"Roll..." X began. "Many years have passed, and you'll find that things today aren't...quite what Dr. Light imagined for the future. We do what we can, but right now a war still rages."
Bass went over to the one computer in the room, reaching over the keyboard to push a small button under the monitor. Out of a nearby slot, a disc emerged, and Bass pulled it out as he went back to the girl-bot. He handed it to Roll with aprehension, holding it out gruffly in a strange attempt to numb her to whatever terrible data the disc had encoded into it.
"This is everything you need to know about what's happened since the apocalypse." Roll didn't always like Bass' blunt tone, and she was especially uncertain as he explained the disc. "I didn't want to install it right away, because it's already hard enough that you have to deal with having to re-sync to your original memory card after using your secondary one for so long. Use it whenever you're ready."
"I..."
Roll stared at the disc, almost afraid. But she couldn't just ignore whatever this new time period faced. She would have to know what was going on. If a war was being fought, then she would have to be there for X as much as she could, and she wouldn't be able to do that if she didn't understand anything. All the same...
"I won't use it now." Roll finally said. "I'll just save it for later. Right now I want to meet all your friends, and the doctor that owns this lab. He must be wonderful if you work for him!"
Once again merry, the girl-bot reached out and took the disc, with her right arm. It wasn't until she had held the disc for a second that she realized the importance of this small act.
"I have my hand again!" Roll exclaimed, waving it about in the air and wriggling her fingers. "The energy sword generator is gone!"
In meeting the others Roll had completely forgotten to check on her body. It was entirely new, and as well as having her normal, thin, and delightfully feminine right arm back, she also had normal legs again. Her new outfit brought a smile to her face - it was so darling! The top was an extra long blouse, white with several tiny red flowers printed all over it. It came with a thin silver belt that circled her waist - it was definitely for fashion and not function. Under the blouse she wore red shorts that came down to just above her knees. They were simple and had no design, but Roll liked them anyway, tucking the disc into a side pocket.
"I look like myself again!" Roll exclaimed gleefully. "Well, except for this..."
Roll lifted her left arm, and despite her lovely return to girlishness instead of pieced together armors, there was still the thick, oval metal around her left wrist - a buster. Her small, delicate-looking hand was dwarfed by it, though her computer mind assured her that at any time her hand could disassemble into a fully operational weapon. It was red as her outfit, but it was still a weapon, another reminder that some things could never return to normal.
"It's the Mega Buster, sort of." Bass said quietly. "I thought you'd want to have it. Both your weapons didn't work when we found you, so I just combined them. When you fight - if you ever have to - then you can convert your left hand to the buster. It will be a normal sword until you charge it, then it's a projectile."
Roll looked uncertainly at the weapon, telling herself that she should be grateful. Yet the idea that she should be both Roll and a fighter filled her with horror. Dr. Light hadn't designed her for war, and despite the fact that she was forced to fight in the past, it was different then. In those days she had to give up her girlishness with armor from all three of her brothers - she hadn't been the Roll she was meant to be. And now that she was built back to her original specifications, it didn't fit somehow.
Seeing her uncertainty (and X's from behind her), Bass frowned. "I'm not going to leave you defenseless, no matter what you say."
"Wait a minute, you did this?"
"That's right." X told her. "Bass was able to determine your specs from his memories of you, and he helped Alia build you this new body."
"You can actually do that?" Roll still couldn't grasp that Bass would ever do anything constructive.
"Eh, Sonata made me learn about robotics." Bass lifted one side of his mouth, for a moment having the appearance of someone ever-so-slightly humble. "I did what I could."
"I really do like it." Roll assured him, happily wriggling her dextrous fingers. "It's so wonderful to have both hands! And my mind feels so much better! No lag or anything!"
Bass's growing smirk, arrogant as it was, made Roll laugh. That was the Bass she knew.
"Alia did a lot of the work as well." X reminded Bass, not unamused. "She did construct most of Roll's new CPU."
"Alia?" Roll asked. "Can I meet her?"
"Sure," The smile of X down on Roll was like sunshine. "Everyone is waiting to meet you."
The room they were in was a separate lab from the rest of the work area, and once the door opened, Roll gasped at the sight before her. This laboratory was the largest that she had ever seen, containing different stations. Far to the left she could see the automated machines, and it must have been a round room as that part of it curled around and out of sight. Also to the left was the armor station, which took up the rest of the left side, and to the right were the weapons development and testing areas, as well as an ammo preparation section that was secluded by transparent, bullet-proof panels.
"This is Maverick Hunter Headquarters." X explained. "We're a reploid-only law enforcement agency that handles robot-related crime."
The far wall was a window, and Roll felt tempted to run over to it and look outside. But she knew there would be time for tours later. For now, there would be friends to make, and the first of which was a green and blue girl-bot, whose "blonde" hair consisted of strips of yellow metal.
"Wow, you look just like X!" the girl-bot delightedly exclaimed as she approached. "Well, mostly. Cuteness must run in the family!" Pallette winked at X, who only rolled his eyes.
"Really? I haven't got a look at my face since I was rebuilt."
Wondering what the rest of her looked like, Roll looked around for some sort of mirror. But it was a very complex labs, filled with reploid parts, computers, wires, cords and pipes, not mirrors.
"You boys! Ya don't know that much about us girl-bots, huh?" Pallette cheerfully pulled out of her pack a small mirror with bronze, guilded borders. "Here, sweetie, you can see yourself here. Thought you might want to."
"And she's Pallette, by the way." X mentioned.
"Oh yeah!" she blushed as she handed the mirror to Roll. "Hi there!"
Roll lifted the mirror to see her face, and she immediately brightened. It wasn't a facscimile or a redesign, it was her own face, new and fresh as the day when she had been activated. The only difference was that her golden blonde hair was being held up by a red headband. Roll giggled.
"Wow, I do look like me again! Thank you, Pallette!" Roll gave the mirror back, and the navigator packed it away again, back into the jumble of wires, discs, and data devices that made up the junky interior of her purse. "Aw, you're so lucky, Roll! Between Alia and Bass, you're really well built! They did such a good job on you!"
"Didn't he? I really love it!"
As she imagined, the effect this had on Bass was a significant one. He stood a little straighter and grinned a bit deeper, enough to make Roll have to force herself not to giggle. Bass hadn't changed that much. By his smug grin and arrogant posture, Roll could tell that he was just as arrogant as ever. Well, she would let him be this time. He earned it. But as she saw the oncoming approach of another robot, this one a strawberry brunette with black and grey armor, she froze.
"Cool, it's really you!" he exclaimed as he walked up. "I'm Axl! It's nice to meet you...uh, why are you staring at me?"
"I'm sorry, it's that you look so much like an old friend of mine..."
"Oh, you mean Crystal Bot! I'm based off her! And Bass too."
Bass immediately interrupted, rushing through his next words to make absolutely sure that Roll didn't misunderstand. "Look, Roll, okay, there was this time when me and Crystal were found by this scientist, and she-"
There were times when X really enjoyed his superior height to the dark robot, and this was definitely one of them. He grabbed a headfin and shoved Bass aside, promptly interrupting him. "Axl is their son."
"What?" Roll laughed it up, deviously smirking at Bass. "Aw, Forte-kun is a dad! That's so cute!"
"Grrr!" Bass hissed, slapping X's hand out of the way. "Robots don't have family! Axl was just based on us because the chick that created him...well she was crazy or something! I don't know!"
"That's cruel, Bass." Roll teased him, going and putting an arm around the young Hunter. "Poor Axl, you must feel like such an orphan."
"Yeah! 'Dad', you're such a deadbeat." Axl joked.
"ROBOTS DON'T HAVE FAMILY! And what did I just tell you about calling me that?"
"Oh sorry, father, but I think I'm a little too old for a spanking."
X laughed so hard he could hardly stand it. "Okay you guys, let's not torture Bass anymore. That's enough. And he's not exactly a deadbeat, Roll. He's been showing Axl new techniques for fighting with rapid-fire weapons any chance he can get. And now that you're built, he'll have more time for it."
"Aw, you are a good dad after all."
Roll was genuinely impressed that Bass was helping Axl, despite her teasing. She didn't know that he had the patient to teach anyone anything. He certainly wasn't patient enough to put up with the mockery of the others. The narrow slits his eyes had become as he glared at Roll were looking very characteristic of his old self.
"You're lucky I spent the past half-month building you, Roll." His tone was gruff. "I don't feel like having to do that again soon."
And yet despite his dark mannerisms, Roll didn't believe him. She didn't know if it was that Bass somehow seemed more kind - was it his voice or his posture that showed this? - or if she was somehow more tough. But she didn't question it. She wanted to observe Axl some more. He really did look like Crystal Bot, and his hair was a combination of both robots'. And maybe Bass didn't see it, but Axl definitely had his cheekbones. "Son" or not, Axl was a perfect approximation of how both robots would look combined.
"Aw, Crystal Bot would just love you." Roll gushed. "I wish she were here to meet you!"
"She would?" Axl was equally enthusiastic. "Bass let me have some memories of her."
"Oh come on, you guys are not fair!" another girl-bot, this one taller and in pink, lightly protested. "I've been working on Roll for half a month, and you activate her without me?"
"Well it's not our fault that you got called to work." X said, likewise jokingly.
Coming from the armor division, Alia was hauling a huge chestplate for another reploid, freshly made. She thunked this on a nearby countertop before reaching out to shake Roll's hand. "Hi, I'm Alia, Chief Navigator of the Maverick Hunters, and sometime reploid-mechanics specialist. They really work me hard here!"
"Don't act as if you don't love every minute of it." X said. "If you ever had a day off you'd spend it doing research for future missions."
"I know that feeling." Roll said. "I don't know what I could do if someone told me I couldn't clean house."
Another reploid walked up as Roll spoke to Alia, and with curiousity the housekeeper-bot turned to tall, dignified newcomer.
"And there's the evil overlord now." Bass smirked.
Signas glanced only somewhat in Bass' direction, but with the slightest of expressions he conveyed a mild humor. "Good morning, Roll. I am Commander Signas. Contrary to what you are told, I am less evil than Bass would have you believe."
"Yeah, and that's why you send me on all those stupid, almost suicidal missions."
"I'm going to have to get rid of you somehow."
"Bastard." Bass snickered.
"Hello, sir." The girl-bot curtsyed out of manners, which was difficult to do without a skirt. "It's nice to meet you."
The military nature of the Hunters HQ was starting to get to Roll. Was it always like this? X was a part of it? Dr. Light didn't create his robots for military purposes. Then again, he had told Roll about the mind he had given X. She looked up at her taller brother (actually, everyone was taller than her), with wonder in her eyes. X must have joined this group for good reasons. That was what his thirty years of testing was for. Had he formed the group in the first place?
X smiled down at his sister, but misunderstood her concern. "You don't need to be so formal. Signas doesn't run things that way."
"Oh! Sorry!" Roll giggled nervously. "There's just so much I have to get used to."
"It's okay, you can hang out with me and Layer!" Palette was always jolly. "Just wait til you meet her. She's on duty in navigation now, but us girls can go hang out together sometime. It'll be fun! Oh yeah, and you too Alia!"
"Thanks for remembering me, Pallette." Alia laughed. "A girl's night out sounds fun. You should come out with us, Roll."
"Sure, but I think I need to spend some time with X first." Roll grabbed X's hand, and he squeezed back. "He is my brother, after all!"
"I totally understand." Pallette nodded. "Oh! It's time for me to go on shift in navigation. I better run off. I'll see you later, Roll!"
Roll waved as Pallette went off. She liked Pallette's cheerfulness. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad here. X sure had a lot of friends in this organization. An old, creeping fear began to return: where in all of this did Roll fit in? She tried not to shiver. It was just the same as right after Dr. Light died...her original purpose had been to care for him, and that was it. There were no openings for anything else. And now that she was in a reploids' only organization, what use could she possibly be? Roll shook aside her fears for now. She just wanted to focus on learning all she could and make friends. Let all the serious things wait for some other time.
As she was thinking all these things, Roll glanced over to the side. There was a red robot there, and he had long, blonde hair. Roll loved it at once - what robot had hair like that? Once she saw his face, however, she forgot all about his shining locks. It was stiff, not cold or stern, but unsettled. He had the look of someone that didn't ask too much from life - and wasn't getting even that. He paid no heed to any of the robots around him, but busily worked doing something Roll didn't quite understand at a computer.
Maybe he's filing a report or something. Poor thing. He looks lonely.
"Why does that robot over there look so sad?" Roll pointed over in the blonde's direction. "Who is he?"
X glanced over, shocked to see Zero. He hadn't expected Roll to notice him first. It made him a bit nervous. And for Zero's part, well, he looked just the same as he always did. Why did Roll think he was unhappy? He and Zero had been friends for a long time; was he really having this hard of a time reading his emotion?
"I don't think he's sad." Axl said, likewise unsure.
Seeing who they were talking about, Alia scowled, trying to distract the newcomer. "Roll, why don't you-"
"Why don't you talk to him?" X suddenly interrupted. "He's a good friend of mine, and if he's sad it will cheer him up to meet you."
"That sounds like a good idea!"
Normally no one was a match for Bass' evil grimaces, other than Mavericks, but Alia's enraged glare at X was really giving him a run for his money. It had the even greater affect of being on a far more innocent face. Only X knew the best way to get back at her - pay it no mind. This had no visible reaction on Bass, who only followed Roll at a polite distance, silently urging Axl to come along with him. Alia's glare was really only affective on the young Hunter, who shuddered as he followed Forte.
Signas however, was not going to let it pass. Before Alia had gone two steps or opened her mouth to protest, the Commander had stopped her. A few quiet words later, and Alia soured even worse. But she did calm down. Signas' narrow eyes still focused on her, and Alia uncomfortably bore several more words, no less harsh for being inaudible to anyone else. With only one faint protest, Alia seemed to accept - not graciously - the lecture. She hammered her lips together as Signas ordered her to leave.
"Are you crazy? This can go really wrong. I'm only thinking of Roll-"
"You have work to do, Alia."
Signas was aware of the risk, ignoring Alia as she finally walked away. She bitterly wondered if Signas had specifically wanted her to work on the Hunter's armors when Roll was activated. Why was Signas always defending Zero?
Zero had forced himself to enter the engineering complex ever since he heard that Roll was ready to be activated. It was the worst feeling ever, and once X and Bass had disappeared into the private side lab, Zero was tense. He waited on the side, doing some reports for the 17th squad as he wondered what he would do when Roll came out to meet everyone. He had good reason to be: Roll knew everything about him. Roll had been there during the robot apocalypse, and there was no reason to assume she knew anything less about Zero's past than Bass did. Bass himself had warned him about it.
But that was getting ahead of things. Zero had first been approached by X, and they had a long, awkward conversation about how he probably shouldn't be there when Roll was activated. Zero was glad that the conversation had been with X. With anyone else, it would have been too painful. And it was X's sister, too. He was worried that Roll would be frightened of Zero.
"Maybe there's some way she can get to know you gradually, and see who you really are." X had said. "In time, I'm sure she can see you as the reploid I know you to be."
Bitterly, Zero sighed. Soon after that conversation, Zero very hesitantly asked Bass his opinion. That was when he learned that Roll already knew everything - his origins, his purpose, and the virus. That was to say nothing of the death of Rock. It only made matters worse that Bass was so harsh about it, snarling with contempt. It was clear that he hated talking about it.
"Just hurry up and talk to her once she's activated. She'll cry, get over it, and never care again as long as you're a good guy. She's a Light-bot, and they're just nuts like that."
Was that supposed to be reassuring? Pushing aside the annoyances of his 'brother', Zero spent the next ten minutes trying to figure out what he would say to Roll. How would he explain his past? Of course she would see the history of the Hunters, and Zero's own part in that, once she was given the disc that would catch her up to modern times. And what if he did frighten Roll?
And what if he really had killed Rock?
Well, the 17th squad still needed armor, so the reports would be a sufficient distraction for Zero until Roll emerged, followed by X and Bass. Zero listened as Roll met the others, cheerfully greeting each one. The poor girl sounded so innocent.
"Why does that robot over there look so sad?"
Zero looked up to see Roll pointing at him. She hesitantly dropped her hand once she saw him looking her direction, but this didn't stop her from approaching and taking her innocent smile along with.
"Hi, I'm Roll!" she said.
"Yes, I know." Zero answered calmly, despite that he was a bit stunned. She didn't know what he looked like?
"Oh, I guess X told a lot of people that I was being rebuilt." Roll giggled. "Well, you know my name. What's yours?"
Zero knew that she was being polite. She was trying to be as friendly as possible, trying to get him to open up. He glanced up at X and the others for a moment, then turned his doubtful eyes back down to the friendly girl-bot. Boy, was she in for a shock.
"I'm Zero."
Roll didn't immediately react. She turned her head aside for a moment, and it was clear she was accessing her memory; she knew his name. It clicked seconds later, and she wrinkled her forehead.
"Zero? The Zero?" That's...that's so wonderful!" Roll clapped her hands in delight. "And now you're X's friend? That's so funny! I bet Dr. Wily would be so mad if he knew! Wouldn't he, Bass?"
"Heh, yeah." Bass smirked a bit, reveling in imagery. "I wish the old bastard was alive so that he could see it."
"More than that," X added, smiling encouragingly at his friend. "Zero is a great Hunter. I don't know where the Hunters would be without him."
"And he even flew a shuttle into a space station that was going to crash into the earth!" Axl exclaimed. "He's really cool!"
"Well, he's tough." Bass shrugged. "But not a threat. He kills Mavericks, and that's what counts."
"Don't talk like that." X said. "He's helped you a lot. And Zero has rescued me, time and time again."
"He has?" Roll turned back to the red reploid. "Thank you for taking care of X!"
Zero blinked uncertainly, but a feeling a lightness hit him as he answered, and he smiled. "You don't need to thank me. X is my friend. I'll always protect him as long as we work together."
"Aw!" Was there no end to Roll's terminal adorableness? She clutched Zero's arm as if she had always known him. "It's so wonderful to know that X has a friend like you. I'm really proud of you for being a good guy. And Bass, he is not ugly! His armor is very stylish, with a Japanese flair."
"Funny..." Bass snorted, rolling his eyes. "I wasn't aware that people from Japan like ugly crap."
"Bass! Oh don't listen to him, Zero! He doesn't have a sense of art."
Roll stuck out her tounge at the offender, but there was no need. Zero was hardly offended. In fact, he grinned rather vengefully at Forte.
"I think he is artistic. After all, he did pick out your outfit, Roll."
"No way!"
"It's true. You can ask Alia."
The girl-bot immediately swung both hands up to her face, trying and failing miserably to hold in her laughter. Axl, however, let out a mighty guffaw.
"I didn't know that!" he laughed, holding in his sides.
"Shut up!" Bass hissed, his eyebrow twitching as if he had just lost another fight with Mega Man. "I picked the first red thing I saw, alright? Roll likes red, and that's all I know! And you can keep your mouth shut, Girly!"
Zero confidently straightened, folding his arms with a look that clearly said, "make me". "I'm the one that's 'girly'? Well, if you don't like my armor, then obviously it's out of style. Perhaps since you know so much about fashion, you could design some better armor for me."
And as the others laughed, a relieved Zero allowed himself to relax, releasing a knot of anxiety still within him. This day was already looking a lot better.
-t-
"Humph!"
A thunking sound interrupted the relative silence of the jungle, and Bass groaned as he realized that this had to be the boulder that lay atop the secret exit of Wily's underground castle. He had just been checking his buster, ready to shoot up some innocent animals, and he didn't want to be bothered by anyone. The only company he was in the mood to tolerate was Treble's, and the wolf could sense his master's apprehension.
Shoving aside the branches of the trees, Bass went to look and see who it was. If he was lucky, it was someone that would go back down quickly. Robots weren't known for their appreciation of nature. It was a robot that Bass didn't recognise. Not that that was an achievement; Bass never bothered to memorize what "junk-bots" his master had created, especially the ones built before him. This robot was made from green metal, accented by a cyan that matched the crystal orbs built into it.
A girl-bot? Since when does the old man build them?
Bass didn't care enough to seek an answer to his question, he just watched as the auburn crystal girl huffily climbed out of the secret base and dusted off her skirt. The frustrated girl clenched her fists, stomping her foot in anger.
"I just hate them all! Stupid jerk-butts!" She snapped to no one, like a child having a hissy fit. "I hate, hate, HATE them!"
Bass rolled his eyes. He didn't know who this newcomer was, and he didn't care. Fortunately, as long as she felt like she was alone, it didn't seem that she wanted to go anywhere. It was a big island, so Bass figured he could just go somewhere else.
" - Treble, let's go. - " he transmitted so that the girl-bot couldn't hear. " - Treble? - "
"Oh? Oh! It's Trebby!"
Bass gagged. He had temporarily forgotten that girls were Treble's one weakness, and it didn't make a difference if that girl was a robot. Always out for attention, the dog had cautiously approached the crystal bot, hoping for her to pet him. And as Bass walked up, that was exactly what was happening. The girl-bot was merrily scratching behind his ears, only a remnant of a pout on her face.
"You're such a good dog, Trebby." she smiled as she pet him. "But if you're here, that must mean...EEE! Forte-kun is here too!"
She smiled and waved at Bass, leaving him to wonder what about his hateful expression made her think that she could use the Japanese friendship suffix with his name.
"Leave my wolf alone...you."
The girl put a hand on her hips. "My name is Crystal Bot, and I'm not bothering him. He likes me." Giggling, her expression changed and her slight attitude instantly disappeared. "Wow, I can't believe I'm meeting the great Forte-kun! You're so cool! None of the other stupid robot masters could ever surivive a fight with Mega Man, but you're so brave and persistent."
That got a slight twitch that might be mistaken for a smile from Bass. If women were the purple canine's weakness, then flattery was certainly his. But he still was in a hurry to get to shooting things, so he opened his mouth to protest her touching his robot assistant. Only she didn't let him have a chance.
"I wish the other guys were as cool as you, but they're stupid and meanies." Crystal Bot got on her knees to better pet Treble, who flirted just like a real dog as he nosed at her for attention. "I mean, here I am, just as hard working for Dad as they are, and they have to go and talk crap about Team 5! They keep saying we're weak and lame and boring! Forte-kun, tell Trebby to eat their faces off!"
Ironic. If it hadn't been for the stupid, new failsafes Wily had tricked Bass into recieving, then Bass would be doing just that. He wasn't going to think about it. He just wanted his dog back and to leave in peace.
"I don't know why they bother mocking 5." Bass muttered as he reached for Treble. "It's not like they don't suck just as bad."
"What?" Crystal exclaimed, loud enough to distract him from his task. He looked up to see that the girl-bot's eyes were brimming with hope. "You really mean it?"
"Yeah, I guess." Bass grabbed one of the back spikes of Treble's large head, pulling him away from Crystal Bot's affections (Treble whined). "Team 2 thinks that they're the best, but they're losers like everyone else."
"Aw!" Crystal Bot squealed, making Forte grit his teeth. "That's such a nice thing to say! I always knew you were the coolest! You're so smart! I knew we were just as good as them! I gotta tell Wave Man! Thanks, Forte-kun!"
"Stop calling me that!"
But the girl-bot was already gleefully disappearing back into the base, reaching for the rock to pull it back into its proper position. Another thunk, and the boulder hid any trace of the secret entrance.
Bass had seen his share of crazy robot masters, but this was another thing entirely. "What a crackhead."
Axl laughed a little as the memory ended. Had Bass screened these before showing them to him? Obviously not.
Normally Axl wasn't one to lurk in the garden of Maverick Hunter Headquarters, meditating on life. That was always X's thing. Axl sometimes teased him about it. Tonight, it was a different story. As much as he loved watching the memories of Crystal Bot, and as much as he had inherited her dogged cheerfulness, it just wasn't enough. It hadn't been enough for a while. For once in his lifetime, the young Hunter was gloomy. He sighed restlessly as he sat on the metal bench.
Hey, why does this garden have a bench? We're reploids. We don't really need to sit.
The bright oranges, yellows and reds of this part of the garden were still showing off their color, even in the fading light. Soon enough it would be time for the meeting with Roll. It was still the same day she had been activated, but Axl had to so some training. Afterwards there was a little more than an hour for Axl to think about everything before he had to head down to the Commander's office. Signas had wanted to know more about the robot apocalypse, hoping to reduce the number of times that Roll had to tell the story.
And to give her one venue where she could tell the complete truth about Zero without anyone else hearing.
Axl wondered why he was told to come to the meeting. Knowing Signas, Axl guessed that he didn't want Axl to be excluded, not when it was his friend's life at stake. Or was it at stake? All they knew for sure at this point was that Roll had "outlived" Bass, as far as surviving the apocalypse went. She either knew more about Zero, or she didn't.
It must be hard for her to think about it. I hope she's not intimidated by the meeting.
Axl's curiousity scared him, but that diminished the curiosity no less. He wanted to know what had happened to Crystal Bot. Why were she and Bass both found underground? It was horrible to think about. Crystal Bot had almost lived. If she had the same back-up system that Bass did, then she could have been repaired, her memory at least mostly intact. She had come so close...if only his creator's lab hadn't been attacked by those Mavericks, then Dr. Inafune would have fixed her. Axl knew she would, or so his optimism told him. But she had died. So had Crystal, and the only thing left of her was a crystal orb, an occupant of the evidence lockers. He had read Bass' report when Bass had fought those first three Mavericks, and he knew what it was. That was why he had managed to snag it from the lockers (with Signas' permission, of course), and now rolled it back and forth in his palm.
It glittered and glistened in the streetlights that were beginning to alight, but it was nonetheless a solemn item. Or those were the feelings it produced in its bearer. Axl squinched his eyes tightly shut, clasping the item with equal ferocity.
Mavericks...if only...if only they hadn't...
Axl refused to open his eyes. The thought that naturally followed was trying to attack him, trying to make itself known. Axl hated it with his whole heart, but that didn't stop it from forcing its way directly into the forefront of Axl's mind.
She would be alive...if only it weren't for Zero.
"No!" Axl cried out, slapping his hand over his mouth only a second later, hoping no one heard him. Sighing once more, he let his arm drop. He lifted the other, staring into the crystal orb. He found himself not thinking about his "mother", but Red. When he had been alone in the world without a creator or a friend anything could have happened. He wasn't even sure why he survived the destruction of Dr. Inafune's lab. So many different things could have happened to Axl: he could have been sold for scrap, torn apart while a thief stole his copy chip, or just left out to rust for who knows how long. Red had saved his life.
Red had been a kind leader, however insubordinate he was to the Maverick Hunters. His team was no less kind than he, except for Splash Warfly. However, Axl's scoff at the cowardly marine reploid wasn't a bitter one. Part of him missed Warfly's obnoxious quips - and another part knew better. Vanishing Gungaroo, while annoying, had been Axl's prime "rival". Both of them were so young that they couldn't help but get on exactly like competitive brothers. All of Red Alert had been welcoming when they found him. They never took advantage of his copy ability, not once, not until...all of them changed so much...
If it weren't for Zero...
This time, Axl couldn't resist the doubt. He wavered, shaking as he hunched down further. Axl tucked the orb into his armor. He didn't want to look anymore, not at the crystal or the memories. It just wasn't fair. Axl checked his internal chronometer. It was almost time for him to go to the meeting, but he was in no rush.
"Axl? Are you alright?"
Axl turned to the entryway of the building. "Oh, hey Alia. Yeah, I'm fine."
The navigator saw through his lie. Axl couldn't even claim he was hiding it, and he just stared down dully at his empty hands. Alia walked over to him, her gentle footsteps conveying the sympathy she felt as she sat down beside him on the bench.
"Is this about Zero?"
And then the peace shattered. Axl's heart twisted into a knot.
"I don't want to start with you, Alia."
"You can't be just alright about it." Alia anxiously rubbed her arm, as was her habit. "It's hard to learn the truth. You're thinking about Red Alert, aren't you?"
She wasn't accusing him? Axl glanced at her uncertainly, and she seemed just as depressed as him about it.
"Yeah..." he confessed. "I...I miss them..."
Alia understood. Being so happy, it was difficult for Axl to convey what sadness he felt. She placed a hand on his, comforting as always. "We've all lost a lot of friends, Axl. It's been hard on everyone. Zero..."
Alia wanted to continue, but she honestly didn't know what she had been going to say. The tormenting conflict she felt wouldn't let her go, and she was as dumbfounded to explain her mind as Axl. Axl wanted to say something, as Alia was one of the few people who knew the true meaning of the virus, and he could discuss it with her. Try as he might, all he could muster up was one meager sentence, though it turned out to summarize his feelings rather well.
"I wish I didn't know." he said. "I can't bear to think of Zero like this."
Alia turned away from Axl, so he wouldn't see stiff, clenched frown. Her shoulders hunched over with an unusually terrible posture. Showing his definitely characteristic naiivety, the young Hunter assumed that Alia's sentiments were similar to his.
"I know," he said, reaching over and putting a hand gently on Alia's shoulder. "We can just delete the data. We don't have to remember that Zero started...everything."
Alia pushed his hand away, getting up and pacing a bit away from Axl. "No, that's exactly what we can't do."
"But why not? He's our friend!"
"Don't you get it?" Alia turned, her voice darkening along with the faint evil growing in her eyes. "We don't know anything about this virus. We don't know why it's dormant in him, or if at any point in time it could rise up and...well, do something. We have to keep a close eye on him."
Axl, horrified, stared at the navigator. "But nothing's happened! I mean, since I've been here Zero's been a great Hunter, and he hates Mavericks more than anyone else! He helped me become a Hunter when everyone else thought I was just a kid!"
"That's just it." Alia's calm was tense. "Since you've been here, nothing happened. But you haven't been here that long, and you weren't here for the worst of it. Years ago, when the space colony incident was going on, Sigma destroyed one of his own forms to spread the virus, and these particles actually strengthened the virus inside of Zero!" Alia started to get more emotional as she went on. "Zero actually fought X so that he wouldn't have to be checked by Lifesaver! We're lucky that he didn't do anything worse."
"You know what I heard? I heard that right after X and Zero fought that Zero saved X from being killed by Sigma!" Axl protested, starting to get angry. "And that's how they found out the location of Sigma and got rid of him! And none of those stupid viruses kept him from saving the world by piloting a shuttle into the space station!"
Alia shook her head. "It was a foolish mistake to send Zero to pilot it. There was a different virus on the colony than on earth, and they merged and worsened in Zero. But Zero still didn't report in for a checkup!"
"Because he had to go find Sigma!"
"You still don't get it, do you?" Contempt arose in her. "He endangered everyone by not taking care of himself. He even knew better! During the repliforce incident, Sigma actually told Zero that he was the source of the virus!"
"Because Sigma is so trustworthy."
Axl's sarcasm only produced the worst in Alia, and she stubbornly continued her story. "Listen to me! After that was the 'Zero Nightmare' incident - I know you've read about that! Gate actually made a virus from a missing part of Zero, then used it to create his own force of Mavericks to annihilate all the 'inferior' reploids. Ugh...and I defended him!" Lifting a hand to her face, Alia struggled to continue. "Gate was my friend long before I joined the Maverick Hunters. I knew he was unstable person. The Maverick virus only gave him a push. I knew and I didn't do anything about it. No one else did either. And since Signas won't listen to me then it's the same thing all over again, only worse!"
"I can't believe you're saying that!" Axl stood up, ready to storm off. "Zero didn't want any of that to happen! We're his friends, Alia! We need to believe in him!"
"I know who he is," Emotionally spent, Alia's tone withered, though her line persisted. "I know that he didn't want any of this to happen. That doesn't change the fact that he's dangerous. If you delete knowing about Zero's past, it means that if something happened to Zero on a mission to provoke the virus, then a lot of people could be in danger before you realized it."
"Who are you?" Axl said, aghast. "What happened to the Alia I used to know?"
"Whoever this new one is," a new voice entered the conversation as Bass rounded the corner to meet them. "She sure is whiny. And loud. Trying to break Signas' orders while making it look like an accident, huh Alia?"
The girl-bot blushed. "I...I really didn't mean to..."
Bass, however, didn't care, and his attention was already focused on Axl. "Don't delete what you know about Zero. Alia's right, it's just better if you know."
"Don't tell me you're taking her side!"
"Sheesh, kid, I'm not taking sides." Bass rolled his eyes. "Zero doesn't want to be a Maverick, so you have to be aware just in case for his sake, if you're supposed to be his friend. Don't cry about it. Now get going to the Overlord's office. The meeting's about to start."
Forte abruptly shoved his thumb back in the direction of the door, and Axl nodded. As much as Bass resisted the notion of them being family, he sure expected Axl to obey him like a son. It didn't seem to bother Axl. He paused on his way to the door.
"Well, if you put it that way, it makes sense." Axl reluctantly gave in. "It's...just hard."
"Yeah, yeah, get going. Now Alia, if you want you can sit out here and cry, but Signas wants you to show up because you're the only technician that knows about Zero, and Roll might know something important. So decide what you're going to do in the next five minutes."
Axl went inside ahead of Bass, and as the latter robot made it to the door Alia followed along behind.
"Bass..."
He turned around, his face for once unreadable.
"Why do you forgive Zero?" Alia asked. "You should hate him more than anyone. Why?"
Bass blinked, but his demure expression didn't change. "Who said anything about forgiveness? Whining about things doesn't change them."
And the dark robot went in, let the door swing shut behind him. Alia stood numb, only wincing slightly as the door slammed in its frame. Alia looked to the sky, noticing that it had become fully night out, and whatever stars there were in the sky were hidden with the glow of the streetlights and skyscrapers' windows. Alia didn't see any of that light; that light was fake.
It really is that dark... Alia mused, not talking about the sky at all.
She sighed. It was time to go to the meeting.
-t-
Zero never felt more uncomfortable in his life. Sadness he was used to and fear he could ignore, but the simple awkwardness of it all made him skittish - or skittish by his own standards. Thankfully X was with him in Signas' office, and they were sitting to the side in red chairs. This might have been strange for reploids, but it made sense for the human visitors that Commander Signas would have from time to time. Signas was there, and he had pushed his desk aside so that everyone could gather in the chairs he had set out, mismatched because four of them were from storage and were simple, metal things, set in a circle.
Bass was sitting in one of them, idly glancing at the titles of the books on the shelves on the wall opposite him. Roll sat next to him (with X on her other side), probably the reason why he didn't try to look at one of the books. She was very nervous, and somehow sitting next to the only other robot that had survived the apocalypse helped. Roll very badly wanted to grab Bass' hand for support, but, thinking he would object, she only continued to squirm and tap her fingers. She tried starting up a conversation with Axl about his job, and that calmed her for a bit.
Roll had already used the disc to bring her up to date on everything that had happened, he just knew. That meant she knew what devastation the Maverick virus had wrecked on the world. Zero felt sick thinking about it. Roll noticed him staring and looked his direction, but Zero quickly looked to his right. That only made him come into eye contact with Alia, whose frozen face made him shiver inwardly.
Well, I can stare at the floor, at least. Zero bitterly thought.
"I suppose we can begin now." Signas said. "I'm sorry if this is a bit too much for you, Roll, but I believe it would be best to get any talk of the robot apocalypse out of the way quickly. I hope everyone has been welcoming to you today."
"Ah, yes, it was fun!" Roll smiled, still nervous. "Everyone was so nice to me, and X is so popular! I feel like a celebrity just hanging out with him."
X grinned, but Roll's anxiety hadn't escaped him. "Roll, if you want to do this later, we can. There's no rush. I understand if you're not eager to talk about it."
"If it's all that bad." Bass mentioned. "You can just download the data into a computer or something."
"Oh, come on." Roll said, borderline impatiently. "Look, I've been through enough that you don't need to be afraid for me. It's not that bad. After all, I was alone for ten years defending the earth after the apocalypse by myself, so I'm not going to cry or something."
Roll bit her lip, not feeling half as serious as she sounded.
"Wait, you?" Bass wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or scoff. "Did you smack people with brooms?"
"Shut up." Roll playfully punched his shoulder. "Crystal Man left me better upgrades than that. You saw the energy sword."
"Oh yeah...'Chris Tillman'." Bass recalled the discovery of the secret weapon upgrades the shiny Wily-bot had inexplicably made for Roll. No one had ever figured out why
"I was lucky that the secret basement of the laboratory survived." Roll shuddered as images of a violent robot tearing down the beams of the upper floor down on her head. "And I was lucky that Snake Man survived. He helped me with the upgrades and found parts from Rock, Blues, and Bass so that I could defeat Epidemic Man."
"You beat Epidemic Man?" Bass' eye twitched a bit in jealousy, though Roll didn't notice (everyone else certainly did). "How?"
"Again, with Snake Man's help." Roll sniffed, quieting. No matter how much she pretended to be strong, this part always hurt. "Epidemic Man...well, Snake Man didn't make it. Though technically, I didn't make it either. I had a very bad power leak. When I reactivated a month later, I didn't remember anything - not who I was or where I came from. I guess it's like you said, Bass, I was plugged into my secondary hard drive, but my first got disconnected. I was missing several personality settings too. Rodney did the best he could repairing me, but he was better at hardware robotics, not software or CPUs."
"Who is Rodney?" X asked.
"Rodney Cain. He was the oldest son of Nikola Cain." Roll answered. "He lived, and he knew enough about robotics to get me in pretty good shape."
"This Cain fellow was the one Wily used to spread the various viruses during the apocalypse, right?" Signas asked, remembering some of the things that he had learned from Bass. "And it was his robot masters used for the scheme?"
"That's right. Both of his sons lived, but Klaus didn't know anything about robotics."
"Wow, I can't believe you were a hero too, Roll!" Axl said. "What kind of bad guys did you fight?"
"Bad guys?" Roll questioned. "I don't know that you can really compare what I did to what Rock did, and to what the Hunters do now. They fought, but you have to remember that we were just through the worst devastation that earth's ever been through. Not even bad guys were doing well. I spent most of the time rebuilding homes and doing some security work for government projects. There were some people who wanted to take advantage of the world's troubles, but since they didn't trust me to defend against humans, I only had to fight if people used mechaniloids for an army. It was pretty scary for a while because a couple bad nations got hold of some mechaniloids and I had to stop them. But there were no Wilys - nobody did any large scale wars. It just wasn't possible."
"What was it like with some of your personality AI missing?" Alia asked, very interested. "Could you operate well without it?"
"Apparently, yes. Robot's personalities do change with experience, and I was missing all of that, as well as some of my core personality." Roll explained. "I had some emotion, but I was...really cold all the time. And kind of mean."
"I meant to ask this earlier, but...what happened to Kalinka?" Bass asked, preparing himself for some evil answer. "Did you ever see her again?"
"Actually, I did!" Roll sounded slightly more optimistic. "She was...well, sad. All the worst things happened to her, I mean, after her father and husband died how could she be happy? I did see her once after Rodney fixed me, because I still had my own face, and she wanted to see if I was still Roll..." Roll shuffled her feet under the chair. "But since I didn't have my memories, they just concluded that 'Proto Bot' was made from Light-bot pieces, including mine. I saw her only a couple of times after that. She actually became something of a leader after three years, and I had to guard her once when she led a meeting of the Western Remnant. That's what they called the survivors on the coast. And I got to see her baby!"
Roll squealed and brightened, lifting her hands over her mouth as she laughed. "Aw, she had such a cute little boy! Little Mikhail was a darling, but he was so quiet all the time. Kalinka got married again to Dr. Peterson - you saw him once, Bass. Don't you remember?"
Bass thought back, contorting his face. "Ugh, yeah. That day sucked. That was when I had to tell Rock about Proto Man dying."
The girl-bot in red shuddered slightly, and Bass instantly regretted mentioning it. But Roll managed to stiffen, and she sat up straight. "I told you, I'm stronger than before. I'm not going to cry over everything again."
She fooled no one, and X grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently.
"This may be the most difficult part to tell," Signas said. "But how exactly did the apocalypse end? We know what Bass has told us, but he did not see it through to its end."
"Yes, that's right." Roll sighed. "Okay, Bass, what's the last thing you remember?"
"I backed up my memory right before I went to fight Algorhythm Man." Bass got tense, clenching one of his fists. "Please tell me I didn't get killed by that idiot."
Roll gritted her teeth, apologetically going on. "Well...technically it wasn't him that got you..."
"Urgh!" Bass hissed, having to try his hardest not to say his most favorite (his most disgusting) expletives. His eyes bulged painfully and his fangs bit deep into his bottom lip. "Nrrrgh! GRRRNN!"
This restrained display of frustration was almost humorous enough to make Roll's explanation easier to say, and her lips twisted into a lopsided half-smile for half a second before fading out. "You got that teleportation upgrade from Crystal Bot that allowed you to teleport other robots as well as yourself, and you used it to get Algorhythm Man away from Monstropolis and into the desert. The bonus was that the bomber planes he had sent would go after you rather than dropping their nukes on Monstropolis. But Dr. Wily had made Algorhythm Man so strong that he couldn't be defeated quickly, and he hacked into and destroyed your teleporter. So you used the energy crystals in your arms to create death spikes at just the right time, killing Algorhythm Man and yourself."
Roll took a deep breath. "The plan was that Crystal Bot would use her last outer teleporter device to get you out of there once Algorhythm Man was gone. Even then...he was still alive enough to incapacitate Sonata's teleporter, and you two were trapped. She brought you into an abandoned mine, and that was the last I saw of either of you." She glanced with sympathy at Bass, who brooded silently. She leaned forward, sincerity in her innocent expression. "Bass, you did a good job. A lot more people would have died if you hadn't drawn away the nuclear warheads. The area you brought them to was perfect, because there was nothing there already and the radiation faded away fast. No one's water supplies were tainted. That alone saved at least southern California."
Forte was still silent, uncertain. He had picked that location simply because he knew it, not because it would help anyone. He didn't even know that it was perfect for that very thing. But it was something he had done, something good.
Something he had not failed.
Bass grinned. "It takes a nuke to kill me? Heh...I like that. Not bad at all."
"You're still alive, so it must take more than that!" Axl exclaimed, more happy than ever to be based from him.
"You're right." Bass turned to Signas, displaying his fangs in a merry grin. "Hear that? You're never going to get rid of me."
"And I had already taken the time to purchase nuclear weaponry from the black market." Signas said with a jovial shimmer in his eyes, the only part of his face not completely serious. "It's very expensive, you know."
Bass snorted and leaned back in his chair smugly.
"You're absolutely horrible." X too laughed.
Zero was quiet. He didn't join in the jovial manner of the others. It was hard for him. All of this talk only delayed learning the truth about himself. Had he really been a part of the end of the optimistic age of robotics? Had he really destroyed Mega Man? Roll had been evading the point. Was that on purpose or the conversation just ended up that way? Zero rested his chin on his hands, letting some of his fingers hide his frowning lips.
"What happened after that?" Bass slowly asked, showing he knew how painful the answer might be as he weighed down the conversation.
"You were there for most of it." Roll reached again for her brother's hand before continuing. "After that day Rock sent a challenge to Epidemic Man, because that was the last Cain-bot left. And then...I saw on the computer...when Rock died."
"Wait, what?" Zero almost jumped up. "You didn't recognise me when you met me...I didn't..."
Roll stared at Zero, completely confused. "Of course you didn't. You weren't even there. I never saw you at all, not even after the apocalypse was over. Proto Man destroyed your activation device."
Zero's hateful glance zoomed ever to Bass, narrowing. X's also went that same direction, likewise full of hatred.
"That was the remote activation device." Bass interjected, not about to let Zero off the hook that easily. "That didn't mean they couldn't activate him where he was."
"Oh, I guess so." Roll answered, tapping a finger against her chin as she thought about it. "But I still didn't see him."
"Epidemic Man didn't have a plasma sword!"
"Yes he did..." Roll contradicted, depression starting to overwhelm her. "He had it the whole time, but never used it just so that Rock wouldn't see it coming."
"But he can't do that! That's cheating!" Bass, snarling, jumped out of his seat. "That doesn't count!"
"Sad you didn't think of it first?" X wrinkled his nose, getting more than tired of this behavior. "Sit down."
It was only then that X noticed Roll desperately making the "kill gesture" behind him, but by then it was too late.
"Listen, you," Bass hissed, shoving a finger in X's face. "When I fought Rock, it was always fair. I didn't sneak up on him, sabotage him, or hold anybody hostage. It was a contest of strength. You can think about me whatever you want, but I always fought fair!"
It hit Zero like a sledgehammer, leaving him almost faint: he hadn't killed Rock. The relief within him battled against his hatred. How dare Bass accuse him on such scanty evidence! How could he say that he had murdered X's own brother? At the same time, he felt so free. The past hurt so much that Zero was afraid to look at it, because every time he did he found something new and terrifying about himself. This time was the exception: he was free and clear of the charge, perfectly innocent. Zero found himself assaulted by the urge to be alone. Somehow other people were now suffocating. He had to escape.
"Zero?" Roll's innocent little voice broke in through the turmoil like a stealthy thief. "Are you okay?"
He didn't want to answer. Without a word he got up and went for the door in the fastest pace that he could manage without running. He kept up the pace for several hallways, ignoring any Hunter he passed. Without consciously acknowledging it, Zero headed for the only place he knew he could be alone.
The others stared at the door, watching stunned as Zero abruptly departed. X was the first one to react, breaking the silence.
"Look what you did!" he snapped, guessing correctly what was going on with his friend.
Bass groaned and smacked his forehead. "I'll get this..."
Bass left before anyone could object, hastily heading in the direction of Zero's echoing footsteps (and wonder what in the world he was doing). Zero wasn't running, but Bass had to do so if he wanted to keep up with his far longer legged sibling. Soon enough, Bass figured out where the red robot was going. It was just a small room that stored the janitor mechaniloids, and he knew that even this late most of them would be out cleaning.
Some yards ahead, Zero hurriedly opened the door. He rushed inside, barely remembering to shut the door carefully before it slammed. Relaxing only slightly, Zero ignored the flying, sweeping, and crawling bots and went over to the window, leaning on the sill with his face in his hands. He stayed there, exhaling slowly.
The door opened again, and Zero cringed. Couldn't he have a moment's peace?
"Zero..."
Bass seemed more irritated to be there than Zero was. The dark robot entered, somewhat angry as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. He, somewhere in that arrogant clump of circuitry he called a mind, knew that what he had done was wrong. The hard part was forcing the rest of him to realize this, but words nonetheless fought their way for an exit.
"Look, Zero..." Much to Zero's chagrin, Bass approached. "...I'm...gah. Why am I doing this? Look, I'm sorry I blamed you for Rock's death, okay? Now stop crying about it! I mean...it's hard for me not to be a bastard when I was built by one."
Zero's shoulders shook, and Bass cringed. He's really crying?
But no. When Zero turned towards his brother, pulling his hand away from his face, Forte could see that he was laughing. It was a strange laughter, not one entirely happy, and yet not devoid of the same either. Tears might have welled up in Zero's wavering lids if he were human, but as it were, he was balancing on the edge of hard grief and a genuine joy.
"I know that..." Zero laughed again, fighting away the darkness as he lifted his eyes. "Thank you, Bass, for blaming me. It's nice to know that of all the things I'm guilty of...there's one case where I'm innocent..."
Bass was dumbfounded. Zero settled back on the window ledge, and back into his melancholy. He quietly stared out the window, and for a moment it seemed that his face looked noble for once, despite the very evident features of their creator. Bass frowned. He didn't understand Zero at all, and from the way he stood there, lips contorted in disgusted confusion, it was very evident. And they were supposed to be related?
Zero looked again at Bass, smiling again, his bittersweet almost-not-a-smile. "Go away."
"Fine." Bass threw up his hands. "You're nuts."
"Hmm." was Zero's only acknowledgement, and he returned to his deep, dark musings and misgivings. Bass, fed up, just exited and left Zero to his meditation. He almost kept walking, but he realized that he wasn't eager to get back to the others. They would want to know what was going on, and Bass was surprised that X hadn't followed him. As Bass stood there, the part of his mind that constantly knew better than him started to speak up again, telling him the things he didn't want to notice about Zero. In disgust, Forte straightened, grimaced, and headed for the others, even more irritated than before. He need to get away from his thoughts.
They made him realize that he understood Zero, and that just would not do.
\\\\\\\
Author's Notes:
- Whee! An update! Sorry it took so long, but this chapter needed rewrites. Also, it's long and plotwise can't be separated.
- I sure hope y'all played X5 and X6 recently, otherwise a lot of the Alia - Axl conversation won't make any sense.
- I know y'all had a lot of questions in the review for me, particularly Gabigirl, but some of them will be answered in the story. For those that won't, here we go. No, Bass can't become a reploid. The main difference between oldstyle bots and reploids is their minds, and someone with an older mind processes information in a much more simple manner than reploids do. Trying to convert any oldstyle-bot into the new format would only result in information damage or possibly permanent data-death. The upgrades Alia referred to in the last chapter were just physical ones so that Bass would be better able to handle Mavericks without tearing up his innards every time. Bass has good armor, hacking skills, and battle AI, but much of his physical innards are weaker and outdated. And also, his shots are weaker than Mega Man's, and since reploids often have more powerful weapons than Mega Man, Bass is really lucky he knows martial arts and has ridiculous armor. Roll is also not a reploid. While her new mind has an advanced processor, she's still first generation.
- Bass calls Zero girly because he can. It's partly to annoy him, and partly because he's used to it. The only reason he's immune to the Maverick virus is because he's not a reploid, and the virus was designed by Wily to go after X (at which it failed). First generation robots are too simple to get it, and that includes Roll, which is why the data-kill virus was necessary for Wily during the apocalypse. Or so I'll say for the purposes of this story.
- Mavericks:
Shadow Fox777
=====September Dusk Hound
"All tresspassers will be eaten."
September (or Septy as his friends call him - yeah, he has no friends) is a Maverick that lives alone in a foggy swamp. He's very crazy, but so long as people leave him alone he generally stays in his territory, surprisingly quiet for a Maverick. He is extremely vicious, and his teeth alone are frightening. He likes to hide in the swamp and stare at anyone who enters, then tear them apart. Besides his teeth and claws, September has no weapons, and he doesn't need any. Only the stupid lurk in the September Swamp...oh, and the Maverick Hunters. The player that beats him gets Dusk Jaw, a sword with hideous, jagged teeth on it that rips through Maverick's like there's no tomorrow.
Very easy to come up with. Shadow went to dusk, fox went to hound, and 777 went to September.
Gabigirl
=====Gossamer Femme
"I will make you pretty!"
Femme is a fairy Maverick, and she likes to wear bright orange and shimmering green. She hates the Hunters, and will do whatever it takes to make the earth "pretty" again, which in her mind includes blasting holes in buildings and spray-painting random things pink. Goss has three attacks. One is fairy dust, which drains the player of power as she sprinkles or blows it. Another is the gossamer shot, which traps players to the wall or floor. The last is a giant laser she generates from her hands. This is the Gossamer Cannon, which the player gains when they beat her.
"Gabi" is a cloth they make in Eritrea and Ethiopia, so I just looked for cloths until I got to gossamer. Femme is of course woman.
Symphonic Sweet
=====Melodious Paragon
"Don't you like my voice?"
Paragon, a parrot Maverick, used to be the greatest singer of the world, until she became a Maverick. Now her songs are so piercing that they disrupt reploid's operations. Besides this attack, Symphonic also attacks with her claws, dragging the player to thorns. She also can rip bits of armor off the player, making him take more damage with each attack. The player that beats her gets the Melodious Song, which is a radio wave shot. It bounces off walls and is extremely spammable, but it's not the strongest weapon out there.
This one was also easy, except "paragon" means more like "the perfect example of" rather than "sweet".
