Disclaimer: Only Delta, Silvara, Aeroman, Quad, and Olera belong to me. All other characters are the property of Capcom.
Chapter 9:Zero is Born
They arrived at the fortress a short fifteen minutes later, Bass already waiting for them at the main gate, a look of anguish and determination upon his face, darkening his features. If it were possible, Megaman thought to himself, Bass would have storm clouds over his eyebrows. Bass looked at Mega, and Mega turned away quickly, wondering if the black robot knew what he was thinking. Not that he would give a damn. He concluded, charging up his blaster accompanied by the others.
"On my signal, we go in." Megaman declared, his blaster fizzling and whirring as it began to glow and spark with intense energy. He silently counted down from five, and everyone quickly went over the wall, silently and swiftly. They approached the base quickly as possible, stopping to hide when they came into range of any guard-bots around. Both Bass and Megaman disabled the guards by shooting them directly at the center point of their panels, keeping them from alerting Wily to their presence. This continued for some time, until they reached the bolted door.
"How do we get in?" Delta asked, staring a the keypad that would allow them entrance, "we don't know the password."
"Fortunately, I do." Bass replied. He put his hand up to the scanner, then keyed in the five-digit code. "There, now let's go." He ordered, letting the five young light-bots enter first, he and Megaman exchanging glances.
"Remember what I said," Mega whispered cautiously, "not revenge solely. Do it for justice."
Bass ignored him, and the seven headed down the corridor, eventually coming to the main programming room.
"Sensors indicate that Wily is just beyond that door," Olera said, her eye scan sweeping over the metal door and picking up yellow and red life signs, "should we jump in and surprise him, or what?"
"Or, we could do this!" Bass roared, and fired a level twelve shot, melting the door instantly. He stomped into the room, and his face fell. Megaman looked at Bass' expression, bewildered.
"Bass? What are you-?" Megaman stopped dead in his tracks as his gaze swept over to where the former Wily-bot was staring. Rather than looking surprised at their arrival, doctor Wily looked delighted, a cruel smile upon his face. But this wasn't what perturbed him the most; next to Wily stood a red bot with long blonde hair and green eyes. He had silver accenting the red, and bore a green light-saber at his side rather than an arm cannon like Mega and Bass.
"Hello Megaman. Bass," the doctor replied, nodding at the two, "I've been expecting you. I would like you to meet...Zero."
"Oh, he's Zero alright," Bass finally retorted after getting a good look at the new Wily bot, "he won't be able to beat any of my records of destruction. He looks just as unfit as the rest of your robo-rejects. Face it, Wily, you'll never have another one like me!"
"Ah, you have one thing right; I won't ever have another like you. You see, Bass, Zero is MUCH better than you...he is not a simple robot like yourself...he is a reploid."
Bass was caught off guard, but replied just the same, "Doesn't look any different to me, hmph! Nice try, Wily, but giving him a fancy name and a fancy weapon doesn't make him any less a robot. Calling him a reploid won't change that."
"On the contrary, you arrogant little traitor," Wily interjected, "a reploid is much different than a robot. You see, he has his own opinions, his own thought process. He isn't merely programmed to know things and to have emotions...he actually feels them on his own free will. He is free to make whatever decision he wises without programming getting in the way. He can also," he added grinning foolishly, "learn from his mistakes and from his experiences. That is much more than I ever had with you."
Bass narrowed his eyes, "Enough chit chat, doc. Let's get this party started!" Bass declared, firing up his arm cannon.
"As you wish," the doctor shrugged absently, "but it will be your own undoing..." with a snap of his fingers, Zero charged at the ebony robot, tightening his grip around his throat menacingly. "Not so tough now, are you hot stuff?" he growled, throwing Bass against the door frame.
Bass did a flying round-house kick, sending the reploid smashing into the wall. "I'm tougher than you think, pretty boy!"
"We gotta help him!" Delta cried, charging up her attack beams.
"No time for that," Megaman replied, shaking his head, "we have the rest of the robot masters to face." This is Bass' fight, he needs to do this on his own.
"But what if he gets hurt?" Quad protested, looking over to the proceeding battle. Bass had just upper-cutted Zero, and Zero now tackled him into a wall, leaving a large crack running the length of it.
"Someday, you'll understand," Megaman reassured, "but for now, we have to go after the masters, and destroy the fortress. Aeroman, you and Olera come with me. Quad, you, Delta and Silvara go to floor D-253, sector nine."
They nodded in understanding, not willing to disobey a direct order.
Good luck, Bass. Megaman exited quickly, leaving the black clad former villain to battle to the finish if need be.
"All robot masters, calling all robot masters! Megaman is on base, I repeat; Megaman is on base. To your battle stations!" Wily shouted over the mic system, quickly exiting the room where Bass and Zero were having at it. "Love to stay and chat, but I have some escaping to do!" with a maniacal laugh, he dodged out just as Bass fired a shot at him, the door closing swiftly behind him.
"Oh no you don't!" Zero jumped at Bass, knocking him to the floor. The two rolled around, punching and kicking, each one of them landing significant blows.
"Aaaargh!" Bass grunted, his eye blackening from a particularly painful shot the reploid had landed on him. He grabbed Zero by his golden locks, shoving him off with a well-placed foot. Setting his boot into his belly, he sent him sprawling over him, crashing into another wall, a large dent forming.
"You'll pay for that!" Zero snarled, pulling his green saber up to his side and striking out at Bass vehemently. Bass dodged just in time, sending a plasma shot at the reploid's helmet. It ricocheted off, the reploid grinning triumphantly.
"Face it, old timer. I'm more advanced than you, you'll never defeat me!" Zero laughed, grabbing Bass' arm and flipping him over his shoulder. Bass growled like a rabid animal, and sprung up, socking the cocky reploid right in the jaw. He skidded across the floor, a look of dismay and surprise upon his face.
"I may be older, but my upgrades are just as advanced as yours," Bass retorted, "and I don't need a fancy name like reploid to make me seem more superior." He charged his cannon up to a level nine, and hit the center of Zero's chest, the stunned reploid staggering from the power packed behind the shot. Bass charged at him, taking full advantage of the moment, and knocked him over, straddling him as his fingers gripped his shoulders. Zero struggled under his weight, growling all the while. He grabbed under the black and gold robot's chest armour, and lifted up with amazing strength. He tossed Bass aside like an old newspaper, and slammed a fist into his gut. Bass let out a pained groan, which turned into a snarl halfway through as he blasted shot after shot at the cocky reploid. Burn marks now covered his armour, and he raised his saber up angrily, charging at Bass with malice in his eyes. He struck Bass across the chest, then hit him across the face. Synthetic blood dripped from Bass' cheek, a grunt escaping him. A large scratch was on his armour, a trail of fluid trickling down into a puddle at his feet.
"Is that the best you can do, blondie? All you hit was my cooling system, I don't necessarily need it." Bass did a swift low kick, knocking Zero off his feet, and pointed his cannon at him. "This battle," he declared, breathing hard with both adrenaline and determination, "is over."
"Olera, take down those seven there, Delta, come with me!" Mega shouted orders to his five younger siblings. They had already taken out all the other robot masters and their subordinates in sector nine. Now they had to take out one more division, plant the explosives, and get out of there. I hope Bass is having better luck then us. Megaman pondered to himself, destroying yet another lackey that attempted to attack him. Plasma shots were ricocheting off the titanium doors, the sounds deafening, yet the Light-bots refused to give up. Olera took out another six robots, Delta jus finishing with an entire squad along with Quad. Aeroman battled over head, his thrusters on as he plummeted towards the ground at a high-speed, then dropped his enemy into the ground. All that remained of his nemesis was a smoking crater.
"Good job you guys," Megaman praised, "now Aeroman, Quad, go plant the detonators. We'll meet out in the woods."
"What about the rest of you?" Aeroman asked, slowly turning his thrusters off.
"Delta, Silvara and Olera are going to the woods," he explained, "I'm going to track down Bass and this Zero character."
When Megaman located him, Bass was flat on his back, Zero pressing his knee into his chest, his glowing green blade tucked right under the black-clad bots' neck. Bass squirmed, no fear upon his face, only a look of vengeance.
"Bass! I'm coming!" Megaman called, running towards the pair.
"No, Mega, stay back!" Bass warned, fighting the reploid off. He set his foot into the reploid's stomach once again, sending him hurtling into a rack of test tubes.
"Stay out of this, blue boy! This is between me and the scrap pile!" Zero snapped, raising his saber threateningly.
Megaman bared his teeth, but still complied for Bass' sake. Bass shot round after round, landing every single one on the reploid, scorch marks appearing on both his chest and his helmet.
"You'll pay for that, old timer!" without warning, Zero through his green saber, his aim true. It slashed Bass' side, clattering to the floor and fizzling out. Bass cried out in agony, his fluids now puddling all around him. He fell to his knees, clutching his side.
"Bass!" Mega cried out, rushing to his side. Bass held up a hand, telling Megaman not to proceed an further.
"I....I've got...him...don't worry...this...is ...my battle...not...yours...." He said reassuringly, grimacing in pain. He got up slowly, Zero standing right before him, now weaponless.
"Love to finish this, but gotta go! We'll finish this some other time, Bass." Zero growled, and teleported away.
"Wait!" Bass called out. Damn, he got away! He cursed himself.
"No time for that, Bass, we have to get out here, this place is gonna blow!"
The two bots quickly exited, diving into the bush just as the lab exploded, shrapnel flying in every direction, scorching them. We finally did it, Megaman thought in disbelief, Wily's fortress is no more.
Authors note: Sorry it took me so long to update this, but I just got over my writer's block. Thanks to all of you who kept supporting me, and helped give me ideas when none came to mind. I appreciate all your help. ;)
