"A sympathetic friend can be quite as dear as a brother"
-Homer

Bass woke up the following morning discovering that he was lying face first on the floor of his bedroom. In his right hand, he held a sheet of paper that was crumpled around a pen. He shook his head and unwrapped the ball of paper he made last night.

ObsErvati0ns:
-Was taken to Modern Mansion for some convention
-Lured downstairs when weak on power
-Experienced Sabotage
-Treated like a son by creator
-Not exhibited at the convention

Any other information that Bass happened to write down had devolved into unreadable scribbles. As he rubbed his head, Bass turned to his alarm clock he saw that it read 7:30 AM. Turning to the bed, he saw that Rhythm was still in bed. Bass slowly got off the floor and made his way to the workshop to grab some E-tanks for himself and Rhythm. One he entered, he noticed Dr. Wily was still asleep on the floor due to last night's drunken intoxication. After grabbing a six pack of E from the fridge, he dragged Wily's body into the bathroom. After undressing him, he placed the drunk doc into the bathroom and turned on the water.

"GAHHH! DAMN IT BASS!"

Bass chuckled as he took Wily's clothes to a hamper and made his way back to Rhythm. Dr. Wily's scream had startled Rhythm enough to wake him, and was shaking in the bed.

Bass? Is Doctor W-Wily alright?

"Dr. Wily is fine…" Bass answered as he handed Rhythm a can of E "We'd better get ready for Rock and Roll to arrive. We're reinstalling your arm cannon today."

Rhythm sipped his E and slowly got out of the bed with Bass's assistance, taking his Walkman and a selection of tapes. The two made their way to the lab and Rhythm sat onto the table in preparation for his repairs. Dr. Wily soon arrived, wearing a bathrobe and a large scowl.

"DAMN IT BASS! YOU HAD TO GIVE ME THE RUDEST OF AWAKENINGS?!"

Bass simply laughed "What? I want you to look your best when Rock and Roll arrive, it's not like they need another reason for them to mock you."

Dr. Wily groaned as he grabbed a bottle of cold brew coffee from the fridge in the workshop and downed it in one gulp. He then left the lab to get dressed. Bass chuckled as he made his way to a security panel and deactivated the border to allow Mega Man and Roll to arrive.

What's with Dr. Wily this m-morning?

"Dr. Wily got drunk last night and I decided to help clean him up" Bass answered as he left the lab to grab a bucket and mop "I gave him some wine so he could enjoy himself for the rest of the evening"

That's not the only r-reason, is it Bass?

Bass just simply smirked as he finished mopping up the spilled wine and put the bucket and mop away. A chime then rung through out the facility, indicating that someone had arrived. Bass grabbed a pair of E tanks and made his way to the door. The security feed showed that it was Mega Man and Roll, both of them carrying shoulder bags.

"Good morning Mega Man, good morning Roll" Bass greeted, handing the two a tank each "How was the drive?"

"It was rather uneventful" Roll answered "but Rock was eager to return out of worry that Rhythm might have had something bad installed in him"

"I would like to think that neither of you think that I would do such a thing to Rhythm" Bass spoke as he let the two robots in.

Rock shook his head "No, I'm more worried that Dr. Wily might be touching Rhythm in places that shouldn't be touched"

"And I'm more worried about you phrased that sentence" Roll commented, causing Bass to chuckle.

The three robots entered the lab and saw Rhythm resting on the table, and the doctor absent.

"Where's Dr. Wily?" Roll asked.

"DOCTOR WILY?!" Bass shouted "ROCK AND ROLL ARE HERE!"

"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT!" Wily yelled, storming into the lab and tightening his tie "I hope you bots all ready to put the arm back on."

"I hope you're no longer hungover…" Bass jabbed.

Rock and Bass brought Rhythm's arm over, and placed it onto the work table next to Rhythm's temporary arm.

"No break after were done with this part of the operation" spoke Dr. Wily "We'll need to start work on the other arm and Rhythm's head today."

My...my h-head?

Rhythm's body shook upon hearing this fact.

"Are we sure that's safe?" Rock asked "I mean…If we remove the head, he can't hear anything, and if he can't hear anything, he'll go into the panic state and will drain his power!"

"Calm your short circuits… I have an idea" Dr. Wily replied as absconded from the room.

The other robots looked at each other in confusion until the doctor returned with a Met. It was still the same construction helmet with a head that Rock and Bass were familiar with, but it had its feet removed and there were wires jutting out from the bottom.

"That's going to be his temporary head?" Roll asked, doubtful about the idea.

"We don't have to use the Met" Dr. Wily suggested "we'd just need one of you to give up your heads"

I-it's fine Doctor Wily… just make the a-attachment quick.

"Let's... let's just finish installing your arm first and worry about the head later" Bass spoke.

Rhythm's arm was soon removed, and the four began to attach Rhythm's repaired arm back to his body. Once connected, the pale blue robot sat up on the table to test the maneuverability of his arm and hand.

"How does it feel?" Mega Man asked "Good as new?"

It feels w-wonderful. Even better than good as new!

Rhythm smiled weakly, but his expression quickly turned into that of a frown as he remembered that the next piece to be worked on was his head.

D-d-do you really have to take my h-head off?

Mega Man placed his hand on Rhythm's shoulder "Rhythm, all of us understand your fear of this…"

"All of us except Dr. Wily" Bass remarked "Even though he lost his head years ago"

Dr. Wily rolled his eyes as he ignored the remark.

"Listen," Roll began "Your head will have to be removed if you want it fixed, and you want it as best as it can be right?"

Rhythm sighed and nodded.

"Don't worry," Bass said with a smile "We'll attach the temporary one as swiftly as possible."

Rhythm whimpered as he laid back down on the table and tightly closed his eyes.

"Okay," Dr. Wily began "Once the head is completely removed from the core of Rhythm's system, his sensory programming is going to shut down completely and his electronic brain experience silence"

"Will he still be operating even though he's attached to external power?" Rock asked.

"I don't know" Dr. Wily admitted "I'm concerned that if he experiences silence in this case, his system won't charge even if auxiliary power is connected. We'll have to do this quickly and carefully."

Dr. Wily and the robots arranged their tools in order to prepare for a swift operation. The scientist slowly detached Rhythm's the head from the torso, exposing the many wires and connections that attached the head to the rest of Rhythm's body.

"Alright...I'll need the wire strippers, electrical tape, and the Met on standby" Dr. Wily ordered as he snapped on heavy rubber gloves to protect himself from any possible electric shock. Mega Man held the stripper, Bass held the tape, and Roll held the head while she read Rhythm's tablet screen for status reports. The tension rose as Dr. Wily began severing the less necessary connections, like facial movement and sight.

"Rhythm, can you still hear me?" Dr. Wily asked.

Y-Yes Doctor Wily…

"There are two sets of wires left. I'm going to cut the wires that connect to the sound sensors first. This will result in you entering into your distress mode, understand?"

Y-yes doctor.

"Good, I will then disconnect the power from your head entirely. We can see your mental status on your tablet so don't think that we can't hear you because you can't hear us."

I u-understand.

"Hold on" Bass interrupted, rushing out of the lab and into the junk room.

"What are you getting now?!" Rock complained.

Bass returned with a portable radio and turned it on to emit static. "He'll hear this the first thing after we restore power."

Dr. Wily rolled his eyes "Fine then… Rhythm., you will hear us in a little bit. Cutting sound in 3…2…1…"

*Snip!*

Immediately after Dr. Wily cut the wires, Rhythm's tablet began to relay text.

P-please be quick, I d-don't want to power down!

-CHARGE_90%

"Cutting the power to the head" Wily announced.

-CHARGE_82%

I can d-do this...I can do t-this.

"Mega Man, the wire strippers!"

The robot slapped them into Wily's hand and he began removing the rubber.

-CHARGE_71%

"It's draining rapidly" Roll exclaimed "The voltage throughout his body is insanely high!"

"That's why I wore the gloves!" Dr. Wily exclaimed.

-CHARGE_63%

"Okay, The wires are stripped. Give me the tape and the Met"

Bass handed Wily the tape and began to connect the power cables to the Met.

-CHARGE_49%

"What's taking so long!?" Bass shouted as he smacked the table with his fist.

"WHY DON'T YOU TRY CONNECTING WIRES WITH THICK GLOVES ON!"

"STOP FIGHTING AND FOCUS ON THE REPAIR" Rock shouted.

-CHARGE_31%

IcandothisIcandothisIcandothis

"I got the power cables connected" Dr. Wily spoke "Working on the sound sensor connection."

-CHARGE_25%

"HURRY UP!" Bass shouted.

"We're running out of power!" Mega Man added.

"CRAP!" Wily yelled "THE FIRST CABLE CAME UNDONE!"

-CHARGE_14%_LOW_POWER.

ICANDOTHISICANDOTHISICANDOTHISICANDOTHISICANDOTHIS

"Rhythm's tablet is exploding with text!" Roll screamed.

"LIKE THAT'S IMPORTANT NOW!?" Mega Man yelled.

-CHARGE_5%_LOW_POWER.
-WARNING:RAPID_POWER_DECREASE_MAY_RESULT_IN_MEMORY_WIPE

"IF YOU ERASE MY BROTHER'S MEMORIES I WILL KILL YOU WILY!" Bass roared.

"I GOT IT!" Dr. Wily exclaimed "IT'S CONNECTED!"

-CHARGE_2%
-CHARGING_POWER

I...I did it...

Dr. Wily collapsed in the floor in relief after completing the final connection. The Met on Rhythm's head smiled as Mega Man and Roll stared at Bass.

"Bass…what did you just say?" Roll asked in astonishment.

Rock stepped between Roll and Bass "Roll, start reconnecting Rhythm's other wires. I need to have a private talk with Bass."

Roll began to do as she was told as Rock and Bass left the lab. Mega Man was wearing a stern expression while Bass hung his head low as the two made their way to the living room.

"Bass…" Mega Man began "I know you. You act all tough and seem to not care about any robot but yourself."

"That isn't true," Bass retorted "I do care about other robots."

"Obsessing over Roll is not caring for her!"

"Obsessing, caring, they're both in the same vein!"

"That may be, but why would someone who consistently strives to be the strongest robot care so much about fixing this broken creation?"

"It's none of your business…"

"I think I'm in the right to know, considering that you would never dare to tell Dr. Wily about your emotions."

Bass sighed "Mega Man, you know that time with my previous 'siblings' has been brief. I know them for a fleeting period and circumstance comes and they are soon destroyed by your hands. Despite the fact that they never treated me with any respect, I felt some inherent connection with them as they were built with the same hands that built me."

Mega Man looked at the ground "I know… but this robot. This pitiful weak wretch that you've rescued. You've barely gotten to know him and now you treat him with such care. I can only ask… why? You've been so focused on being strong and defeating me that you adopting such a fragile robot as your own puzzles me. I don't even understand why you didn't try to put him out of his misery!"

"I don't get stronger by oppressing the weak!" Bass shouted "No one does. Harming Rhythm wouldn't have gained me anything except a bunch of broken parts and a dead mystery. In fixing Rhythm and getting to know him, he has opened my eyes, he's talked with me, and we've shared personal things. Ever since I've found him, I felt like he's become my responsibility. He lost his creator, so he's the only one to carry out his maker's legacy."

"Why do you care about Rhythm wanting to continue what his father started when you actively try to distance yourself from the legacy of your maker!"

"Look Rock, both you and I know that Wily's legacy is marred with failure, defeat, and humiliation. No one wants to associate themselves with that. I have read Rhythm's thoughts and he vehemently respects his father and would want to make him proud and I believe that acting as Rhythm's brother would assist his advancement!"

"Brother?" Rock asked in confusion "You...Rhythm's brother?"

Bass glared at Rock, preparing himself for the impending mockery.

"Bass, the arrogant and hot headed failure of Wily being the brother of the fragile Rhythm?!"

"Your point?"

"You two don't go together! You're the bully and he's the type that you would bully!"

"BUT I'M NOT LIKE THAT!"

"Fine then. I can try to believe you're not a bully," Rock admitted "But I refuse to believe that you are worthy to be Rhythm's 'brother', symbolically or otherwise"

"Well I refuse to believe that you are worthy to be his brother as well!" Bass retorted "I've spent the most time with him and we've shared things we wouldn't be willing to admit in public. I doubt that after we're done mending him that he'll be ready to live on his own. He needs someone to care for him."

"And you want to take care of him?"

"It would be a break from the monotony of my life for one thing, and both you and I know all about that! I know that you're tired off all this combat without a resolution. You've wanted to kill Dr. Wily, right? I need something to change the pace, something to care for, otherwise we'd just be machines and nothing more."

Bass sat down on one of the couches and Mega Man did the same.

"Think about it," Bass began "If it weren't for Rhythm, I'd bet that one of us would be nothing but scrap metal right now or in the near future"

"Fair enough," Rock conceded "but one has to consider what Dr. Light is going to do once he finds out about him."

Bass's eyed widened in shock "CRAP! What's Dr. Light gonna think?! We can't say that Dr. Wily made a new robot on his own, you gave us Dr. Light's parts! If you said that you worked on an independent project with his parts and got no results and that I was with some frail robot without any reasonable explanation, he'll be able to put two and two together! He's not Dr. Dumbass!"

"I HEARD THAT!" Wily complained from the other room.

"I can certainly see that your working relationship with Dr Wily is a wholly respectful one" Mega Man said with a smirk before sighing "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, we should just focus on repairing Rhythm."

Bass sighed too, and then got up and began to leave the room "I'm gonna get us some E-tanks… but…I must ask you something."

"And that is?"

Bass took a deep breath "Would you ever commit a crime? Since repairing Rhythm is an action of mercy, empathy and philanthropy would you ever commit the opposite of what you normally do?"

Mega Man smirked "If I'm going to be honest, This adventure into rebellion is enough for me...for now at least."

Bass smiled as he left the room to get the E-tanks, satisfied with Rock's answer.